Wall Street's laughing all the way to the bank

FABRICE TAYLOR 

The credit crisis really puts the free in free market. The freest market is supposed to be the United States, and the evidence in favour of that argument is mounting. It's just not what you think. Free, in this case, means a free ride for a select group of people. Wall Street never looked so good, or bad, depending on your perspective.

Website takes guesswork out of stock selling

DAVID PARKINSON 

A sign of the times, perhaps?Last week, a U.S. operation called SmartStops announced the launch of an investor website (smartstops.net) that aims to make life a lot easier for all those investors out there who are watching the foundering markets and nervously eyeing the lifeboats. The site promises to tell you precisely when to jump ship on each and every stock in your portfolio.

The path to efficiency - the U.S. is already on it

NEIL REYNOLDS 

''Imagine,'' says Tufts University energy economist Gilbert E. Metcalf, ''that the United States had the same energy intensity in 2003 that it had in 1970.'' Imagine, in other words, that the U.S. skipped an entire generation of technological advance in its use of oil, gas, coal and electricity.

Lawyer finds gaping hole in securities law

JACQUIE McNISH 

The Investment Dealers Association threw the book at Stephen Taub three years ago when it announced a series of allegations against the Toronto broker for failing to spot ''manipulative or deceptive'' trades by a shadowy cast of clients with criminal or regulatory histories.

Why emerging markets are rocketing ahead

GORDON PITTS 

A weekly newspaper in China's Wenzhou province asked its readers: If you had to choose between your business and your family, what would it be?Sixty per cent of the respondents chose business, and just 20 per cent chose family. Another 20 per cent couldn't decide between the two.

KDDI price-war discounts show up on bottom line

KDDI Corp. reported a 12-per-cent drop in its quarterly profit yesterday amid tough price competition in the mobile market, but Japan's second-biggest phone company kept its double-digit growth target for the full year. KDDI has been offering heavy discounts to prevent customers from defecting to industry leader NTT DoCoMo Inc. and third-ranked Softbank Corp. in an escalating price war. KDDI said operating profit came to yen124.37-billion ($1.17-billion) in the April-June quarter compared with yen140.9-billion a year earlier. Sales rose 3.1 per cent to yen870.5-billion. Before the announcement, 9433 (Tokyo) rose yen2,000 to yen587,000 ($5,527.17).

Vodafone sounds warning over revenue outlook

Vodafone Group PLC shares fell yesterday after the mobile phone company scaled back its full-year sales forecast as tough economic conditions led consumers to refrain from buying and using new handsets. Vodafone said it now expects revenue to be at the bottom of its & 39.8-billion ($80-billion) to & 40.7-billion range, dragging the telecommunications sector lower and casting a shadow over the last set of results presided over by outgoing chief executive officer Arun Sarin. In its first-quarter trading update, Vodafone said that revenue rose just 1.7 per cent to & 9.8-billion in the three months to June 30. VOD (London) fell 20.25 pence to & 1.29 ($2.59).

Ericsson results hurt by job cuts, lower sales

Telefon AB LM Ericsson, said second-quarter profit fell 70 per cent because of costs to cut jobs and falling sales of phones made with Sony Corp. Profit declined to 1.9 billion kronor ($320-million) from 6.41 billion kronor, the Stockholm-based company said yesterday. Chief executive officer Carl-Henric Svanberg said Ericsson will reduce costs further and reiterated demand for networks will remain ''flattish'' this year. The Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB venture has lost ground to Finnish competitor Nokia Corp. in high-end phones. Revenue rose 2 per cent to 48.5 billion kronor. Ericsson is slashing 4,000 jobs, and Sony Ericsson aims to cut 2,000 jobs. Ericsson said it booked a 1.8 billion-kronor charge to cut Western European jobs in the quarter. ERICB (Stockholm) fell 8.3 kronor to 66.8 kronor ($11.25).

GE, Abu Dhabi firm in $8-billion joint venture

General Electric Co. and Abu Dhabi investment agency Mubadala Development Co. said yesterday they have entered into an $8-billion (U.S.) joint venture with an initial focus on providing commercial finance in the Middle East and Africa. The two companies also plan to work together in the clean energy and water, aviation, and oil and gas sectors, they said. The companies said Mubadala ''plans over time'' to become one of GE's 10 largest shareholders by acquiring shares in the open market. Mubadala chief executive officer Khaldoon Al Mubarak said Mubadala currently has no stake in GE. GE (NYSE) gained 81 cents to $28.50.

Got game? Microsoft has a deal for you

Microsoft Corp. will let independent developers sell video games for the Xbox 360 console - and keep most of the profits - beginning this holiday season, the company said yesterday.In a move to ''democratize game development'' and broaden the range of titles available for the Xbox 360, Microsoft said it will let game makers who are members of its $99 (U.S.) a year XNA Creators Club submit their games for peer review. If they pass, the game creators can sell their work on the Xbox Live Marketplace, the console's online store.

UAL soars on job cuts, results, credit card deal

United Airlines Inc. parent UAL Corp. rose the most since leaving bankruptcy two years ago after saying it will cut 7,000 jobs and free up cash under a new agreement with JPMorgan Chase and Co. UAL announced the moves yesterday as it reported a $2.73-billion (U.S.) second-quarter net loss. Excluding $2.6-billion in non-cash charges, the loss was $151-million, or $1.19 a share, UAL said. Sales rose 3 per cent to $5.37-billion. The Chase accord means UAL will only have to keep $25-million in reserve for credit card processing, its CFO said. UAUA (Nasdaq) rose $3.42, or almost 69 per cent, to $8.41.

Agriculture product growth boosts DuPont profit

Chemical maker DuPont Co. posted higher-than-expected quarterly earnings yesterday as increased product prices and strong demand for its corn and soybean seeds offset weakness in the domestic housing and automotive markets. DuPont also raised the lower end of its full-year 2008 outlook. Second-quarter profit increased to $1.08-billion (U.S.), or $1.18 a share, from $972-million, or $1.04, a year earlier. Excluding gains from a litigation settlement and a lower tax base, earnings were $1.11 a share, higher than Wall Street's expectations of $1.07. Revenue rose 12.2 per cent to $8.84-billion. DD (NYSE) rose $1.16 to $45.21.

Caterpillar profit soars on Asian sales

Caterpillar Inc. said second-quarter profit climbed 34 per cent on demand for backhoes and mining tools in China and the Middle East. Profit increased to a record $1.11-billion (U.S.), or $1.74 a share, from $823-million, or $1.24, a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Sales rose 20 per cent to $13.6-billion. Machinery and engine sales grew around the globe, led by a 52-per-cent gain to $2.24-billion in the Asia Pacific region. For the full year, Caterpillar now predicts profit of $6 a share, within the range of $5.64 to $6.18 it projected in October. Sales may now reach $50-billion, higher than the prior forecast of $47.2-billion to $49.-billion. CAT (NYSE) rose $1.75 to $74.98.

Canadian utilities join GM to plot electric car future

Richard Blackwell 

Several Canadian utilities have jointed a collaborative effort that includes General Motors Corp. and more than two dozen utilities in the U.S. in trying to figure out the best way to use the power grid to recharge electric cars. The group, put together by the California-based Electric Power Research Institute, will look at a broad range of subjects, including public policy issues - such as tax incentives - and practical matters such as where electric cars can be plugged in and how the power grid can handle the new load. Among the group is BC Hydro, Hydro-Quebec and Manitoba Hydro.

Yahoo quarterly profit falls nearly 19 per cent

Software for the times

MATT HARTLEY 

With financial wreckage piling up in the capital markets and technology investors on high alert, Jim Goodnight is one of the few software moguls not feeling the heat. Technology analysts began sounding alarm bells last week when heavyweights Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and eBay Inc. posted disappointing results and conservative near-term outlooks, as the carnage in the global capital markets that had ravaged the financial and auto industries infected the tech sector.

Traders driving oil price? Not so, report says

PAUL WALDIE 

Speculators are not responsible for the soaring price of oil, a U.S. government task force set up to investigate increases has concluded in a preliminary report.The task force's analysis to date ''does not support the proposition that speculative activity has systematically driven changes in oil prices,'' said the interim report released yesterday by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Brazil shuts down 'inadequate' U.S. proposal to shrink farmer's aid

WILLIAM FRENCH 

A global trade deal appeared as elusive as ever yesterday after two days of talks, with developing countries dismissive of a U.S. proposal on farm subsidies a day after a European initiative went nowhere.

Subprime toll keeps growing for U.S. taxpayers

BARRIE McKENNA 

The cost to U.S. taxpayers of the mortgage meltdown keeps mounting, dredging up dark memories of the massive savings and loan bailout of the 1980s.The Congressional Budget Office estimated yesterday that saving troubled mortgage behemoths Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae is likely to cost the U.S. government $25-billion (U.S.) over the next two years.

How one musician ships goods from Asia for a song

MARCUS GEE 

A drummer in a Victoria band, Mike O'Leary has a day job selling guitar accessories that are designed in the United States and made in China. For years, that merchandise took a circuitous and expensive route from a Chinese factory to a warehouse in Chicago to Mr. O'Leary's place near Victoria and finally to music stores across Canada.

Wage statistics yield surprises

MATTHEW CAMPBELL 

Canadian wages have been running ahead of inflation despite soaring grocery and gas bills, but the lead is narrower in the booming Alberta economy than in battered Ontario.The latest inflation numbers will be released today, and analysts expect the June figures will show that prices are still rising more slowly than paycheques.

Livent employee told to get auditors out quickly

JANET McFARLAND 

A long-serving Livent Inc. employee told a Toronto court yesterday that she was under orders to get auditors out of the company as quickly as possible each year, and to tell them anything necessary to deflect probing questions.

A fierce litigator who was a 'gentleman'

JACQUIE McNISH 

George Glezos dove into lawsuits with intensity, argued with a flourish in court, never uttered a cross word to opponents, sometimes exercised twice a day at his gym and wrote outrageous e-mails.

McKesson eyes Uniprix to protect turf

North American pharmaceutical distributor McKesson Corp. may be trying to protect its turf from poachers by entering the retail pharmacy business through the purchase of two leading Quebec companies, industry analysts said yesterday.

Seneca calls for auction of TransAlta

NORVAL SCOTT 

Another major shareholder has turned up the heat on TransAlta Corp., calling for an all-out auction of Canada's biggest independent power producer, among several options.Just one day after TransAlta's largest shareholder launched a surprise $7.8-billion takeover bid for the Calgary-based utility, investment fund Seneca Capital is calling for TransAlta to auction itself to the highest bidder, form a strategic partnership with another company or restructure its long-term power contracts.

Alberta's Liquor Stores fund strikes deal for Alaska's Brown Jug

PAUL HAAVARDSRUD 

Liquor Stores Income Fund is making a foray outside of Canada, striking a deal yesterday for a chain of stores in Anchorage, Alaska.The deal for Brown Jug Inc., which runs 19 stores, will bring the fund's tally to 230 outlets.

Calgary upstart to turn coal into liquid fuel

NORVAL SCOTT 

For most energy companies, figuring how to best turn Alberta's vast oil sands into lucrative gasoline is challenging enough. But Alter NRG Corp. is looking to go one better.

Spectrum sale funds may bring tax cut

SIMON AVERY 

Cellphone companies, cable operators and hopeful new entrants to Canada's wireless market bid so much to get their hands on a rare batch of new spectrum licences that the federal government still is not sure what to do with all the money.

Big mergers draw heavy hitters

They're baaaack. One year after the credit crunch deflated the multibillion-dollar merger boom, an ailing retail icon and prospering power company have restored life to the land of really big deals. Kicking off the buying spree was Richard Baker of Greenwich, Conn., whose investment firm NRDC Corp. led a bid to launch a transformational buyout of Canada's oldest company, Hudson's Bay Co. of Toronto.

Scotiabank latest to chop 40-year mortgages

Lori McLeod 

Canadian Western Bank sues former executive

Norval Scott 

Canadian Western Bank is suing its former assistant vice-president of energy lending, alleging she defrauded the Edmonton-based bank of more than $2-million in order to finance her lifestyle and feed a gambling addiction. In a statement of claim filed at the Court of Queen's Bench in Calgary, Canadian Western alleges that Debra Chapin ''designed, orchestrated and implemented a scheme to defraud [the bank].'' It is claiming damages of at least $2-million, plus further punitive damages and costs. Ms. Chapin, who the statement of claim says ceased to be an employee of the bank on July 2, couldn't be reached for comment. No statement of defence has been filed. A spokesman for Canadian Western said that the bank has begun an investigation into Ms. Chapin's actions, but wouldn't comment further. CWB (TSX) rose 62 cents to $24.16.

Potash Corp. union backs possible strike action

Workers at three mines owned by Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. have voted to strike if no progress is made toward a new labour contract, their union said yesterday. About 500 workers at Potash Corp.'s Cory, Allan and Patience Lake mines have rejected the company's contract offer on wages, vacation, bonus pay, pensions and other terms, the United Steelworkers said in a statement. Potash Corp. hoped to reach an agreement with its workers, a spokesman said, and union leaders had not served notice they would take strike action. More than 96 per cent of affected union members voted to authorize a strike in a vote held Monday, the union said. POT (TSX) fell $5.39 to $217.60.

Alberta energy regulator lifts Suncor output limits

Alberta's energy regulator said yesterday it had lifted limits on output from one of Suncor Energy Inc.'s oil sands operations after the company dealt with high emissions of hydrogen sulfide. The Energy Resources Conservation Board slapped the restriction on Suncor's Firebag project last September after it determined that venting, flaring and H2S emissions did not comply with regulations. ''The constraints were lifted after Suncor made a number of improvements at the site that addressed the issues that prompted the ERCB to issue the enforcement action,'' the board said in a statement. The restraint capped Suncor's production at the Firebag operations at 42,000 barrels per day. SU (TSX) fell $1.22 to $54.80.

Sittin' here resting my bones, work won't leave me alone

RANDI CHAPNIK MYERS 

Louise Evans was ready for a break from her job as a corporate communications manager for a natural resources company when she left for a week of Cancun sun in May.

The meeting as autonomous collective

HARVEY SCHACHTER 

OPEN SPACE TECHNOLOGYBy Harrison OwenBerrett-Koehler, 198 pages, $32.95Sometimes companies wonder why they are paying Harrison Owen as a facilitator given how little he appears to do. Indeed, his approach is Zen-like: Do nothing and be invisible.

Don't worry, be happy? Yes worry, be wary

Wallace Immen 

Be wary: If your company starts talking about how happy they want you to feel, it may be time to start looking for a new job. A study suggests that organizations facing staff cutbacks should consider ''bringing in positive and motivational speakers and introducing ''happy worker' reward programs'' to make employees feel more optimistic before they get the axe.

Even number crunchers need that personal touch

It's not just in grade school where you're being judged on your ability to play well with others. Interpersonal skills are considered overwhelmingly important by executives in choosing employees for financial roles, according to a survey by staffing service Accountemps.

The weekly web poll

LAST WEEK'S QUESTION:Are rising gas and other prices causing you to eat lunch out less and bring food from home to work more?Yes: 57%No: 43%Total votes: 7,248

CLARIFICATION

There are four black chief executive officers at Fortune 500 companies. Incomplete information was published in Globe Careers on Friday. The fourth CEO is John Thompson of Symantec Corp.

ET CETERA

Now, more than ever, we need Fannie and Freddie out there, financing mortgages.U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson argued. Page 9

They'd like to be under the sea

GILLIAN LIVINGSTON 

Brazil's potentially massive Santos oil field discoveries in the deep waters off the South American country's coast could be a multibillion-dollar bonanza for the world's subsea companies with expertise to get at vast reserves of hidden oil under the ocean.

Fertilizer's rising fortunes

STEVE LADURANTAYE 

WHAT IS POTASH, ANYWAY?Potash is a raw material used to make potassium-rich fertilizer. The fertilizer is renowned for its ability to improve the taste, texture and nutritional value of many crops. It strengthens plants and helps them absorb water. It is mined from underground ore bodies that can run as deep as 3,000 metres that contain minerals left over from evaporated seas. Once mined, the ore is crushed and dumped into a brine solution. The salt and clay particles are removed and then the brine is left to dry - leaving behind potash. Only 12 countries have decent deposits - Canada, Belarus and Russia have the best. Global demand for potash is increasing at 5.6 per cent a year as farmers look to increase their yields, according to RBC Dominion Securities analyst Fai Lee.

Website takes guesswork out of stock selling

DAVID PARKINSON 

A sign of the times, perhaps?Last week, a U.S. operation called SmartStops announced the launch of an investor website (smartstops.net) that aims to make life a lot easier for all those investors out there who are watching the foundering markets and nervously eyeing the lifeboats. The site promises to tell you precisely when to jump ship on each and every stock in your portfolio.

Sprott Energy has diverse mix of plays

SHIRLEY WON 

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?Today, we examine the Sprott Energy Fund as part of this week's look at the top holdings of the better-performing equity mutual funds.

Wall Street's laughing all the way to the bank

FABRICE TAYLOR 

The credit crisis really puts the free in free market. The freest market is supposed to be the United States, and the evidence in favour of that argument is mounting. It's just not what you think. Free, in this case, means a free ride for a select group of people. Wall Street never looked so good, or bad, depending on your perspective.

Gold price continues to tumble

ANGELA BARNES 

Gold prices, which had risen sharply in early going yesterday, tumbled in later trading to end the session down $15.20 (U.S.) an ounce at $948.50 in New York, bringing the total decline off last week's four-month high to $29.

STOCKS THAT SHOULD BE ON YOUR RADAR SCREEN

ALLAN ROBINSON 

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC.: (TXN-NYSE)Yesterday's close $24.35 U.S., down $4.17Texas Instruments Inc. is facing a slowdown in its wireless business, likely as a result of Motorola Inc. and lower utilization rates as it reduces inventory, said Uche Orji, an analyst with UBS Securities.

Bond market remains bleak

ALLAN ROBINSON 

Investors in Canadian bonds will be focused on the rise in domestic inflation pressures today, but the credit crisis remains a danger.The release of the consumer price index (CPI) is expected to show inflation increased on an annualized basis to 2.9 per cent in June from a 2.2-per-cent rise in May.

TUESDAY'S MARKETS: WHAT HAPPENED

DOWN: Falling crude drags down SandP/TSX composite...Crude oil settled at $127.95 (U.S.), down $3.09, which was bad news for the energy-heavy Canadian benchmark index. EnCana fell 3.6 per cent, Canadian Natural Resources fell 4.2 per cent and Petrobank Energy and Resources, one of the stars in the sector over the past year, tumbled 5.3 per cent.

COMMODITIES

Commodity prices fell broadly as crude oil lost more than $3 (U.S.) and corn slid below $6 a bushel, suggesting the commodities boom may be losing momentum as the slowing world economy saps demand for energy and raw materials. Gold and silver were among the losers. ***

TIP SHEET

DAVID BERMAN 

Apple Inc.'s downbeat forecast for the current quarter took investors by surprise Monday evening. Could the maker of iPhones and iPods really be a victim of a weak economy?

BONDS

Canadian government bond prices ended lower in light trading,following the downward direction of the U.S. Treasury securities market, which was rattled by concerns that U.S. interest rates may rise. ***

FOREIGN EXCHANGE CROSS RATES

The dollar ended lower against the U.S. currency in response to a drop in oil prices, softer-than-expected Canadian retail sales data for May, a widespread rally in the greenback against major currencies, and a