Nissan Board Takes No Bonus Pay After Earnings Decline

Jun 21, 11:55 AM

Current Headlines: YOKOHAMA, Japan -- Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn told shareholders Wednesday that the Japanese automaker's board members will forego their bonus pay to take responsibility for poor performance.

Ghosn acknowledged at a hall packed with more than 2,100 shareholders, a record attendance for Nissan, in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, that the company had not met its targets for fiscal 2006.

"We are taking our responsibility seriously," he said.

In the fiscal year ended March, Tokyo-based Nissan Motor Co. marked its first profit drop in seven years -- the first time earnings have slid under the turnaround efforts led by Ghosn.

Murdoch looks to swap MySpace for part of Yahoo

LONDON -- Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is discussing swapping social networking Web site MySpace for a 25 percent stake in Yahoo, The Times newspaper reported Wednesday.

The Times, which is owned by News Corp., said its parent was looking for exposure in a larger Internet-based business such as Yahoo.

News Corp. spent $580 million to buy MySpace in 2005.

A Yahoo spokeswoman declined to comment Wednesday. A News Corp. spokesman did not return a call Wednesday.

Based on Wednesday's trading, Yahoo had a market value of about $37 billion.

That indicates News Corp. believes MySpace is now worth more than $10 billion, based on a 25 percent stake in Yahoo.

Blackstone stock offering could register in top IPOs

NEW YORK -- The IPO market may not be as large as it once was, but there is still expected to be plenty of room for this week's debut of private equity powerhouse Blackstone Group, likely one of the biggest initial public offerings in U.S. history.

Blackstone's IPO is expected to raise between $3.87 billion and $4.14 billion.

If it comes in at the high end of the range, it will be the sixth- largest U.S. offering of all time and the biggest in nearly five years, according to Renaissance Capital and IPOHome.com.

Rise in Treasury yields sends markets tumbling

NEW YORK -- A surge in Treasury yields rattled Wall Street Wednesday, forcing stocks to give up early gains and drive down the Dow Jones industrial average more than 140 points.

The 10-year Treasury note's yield soared to 5.15 percent by late afternoon from 5.09 percent late Tuesday.

That reignited worries among stock investors about high rates thwarting corporate deal-making and the further injuring the limping housing market.

-- Wire Reports

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