Business news for Mon, 17 Dec 2007 & with word major. 24 news.

In what could be a major boost for Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Long Island operations, three foreign countries have expressed interest in the last few weeks about buying the venerable maritime spy plane the company builds for the U.S. Navy, government and company officials confirmed Monday.

CHINA Pacific Insurance (Group) Co, the nation's third-largest insurer, raised 30 billion yuan (US$4.1 billion) in its Shanghai initial public offering yesterday, the second-biggest mainland share sale by a Chinese insurance company. Pacific Insurance, 19.9 percent owned by companies controlled by funds managed by the Carlyle Group, sold one billion new shares at 30 yuan each, the top end of a range, according to a sale document. Investors are piling into China's IPOs, seeking an escape from a secondary stock market disturbed by concerns about rising domestic interest rates and other government measures to cool growth in the world's fastest-growing major economy. "Chinese investors still have a lot of appetite for insurance stocks, since there will be only three companies traded domestically," said Ke Shifeng, who helps oversee about US$5 billion of Greater China assets for Martin Currie Investment Management in Shanghai. "The IPO market remains red-hot unlike the

CHINA will eliminate export tax rebates on major grains as part of a series of measures to ensure domestic supplies are adequate and to control rising food prices. Tax rebates on wheat, rice, soybeans and corn will be eliminated from December 20, according the Website of the central government yesterday. China's food costs gained 18.2 percent last month, pushing inflation to the highest in 11 years. The government has sold corn and vegetable oil from state reserves and asked local authorities to boost emergency stockpiles to ensure stability, according to Bloomberg News. "This is bearish for local wheat and corn markets as it adds a few million tons to supply," said Zhao Qiang, research manager at Tianqi Futures Co in Harbin. "The effect on global markets will be small as China's exports are limited." China shipped 4.9 million tons of corn and 1.2 million tons of rice overseas in the first 11 months of this year.

CONSUMER prices in China are expected to fall significantly next year while consumption may replace export and investment to become a major driver of the country's economy, Deutsche Bank said. In a report released yesterday, the bank maintains the forecast of a modest slowing in the nation's gross domestic product to 10.4 percent in 2008 from 11.5 percent this year, according to its December issue of Asia Economics Monthly. "We expect CPI (consumer price index) inflation to fall visibly to an average of 3.8 percent next year, down from the 6.5 percent year on year in October and an average 4.6 percent in 2007." The German bank made its projection based on several trends highlighted recently by the National Development and Reform Commission: - Inflation has been mainly driven by food items and is structural in nature, although international and cost factors also played a role. - This year's domestic wheat and rice output has grown and will be sufficient to meet

SHANGHAI'S new apartments, excluding budget homes and houses designated for relocated residents, have been sold at an average price of 1.28 million yuan (US$172,970) per unit so far this year, a major real estate research firm disclosed yesterday. The price represents an increase of 11.4 percent compared to 2006. "By December 15, approximately 20.39 million square meters of new homes have been sold in the city with an average price of 10,292 yuan per square meter," said Xue Jianxiong, head of research at Shanghai Youwin Real Estate Information Service Co Ltd, the report compiler. "Last year, 16.77 million square meters of new houses were sold, at an average price of 9,432 yuan per square meter." In terms of unit and space, 163,645 apartments have been sold till mid December, with an average unit space of 124.65 square meters (gross floor area), compared with 137,335 units sold in 2006 with an average GFA of 122.15 square meters, according to Youwin

SHANGHAIMART and Dubai-based leading regional online marketplace Tejari announced yesterday they will launch a portal in February next year to facilitate trade between China and the Middle East. Tian Hao, general manager of ShanghaiMart exhibition center, expects the new platform would help its members easily find buyers in the Middle East. China has become a major exporter to Dubai, the gateway to the region, of products including textiles, furniture and toys. "The portfolio of ShanghaiMart matches pretty well with the import portfolio of the Mideast," said Omar Hijazi, Tejari's chief executive.

OVERALL demand for office space in Asia's major commercial centers remained robust over the past quarter, led by expanding local businesses and non-finance-related occupiers increasingly notable in many regional markets, a leading global real estate service provider has said. Supply of Grade A office space continued to be tight in the central business district areas of Hong Kong, Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, with vacancy rates hovering at five percent or lower. The Philippines and Singapore led the entire Asian market, with rents jumping over 15 percent over the past quarter, according to a recently released analysis by CB Richard Ellis. Rents in major Chinese cities also remained buoyant in the three-month period. In Shanghai, average rent rose 2.7 percent from a quarter earlier to 20.9 yuan (US$2.84) per square foot per month. In particular, rents grew 2.6 percent to 20.4 yuan per square foot per month in Puxi and rents increased 3.3 percent to 22.3 yuan per

Record prices for major agricultural commodities and a reduction in the volume of food aid means there is a serious risk that global hunger will worsen next year

Real estate sales in the country's major markets have set a new annual record, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

Entrepreneurs face two major dilemmas when deciding what they should ask their customers to pay: How to price and whether to lowball

LONDON (Reuters) - Investors buffeted by the credit crisis will enjoy no pre-Christmas lull as central banks began putting a pump-priming plan into action on Monday while critical results from major American banks loom later in the week.

President Bush signed into law today legislation that will bring more fuel-efficient vehicles into auto showrooms and require wider use of ethanol, calling it "a major step" toward energy independence and easing global warming.

Officials from Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns and other major banks are in talks to bail out a struggling bond insurance company that has guaranteed $26 billion in mortgage securities, according to two people briefed on the situation, because the insurer's woes could force the banks to take on billions in losses they had insured against.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- National Oilwell Varco Inc. said Monday it would buy Grant Prideco Inc. for about $7.5 billion in cash and stock, marking the second major tie-up seen in the oil-services sector in the past few months.

National Oilwell Varco, a maker of oil and gas drilling equipment, said Monday it will acquire Grant Prideco for about $7.4 billion in cash and stock, creating a new company with an estimated market value of $32 billion. The deal, the second major merger to be announced Monday, may herald a long-awaited return of deal making. [...]

The major indexes appeared set to widen last week's losses on soft economic data and the threat of inflation.

Reuters - Investors buffeted by the credit crisis will enjoy no pre-Christmas lull as central banks began putting a pump-priming plan into action on Monday while critical results from major American banks loom later in the week.

LONDON (Reuters) - Investors buffeted by the credit crisis will enjoy no pre-Christmas lull as central banks began putting a pump-priming plan into action on Monday while critical results from major American banks loom later in the week.

The U.S. dollar was mixed against other major currencies in European trading Monday morning. Gold fell.

In the wake of major criticism from attorneys general across the country, including Arizona AG Terry Goddard, over its marketing practices, RJR Reynolds Tobacco Co. is changing its advertising policy and will not tout its cigarette brands in U.S. newspapers and magazines next year.