Rupert lets rip on Microsoft-Yahoo, Obama

After dinner and a few drinks last night, a very refreshed Rupert Murdoch stopped by for a chat outside the bar at the Sun Valley Lodge and revealed that he did not think Microsoft would succeed in buying Yahoo.

“They’re not going to do a deal,” he said. “There’s bad personal feelings…in six months [Microsoft] will walk away.”

It has been suggested that News Corporation is prepared to swap its MySpace social network for a stake in Yahoo but Mr Murdoch said any involvement by the company in the takeover saga was “not likely”.

With his sons James and Lachlan chatting on the terrace outside, Mr Murdoch then talked about his experience at a conference session earlier that day. He had attended a presentation given by Niall Fitzgerald, the deputy chairman of Thomson Reuters, and had taken exception to Mr Fitzgerald’s comments about the US.

Mr Fitzgerald had suggested that the US was viewed negatively around the world because of foreign policy mistakes. “People in Europe forget that the US saved them from two world wars, from Nazism, communism…and America never asked for a penny.”

The conversation turned to the US election and Mr Murdoch revealed an admiration for Barack Obama. The New York Post, which is owned by News Corporation, has already endorsed the Democratic candidate.

“There’s a sliver of hope that America could be great again under Obama,” he said, adding: “I met him and was impressed. But you know what I’m like…I get to meet them for an hour and I’m seduced.”

FOREX-Dollar falls as credit woes cut Fed rate hike chances

* Dollar falls as credit fears further darken market mood

* Euro rises to 2-1/2-month high vs dollar

* U.S. lawmaker raises hopes on discount window option (Recasts, updates prices, changes byline)

The dollar fell broadly on Friday as persistent worries about the stability of two U.S. mortgage finance giants were seen constraining the Federal Reserve's ability to raise interest rates this year.

The greenback briefly got some support versus the yen, however, after a source told Reuters Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke had said embattled mortgage finance houses Freddie Mac (FRE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Fannie Mae (FNM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) would qualify for discount window borrowing.

But a Fed spokeswoman later said the U.S. central bank had had no discussions with the two government-sponsored firms about access to that emergency lending facility.

Separately, a senior U.S. lawmaker said the Fed and the Treasury Department were considering opening the discount window.

"Ongoing concerns about the fragility of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have again underscored the likely inability of the Federal Reserve to raise rates any time soon," said Shankar Samarjit, global FX strategist at Bank of New York Mellon in Boston.

HCL Technologies set to take $65-75m forex hit

The announcement of a forex loss by HCL Technologies only dampened investor sentiment further on a day that saw IT bellwether Infosys take a huge beating despite announcing a 21% year-on-year profit growth for the April-June quarter.
In a departure from the norm so far, the smaller IT services firm said it expects to post a loss of $65-75 million on account of the rupee-dollar movements last quarter.

HCL Info focus on system integration business | HCL partners VMware

As of March 31, HCL Technologies had hedges worth $2.5 billion.

During the April-June quarter, it unwound $540 million worth of forward covers, incurring a cash loss of $9 million. It also incurred mark-to-market (MTM) losses on the cover outstanding.

A statement from the company said, with these losses, the 'other comprehensive loss' in its balance sheet will swell to $114 million.

For the full year ending June 30, the company expects forex losses of $67-77 million, against a gain of $79.2 million last fiscal.

Tips to book profits in a falling market! Click here

The local currency depreciated by as much as 7.3% against the greenback during the quarter, sending over-hedged companies such as HCL and Wipro into a tizzy. These companies are likely to take hits since they had estimated the greenback at around Rs 40 levels, against Rs 43 now.

In June, DNA Money had projected forex losses fuelled by the depreciating rupee to trim IT company's profits substantially. Wipro, for instance, had $3 billion worth of outstanding hedges as on March 31, 2008, on which it faced a mark-to-market cash-flow hedge losses of Rs 109.7 crore. In comparison, TCS had $2.2 billion worth of hedges, while Infosys had a forex cover of $760 million in March.

Byo Retailers Charge In Forex Business

THE cost of living for consumers in Bulawayo has become more expensive as most businesses are now charging for their goods and services in foreign currency, as the fragile Zimbabwean dollar continues to tumble against major currencies.

However, it has emerged that the government and the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) have set up a taskforce to bring businesses and individuals charging for services and goods in foreign currency to book.

A survey by businessdigest this week revealed that most shops in the city centre have priced their goods in South African rands and are refusing to sell their goods and services in the local currency claiming they would make losses if they traded in the local currency.

Basic commodities such as mealie meal, sugar, cooking oil and salt are being sold in South African rands. Landlords have also been renting out their properties for R1 000 or more a month for a house in the low density suburbs of Bulawayo although government has threatened to take stern measures against those charging rentals in foreign currency.

A 20kg bag of mealie meal at the local bus terminals is being sold for R100, cooking oil is being sold for R50 per one litre bottle. A two kilogramme bag of sugar is going for between R30-R50. The sales persons say the prices are negotiable.

The official gazetted price for 20kg of mealie meal is $2 billion and 750ml of cooking oil is $3 billion.

Comfort Machekeza, the regional manager for the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe, said that the local currency is still legal tender despite its depreciation in value and also added that it is illegal for business to charge in foreign currency without the necessary permission from the monetary authority. He added that a special taskforce, which is already operational, has been set up together with members from the Zimbabwe Republic Police with the sole purpose of bringing "sanity" back into the economy and warned businesses that they will face steep penalties if convicted.

"The Zimbabwe dollar is still legal tender in this country and it is illegal for business to charge for their goods and services in foreign currency without the permission and clearance from monetary authorities," said Machekeza. "We have already set up a taskforce which is already operational in order to bring those unscrupulous traders to book."

In Zimbabwe business owners who are convicted of contravening the Foreign Exchange Act risk having their operating licences revoked or may face incarceration.