The top line executives at Ford Motor Co. revealed that in the coming years, the company plans to import as many as six newer models to the U.S from Europe. The news comes in the wake of reports of huge losses incurred by Ford, as it posted the worst quarterly performance in its long history of automobile manufacturing.

Ford plans to update its Fusion and Milan versions in the coming months besides continuing to work on hybrid designs of the two mid-size segments cars. Also in the pipeline are few North American products such as the latest Taurus sedan which is most likely to be rolled out by 2009. The European models include the new Fiesta subcompact besides some experimental versions based on the Focus compact. However, the newer models based on European designs are not expected to hit the road before 2010.

Ford Motor Co. has been incurring losses for successive years due to falling sales of its trucks and sports utility vehicles. This had even prompted rumors about Ford closing down some of its manufacturing units. However, Derrick Kuzak, who heads the global product development division at Ford denied that survival was an issue; instead the company plans to revamp its truck plant in Mexico besides retooling a couple of other truck factories to manufacture small cars.

-Kalyani Mookherji

In recent times New World wines have posed a steady competition to the vintage variety, both in terms of popularity as well as quality. These wines mainly come from the Australian and South American continent. While these wines still have a long way to go in replacing the traditional Bordeaux at fine dining, they are being lapped up by the middle-level consumers.

The best wines have traditionally come from Europe, particularly the vineyards of France and Italy. However, from mid-nineteenth century onwards, wines from Australia and New Zealand began to make their presence felt in the larger world. Other countries which have also emerged as significant wine producing regions are Argentina, Chile, Canada, South Africa and California in the United States.

Many of the New World vineyards are located in regions much hotter than Europe. This makes the New World grapes riper which gives its wines a more full-bodied with a higher alcoholic content. However in recent times, there have been concerted efforts to match grapes and winemaking techniques to suit particular regions. Wines from these newer vineyards have found their way to hitherto lesser known locations like Hong Kong where former French wine enthusiast, Michael Robertson now stocks some of the best wines from New Zealand like a Sauvignon Blanc which costs under $20.

-Kalyani Mookherji

For a majority of American tourists, The Bahamas are the ideal destination to soak in some sun, sea and sand. Tourism is thus big business in the tiny island nation set in the midst of the Atlantic Ocean. Almost half the labor force of The Bahamas is directly dependent on tourism or on many of its related sectors like the hospitality, Food& Beverage as well as leisure industries.

The Bahama Islands enjoy a geographical advantage in that it is easily accessible to tourists from eastern United States and Canada. In fact, visitors from North America make up around 80% of all the tourists in the island paradise. At the same time it continues to receive holiday-makers from virtually every other part of the world including South America, Western Europe, Japan as well as South Africa.

The Bahamas are a focal point of most of the cruise liners in the Caribbean region. According to an estimate provided by the Bahamas National Investment Policy, almost 40% of all cruise passengers visit the country. Tourism is the dominant industry in the Bahamas as it earns as much as US $1.3 billion from the 3.2 million visitors who come to the country, thus making up for 70% of the entire government tax revenue. In recent years, the government has been encouraging greater participation of the private sector in the tourism industry.

-Kalyani Mookherji

Microsoft, the computer software giant has decided to invest more in its online business in a bid to offer significant competition to Google which remains the current leader in directing search engine traffic over the Internet. This emphasis on greater research by Microsoft to develop its internet marketing line comes in the wake of its failed effort to take over Yahoo, which at present ranks second in search engines.

On July 25, 2008, Steve Ballmer, the Microsoft CEO revealed plans to pump in a whopping $1.2 to $1.5 billion a year for research and revamping of its online business. This includes a substantial $500 million package for fiscal 2009 announced more than week ago. Even though Ballmer did not offer any details of the layout, he declared that a major part of the investment would seek to develop search technology and prop up the company’s data center infrastructure besides looking for newer ways of Web indexing and marketing.

Microsoft plans indicate that the industry shift to priority of search engines is here to stay. Search engines not only direct Internet users to websites which they may not be able to look for by themselves but play a crucial role in determining what kind of sites and services to advertise to attract more Internet traffic. Google too is a big spender when it comes to search with its biggest research team devoted to developing newer search programs and updates.

-Kalyani Mookherji.

At the close of the second quarter, the U.S economy shook off fears of a severe recession to report increased sales of homes. This was accompanied by higher number of orders for durable goods in the month of June. The good news comes at a time when the economy is fighting a slow rate of growth, which some experts feel, is the worst in five years.

A Bloomberg survey revealed that sales of new homes were up to 530,000 in the past year which was higher than the much more conservative median estimate of 503,000. Another report from the Commerce Department stated that bookings of durable goods in the country recorded the first consecutive monthly rise since July last year and at present showed an increase of 0.8%. The slim margin of growing optimism was also reflected in a consumer sentiment index, brought out by Reuters/University of Michigan study, which showed that in July 2008 it stood at 61.2, up from a dismal 56.4 in June.

The good news about the rising sale of new houses and durable products brought some cheer to an economy fighting off fears of prolonged recession. The prospect of job cuts and higher prices spelled doom in many a household. Experts feared that this together with the fading effect of tax rebates would bring spending to a year-long low and negatively impact the economy.

-Kalyani Mookherji

A new study in Britain has thrown up starling results on the dismal level of savings of the average person. It reports that around a third of the country’s population would run out of funds within a fortnight if they were unable to work. This points to an alarming trend of lack of information on or awareness of income protection plans among a significant segment of the population.

The study conducted by the Yorkshire Building Society further reported that the average person had savings which would last for just about 52 days in case of loss of a job or inability to work. On the other hand, the outgoings for this profile totaled around 1500 pounds per month. A fifth of the people evaluated in the study also responded with incredulous plans and admitted that they had no clue about how they would survive.

The results of the research were reported in The Telegraph and threw up the startling fact that almost nine out of ten people interviewed did not possess any insurance for income protection which would render them incapable of paying their bills in the event of a job loss.

The study revealed that certain groups stood in greater danger in case of job loss.; for instance, those who were divorced were more likely to be without savings or income protection cover. Around nineteen percent of the respondents claimed they would look for state benefits despite a large disparity between their monthly outgoings and the benefits.

-Kalyani Mookherji

Amgen Inc, the global biotechnology giant, looked ready to end the second quarter on a high note with the announcement of a successful trial of its pivotal drug Denosumab. The drug has been developed to treat osteoporosis in post-menopausal patients. News of the positive trial results by Amden was greeted at the stock market with enthusiasm where its shares surged to $62, amidst hectic after-hours trading.

The drug trial of Denosumab was launched by Amgen on a massive scale which covered as many as 7800 patients over a three year period. The drug was found to meet its most important requirement of preventing vertebral fractures in post-menopausal patients. It also gave satisfactory results in reducing the frequency of hip as well as other non-vertebral fractures. However, safety data and other specific details of the drug trial are yet to be released.

With the successful trial of Denosumab, Amgen Inc hopes to take on the highly competitive market for osteoporosis drugs. At present, the market is dominated by more economical preparations of the generic drug, Fosamax which was developed by Merck & Co. With Denosumab, Amgen hopes to cover the widespread losses it incurred in the promotion of its drug to treat anemia. In fact, industry sources reveal that if Denosumab is proved to be more effective than its competitors, then sales of the drug could touch $3 billion in a year.

-Kalyani Mookherji

Returning to work on a Monday morning can be a terrifying prospect for many business executives. Working in a highly competitive environment and struggling to meet deadlines for five to six consecutive days can build up a significant sleep deficit at the end of a week. However, the good news is that with a little bit of planning and a dash of will power, one can stride up to the office elevator on a Monday morning with a bouncing step.

If possible one might go to bed earlier than usual on a Sunday night. However, this does not always work as one may remain awake till the usual bedtime. In such cases, it pays to complete as much of Monday morning preparations as one can the night before. Packing the briefcase, laying out the suit and packing lunches the previous night will give one that extra fifteen minutes of sleep on Monday morning needed to face the world.

Cold shower and a steaming cup of coffee remain the business executive’s best friends on a Monday morning. Caffeine, when taken in moderation, has been scientifically proven to increase alertness and provide stimulus. If one can manage to exercise in the morning, so much the better. Finally, get out in the sunshine as bright light charges up the body’s internal clock, telling it that it is indeed time to hit the road.

-Kalyani Mookherji