Marketplace

Brits hang carbon out to dry

Sales of clotheslines and clothespins in Britain are at their highest level in 50 years. They've seen a big jump since February, when the government there called on individuals and businesses to reduce their carbon footprints. Double bonus: Air drying is good for your clothes too.

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Time to play 'What's private equity buying now?'

Canada's largest phone company, for one. This weekend, a couple U.S. firms teamed up with the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan to buy phone company BCE for almost $52 billion. It's the biggest buyout in Canadian history.

And private equity has its eye on Britain's biggest cable operator, Virgin Media. Times of London telecom editor Elizabeth Judge says there's a potential bid brewing worth at least $10 billion.

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Longer work days? Oui!

Full-time workers in France typically get five weeks of vacation from jobs with shorter workweeks than most of us are used to, just 35 hours a week. But now French legislators are saying it may not be a bad idea to encourage people to work more. They've approved a measure championed by President Nicolas Sarkozy that cuts taxes on overtime pay, part of a sweeping economic package he's pushing to open up the country's economy. The bill's almost certain to pass.

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Another subprime shoe drops

Fallout from the subprime mortgage mess has hit Europe. The biggest bank in France, BNP Paribas, won't let investors from take money out of three funds with holdings in U.S. subprime loans. The bank's having trouble determining what these funds are worth. At the end of last month, they were valued at nearly $3 billion. Just last week BNP Paribas said it would be virtually untouched by subprime problems. Now it's 'Katie bar the door.' Overnight bank lending rates in Europe have taken a big jump, and that's likely to spell trouble for Wall Street.

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IMF names new . . . European

The International Monetary Fund is about to name a new leader, and it looks like a Euro-tradition will continue. The 24-member board of shareholder governments is expected to put former French finance minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn in the post. A European has led the global financial institution for six decades, since its post-World War II inception in 1945.

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We don't recommend you try this

Ever tried to pull one of your own teeth? It hurts just to think about it. In Britain, a survey of more then 5,000 patients found that 6 percent of them have resorted at some point to self-treatment. One person took out 14 of his teeth with pliers. And others just decided to use a little super-glue on crowns after they popped off. Behind the scary tales -- there is a shortage of dentists in Britain's National Health Service. A good number of them have been leaving the system after the government introduced some reforms in 2006. And by now, 45 percent of dentists don't accept National Health Patients anymore.

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Germany: Take down the auto wall

For nearly 50 years, Germany has shielded automaker Volkswagen from a takeover.
That protections may be over today. The European Union's highest court has ruled that Germany's shield law is illegal. This ruling has another German carmaker -- Porsche -- revving its engines. Porsche already owns about 31 percent of VW, but under Germany's law, its voting share had been limited to 20 percent. Porsche has been buying VW shares for at least two years and maintains a credit line as it looks to purchase the giant Volkswagen.

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A greener France by 2020

France has been accused of not being as green as its European neighbors. But French President Nicolas Sarkozy seems to want get rid of that reputation. Yesterday, he promised a green revolution -- with Al Gore by his side, Sarkozy said that by 2020, all new buildings would be required to produce more energy than they consume. He talked about taxing trucks carrying freight across France, and he even played with the idea of imposing higher taxes on products from countries that did not sign the Kyoto Protocol.

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The Internet can be a royal pain

Apparently pop music start Prince doesn't like the Internet so much anymore. He was the first major artist to distribute an album exclusively online. But the piracy thing is getting to him.
Within the next few days, Prince is expected to start a legal campaign against the website The Pirate Bay. The site is based in Sweden and is best known for helping users find copies of music and movies -- illegal copies, of course. The funny thing is that Prince just gave away two million free copies of his latest album in the U.K. -- with the newspaper.

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Airbus 'threatened' by dollar's decline

If there is a worst-case scenario for a company in these days of a really weak dollar, that would be Airbus' scenario. The European plane maker sells its jets in dollars, so their making less money these days. But their expenses are not lowering a bit -- they are in euros. So bad is the situation that yesterday, Airbus' chief executive said that the dollar rapid decline is life-threatening for the company.

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Swiss bank on Singapore

This morning, the Swiss bank UBS announced $10 billion in write-downs. That's one of the biggest losses for a major bank so far. UBS also cancelled plans for a cash dividend to investors. Some good news for the bank: UBS will be getting some emergency funding from the Singapore government and an unnamed Middle East investor.

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It's OK to mix your beer

British brewer Scottish and Newcastle has a reason to pour a pint and make a toast today. The company's just accepted a more than $15 billion takeover offer. The new owners will be Heineken and Carlsberg. Scottish and Newcastle traces its roots to 1749, with a brewery that opened in Edinburgh.

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SocGen's rogue trader dealing with large pool

French bank Societe Generale said Friday that the rogue trader who cost the bank $7.14 billion had been trading with a far bigger pool -- tens of billions of dollars. A bank official confirmed that the size of the trader's positions had reached "several tens of billions of euros," a staggering sum for a bank whose market capitalization is $52.6 billion. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with bank policy.

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New York stores accepting Euros

If you weren't convinced the dollar just isn't what it used to be, listen to this. Some stores in New York are putting up signs that read: "Euros accepted here." An owner of a wine shop in the East Village says, "money is money."European tourists are travelling to the city looking to take advantage of the exchange rates.

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Now your money can toast to you

How about a picture of a whiskey distillery instead of the Lincoln Memorial on the $5 bill?
The Bank of Ireland is going to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Bushmills whiskey this spring by doing something like that. It's going to print an image of the Bushmills distillery on a new series of five, 10, and 20-pound bank notes. London's Telegraph reports certain commercial lenders in Northern Ireland and Scotland can legally print their own currency.

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Credit Suisse not bucking to subprime

The headline of yet another bank writing down billions of additional dollars has become all too familiar. This morning, one bank is bucking that trend. Credit Suisse reduced its full-year writedowns today to just under $2 billion. It's one of the few banks to avoid heavy subprime losses.
It's rival, UBS, has taken charges of more than $18 billion. Credit Suisse isn't perfect though -- the bank also reported a 49 percent fall in fourth-quarter net profit.

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European telecom has eyes on Sprint Nextel

Europe's biggest telecom firm may be planning to pick up America's third largest wireless company. The Wall Street Journal reports that Deutsche Telekom is considering a bid to acquire Sprint Nextel Corporation. Deutsche Telekom already owns T-mobile USA, the fourth biggest wireless company. Buying Sprint Nextel would rocket the German firm to the No. 1 spot in the U.S. wireless market. Investors reacted to the news by pulling back from Deutsche Telekmon. Shares fell by 1.2 percent today. But Sprint may be getting a bump from the attention. Shares were up in pre-market trading.

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A possible strike before Open Skies

British Airways will begin selling tickets today for its new Paris to New York service called "Open Skies." The flights may or may not begin next month -- British Airlines pilots may close Open Skies before the first plane takes off. They've voted overwhelming to strike if the carrier goes online. The pilots say BA is using this new service to force through a series of unacceptable new terms and conditions.

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