Business news for Tue, 25 Dec 2007 & with word united. 14 news.

CHINA'S yuan rose to the strongest since the end of its United States dollar peg in July 2005 for a third straight day on speculation the regulator will widen the currency's daily trading band. The yuan gained 0.24 percent to 7.3297 per dollar as of the 5:30pm close in Shanghai, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. The currency, which has risen 6.5 percent against the US dollar this year and almost 13 percent since July 2005, is managed against a basket of currencies including the yen, South Korean won and British pound.

CHINA has 548 incubators, second most in the world after the United States, the Ministry of Science and Technology said yesterday in Beijing. They are considered powerful in breeding innovative start-ups. On its Website, www.most.gov.cn, the ministry reported the incubators had helped to raise 19,896 high-tech companies, with 569 having an annual revenue of more than 100 million yuan (US$13.7 million). In addition, 53 were listed on either domestic or overseas stock exchanges. China borrowed the idea of incubators from the United States. They were expected to create convenient and efficient environments for start-up companies, as well as provide financing, taxation and land-lease incentives. The country's first incubator started in 1987 in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province. Such intermediate agencies, mostly funded by the government, were now spreading throughout the country. They incubated 41,434 fledgling companies, providing 460,000 high-tech jobs such as sophisticated

INVESTOR William Ackman raised his stake in Target Corp, the second-biggest discount chain in the United States, and held talks with management on increasing the stock price. Ackman controls 10 percent of the company, up from 9.6 percent earlier this year, his Pershing Square Capital Management LP said on Monday in a regulatory filing, according to Bloomberg News. Pershing is seeking share repurchases and the sale of Target's credit-card loans, as well as "some kind of real estate transaction," a person familiar with the firm's plans said, declining to elaborate. Target has said it's evaluating whether to sell its US$7 billion credit-card portfolio and will make a decision in the first three months of 2008. Target's shares have declined 18 percent since Ackman amassed his stake in July. Pershing's holdings include stock and options to buy the shares. With swap contracts, Ackman has an "economic" interest in Target of almost 12.6 percent, up from 10.2 percent

A SURGE in spending during the weekend before Christmas may not have been enough to rescue Target Corp, Sears Holdings Corp and Macy's Inc from the slowest holiday spending season in five years. Sales rose 19 percent from last Friday to Sunday as United States shoppers took advantage of half-off sales and extended hours, Chicago-based ShopperTrak RCT Corp said on Monday. Even with the late increase, spending during the week through last Saturday fell 2.2 percent, the fourth straight week of declines. "It's not going to overcome the negative forecasts," Frederick Crawford, managing director at Southfield, Michigan-based AlixPartners LLP, said of the weekend in a Bloomberg Television interview. "It's going to be a good start, a very weak midsection, and a strong finish. But those two barbells at the end are not going to be able to overcome these last three weeks, which have been very weak." Gasoline at US$3 a gallon and rising food prices have discouraged

CHINA'S central bank raised interest rates six times in 2007 and stocks in the world's fastest growing economy are still more than twice as expensive as United States shares. PetroChina Co, whose market value tops Exxon Mobil Corp's by 39 percent, earns half the profit of the largest US oil company. China Mobile Ltd, the Beijing-based wireless carrier, is worth 41 percent more than AT&T Inc and brings in two-thirds its revenue. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd has grown to almost double the size of Bank of America Corp with a third the US lender's earnings. While the People's Bank of China pledged "forceful measures" and raised interest rates to a nine-year high last week to curb inflation and investing, stocks in the CSI 300 Index trade at 44.7 times earnings, the most expensive among the 10 largest markets, and more than double the ratio for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg News show. The benchmark is up 171 percent this year in US

HARRAH'S Entertainment Inc has received final regulatory approval needed to complete the largest casino buyout ever, a year after Apollo Management LP and TPG Inc agreed to the US$17.1 billion purchase. The National Indian Gaming Commission approved the acquisition, removing the last regulatory hurdle to the purchase, Las Vegas-based Harrah's said in a statement. The transaction will be completed in early 2008, the company said. Harrah's, the world's largest casino company, received permission from Illinois, Nevada, Indiana and six other regulators in the states where it operates. The buyout firms agreed in December 2006 to acquire Harrah's for US$90 a share, attracted by its real-estate holdings and ability to generate cash, according to Bloomberg News. Indian approval was needed because Harrah's runs tribal casinos. Founded in 1937 in Reno, Nevada, Harrah's owns the Bally's, Caesars and Flamingo casinos in Las Vegas as part of its holdings, most of which are in the United

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Emirates Airline ordered a jaw-dropping 245 new wide-body...

Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Wednesday's session are Ampal-American, Cigna, Costco, Lexington Realty, Merrill Lynch, Target, Teva, Toyota, United Rentals and Wyeth.

The United States and the European Union - the biggest export markets in the world - are reviewing their procedures and updating their rules. But they are also working with the Chinese and other producers.

A tentative restructuring agreement should unlock a $33 billion portion of Canada's debt market that has been frozen since August, its chief architect said. Fears about subprime lending in the United States has led to a liquidity crisis.

United Rentals Inc. agreed to accept a $100 million breakup fee from Cerberus Capital Management LP, ending a six-week battle over whether Cerberus could call off a $4 billion acquisition of the largest US equipment-rental company. United Rentals...

United Rentals Inc. agreed to accept a $100 million breakup fee from Cerberus Capital Management LP, ending a six-week battle over whether Cerberus could call off a $4 billion acquisition of the largest U.S. equipment-rental company.

Maxjet Airways, which flew between London and three United States cities, took what it called a “drastic measure” because of soaring fuel prices and the deteriorating credit market.

Cerberus Capital Management agreed Monday to pay United Rentals a $100 million breakup fee for dropping its $4 billion purchase of the equipment-rental...