Business news for Wed, 21 Nov 2007 & with word plan. 27 news.

An ambitious infrastructure spending plan by the Philippines is thrown into disarray by a World Bank decision to defer approval of a $232m loan due to alleged corruption

Forzani Group Ltd. unveiled a plan Wednesday to buy the Athletes World sporting goods retailing chain, which has been in creditor protection for three weeks.

Nearly a decade ago Larry DeAngelis and David Watson focused on selling specialty whole-leaf hot teas in patented ''infusers'' directly to restaurants. Now they're changing their games.

Faced with the fallout from a failed refinancing plan, Quebecor World shares continued slumping Wednesday, falling to a new all-time low of $1.89 at one point.

THE central government shouldn't proceed with a proposal to let mainlanders buy Hong Kong-traded stocks directly, former central bank adviser Yu Yongding wrote in a column posted on the Financial Times' Chinese Website yesterday. "It is absolutely necessary to maintain capital account control," wrote Yu, a former member of the People's Bank of China's monetary policy committee. "I am against the plan to relax capital controls to ease yuan-appreciation pressure." China can't stand "attacks from huge flows of international capital," Yu wrote, saying China's financial markets are weak and its investors have a "surprisingly high preference for risk." Yu said the government should instead abolish policies favoring foreign companies, encourage them to raise cash within China and make Chinese assets more expensive in order to prevent foreign exchange reserves from increasing further, according to Bloomberg News. China's reserves are US$1.4

NORTHERN Rock Plc, the UK mortgage lender bailed out by the Bank of England two months ago, said it received an additional bid "materially below" Tuesday's 97-pence closing share price. Northern Rock declined 15 percent to 82.7 pence at 8:26am in London trading after reporting in a statement yesterday further "expressions of interest" from companies seeking to buy or manage the company. The shares fell for a seventh day and are down 93 percent this year, valuing the Newcastle, England-based lender at 345 million pounds (US$712 million), Bloomberg News said. JC Flowers & Co, run by former Goldman Sachs Group Inc banker Christopher Flowers and billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group Ltd have made competiting proposals. Another bidder, Olivant Advisers Ltd, founded by former Abbey National Plc Chief Executive Officer Luqman Arnold, is also interested. Cerberus Capital Management LP, a United States private-equity firm, also sent an acquisition plan. J.C.

TAIPING Life Insurance Co said yesterday it has gained regulatory approval to invest in H-shares and red chips in the Hong Kong stock market. The Shanghai-based insurer can invest in the Hong Kong market with up to five percent of its previous year's total assets, including foreign currencies, and convert yuan assets into foreign exchange to tap investment opportunities under the qualified domestic institutional investor scheme. "The go-ahead can help us better leverage the insurance capital and increase returns," Taiping said yesterday in a statement. Its assets topped 30 billion yuan (US$4 billion) at the end of 2006. The five-percent limit means a maximum capital outflow of 1.5 billion yuan. The insurer is the third player to be approved after Ping An Insurance and Huatai Insurance. The latter two have gained approval to invest up to five percent of their previous year's total assets in red chips and H-shares under the QDII scheme. H-shares are stocks of

BHP Billiton Ltd, the Australian mining company bidding to buy Rio Tinto Group, may fail to convince customers concerned about a duopoly of the iron ore trade that the combined company will be able to overcome labor and port constraints hindering production, analysts said. BHP's chief executive officer, Marius Kloppers has told investors the combined company would be capable of producing more iron ore at a faster rate than is currently possible. Separately, Melbourne-based BHP and London-based Rio already plan to almost double production, Bloomberg News said. "They may not be deliverable in the time frame that Marius suggests they will," because delays have affected most expansion at Australian mines, Stephen Bartrop, an analyst at Stock Resource in Sydney, said. "Construction seems to take longer because there is a lot of demand on resources right across the sector." Asian steel makers have threatened to urge regulators to block BHP's US$130-billion

THE chief executive officer of BHP Billiton, whose proposed acquisition of rival Rio Tinto has sparked concerns that it will create an even bigger monopoly in the global iron ore trade, was in Shanghai yesterday to meet its key customer Baosteel Group Corp. Other global steel groups, including Rio Tinto, have said they are opposed to the US$130-billion takeover, although Australia-based BHP insists a combination would allow it to produce more ore at lower costs and higher efficiency, benefiting clients and shareholders ultimately. Marius Kloppers, BHP's chief, is touring Asia this week seeking ore-buyers' support. Before coming to China, where he will also visit Beijing, Kloppers had met with heads of steel mills in Japan and South Korea. Kloppers had told Reuters in Seoul on Tuesday that the takeover bid was compelling, one day after facing opposition from the Japan Iron and Steel Federation to the plan in Tokyo. Yesterday's meeting with Baosteel officials was held behind

A plan to allow Chinese individuals to invest directly in Hong Kong stocks is still alive, according to a senior Bank of China official

Question: My wife and I are both 55 and plan to retire in two years.

(Crain's) -- Hyde Park Co-Op Market's board members are endorsing a proposal that would bring an end to the nation's oldest cooperative grocery as a means of solving a current financial crisis. The Hyde Park Co-Op members, however, will have the ultimate say in the future of the organization, ...

The company withdrew a request to sell assets related to its Unix software and mobile technology businesses to York Capital Management for $36 million.

Tesoro's board adopted an antitakeover plan and said it won't take a stand on whether shareholders should participate in the tender offer by billionaire Kerkorian's Tracinda.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Tesoro Corp. said Wednesday it's neutral on whether stockholders should participate in a tender offer by Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. to buy up to 16% of the company via 21.88 million shares at $64 a share. Kerkorian made the offer on Nov. 7. Tesoro's board also OK'd a shareholder rights plan, or poison pill, which will get triggered if anyone buys more than 20% of the company in the open market. Shares of Tesoro closed at $56.68 on Tuesday. (Corrects reference to poison pill by Tesoro.)

Instead of lavishing grandchildren with meaningless gifts, contribute to a 529 college-savings plan. Parents and kids save money on tuition, and you get attractive tax benefits.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Patterson Companies said fiscal second-quarter ending Oct. 27 net income rose 11% to $53.7 million, or 39 cents a share. An increase in the dental gross margin and further strengthening of the consolidated operating expense ratio drove the profit rise, the company said. Sales at the dental equipment maker rose 7% to $741.9 million, which the firm said were below plan. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected earnings of 40 cents a share on revenue of $761 million. It trimmed its fiscal-year earnings outlook to $1.68 to $1.72 a share, down from $1.73 to $1.77, and said third-quarter earnings will be between 44 cents and 46 cents a share. Analysts expected third-quarter earnings of 49 cents and annual earnings of $1.75 a share. "Certain economic and industry conditions may be causing some customers to temporarily delay new capital investments in their practices," it said.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The chief financial officer of Chart Industries Inc. has established a prearranged trading plan in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act, the company said. Michael Biehl, who also serves as the Cleveland-based equipment manufacturer's treasurer, intends to exercise up to 127,347 employee stock options and to sell up to 94,347 of the related underlying Chart Industries shares, beginning Dec. 17 and continuing from time to time through the end of 2008. The transactions are subject to predetermined instructions and to market prices of Chart Industries common stock.

Attorneys in a shareholder lawsuit against Apple over its backdating of stock options said they plan to refile some of the claims.

CHICAGO - For months, Wall Street has been waiting for hedge fund wizard Ed Lampert to reveal his plan to turn around ailing retailer Sears Holdings.