Huge Demand for Olympics Tickets Crashes the System
The long-awaited sale of Beijing Olympics tickets to China's public collapsed yesterday when frenzied demand led the ticketing system to crash.
This ticketing phase was the first test of the Beijing organizers' ability to handle the huge demand for tickets to the Games. Olympics watchers have been saying for months that ticket demand would be extremely strong. "The whole world is asking for tickets," Hein Verbruggen of the International Olympic Committee said at a news conference in Beijing last week.
The tickets offered yesterday are those allotted to China residents only. Residents from other countries are eligible to obtain tickets by various outfits appointed by each country's organizing committee.

Bank of Japan keeps Benchmark rate at 0.5 Percent
The Bank of Japan kept its benchmark interest rate steady at 0.5 percent Wednesday as uncertainty in the global economy and financial markets continues to cloud the outlook for Japan.
The decision at the one-day policy meeting was widely expected after BOJ officials warned of downside risk to the U.S. economy and volatility in global markets. The bank is scheduled to release its semiannual economic outlook report later in the day.

Mexico sees storm-hit oil sector normal by Thursday
Mexico's storm-crippled crude oil sector should be operating as normal by Thursday morning, state-owned energy monopoly Pemex said on Tuesday as one of the country's three main oil ports reopened.
"The estimate is between 24 and 36 hours for everything to return to normal, to reestablish normal conditions in all of the Bay of Campeche," Ramirez said.

UPS board OKs 2 billion shares buyback
United Parcel Service Inc., the world's largest shipping carrier, said Tuesday in a regulatory filing its board authorized the company to buy back up to $2 billion in stock.
The authorization replaces the about $50 million that remains available under the February share repurchase authorization of $2 billion, the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Atlanta company has about 1.06 billion shares outstanding.

Cerberus Drops Bid for ACS
Cerberus Capital Management officially withdrew its $6.2 billion offer for Affiliated Computer Services Inc. yesterday, amid shareholder irritation over how the company's directors handled the $62-per-share approach, according to people familiar with the matter.

Merrill's leaving chief to get $160m
Merrill Lynch on Tuesday boosted Stan O’Neal’s departure package by almost $90m – taking it to $160m – by letting him retire as chairman and chief executive rather than sacking him.
Mr O’Neal’s departure follows the company’s admission last week that it had lost almost $8bn on mortgage-backed securities, making him the most senior executive to lose his job as a result of the US subprime mortgage turmoil.

DreamWorks profits up on "Shrek the Third"
DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc (DWA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) posted higher profits on Tuesday, helped by the international demand for "Shrek the Third," but warned that the domestic DVD release of the hit animated film will face unprecedented competition in the fourth quarter.
Industry watchers in the fourth quarter will also be monitoring the performance of DreamWork's "Bee Movie," which opens on November 2 and marks comedian Jerry Seinfeld's first try at starring in, producing and co-writing a big Hollywood film.

Australian agency OKs Google-DoubleClick Deal
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said today that it will not stand in the way of Google Inc.'s proposed acquisition of online advertising company DoubleClick Inc.
The agency said that Google, which owns the leading Internet search engine in Australia, sells advertising space on its own Web sites as well as on third-party Web sites. On the other hand, DoubleClick develops software that allows publishers and advertisers to display graphical advertisements onto Web sites, so the two companies do not compete with each other, the commission said in a statement.

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This entry was posted by David Choi, on Tuesday, October 30, 2007. You can leave your response.