The semiconductor sector in Europe had a bad week this week. STMicroelectronics led the declines in that sector. The value of its shares lost almost 10 percent on the week after reporting losses in the first quarter.

Other semiconductor manufacturers also did badly, with ASML down 7.4 percent for the week, while Infineon was down by 7.5 percent. STMicroelectronics did not suffer the largest losses of the week however.

That distinction came in the pharmaceuticals sector, where Novo Nordisk lost 14 percent after it warned of a possible three-year delay before it will be able to implement a new use for one of its products.

Not all stocks declined on the week, however, Dassault Systems, largest maker of computer-aided design software in the world, was up after releasing a positive first-quarter earnings report. Dassault was up 5.1 percent for the week.

Overall, the European equities market was down for the third week in a row, as the FTSE Eurofirst 300 ended the week down by 1.2 percent despite a small rally Friday, when it closed at 1059.7.

A libel writ was filed Thursday against TV Azteca’s chairman, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, over allegations made in a documentary aired by the Mexican network Tuesday night.

In addition, it was also announced that TV Azteca and its directors will be fined 27 million pesos ($2.4 million) for eight violations of Mexican securities laws.

The Treasury was also expected to ask the attorney general’s office to charge Salinas Pliego with fraud over charges that the TV Azteca chairman had used a Delaware company he controlled to purchase Azteca’s debt at a huge discount, which was then repurchased at face value for a personal profit to Salinas Pliego of around $109 million.

TV Azteca already has had a fraud suit filed against it by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in that transaction.

Mexico’s finance minister had threatened the sanctions against Salinas Pliego and TV Azteca, according to the network, if it broadcast the documentary, which charged governmental and financial improprieties when Citigroup bought Banamex, Mexico’s largest bank, in 2001.

The finance minister, who had ties to Banamex before he became treasury minister in, denies that he tried to stop the broadcast.

TV Azteca says that he threatened to charge the network with securities laws violations if it showed the documentary.

Ricardo Salinas Pliego, the owner of TV Azteca, the second biggest broadcaster in Mexico, just can’t seem to win.

He is under investigation in Mexico and already charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations of wrongdoing in relation to the mobile phone company that he owns.

Now, his broadcasting operation is trading charges with the Mexican government over a documentary aired by the network.

The documentary in question accuses the government of wrongdoing in the acquisition by Citigroup of Mexican bank Grupo Financiero Banamex.

The documentary claims that the purchase was beset by financial irregularities. Banamex has denied the charges made in the documentary, calling them “baseless.”

Now, TV Azteca is accusing the Mexican finance minister of threatening charges of violation of securities laws against the network if they broadcast the program.

Jorge Mendoza, TV Azteca’s head of news and public affairs, says he was summoned to the finance minister’s office on Tuesday and given a written demand to either refrain from airing the program or face possible charges from the attorney general’s office.

The documentary aired Tuesday night on TV Azteca, and on Wednesday the networks news anchor, accused the finance minister of violating the network’s freedom of speech.

In the European markets at midday on Wednesday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 1.1 percent to 1,061.62, while the Xetra Dax in Germany was off 1.4 percent to 4,173.95, and in Paris the CAC-40 fell 1.2 percent to 3,944.28.

There were losses in most sectors, but a big factor in the decline were disappointing quarterly earnings reports in the telecommunications and technology sectors. Telenor, the top telecommunications operator in Norway, reported earnings that were lower than expected. This news sent shares in the company down 8.9 percent.

Meanwhile, in the technology sector, chipmaker STMicroelectronics saw its shares fall 6.3 percent after it announced a first quarter loss of $31 million, as it was beset by plant closing and weak sales. The company had posted a net profit of $77 million in the same quarter of last year.

Other chipmakers also were down. Infineon shares fell 1.2 percent and ASML was 3 percent lower. Mobile phone makers didn’t do very much better. Shares in Sweden’s Ericsson were down 2.4 percent and Nokia was off by 1.7 percent.

Emirates, the airline owned by the government of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, reported its seventeenth successive profitable year despite having to cope with higher fuel prices, the aftermath of the Asian tsunami, and stiff competition.

The report shows that full-year net profits were $637 million, up 49 percent. One board member said that the rise in fuel prices the biggest obstacle to future profits.

In the year just reported, fuel costs were 21 percent of total operating costs, up from 14 percent the year before.

These higher fuel prices mean that Emirates has postponed plans to schedule direct flights from Dubai to Chicago, Houston, and San Francisco.

It is also looking at the idea of launching an IPO, as it insists that it has to deal with rising fuel prices just like all airlines. It denies that it is subsidized by Dubai or the

UAE. Emirates carried 12.5 million passengers in the year just reported, an increase of 2.1 million passengers from the previous year.

Baoshan Iron & Steel announced that it had sold 5 billion shares at a price of RMB 5.12 each for a total of RMB 25.6 billion in its initial public offering in Shanghai.

The price of RMB 5.12 was near the top of the price range announced when the sale began two weeks ago.

The company is expected to use the funds raised to purchase assets from Shanghai Baosteel Group, including mining interests, steel mills, and a port, in an effort at reorganization.

This offering in China is considered to be a precursor to a possible international listing by the company.

The current IPO, which set a new record for equity fundraising in Shanghai, was underwritten by China International Capital corporation, a joint venture between the China Construction Bank and Morgan Stanley.

The previous Shanghai record was set by an offering by Sinopec, an oil group, which raised RMB 11.8 billion.

Despite growth in the Indian equities market, there are still problems in getting both small companies and small investors to participate in the market.

In the case of persuading small companies to go public and list on the market, the amount of time and effort required to meet disclosure requirements can be a hindering factor.

A family-owned retailer that recently listed said that it spent nine months gathering information on business differences within the family to meet requirements for full disclosure in the issue prospectus.

That information, which took up a third of the 630-page document, had no real bearing on the operation of the business, according to the company.

Still, Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) in the last fiscal year (which ended in March) totaled R214.32 billion, up from R178.21 billion the previous year, and only R10.39 billion the year before that. IPOs this year could be up to as much as R400 billion.

Just as difficult is getting small investors to put their money in the market. Small investors are required to make a full down payment on stock purchases, something that is not required of large investors.

This is not likely to substantially increase the current figure of only 1.5 percent of $1,500 billion in Indian household savings invested in equities.

In Europe midday trading saw the automobile manufacturing sector and technology stocks mostly lower but the energy sector higher as crude oil prices rose.

In the automobile manufacturing sector, Volvo fell 0.7 percent even though their quarterly earnings report carried positive news. Renault was down as well, by 0.8 percent. Fiat was up, however, rising by 0.4 percent.

In technology stocks, Ericsson fell 1.9 percent, Alcatel was down 0.4 percent, and Tele2 was off by 4.9 percent on a disappointing first quarter earnings report.

In the energy sector, news of fears that summer gasoline supply in the U.S. would be tight and climbing crude oil prices sent OMV up 1.9 percent. BP advanced by 1.5 percent, and Statoil rose 1.6 percent.

Things were a little more positive in the pharmaceutical sector, as German drug maker Schering saw their shares rise 1.4 percent on news of good first quarter earnings.

All of this combined to send the European markets slightly higher despite news of slow economic growth in Germany. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.3 percent to 1,076.08, the Xetra Dax in Frankfurt was up 0.5 percent to 4,245.76, and in Paris the CAC-40 rose 0.3 percent to 3,993.44.

Air Canada will buy 14 787s and 18 777s from Chicago-based Boeing, for a total of around $6 billion.

Deliveries will begin next year for the 777s and the 787s will be delivered beginning in 2010. Besides these firm purchases, Air Canada also took options for 46 additional 787s and 18 777s.

This is a significant win for Boeing over it’s European rival Airbus, as the Canadian air carrier had previously replaced all its Boeing aircraft with Airbus and Bombadier CRJ regional jets.

Air Canada has seen rapid expansion of its Asian and Latin American routes due to passenger preference to fly into Toronto and Vancouver when traveling between Asia and the Latin American countries since U.S. visa and security restrictions have tightened.

The airline recently announced plans for daily non-stop flights to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

Air Canada’s chief executive said Monday that the 787 would be the more economical aircraft, saving about 30 percent in fuel efficiency and costs for maintenance compared to the 767s currently in use.

With 217 total orders and commitments for the 787, Boeing’s shares advanced nearly 3 percent to $59.50 in early trading on Monday.

L’Oreal, the French cosmetics group, saw its shares decline 5.6 percent in midday trading on Friday after it issued a disappointing first-quarter earnings report at the end of trading on Thursday. This report caused almost all analysts to downgrade L’Oreal’s stock.

In the biotechnology sector, Serono also released a negative first-quarter earnings report. Its shares were down 5.2 percent at midday. On the other hand, Solvay, the Belgian chemicals and drug company, was up 2.2 percent after Citigroup upgraded it from “hold” to “buy.” Just last week, Merrill Lynch had downgraded Solvay to “sell.”

There was also positive news from Ericsson in the form of a report that their first-quarter earnings had exceeded expectations. Ericsson’s shares were up 4.3 percent on that news, and other technology stocks followed suit. Nokia was up 1.9 percent, STMicroelectronics was up 1.9 percent, ASML rose 1 percent, and Siemens added 1.3 percent.

All of this combined to see FTSE Eurofirst advance by 0.6 percent to 1,070.04, the Xetra Dax in Frankfurt to rise by 0.6 percent to 4,217.27, and the CAC-40 in Paris to rise by 0.5 percent to 3,970.54.

Rising gas prices have sent Costco Wholesale Corp.’s earnings down and its shares lower in Friday trading.

In early trading, Costco’s shares were down 9 percent after it said that weak profits from gasoline sales will likely put its earnings for the rest of the fiscal year lower than Wall Street’s expectations.

Costco, the largest warehouse club operation in the United States, has gasoline filling stations at many of its 334 U.S. stores, where it often charges less than traditional filling stations in order to bring customers into its stores.

But this new report says that current quarter profits will be between 41 cents and 43 cents per share. This is below Wall Street’s estimate of 46 cents per share.

Likewise, Costco’s estimates of next quarter’s earnings per share to fall between 63 cents and 67 cents, again below the Wall Street estimate of 70 cents per share.

One of Costco’s rivals, BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc., also offers gasoline sales at many of its stores, and its stocks felt a similar decline early Friday as its shares dropped 6 percent.

In activity in the European markets on Thursday, automobile makers were having a good day at mid-day Thursday.

Volkswagen rose 1.8 percent on the strength of a quarterly report that was better than expected. Additionally, Fiat was up 4.3 percent, Renault rose 2.5 percent, and Peugeot advanced by 1.8 percent.

In the drinks sector, Pernod Ricard rose 7.4 percent on predictions that its takeover of Allied Domecq would save the French company on costs. Allied Domecq rose as well, and was up 3.8 percent.

These were just some of the gains that helped the markets to be up in mid-afternoon trading on Thursday. the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.3 percent to 1,067.76, Xetra Dax, Frankfurt’s market, rose 0.6 percent to 4,203.29, and the CAC-40 was up 0.5 percent to 3,967.91 in Paris.

Gains in the telecommunications sector helped the markets rise, as well. Nokia rose 5.8 percent on news of a first-quarter earnings report that saw higher than expected gains. Even before this news was made public, other telecommunications companies were up in afternoon trading. Ericsson was up 3.5 percent, Alcatel advanced 1 percent after earlier losses, France Telecom advanced 2.3 percent, and Telefonica was up 1.5 percent.

Chipmakers also responded to Nokia’s positive report. STMicroelectronics advanced 2.9 percent and ASML was up 1.5 percent.

Kraft Foods’ recently issued first-quarter earnings report showed a 27 percent increase in earnings, aided by receipt of a tax benefit.

Philip Morris tobacco group also showed strong income growth both in the United States and internationally, including a 13.1 increase in the income of Philip Morris International.

This despite the fact that they are embroiled as a defendant in a civil racketeering case brought against the tobacco industry by the U.S. government.

However, a ruling in federal appeals court in February favored the tobacco industry, convincing experts that despite an appeal to the ruling filed by the government a settlement in the suit will be reached.

All this combined to allow Altria Group, which owns Philip Morris as well as 85 percent of Kraft Foods, to issue a quarterly earnings report on Wednesday that showed an 18.3 percent increase in Altria’s first quarter profits.

Altria is also a defendant in the government’s action against the tobacco industry.

In mid-afternoon trading on Wednesday, the technology sector was generally up. ASML rose 2.3 percent, Infineon was up 0.7 percent, while STMicrolectronics advanced by 0.3 percent, and Alcatel, a French telecommunications group, rose by 1.8 percent.

Alcatel’s advance came on speculation that they were looking into forging closer ties to Thales, the defense electronics group. Alcatel already owns 9 percent of Thales.

The pharmaceuticals sector was off, however, with Roche falling 0.6 percent and Sanofi-Aventis down 0.4 percent. Novartes, the Swiss drug company, was down by 0.1 percent, partly due to a report of adverse affects on patients of their epilepsy drug but chiefly due to profit-taking after several day of advances.

By mid-afternoon, the European markets were down, with the FTSE Eurofirst 300 off by 0.4 percent to 1,066.39, Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax down 0.5 percent to 4,182.90, and in Paris, the CAC-40 was down by 0.3 percent to 3,975.07.

These losses came despite the gains in the technology sector as well as positive earnings reports from Intel and Yahoo in the United States.

Several pieces of good news saw the European markets turning around in mid-afternoon trading on Tuesday.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up to 1072.7, up by 0.9 percent. In Paris, the CAC-40 had risen 0.5 percent to 3,971.05, and in Frankfurt, the Xetra Dax was up 0.4 percent to 4,218.70.

Among that good news was a better performance on Wall Street, positive earnings reports from the pharmaceuticals sector, and a good earnings report from Texas Instruments that stimulated the technology sector.

Roche, the Swiss pharmaceuticals company posted a 17 percent gain in its first quarter, mostly on the strength of sales of their cancer and flu drugs. This was much better than had been expected.

Additionally, Akzo Nobel, the Dutch chemicals and drug group reported that their first-quarter earnings had met expectations.

The technology sector improved, with Infinion up by 1 percent, STMicroelectronics 1.3 percent higher , and an advance of 1.1 percent by ASML.

The Nikkei 225 was up 1.2 percent to 11,066. This compares to losses of 7.1 percent since last Monday. The Topix index was up by 1.55 percent, to 1,127.

This rebound in the Tokyo markets was good news, but gains were relatively small compared to last weeks losses because worries remain about the current tensions between Japan and China as well as about economic growth in the United States.

Stocks in most sectors were generally higher, including airline stocks. The airlines had earlier taken serious hits amid a large number of cancelled business and holiday flights to China over fears for Japanese citizens safety there after recent anti-Japanese demonstrations.

Japan Airlines rose ¥7 to ¥338, and air transport shares generally rose by an average of 2 percent.

The news on Monday of a 12 percent rise in quarterly profits from Texas Instruments sent Japanese technology stocks higher. Information and communication stocks rose by an average of 0.9 percent.

In Seoul on Monday, the composite index in Seoul fell for the sixth straight session, down 2.4 percent to 925.00.

The losses reflected the continuing influence of Samsung Electronics’ poor first-quarter earnings report. The biggest losses occurred in the technology sector.

Samsung was down 3.2 percent after a 2 percent fall Friday. Additionally, Hynix Semiconductor was down 3.4 percent, and LG Electronics dropped 2.1 percent.

In other sectors, consumer-related stocks posted some gains in Seoul.

Meanwhile, in Taipei, markets were lower due to a sell-off in the technology sector.

The markets there reached their lowest point in almost six months with the weighted index falling 2.9 percent to 5,715.16.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing was down 2 percent. Display screen manufacturer AU Optroncis was down 4.5 percent, and Powerchip was down 3.4 percent.

One technology company, Mitak International, which makes personal computers and smartphones, was up 2.3 percent on the strength of a positive earnings report for the first quarter.

Matters were not much better in Hong Kong, where the Hang Seng index was off 2.1 percent on selling in all sectors.

All the markets were affected by investor worries about global growth and bad earnings reports for the first quarter from some of the world’s largest companies.

Technology stocks took the lead in sending the European markets down again on Monday.

On news that net profits in the first quarter did not meet expectations, shares in Phillips, the Dutch electronics company, had fallen by 3.8 percent by mid-afternoon.

On this news, and on similar news last week from IBM and Samsung, Infineon, the German chipmaker, was down as well, by 2.7 percent, ASML was off 1.7 percent, and STMicroelectronics was down by 1 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 had fallen by 1.8 percent to 1,063.66 by mid-afternoon, with only four stocks managing to post gains.

The Xetra Dax in Frankfurt was off 2.5 percent to 4,204.47, and in Paris the CAC-40 was down by 1.9 percent to 3,954.83.

Another factor, besides all the bad news out of the technology sector, were general worries about earnings and the possibility of an upcoming economic slowdown.

Sales, profits, and prices were all well below expectations when Sony Ericsson, the mobile phone manufacturer produced its first quarter earnings report on Friday.

Pre-tax profits were down 28 percent and sales were down by 4 percent in relation to last year’s first quarter. These figures were said to point up the volatility of the mobile phone market between reporting periods as a consequence of the very short life of the phones.

One reason Sony Ericsson gave for this fall in earnings was the difficulty it had encountered in distinguishing itself from its competitors. Most of its profits last year came from its quick entry into the production of camera phones.

Cameras have become a standard feature in most middle and upper tier mobile phones, however, removing much of the company’s justification for pricing its phones higher.

The company also said that prices were a bit lower due to the fact that few new products were launched during the period, but it claimed that new-product launches during the rest of the year would strengthen its position.

Other reasons for the drop in earnings was put on a consumer preference for cheaper phones and excess inventories built up before Christmas.

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, Asia’s most valuable tech company and the world’s biggest maker of flat screens, has reported that it’s first quarter net profits were down 52 percent compared with last year at the same time, that its sales revenue was down 4.2 percent, and that its second-quarter earnings numbers were not expected to be much better.

Factors leading to this bad news were said to include weak pricing power, oversupply, and an unfavorable exchange rate. The company also took a hit over its bail out of the Samsung Card, it’s credit-card affiliate. It owns 47 percent of Samsung Card.

Besides being the leading flat screen producer, Samsung also is the world’s second-largest chipmaker and the third-largest mobile phone maker in the world. Other particulars in Samsung’s quarterly report were that operating profits in its liquid crystal display division were 97 percent lower and in its semiconductor business they fell by 22 percent as compared to last year.

Despite all this bad news, the company announced it was still optimistic about it’s long-term prospects.

Southwest Airlines, the Dallas-based U.S. budget air carrier that is the only U.S. airline to show consistent profits since the World Trade Center attacks of 2001, reported first-quarter net earnings of $76 million, up from $26 million in the same period last year.

The Thursday report indicated that profits were aided by the airline’s purchase of fuel at prefixed prices, which saved them $155 million in the quarter.

The report warned, however, that second-quarter fuel prices are likely to be somewhat higher than in the first quarter and that second-quarter passenger numbers will probably be down from last year’s numbers because of an early Easter break this year.

The airline also said it had increased available seats by adding seven new aircraft to its fleet. Southwest is the first company in the U.S. airline sector to report first-quarter earnings.

It is expected to be the only one to report profits. The nine largest U.S. air carriers are expected to report losses totaling at least $2 billion.

The Tokyo markets were still feeling the effects of recent tensions between Japan and China.

In addition, technology stocks were lower due to concerns that weak retail sales figures from the U.S. would slow down consumer spending.

Technology losses included a 1.4 percent drop for Sony.

The banking sector was also down, as was the retail sector.

Retailer Takashimaya was down 5.6 percent, for example. One exception to retail losses was Lawson, Japan’s second-largest retail chain.

Lawson’s shares rose 2.2 percent following reports of record profits and predictions of more growth in the offing.

Additionally, Kanebo, the household goods manufacturer that has been crippled by an accounting scandal, was down an additional 15.5 percent on Thursday after a 13.4 percent loss on Wednesday.

In other Asian markets Thursday, stocks were also generally down. Taipei was down 0.4 percent due to technology sell-offs.

Sydney’s markets hit their lowest point in almost three months when the S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.3 percent to 4082.3.

Seoul had its biggest one-day loss in nearly six months when its composite index fell 2.8 percent.

Shares in Apple Computers fell 1 percent in after hours trading on Wednesday.

The decrease in share value despite this good news was caused by investor disappointment at news that current-quarter revenues would not meet the highest estimates of Wall Street.

Reports were that Apple expects current-quarter revenues of $3.25 billion and earnings of approximately 28 cents per share.

Wall Street forecasts were for sales of $3.2 billion and a profit of 24 cents per share.

Some analysts had expected even higher performance, however.

There was also a concern that with Apple’s introduction of low-end products, average selling prices will fall.

This decline in Apple stocks came despite the fact that Apple earlier reported that it had experienced a more than six-fold earnings increase on the strength of the company’s success with its iPod music player.

Apple sold 5.3 million iPods and 1.07 million computers last quarter. That was a 558 percent increase in iPod sales, on the strength of the release of the iPod Shuffle, and a 43 percent increase in computer sales due to the introduction of the low-cost Mac mini computer in the quarter.

Shares in Elan, an Irish drug group, were up 21 percent by early afternoon Wednesday based on the news that its multiple sclerosis drug, Tysabri, may be able to go back on the market after its suspension six weeks ago.

Shares in the U.S. company Biogen, which developed the drug with Elan, also rose by 1 percent on the news in after hours trading on Tuesday. Data from a recent clinical trial showed that Tysabri had reduced the risk of disability progress by 42 percent and the rate of relapse by 67 percent in 942 patients in the trials.

Some analysts doubt, however, that the drug can return to the market after the three occurrences of a potentially fatal side effect and the death of one of the patients, which spurred Tysabri’s withdrawal from the market.

Two patients contracted a rare central nervous system condition initially, and one of the died as a result of it. Additionally, another patient was identified with the same condition in March.

Still, Elan and Biogen will discuss the successful results of the trial with regulatory agencies in hopes that the benefits will be seen to outweigh the risks of the drug so that it can be returned to the market.

Elan’s shares lost 86 percent of their value in the wake of the drug’s withdrawal from sales.

On October 1 Jean Francois van Boxmeer, a Belgian, will become the first non-Dutchman to head Heineken, the fourth-largest brewer in the world.

He will replace Anthony Ruys, who has been chairman and chief executive of the company since 2002.

Ruys’ departure comes 18 months before his expected retirement date and is part of a complete management overhaul of the company, which has been suffering from reduced profits that are mostly the result of the falling dollar.

The changes reflect an effort by the supervisory board and senior executives to improve Heineken’s ability to respond swiftly to moves by its competitors.

This is a special concern in the wake of several recent mergers by the company’s competitors.

Besides the installation of van Boxmeer, who has been with Heineken for over 20 years, other changes will include replacement of its 36-member senior management group with a 13-member executive committee, and a reduction of the executive board from five positions to three.

The company’s single-market approach will also be replaced with the institution of a geographically-based operating system.

The battle between Verizon and MCI seems far from over, despite a signed agreement between Verizon and MCI and in spite of the fact that MCI has turned down three previous offers from Qwest.

Fueled by public declarations of around 30 percent of MCI’s shareholders, including its largest shareholder, Carlos Slim, that they will vote against the Verizon deal, Qwest has nearly completed a deal that would see those shareholders underwriting an equity infusion of $2 billion into Quest for support of their bid.

The deal is contingent on the MCI board of directors’ endorsement of Qwest’s offer. There is at least one obstacle to the deal: under the agreement between MCI and Verizon, Verizon has the right to force a vote on its offer even if MCI decides in favor of Qwest’s bid.

MCI would have to actively reject Verizon’s bid before being free to consider the bid by Qwest. There are several options open to Qwest, however.

They can raise their current offer, they can take either their current offer or a revised offer directly to MCI’s shareholders, or they can stage a proxy fight to attempt to take control of MCI.

Those close to the current negotiations believe that a proxy fight might not be necessary if Qwest can get the support of MCI’s board of directors for a revised offer.

The cable industry is apparently set to continue it trend toward fewer and fewer providers controlling more and more of the market as Time Warner and Comcast presented a bid Thursday to the bankruptcy court handling Adephia Communications’ petition for bankruptcy protection.

The offer reportedly consists of almost $18 billion in cash and stocks. If the deal is approved, Adelphia’s 5.3 million subscribers would be transferred to Time Warner and Comcast.

In addition to the bankruptcy court, a majority of each class of Adelphia’s creditors must give their assent to the deal.

Adelphia’s bankruptcy filing was made necessary by a scandal in which its founder, John J. Rigas, and his two sons were accused of taking billions of dollars of the company’s money.

Rigas and one of this sons were convicted in the case, but the other son’s trial resulted in a hung jury. The bid by Time Warner and Comcast apparently beat out a last minute offer from Cablevision.
II.

In Tokyo, markets were mixed on Thursday as the Nikkei index was down 0.1 percent, while the Topix index was up 0.1 percent.

Consumer electronics were mostly up, but retailers were generally down amid the concerns of investor concerns over restructuring.

The markets did better in the West, however: in Europe, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.3 percent, as the energy sector performed well.

The London markets were up as well, for the third day in a row. The FTSE 100 was up 0.6 percent and the FTSE 250- was up 0.3 percent.

One factor was a decision by the Bank of England to leave interest rates at their present level.

Rumors that Shell might acquire Woodside, an Australian oil and gas company was also seen as good news.

Shell already owns 34 percent of Woodside, so a deal was considered possible.

The U.S. markets saw gains at midday despite bad news from the pharmaceuticals industry - Merck was down 0.9 percent and Pfizer was down 1.6 percent over more concerns over risks associated with their arthritis drugs.

Crude oil prices were also up. Still, at midday the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 were both up 0.4 percent, and the Nasdaq was up 0.5 percent, all on light trading.

Low cost air carriers Ryanair and EasyJet were among the airlines experiencing substantial inconvenience flying in and out of Rome due to security considerations ahead of the Friday funeral for Pope John Paul II.

Rome Ciampino, the closest airport to Rome and the airport that these low cost carriers, as well as come charter companies, operate out of was closed on Thursday as a security precaution due to the presence of hundreds of world leaders in Rome for the funeral.

Ryanair had to cancel 48 flights on Thursday, 46 on Friday, and all but four on Saturday. It was arranging replacement flights in and out of Pescara, 130 miles east of Rome.

EasyJet, which operates out of the UK, had cancelled all their Thursday and Friday flights and were attempting to replace them with flights in and out of Bologna.

Rome Fiumicino, the Rome airport which handles most of the major carriers, was not closed although 30 percent of its operating capacity was lost.

This meant that British Airways did not have to cancel any flights, although it was reporting 40 minute delays on its flights in and out of Rome.

Lufthansa cancelled two of 26 flights, but planned to run larger planes on some flights to make up the difference.

Stocks of Serono, Europe’s largest biotechnology firm, were down 4.8 percent by midmorning Wednesday after it was announced that it had been forced to stop late-stage trials on two of its drugs in development.

The trials were stopped upon recommendation of two separate data and safety boards.

Trials for the cancer drug Canvaxin in its function as a treatment for Stage IV melanoma were halted when data revealed that the drug had no greater effect on the cancer than did a placebo.

Trials, however, will continue for Canvaxin in the treatment of Stage III melanoma, an earlier stage of the skin cancer.

In a more serious development, Phase 3 trials of the drug onercept in the treatment of psoriasis were forced to be halted last year when two patients were diagnosed with sepsis and one of the patients subsequently died.

Sepsis is a recognized side-effect of the treatment of psoriasis with drugs, but in this case the risks were determined not to outweigh the possible benefits of treatment with the drug.

While these halted trials were a definite setback for Serono, analysts believe that the news sounds worse than it is and declined to revise profit estimates for the company.

The reasons cited for this include the sales numbers for another of Serono’s psoriasis drugs, the fact that trials of Canvaxin are ongoing in the treatment of Stage III melanoma, and the increased market for Serono’s Multiple Sclerosis drug, Rebif, in the wake of another company’s forced withdrawal of its MS drug from the market in February.

A group of software and technology companies have joined the European Commission’s anti-trust case against Microsoft.

The European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS) includes IBM, Oracle, Nokia, Red Hat, and RealNetworks.

The participation of these companies in the case will serve to add credibility to the case, credibility which was lessened after Sun, Novell, and the Computer and Communications Industry Association dropped out of the case after settling out of court with Microsoft.

It is not sure that the ECIS will be granted the right to officially join the proceedings, as it missed a filing deadline with the court.

But the ECIS will still be able to lend technological and legal advice, lost when the other concerns dropped out, on an unofficial basis if they are not granted official standing.

In addition, even if not granted official standing, the ECIS can also still apply to participate in the oral arguments on the appeal.

Saying that its shareholders have negative feelings about the deal, MCI has rejected a bid of $8.93 billion ($27.50 per share) from Qwest Communications and has instead signed a deal with Verizon Communications for a lesser amount.

However, a group of large MCI shareholders have indicated that they favor the Qwest deal and will vote against the Verizon merger if it is presented to the shareholders for approval.

Qwest is said to be interested in pursuing the deal with MCI by either raising its offer to as high as $9.4 billion (between $28.50 and $29.00 per share) or by taking it’s present offer or a modified offer directly to MCI shareholders.

MCI has said that they are willing to continue negotiations with Qwest if they are willing to raise their bid to $30.00 per share, but Qwest is apparently not willing, for the present, to raise their bid that high.

The London markets were higher on Tuesday, largely on the strength of the 17.9 percent jump in Allied Domecq’s stock, the biggest one-day rise in any of the FTSE 100’s listed stocks in 10 months.

Allied’s huge jump came as it confirmed rumors of talks with American and French spirits manufacturers. Allied makes Beefeater gin and Stolichnaya vodka.

Other makers of spirits also benefited, showing raises in their stocks on the day. Pharmaceuticals were also up in London.

Meanwhile, in Japan, both the Nikkei and Topix indexes were up on Tuesday, with the dollar gaining strength against the yen.

Car makers were the biggest beneficiaries of the Japanese market’s rise, with Honda, Toyota, and Nissan all seeing advances in their stocks. Technology stocks were also up, with Matsushita, Cannon, and Hitachi all seeing their shares up on the day.

Japan Tobacco, the third largest tobacco company in the world, was down however, amid rumors that its Russian production subsidiary had its bank accounts in St. Petersburg frozen amid a tax dispute.

Back on the plus side, some pharmaceutical, energy, and entertainment stocks were up on Tuesday.

Pfizer, the world’s largest drug company, revealed Tuesday a cost cutting program it says has been made necessary by changes in the industry and uncertainties over the growth of profits.

The company said it’s earnings will fall this year, coming in below Wall Street expectations.

The $4 billion in reductions will take the form of reorganizing its sales operations, not filling positions vacated by retirement or resignation, introducing more efficiency in research operations, and a general streamlining of its worldwide operations.

At least part of its reorganization will reflect the much greater importance of government purchase of drugs in the U.S. in relation to the Medicare program of health care for the elderly and more of an emphasis on preventative health activities in association with large companies and the Medicare program.

Pfizer has instituted this program of cost cutting partly due to the pending expiration of a number of its drug patents, as well as over concerns revolving around pricing and safety issues, regulation, and government intervention in how drug companies operate.

Private equity companies in the United States and United Kingdom seem to be poised to enter into joint ventures to acquire German companies, said to be good targets for acquisition because so many of them are underperforming at the current time.

This at a time when foreign influence in the German market has gone from nearly nonexistent to growing at a rapid rate in only the past fifteen years or so. One expert believes that he could easily see two or three equity firms teaming up to take a German company private.

Further speculation is that these equity firms are ready to break with tradition and are seeking to acquire minority portions of some of the German companies rather than taking the traditional path of outright takeover.

Among the nearly one-third of German blue-chip companies said to be targeted are Bayer, Lufthansa, perhaps even Volkswagen.

Bob the Builder saves Barbie from Barney the Dinosaur?

It could happen, if Lions Gate Entertainment decides to extend a bid of $1 billion (£530 m) it is reported to be thinking of offering to Hit Entertainment, which controls both Bob and Barney as part of their children‘s entertainment holdings.

Included in Lions Gate’s current roster is Barbie; if it acquires Hit, it would control approximately 14 percent of the U.S. family entertainment market.

Hit is considering two other offers in addition to Lions Gates’ bid. One bidder, thought to be from a non-U.S. consortium of investors, has not been identified by Hit at this time.

These two bids are seen as attempts to forestall a bid from Apax, a private equity firm, that Hit had seemed ready to accept. Lions Gate met with Apax in March to discuss acquiring Hit, but there was no agreement on a joint offer.

Some European companies that trade on the New York Stock Exchange are less than pleased with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which requires all companies, including foreign companies, to show proof that they have in place controls that will assure they are prepared to avert accounting scandals like those that brought down Enron a few years ago.

They have protested that compliance is too costly, they have secured a one-year delay in compliance requirements (U.S. companies began to comply in 2004), and they have threatened to quit trading on the U.S. markets.

A few companies, including four British companies, have actually delisted. None of this seems to have U.S. investors too worried, however: Even though they would be required to sell their shares in any foreign company that delists, U.S. investors have made the average daily value of foreign stocks trading on the New York Stock Exchange higher than it has been in five years.

Japanese markets ended the week with both the Nikkei and Topix indices up on Friday. Rising crude oil prices were able to counterbalance the unexpected drop in an important quarterly survey that reports business confidence.

London financial markets, on the other hand, ended the week on an up note amid the news that 24 percent of reporting companies had higher than average earnings and another 71 percent had met their predicted earnings in the most recent reports.

Also reported to be a factor were several vigorous takeover attempts. The New York markets ended the week and began the second quarter on the downturn after better results earlier in the week.

Reported reasons for the late-week decline included new concerns over inflation, the uncertain state of oil prices, and a report that fewer than expected jobs had been created outside the farm sector.

Best Buy, the largest consumer electronics retailer in the U.S., is trying a new strategy to increase sales.

They have already remodeled 67 stores into a new, non-traditional store model in which each store targets one or two specific types of client in an effort to take advantage of niche markets.

This venture into niche marketing seems to be working; Best Buy has reported that the restructured stores report sales increases of 8.4 percent, in comparison to a sales increase of 2.3 percent at its traditionally-configured stores.

Best Buy has announced its intention to convert 250 to 300 of its over 800 stores to the new model by the end of next year.

In another move to increase sales, Best Buy also has plans to increase its new computer repair services and extend this service to small businesses in certain markets.

To accomplish this, Best Buy will add 5,000 new repair service employees to the 7,000 “Geek Squad” employees it already has.