The Traderszone Network

Amazon will now pay royalties to authors based on the number of pages of their book that have been read.

Syngenta’s (SYNN.VX) chairman said any takeover offer needed to be at a fair price and provide a high degree of certainty that it will clear regulatory hurdles, as he reaffirmed the Swiss firm’s opposition to Monsanto’s (MON.N) current proposal. Basel-based Syngenta, the world’s largest maker of crop chemicals, rebuffed an initial approach by Monsanto in May partly on the grounds it did not address regulatory concerns. The U.S. firm then offered to pay Syngenta $2 billion if the merger failed to get approval from regulators, but this was rejected as “wholly inadequate”.

Britain has cut its stake in Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) to below 17 percent, the finance ministry said in a stock market disclosure on Tuesday, taking the total sum recovered by the taxpayer to 11.5 billion pounds ($18.2 billion). The taxpayer’s stake has fallen by 1 percent to 16.87 percent as UK Financial Investments (UKFI), which manages the government’s stakes in bailed-out banks, seeks to cash in on increasing investor appetite in Britain’s biggest retail bank.

read more

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co on Tuesday said it began construction on its fifth plant in Chongqing, China, to regain lost momentum in the largest auto market with a new compact car and higher production of sport utility vehicles. Hyundai, which together with affiliate Kia Motors Corp ranks fifth in global sales, has been struggling with slow sales in China partly due to an absence of a new SUV models to compete with its rivals’ latest releases.

read more

Whether Greece’s new reform plan will pass muster among the country’s creditors – let alone its own parliament and people — is unknown.

by Keith Weiner

I have to admit that I derive some pleasure in taking on hoary old myths. For example, some economists assert that the interest rate you see on the Treasury bond is not real. You see, it’s only nominal. To calculate the real rate, they say you must adjust the nominal rate by inflation.

Real Interest Rate = Nominal Interest – Inflation

read more

Hip-hop mogul released from jail after an alleged assault with a weight-room kettlebell at UCLA, where son is on the football team.