Briefs: Business travel down amid weak economy | Daily Serps

U.S. companies are scaling back their travel plans in response to Europe?s financial crisis and uncertainty about the economy at home.

American business travelers are expected to take 437.9 million trips this year, the Global Business TravelAssociation said Tuesday. That?s down 1.2 percent from an estimate made in April by the travel and meetings trade group.

Apple to start selling iPad in China July 20

Apple will start selling the iPad in China July 20 after paying $60 million to settle a dispute over the ownership of the tablet computer?s name.

BlackBerry maker CEO to investors: Be patient

Thorsten Heins, the CEO of embattled BlackBerry maker Research in Motion ltd., asked disgruntled investors for patience Tuesday as the company develops new devices to rival the iPhone and Android smartphones.

RIM has been developing the BlackBerry 10 operating software to catch up with competitors and even surpass them, but it has faced repeated delays and will now miss the lucrative holiday shopping season.

U.S. May job availability grows; market still weak

U.S. employers advertised 3.6 million jobs in May, up from 3.4 million than April, a hopeful sign after three months of weak hiring. May?s total is the second highest for the year. still, layoffs also increased, an indication that the job market is still struggling.

Economy, politics leaving small businesses wary

The economy and uncertain political climate are taking a toll on small business owners? optimism, making them hesitant to expand.

The National Federation of Independent Business said business owners are concerned about the economy.

Owners said they are scaling back plans to hire and to buy equipment.

Coca-Cola splits stock, doubles number of shares

Shareholders have approved The Coca-Cola co.?s first stock split in 16 years.

The split increases the number of Coca-Cola shares to 11.2 billion from 5.6 billion. Shareholders will receive one additional share of stock on Aug. 10 for each share held.

Companies split stocks when they think their share price has gotten too expensive or if the stock is trading too far above similar companies? stock.

Coca-Cola?s stock closed at $77.98 Tuesday, flat for the day.

June Volkswagen sales up amid European crisis

Europe?s largest automaker Volkswagen AG is reporting a 13.7-percent increase in June passenger vehicle sales, with booming results outside western Europe, where the debt crisis slowed spending.

The Wolfsburg-based company said Tuesday that June sales rose to 498,600 cars from 438,400 in June 2011.

Half-year sales were up 10.2 percent to 2.79 million vehicles delivered.

Eco groups file lawsuit against Arctic drilling

A coalition of conservation groups sued the federal government Tuesday over its approval of oil spill response plans for an Arctic Ocean drilling program.

The lawsuit does not seek to block Shell Oil from beginning to drill this summer as planned, and an attorney for Oceana, one of the groups suing, said it?s unlikely the case will be resolved in a timeframe that could affect drilling this year.

However, the case could prevent drilling in future seasons, if the coalition succeeds in getting the approvals set aside, attorney Michael LeVine said.

The lawsuit alleges federal officials violated environmental law, the clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act in approving spill plans for the Beaufort and Chukchi seas.

Google to pay $22.5M for secret user-tracking

Google has agreed to pay a $22.5 million fine to settle allegations that it broke a privacy promise by secretly tracking the online activities of millions of people who use Apple inc. ?s Safari web browser.

If approved, the $22.5 million fine would be the largest penalty ever imposed by the Federal Trade Commission.

The agency has been investigating whether unauthorized changes Google made to Safari?s privacy settings violated a recent FTC agreement prohibiting the company from misleading consumers.

Staff and wire reports

Briefs: Business travel down amid weak economy

Source: http://dailyserps.com/briefs-business-travel-down-amid-weak-economy/

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