BUSINESS BRIEFS
Oil sets another record as it nears $100 a barrel
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Oil futures resumed their march toward $100 a barrel yesterday, rising to a record close in light holiday trading on concerns about tight heating oil supplies while also drawing support from a buoyant stock market.
At the pump, meanwhile, gas prices retreated further from their most recent peak, falling 0.1 cent overnight to a national average of $3.086 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.
Analysts say gas prices are likely to hold steady or even slide a little unless oil rises beyond $100 a barrel.
Oil prices drew support from heating oil futures, which set records on concerns about tight supplies heading into the winter heating season.
CHIP MAKER TRIES TO BLOCK ITS RIVAL
IRVINE, Calif. — Chip maker Broadcom Corp. said it will try to stop rival Qualcomm Inc. from making, using, selling or developing cellular chips based on contested patents.
It's the latest legal cannonball hurled by Broadcom in its wide-ranging court battle with industry Goliath Qualcomm over the rights to technology for cell phones.
The move comes two days after Broadcom chose to accept a reduced damage award of $19.6 million rather than retry its case against Qualcomm in a California federal court. U.S. District Court Judge James V. Selna initially indicated he would award Broadcom $39.3 million in damages, double what a jury awarded in May.
The panel found that Qualcomm willfully violated three of Broadcom's patents on technologies that help cell phones process video and walkie-talkie conversations and hand off calls between different networks.
IAC LOOKS TOWARD CHINA EXPANSION
BEIJING — Media mogul Barry Diller said yesterday his Internet conglomerate, IAC/InterActiveCorp, will invest $100 million to expand in China by creating services designed for local users.
IAC also will launch its Ask.com search engine in China within two years, Diller told reporters in a meeting over breakfast.
IAC is looking for opportunities to develop or buy businesses geared to Chinese users, Diller said. He said it wants to avoid the fate of Internet outfits that have struggled in China with offerings developed for the United States and other foreign markets.
S. KOREA BILL CALLS FOR BRIBERY PROBE
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's National Assembly passed a bill yesterday demanding an independent investigation into allegations of bribery at the Samsung Group conglomerate.
The bill was to go to President Roh Moo-hyun for final approval. His office has said he may veto it because state prosecutors have already launched a probe into the scandal at the country's largest industrial group, which includes Samsung Electronics Co.
The single-chamber legislature, however, can override a veto if a majority of its 299 members attend a floor vote and two-thirds of them vote in favor.
REPORT: JAPANESE BANKS LOST $2.1B
TOKYO — Japanese financial institutions lost as much as $2.1 billion from investments related to risky U.S. housing loans in the first half of fiscal 2007, according to a government estimate published by Japanese newspapers yesterday.
The 230 billion-yen losses accounted for about 17 percent of a combined 1.3 trillion yen ($11.9 billion) in securitized holdings that included the so-called subprime loans, according to the Nikkei, one of the newspapers reporting the Financial Services Agency estimate.
The FSA said in its Thursday report that the U.S. subprime problems have so far had a limited impact on Japanese financial institutions. But the losses could expand because of the resulting market turmoil, which has been ongoing since last month, the Nikkei said.
