TMCnet News

nation and world [Virginian - Pilot]
[January 31, 2014]

nation and world [Virginian - Pilot]


(Virginian - Pilot Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Google is selling motorola mobility Google is selling Motorola's smartphone business to Lenovo Group, the world's largest maker of personal computers, for $2.9 billion.

The deal announced Wednesday will rid Google of a financial headache that has plagued the Internet company since buying Motorola Mobility for $12.4 billion in 2012. Motorola has lost nearly $2 billion since Google took over, while trimming its workforce from 20,000 to 3,800.



Lenovo now appears determined to become a bigger player in smartphones.

Google is retaining most of Motorola's portfolio of mobile patents, providing the company with legal protection for its widely used Android software for smartphones and tablet computers.


Fiat-chrysler has new company name Chrysler and Fiat will be known as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV as they move forward as a single company.

Shares of the combined company will trade jointly under FCA on the New York Stock Exchange and in Milan by Oct. 1.

Chrysler, in its final earnings release as a separate company, said its net income more than quadrupled to $1.62 billion in the fourth quarter, boosted by a $962 million one-time tax gain. Without the tax benefit, the company still earned $659 million, a 74 percent increase over a year earlier.

Fiat earned $345 million for the quarter, excluding one-time items. Without earnings from Chrysler, Fiat would have lost $321 million, nearly double the loss from a year ago.

stocks slide after fed cuts stimulus Ongoing jitters in emerging markets and more cuts to the Federal Reserve's economic stimulus combined to push stocks lower for the fourth day out of the last five on Wednesday.

Currencies including the Turkish lira and the South African rand fell against the dollar despite efforts by central banks in those countries to stem the declines by raising interest rates.

The Fed is cutting back its bond purchases even though the prospect of reduced stimulus has rattled global markets. The move was largely anticipated by analysts and investors.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 18.30 points to 1,774.20. The Dow fell 189.77 points to 15,738.79. The Nasdaq composite dropped 46.53 points to 4,051.43.

earnings Facebook earned $523 million, or 20 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, up from $64 million, or 3 cents a share, a year ago. Adjusted earnings were $780 million, or 31 cents a share. Analysts had expected earnings of 27 cents a share.

Without adjusting for market fluctuation in pension expenses, Boeing earned $1.23 billion, or $1.61 a share, in the fourth quarter, compared with $978 million, or $1.28 a share, a year ago. Earnings were well ahead of analysts' expectations.

WellPoint, parent company ofVirginia Beach-based Ameri-group Corp., earned $148.2 mil-lion, or 49 cents a share, in thefourth quarter, down from $464.2 million, or $1.51 a share, a year ago. Earnings excluding one-time items were 87 cents. Analysts expected 86 cents.

quick hits A federal bankruptcy judge has approved Lehman Brothers Holdings' settlement with Fannie Mae, allowing the mortgage finance giant to recover about $537 million for its claim against the estate of the failed Wall Street bank over soured mortgage securities.

Dow Chemical raised its quarterly dividend to 37 cents from 32 cents and would triple a share buyback program to $4.5 billion.

A British court ruled that Chobani, a U.S. brand of yogurt, cannot label its products "Greek" in the U.K. because they are made in America.

A total of 1.004 billion smartphones were shipped to vendors worldwide in 2013, a report by IDC says. The 2013 figure is up 38.4 percent from 2012.

- From wire reports (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved.

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