Owner: Canadian Business URL:http://www.canadian-business.info Join Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 20:18:19 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Canadian Business is a blog containing analysis on daily Canadian and international business news, markets and economy. Our posts provide information, opinons, forecasts, and more. We take a Canadian standpoint on what’s happening in the rapidly changing Site statistics:Click here
Top 5 - Parking Costs 2007-07-27 15:59:41 I always though parking in Toronto was too costly - of which I was right. But I just found out it isn’t nearly as bad as Calgary - Canada’s most costly parking city. Canada’s parking market is on fire.
A new study by real estate services company Colliers International says daily rates rost 7.4% across he country over the past year to $14.22. The national median monthly rate was up 8.1%, to $205.70. Here are the Top 5:
1) Calgary — $350.00 per month
2) Toronto — $302.00 per month
3) Montreal — $262.00 per month
4) Vancouver — $209.00 per month
5) Ottawa — $195.00 per month
These rising rates are a factor for many companies considering moving to the suburbs. There is just no shortage of demand, especially in the downtown core. Parking
costs also continue to have a significant effect on a tenant’s decision-making process as well. I guess tenants need to deal with high parking rates, if deciding to locate near downtown.
Regina and Sas Read more:Costs
Apple profits push stock up, on a rainy day 2007-07-26 18:21:15 It was another rainy day on the North American stock markets today, with triple digit losses. Somebody screamed ‘FIRE’, on increasing concerns about the mortgage and corporate lending markets in the United States. Anxiety built up after the U.S. Commerce Department reported sales of new homes down 6.6 percent last month. Eventually we had investors running all over the place for exits. It was a wild see-saw ride on Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index. The index lost as much as 400 points before closing down 260.72 points, or 1.85 percent. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 2.26 percent.
Amidst the rainy day, Apple
Inc’s investors had one luxurious umbrella, as the company’s stock shined the brightest today. Apple reported third-quarter profit rose 73 percent, much higher than analysts predicted. Apple shares leaped $8.29, or 6 percent, to $145.55 in extended trading after the report. Apple’s success was due to its latest and innovat Read more:profits
IMF raises global economic growth forecast 2007-07-26 00:29:45 The International Monetary Fund raised its global economic growth forecasts on Wednesday. In its forecast, the IMF mentioned increased expansion in China, India, and Russia; and also some stability in the United States despite the risks it still faces in its housing market The IMF updated its global growth forecast to 5.2 percent for both 2007 and 2008 (up from a forecast of 4.9 percent).
China’s 2007 growth projection was also raised to 11.2 percent (from a previous forecast of 10 percent). IMF’s research department reported strong growth in exports and investments, along with some growth in its domestic consumption (a positive sign that China’s economy may finally be starting to shift from excessive reliance on exports). Together, China, India, and Russia account for more than half the year’s 5.2 percent growth projection.
The U.S. economic performance will still be pulled back by its housing downturn. Nevertheless, business investment is recovering, and con
Canada CRTC deregulates phone markets 2007-07-25 17:08:21 A government ruling today will allow Canada
’s biggest phone
companies to be free from regulations in the some marketplaces. This opens the door to more competition and lower home telephone bills (finally).
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the government agency currently regulating the markets, made the announcement today that home phone rates will be deregulated first in Halifax, Fort McMurray, Alta., and some Maritime cities such as Fredericton and Charlottetown.
The ruling is probably the first of a series, opening the way to deregulation in major Canadian cities over the next few months. The CRTC has placed certain restrictions preventing Telus and Bell Aliant from raising prices in the newly deregulated areas - a great initiative by the government to protect the consumers.
Though a price war is not guaranteed, consumers in the deregulated markets will benefit from increased competition between local telephone service providers. Though th
Facebook lawsuit threatens shutdown 2007-07-25 16:28:04 The owners of a rival social networking website, ConnectU, are trying to shut down Facebook
on charges that Mark Zuckerber, founder of Facebook, stole their ideas while they were students at Harvard.
The three founders of ConnectU, Zuckerberg’s classmates, claim that they were working together on ConnectU while Zuckerberg repeatedly stalled and eventually created Facebook using their ideas. The charges against Zuckerberg include fraud, copyright infringement, and misappropriation of trade secrets. The lawsuit also asks the court to give control of Facebook (and its assets) to ConnectU’s founders.
Facebook did hit the web 3 months before ConnectU. The lawsuit claims that by beating ConnectU to the market, Facebook gained a “huge advantage”.
Haha… Sorry I can’t help but laugh on this one.
Dollar soars to 30-year high, TSX plummets 2007-07-24 19:43:19 The Canadian dollar continues to experience record highs as retail sales were reported strong today. The loonie was pushed up 0.88 of a cent to 96.39 US cents today. The dollar has risen 10.8 percent this year, and is currently at its highest levels since May 1977.
The strong dollar, a blowout May retail sales report, and last but not least, weaker commodity prices caused the Toronto Stock Exchange to plummet. The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 400.17 points, or about 2.8%, to 14,068.16. This was the benchmark index’s steepest one-day fall since the burst of the tech bubble in 2001. Canada’s two largest railways also contributed to the downfall today. Canadian National Railway stock fell 5.5 percent after lowering its full-year outlook; Canadian Pacific Railway, the No. 2 railway, slip 3.6 percent after it reported its quarterly profit dropped more than 30 percent. The TSX index hit a record peak last week, but retreated 3.8 percent in the last three sessions.
Regardle Read more:Dollar
Amazon.com delivers, shares jump 2007-07-24 19:05:38 Amazon.com Inc. reported quarterly net profit today, which rose an astonishing 250 percent, as sales in its home market jumped. Consequently, shares
were sent up nearly 13 percent. It was indeed an amazing performance.
Net income in the second quarter rose to $78 million, or 19 cents per share, compared with $22 million, or 5 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 35 percent to $2.89 billion in the second quarter, which is seasonally the slowest. In North America, net sales rose 38 percent, Amazon said. These numbers have all surpassed previous estimates. Amazon also raised its full-year forecasts.
The dot-com company did surprisingly well, and looks very brightly at the future. Sure Amazon had its share in tough times, but right now the company is valued well above both major Internet players and brick-and-mortar retailers. Read more:Amazon
Vancouver strike may affect 2010 Olympics 2007-07-24 03:14:15 Vancouver’s civic strike
of 1,800 outside workers escalated Monday. At about 8 a.m., 2,500 inside workers (CUPE 15 members) took to the picket lines across 124 city sites. Later in the day, almost 800 librarians also poised to walk off the job.
The strike revokes the ability to run city fitness centers, pools, rinks, day camps, golf courses, and as well as new permit applications and building inspection applications. Uncollected garbage remains on the streets since Friday morning, when Vancouver’s outside workers’ union, CUPE 1004 (including garbage collectors), began full strike action. If librarians walk off the job, it will be their first strike in history.
Union leaders are refusing to cooperate with City of Vancouver negotiators on a 39-month contract, that would run out March 10, 2010, nine days after the games conclude. If a different length term be offered, as union leaders request, the city faces the danger of being shut down while two billion people from aro Read more:Vancouver
, Olympics
Former DND bureaucrat guilty of fraud 2007-07-24 02:40:55 Canada’s Department of National Defense hit the news Monday as accused Paul Champagne pleaded guilty to fraud
and breach of trust. During his term as bureaucrat, a course of nearly a decade, Champagne had funneled more than $100 million into his controlled bank accounts.
Champagne’s scheme was complicated, and it built over time. He supposedly saved the DND lots of money by reorganizing the department’s computer maintenance system. He eventually built enough goodwill and trust to manage the order of goods and services (that were never delivered). Champagne owned multi-million dollar homes, spent millions on private jets, vacations, and luxury autos - all on his $60,000 salary.
“I am accepting responsibility for my actions,” Champagne confessed Monday. I am more worried about why this wasn’t detected earlier. It is now much to late to retrieve the lost money. Who knows where Champagne has his money invested. This tough task can only be nearly accompli Read more:Former
American Airlines shares rocket on takeover talk 2007-07-24 02:11:03 Shares of AMR Corp., parent company of AmericanAirlines
, rose more than 7 percent Monday on the basis of possible, but persistent takeover of the company.
American was among several US airlines, earlier this year, said to have been looking for merger partners. There were also speculations of major airlines like American, to be potential targets for private equity firms. Furthermore, Goldman Sachs analyst also raised his earnings estimate for AMR shares
on presumtion that the price of jet fuel will fall relative tot he price of crude oil in the fourth quarter of 2007 and all of 2008.
So is AMR really being bought? Totally depends on the validity of the chatter across multiple sources. Whatever the case may be, this is just another prime example of takeover talks resulting in unusual bullish behavior in the markets. Last week I mentioned Canadian Pacific Railway’s takeover rumors were probably overreacted to (which they were by the way); this may be just another example of the & Read more:rocket
Top 7 Reasons to Invest Beyond our Borders 2007-07-29 13:39:03 The Canadian culture has always been known as a high-risk-taking-culture — NOT. Making foreign investments becomes increasingly important in order to achieve financial success. Limiting yourselves to a domestic Canadian market will reduce many financial opportunities. Here are the Top 7 Reasons
to make foreign investments:
1) Canada is a small market. Canada represents only 3.5% of global equities. Restricting yourselves to the S&P/TSX will prevent taking a bite of the world’s highest performing indexes.
2) The Canadian market is dominated by a few major sectors. Energy and financial companies represent 60% of the S&P/TSX Composite Index. Diversification?
3) Some industries are virtually absent from the S&P/TSX. Investors preferring exposure to pharmaceuticals, health care services, defence, and information technology may want to consider some international corporate names.
4) Diversification becomes easier internationally. (This one really sells itself)
5 Read more:Borders
Lululemon stock doubles in debut 2007-07-29 13:10:09 Shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. spiked more than 50 percent on its first day of trading on Friday. The yoga-clothing retailer raised $327.6 million (much more than anticipated) in Canada’s largest initial public offering this year. The company’s stock closed at $29.72 on the TSX (”LLL”), and at $28 on the NASDAQ (”LULU”). The company expected its shares to trade at $10 to $12 a share. It was evident that the public was very interested in the company’s shares.
Lululemon, already an established brand in Canada, only has 17 stores south of the border. Along with those stores, and the 38 located here in Canada, Lululemon tripled its sales in two years. Right now, its growth strategy leans heavily on expansion to the U.S.
Chip Wilson, the company’s founder, started a business selling surf, skate and snowboard equipment in 1980, remaining Westbeach Snowboard Ltd.’s chief executive officer until 1995. He turned to yoga after taking a cl Read more:debut
A fresh bottle of Aquafina, Dasani… tap water? 2007-08-01 19:46:28 There isn’t anything, on a blazing hot summer day, like a freshbottle
of Aquafina or Dasani&hellip
; tap water
? Yes, that’s right… For those of you who didn’t know what the simply innocent looking “P.W.S” on Aquafina’s water bottle stood for: it’s “Public Water Source” (a.k.a. tap water). Last week PepsiCo announced that the label on its Aquafina brand of bottled water will soon carry the words “public water source”, instead of “P.W.S.”. Coca-cola is being pressured to do the same with its Dasani brand, although currently refusing to do so.
So will Aquafina’s new label have a disastrous effect on its sales? Well, it’s probably inevitable. At least it’s not like it will be to Dasani’s advantage; as it’s water source is being equally exposed to the public as simply “filtered tap water”. Coca-cola defends its stance by saying “We don’t believe that consumers are confused abou
Canadians choose Internet over radio, TV: CRTC 2007-08-01 12:38:22 Canadians appear to be switching off conventional broadcasting media (including radio and television), and now logging on to the Internet
- according to a new report on broadcasting by the CRTC.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s eight annual report on the state of the industry, found that 70 percent of Canadian households subscribed to the Internet in 2006, a six percent increase from 2005, and 60 percent use high speed internet, up from 51 per cent in 2005.
Although Canadians have more choice to both television and radio media than ever before, they are watching and listening less. More and more Canadians are using relatively new technology for everything from research, to watching and listening to radio and TV shows. The report revealed that 22 percent of Canadians listened to radio over the Internet in 2006 and six percent watched television. Internet advertisers benefited with revenues totalling $1-billion in 2006, as opposed to $562-million Read more:Canadians
, choose
Quit Smoking for a PST Tax Credit? 2007-07-31 02:18:05 Ontario is trying to help smokers quit by providing all residents a PST (Provincial Sales Tax) break on smoking cessation aids in two weeks. Beginning August 14, those who wish to quit smoking won’t have to pay the 8 percent sales tax on nicotine replacement therapy products (patches, gums, inhalers, pills…). The credit will be given at point of sale, as per Health Promotions Minister, Jim Watson.
Congratulations to Ontario for taking such a bold step - NOT. Sure we will save $5-million a year, but is that really an incentive for smokers to quit? If the financial costs of smoking itself (about $10 a pack) isn’t enough of an incentive to quit, what makes Mr. Watson believe that cutting costs on therapy products will help? What we can do, is take that $5-million every year and use it to continuously educate the public of the harmful effects of smoking - a proven strategy.
An average of 16,000 people in Ontario die each year from smoking; tobacco-related diseases cost t Read more:Smoking
China economy STILL out of control 2007-07-30 17:27:19 The latest of attempts in keeping the world’s fourth-largest economy
from overheating, was today when China
’s central bank raised the level of deposit that lenders must hold in reserve (the bank reserve requirement) for the 9th time in thirteen months.
Again this is not a surprising move, as the policy makers have been continuously tightening policy measures to constrain the economy. Today’s step follows an increase in interest rates on July 20, and a reduction in the tax on interest income from bank deposits - an attempt to lower the incentive of individuals looking to bet on the country’s blazing-hot stock markets.
China has already raised this reserve requirement 6 times this year. The country’s central bank has also raised interest rates three times this year so far. We can most likely expect further action; higher reserves, and higher interest rates.
I warn you all once again, this is the time to step out. The bomb’s ticking is getting louder as
Why the strong Canadian Dollar is not helping lower prices 2007-08-04 02:54:49 I am guessing you are looking forward for an answer in this post. I’m sorry, but you won’t find one. Unfortunately, I myself am looking for an answer… I am frustrated at the fact that we are currently paying too much for imported goods. The recent surge of the Canadian
dollar should reflect on the prices we pay for imported products. The savings from a high dollar versus other currencies should ultimately be passed on to the consumers; in other words, prices need to be adjusted lower.
Top 3 reasons to why the savings should be forwarded to the consumers:
I enjoy buying things when they are cheap
Canadians might start shopping in the United States, where savings can reach 40 per cent.
I really enjoy buying things when they are cheap
All jokes aside, this is an important issue for the Canadian economy, and should be dealt with accordingly. These currency imbalances could seriously hurt the economy, among the build-up of reserves in China and the credit crunch stemmi Read more:Dollar
Tim Horton’s vs. Starbucks -umm, both losers 2007-08-04 01:44:38 I’m sure the title’s got your attention - probably not used to seeing Tim Horton
’s or Starbucks
beside the word “losers”. For those of you don’t know Tim Horton’s, you’re definitely not Canadian. Tim Horton’s, rather “Tims” (as it is affectionately known in Canada), is Canada’s largest fast food chain. Now you’re probably wondering why then I’m calling it a loser.
The coffee and doughnut chain (thus it’s comparison with Starbucks) said Friday that second-quarter profit fell 12%, despite higher revenue, because of a higher tax rate. Owned by U.S. fast food chain Wendy’s International, Tim Hortons said it earned $67.2-million ($63.4-million USD), or 36 cents a share; which is down from a profit of $76.3-million, or 39 cents, in the year-before period. The company is looking to push its stores south of the border, where it faces stiff competition and lack of brand recognition.
Speaking of s
Fisher-Price recalls 1 million toys, $30M U.S. 2007-08-02 12:40:22 Toy-maker Mattel Inc., parent company of Fisher
-Price, is recalling nearly 1 million
toys - which will cost it about $30 million from its second quarter profits. The toys, including the popular Big Bird, Elmo, Dora and Diego characters, are being recalled due to excessive amounts of lead on their paint.
The worldwide recall, announced today, involves 83 different types of plastic toys made by a Chinese vendor, and sold in the United States. A total of 967, 000 toys are affected. It is the latest in a wave of recalls that has heightened global concern about the safety of Chinese-made products. Because this is not the first of recalls from Chinese manufacturers, especially with parts containing lead, it may lead to the ultimate cost of consumer fear during the holiday season. I personally believe Mattel Inc.’s quick response should be praised, and should provide a future lesson not only for Mattel, but the entire industry.
Related PostsFisher-Price recalls 1 million toys, $30M U.
Market Recession still avoidable 2007-08-05 13:41:14 The U.S. housing sector slumps, fewer job growth, stagnant wages, negative savings, high debt, high interest rates, high energy prices — relax, don’t run for the exits just yet. All this only leads to a possibility of an economic recession, as you have probably already heard from your respective media sources. The problem is a conflict of interest. When you have media channels spreading scary news - it sells. On the other hand, when it drives a bunch of investors withdrawing from the marketplace in herds, it only turns the possibility into a more likely event.
Now don’t get me wrong, there is of course reason to “worry”, but not necessarily panic. On Friday, the S&P posted its worst single-day drop since the Shanghai surprise which led to a global selloff on Feb. 27. But a few bad weeks of market turbulence does not tell us there is a recession threatening us. The difficulties that lies in the road ahead of us is the subprime mortgage meltdown, slo Read more:Market
Bank of Canada calms markets, boosts liquidity 2007-08-09 18:25:46 The Bank of Canada
intervened a bit more than usual today in an attempt to help investors suffering from the high turbulence in both Canadian and American stock markets. Canada’s central bank took the rare step of publicly reassuring investors that it will help provide stability to financial markets and the domestic financial system - the last time the Bank provided this type of assurance was following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
“In light of current market conditions, the Bank of Canada would like to assure financial market participants and the public that it will provide liquidity to support the stability of the Canadian financial system and the continued functioning of financial markets,” the central bank said in a brief statement.
BoC (Bank of Canada) also intervened to the tune of $1.455 billion by buying government securities from market participants, and would sell them back the next day. It also had made $1.64-billion available to Canad
Bush’s words of wisdom on the American economy - {sarcasm} 2007-08-08 15:48:24 President George W. Bush, with his very reassuring (or not) tone, today said he believe the recent turbulence on Wall Street will soon be over, and we will reach a “soft landing”. Maybe he was talking about war planes in Iraq, Katrina rescue planes, or social security? I don’t think he even knows himself. Sorry to be political on this one guys; I just couldn’t help it.
After hearing of no assurance from Fed Chairman Bernanke about lowering interest rates anytime soon, I guess investors were looking for Bush’s help - the one he’s been providing during his term? President Bush said he expects investors to reassess their risk and begin to focus more on the economy
’s fundamentals, which he said are solid and sound. Unsurprisingly, based on market stupidity, investors reacted to his comments; because stocks are climbing as I write this.
If you’re one of the investors hitting buy orders now, I think it’s best you reassess the credibility Read more:American
Chrysler takes a gamble in naming Robert Nardelli CEO 2007-08-07 23:27:00 Chrysler’s new owner, Cereberus Capital Management named Robert
Nardelli (yes, Bob Nardelli) as the company’s new CEO. For those of you found the name familiar, yes it is the same Nardelli who in January was pushed out of Home Depot amid shareholder outrage over his $210-million pay. So when you see his name again as CEO, especially at Chrysler, it would seem like an absurd move. Why add salt to an already bleeding wound?
Maybe Nardelli isn’t the worst pick in this case; as a matter of fact, he might handle this post well beyond expectations. The reasons for Nardelli’s tarnished image would no longer be present in working for a private company:
Nardelli wasn’t a real stock price mover - Home Depot’s remained stagnant over his six-year tenure. This won’t be a problem anymore, considering the company’s gone private.
Nardelli was weakest in dealing with regular folks (Home Depot’s store managers). Okay, so how will he deal with labour Read more:Chrysler
Walmart makes move to India’s retail 2007-08-07 13:53:17 Wal-mart Stores Inc. and India
’s Bharti Enterprises signed a deal yesterday to jointly build wholesale outlets that will buy goods from farmers and small manufacturers and sell them to retailers through a nation-wide supply chain. This may be lead to the American company (Wal-Mart) in eventually gaining a foothold in India’s massive, booming, but well-protected retail industry.
Current Indian laws do not allow for multi-brand foreign retailers to sell directly to the consumer, but they can run wholesale operations and provide back-end support to Indian retailers. Indian companies are also allowed to operate stores selling foreign brands under franchise from their producers.
The deal between Wal-mart and Bharti Enterprises appear to have worked through these regulations. The deal consists of two separate agreements. Under the first agreement, the two companies will set up “a 50-50 venture for wholesale cash-and-carry and back-end supply chain management operation in India, Read more:Walmart
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Cost of milk rising, blame China 2007-08-12 01:10:09 Among all the other things we blame China
for (no offense), we have another to add to the list: the rising cost of milk. Why? Because of the growing appetite for for dairy foods in Asia, mainly China. Other factors, are rising costs for animal feed, shrinking European production and long-standing drought in Australia and New Zealand, the world’s largest milk-exporting region.
Milk consumption in China is soaring with rising incomes, a massive expansion of the dairy industry, and the creation of new taste-buds, of non-traditional food, among the young generation (ie. chocolate bars, cheeseburgers, lattes). Milk, yogurt, butter and packaged cheese slices can all be found in local supermarkets, with China’s growing love for dairy products today. Global demand for dairy products have been immense, while its supplies remain exceptionally tight.
According to the Food and Agricultural Organization, international dairy prices have increased 46 percent between the months of November 2
Credit Crunch: What is it, and why are stocks hurt by it? 2007-08-10 22:01:39 So what is this credit crunch we keep hearing on the news, what does it mean, and why are investors panicking over it? Simply put, it’s when money becomes hard to borrow. There are few signs of a “credit crunch” in today’s economy - if your an individual with no means of support, sure you’ll probably be the first to be victimized. In other words, your friendly neighbourhood mortgage shop might deny you credit (if they haven’t already gone bankrupt from defaults). Some institutions are also finding it hard to borrow money on favourable terms because of the shortage, and can not sell loans at decent profit levels, will take losses, and tighten up their lending schedule.
But as of yet there still seems to be plenty of cash moving around; and anyone with a decent chance of paying it off, should receive a loan at a reasonably a low rate. The central banks around the world have also provided this assurance by injecting cash into their systems during the Read more:Crunch
Canada’s housing starts slowdown this year: CMHC 2007-08-15 16:28:47 Canada’s housing starts slowdown to 220,000 this year, down 3.2 percent from last year, says the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This slowdown is partly due to higher prices, and rising mortgage costs. The agency also made a forecast of a drop to 207,200 next year as well.
“Despite high employment levels, income gains and low mortgage rates, housing starts will trend downwards in 2007,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s chief economist.
Though housing starts are expected to slowdown, builders and renovators will probably still continue to enjoy boom times in the industry. Why? Sales of existing homes are expected to hit a record 514,445 this year, up 6.5 percent from 2006 sales - according to the CMHC. The Conference Board also said that the booming western provinces help push the price of existing homes up 9.9 percent this year.
Renovations will most likely maintain the industry as Canadians are expected to keep spending money on home improvement project Read more:Canada
Mattel recalls second round of “Made in China” toys 2007-08-14 11:44:29 Wow. I just finished writing about the possible end of hearing the word &ldquo
;recall&rdquo
; so often - but I guess I was wrong. Toy maker Mattel Inc. just announced its second wave of recalls of Chinese-made toys today, due to concerns that they may contain excessive amounts of lead and small parts.
The company is recalling 436,000 toys due to high lead levels, and an additional 18.2 million with potentially dangerous small magnetic parts. The recall includes a number of product lines including various “Polly Pocket” dolls, a “Barbie Doll and Tanner” magnet, a Batman action figure sets and a die-cast car from the Pixar movie “Cars” (”Sarge”).
“I apologize for the situation we are all facing,” Robert Eckert, said Mattel’s chairman and chief executive officer. “We’ll continue working very hard on the standards, and if we see more issues, we’ll promptly notify people.”
Health Canada also said it is Read more:round
, China
China’s toys recalled, CEO suicides, toothpaste recalled again, … 2007-08-13 17:40:59 China recalls, recalls, and recalls. I’m sure it’s not the first time you heard the words “China” and “recall” together (well by now, at least four times). China is being faced with immense pressure on the safety of its export products. The recent recall of Fisher-Price toys (Dora, Diego, and Sesame Street characters) was among the largest of recalls in recent months. The CEO of the manufacturing plant, where these toys were painted, was reported to have committed suicide today.
“When I rushed there around 5 p.m., police had already sealed off the area. I saw that our boss had two deep marks in his neck,” a manager was quoted saying.
Cheung Shu-hung, co-owner of Lee Der Industrial Co., apparently hung himself in his factory. The motive behind is suicide was not given, but I’m sure it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out. Cheug, and his company Lee Der, was under immense pressure by Chinese officials (who are eagerly trying to Read more:China
, recalled
, suicides
, hellip
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