The Traderszone Network

WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund dramatically raised the stakes in Greece’s stalled debt talks on Thursday, announcing that its delegation had left negotiations in Brussels and flown home because of major differences with Athens. The surprise IMF move came as the European Union told Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to stop gambling with his cash-strapped country’s future and take the crucial decisions needed to avert a devastating default.

At a Zodiac Aerospace (ZODC.PA) seat factory in the small town of Santa Maria north of Los Angeles, workers on the assembly line frequently sit idle, waiting for parts to arrive. The factory’s output has more than doubled in recent years, and much of the factory is working overtime shifts and weekends, workers say.     The parts supply and other problems at the California factory offer explanations for Zodiac’s warning to shareholders on Thursday that it likely would fail to meet its target of generating operating income close to last year’s in the financial year ending on Aug. 31.

EU regulators’ investigations into the low tax arrangements of Apple (AAPL.O), Starbucks (SBUX.O) and Amazon (AMZN.O) in some member states are at an advanced stage and decisions could be announced in the coming months, a senior European Commission official said on Thursday. The investigations centre on Luxembourg’s tax rulings for online retailer Amazon and carmaker Fiat Chrysler (FCHA.MI), as well as coffee chain Starbucks’ deal with the Netherlands and iPhone maker Apple’s Irish arrangements, and whether the companies are paying a fair share of tax.

The stockholder proposal was filed to change Facebook’s voting practices. Ordinary investors own Class A common shares, which provide one vote per share, but Facebook’s Class B shares are worth 10 votes each.

Venture capital firm Greylock Partners, which passed on the chance to invest in Pinterest four years ago, is hoping to hit a bullseye by tapping the online bulletin board for its first female investing partner. Greylock said Thursday it has hired Sarah Tavel, Pinterest’s founding product manager. Venture in particular has come under fire, in part due to a high-profile discrimination lawsuit brought by former Kleiner Perkins partner Ellen Pao against that firm.

DETROIT – (Reuters) – Virgin Atlantic [VA.UL] plans to decide within six months on how to replace seven Boeing 747s it flies from London’s Gatwick airport, and could expand its overall fleet in the process, the British airline’s chief executive said Thursday. “The options we are most serious about are the (Airbus (AIR.PA)) A350, the (Boeing (BA.N)) 787-10 and 777-300ER jets. Kreeger told a conference in November that Virgin would decide on the fleet plan within the next nine months, implying a decision by the end of August.

Wolf Richter   www.wolfstreet.com   www.amazon.com/author/wolfrichter

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