BUSINESS BRIEFS
Google releasing its own Web browser today
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SAN FRANCISCO — Google is releasing a Web browser to compete with the likes of Internet Explorer and Firefox, trying to dominate not only what people do on the Web but also how they get there.
It's yet another salvo in the intensifying battle with Microsoft, which recently released a version of Internet Explorer that makes it easier to block ads from Google and others.
A beta version of Google's browser for Windows, called Google Chrome, will debut today in more than 100 countries. It will offer features that make it easier and faster to browse the Web. It will be an open source product, meaning anyone can modify the software code.
The move is considered audacious, given Microsoft's dominance with the Explorer browser. It also could hurt Firefox, a free browser that is gaining in popularity. Mozilla, the nonprofit organization that runs Firefox, has benefited from engineering help and money from Google. Just last week, Google and Mozilla extended their partnership through 2011.
WINEMAKERS LACK SUFFICIENT GRAPES
As California's winemakers begin the 2008 harvest they are scrambling to find enough Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.
After several years of bumper crops, Mother Nature turned fickle this year, offering up deep frosts, followed by hot weather and ultimately not enough rain.
"This is one of the strangest weather patterns that I have seen in more than 30 years of farming," said Andy Beckstoffer, the largest independent grower on California's north coast.
Growers and winemakers estimate that the state's grape crop could be 20 percent smaller than last year and as much as a third less than in 2005.
"The growers who have grapes are going to benefit from higher prices, those who lost grapes to the frost and other bad weather will suffer and the wineries that don't have their own vineyards are going to get squeezed," said Rob McMillan, who heads the wine industry lending business at the St. Helena of Silicon Valley Bank.
That could translate to fewer bargains on the wine shelves at stores, McMillan predicts.
STUDY PREDICTS FLAT PAY GROWTH
NEW YORK — U.S. workers can expect skimpy raises in their base salaries next year, but top performers may still get merit compensation.
A study released today by Hewitt Associates, a human resources consulting firm, found base pay will rise by 3.8 percent in 2009, marking the seventh consecutive year of flat growth.
One-time performance-based pay, however, is expected to grow by 10.6 percent. That's down slightly from 10.8 percent this year and 11.8 percent in 2007. Performance-based rewards are popular since they don't commit companies to ongoing costs, said Ken Abosch, leader of Hewitt's compensation consulting business.
MARKETS FALL ON ECONOMIC FEARS
HONG KONG — Stocks fell around the world yesterday, led by Asian exchanges as concerns about a slowing global economy weighed heavily on the markets. Oil prices declined sharply as Hurricane Gustav weakened, but investors were still waiting to see how much damage the storm might do to Gulf Coast oil operations.
In Asia, South Korean shares were hardest hit, with the Korea Composite Stock Price Index plummeting 4.1 percent to 1,414.43 — its lowest level in 17 months — amid multiyear weakness in the country's currency.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index, meanwhile, lost 1.83 percent to 12,834.18 as investors cashed in recent gains and Friday's drop on Wall Street darkened the near-term outlook.
In Europe, stocks fell more modestly. Britain's FTSE 100 closed down 0.60 percent at 5,602.80, Germany's DAX fell 0.01 percent to 6,421.80 and France's CAC slipped 0.23 percent to 4,472.13. The markets often take cues from Wall Street, but U.S. exchanges were closed for Labor Day.
