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mollyshannis

In this Oct. 4, 2011 photo, visitors try out head-mounted 3-D viewers at the booth of Japanese entertainment and electronics giant Sony Corp. during an annual electronics show in Chiba, east of Tokyo. On Wednesday Nov. 2, 2011, Sony reported a 27 billion yen ($346 million) loss for the latest quarter and downgraded its annual earnings forecast to stay in the red for the fourth year straight, battered by the strong yen and poor sales of flat panel TVs. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

TOKYO (AP) ? Sony reported a 27 billion yen ($346 million) loss for the latest quarter and downgraded its annual earnings forecast Wednesday to stay in the red for the fourth year straight, battered by the strong yen and poor sales of flat panel TVs.

The Japanese electronics and entertainment conglomerate is now projecting a 90 billion yen loss ($1.2 billion) for the fiscal year through March 2012 after earlier forecasting a profit of 60 billion yen ($769 million).

Sony Corp. said the strong yen and lower sales, especially in TVs, hurt July-September results. It also suffered production disruptions from the widespread flooding in Thailand, which came on top of the supply problems from the March tsunami disaster in northeastern Japan.

Sony also announced a plan to turn around its TV operations, which have lost money for the past seven years straight amid price plunges, an oversupply of panels and intense competition. It said the plan will make the TV business profitable by the fiscal year ending March 2014.

Sony said the major problem was a surplus of liquid crystal displays, and it would shrink its TV production from 40 million units a year to 20 million. It also aims to reduce display costs and the number of models. The restructuring would incur a 50 billion yen ($641 million) special charge, it said.

"Management is feeling a serious sense of crisis about the seven years of losses," said Executive Deputy President Kaz Hirai, who was added to speak at the earnings announcement at the last minute. "I promise to lead the turnaround plan to get us out of the red."

The poor quarterly results and forecast of another annual loss underline a troubled year for Sony.

The company is hoping to integrate smartphones with other consumer electronics, such as televisions and computers, as it seeks to play catchup with Apple Inc. Analysts say the maker of Bravia TVs and Walkman players needs to restore its reputation for innovative gadgets as Apple powers ahead with its iPod, iPad and iPhone.

Hirai, a candidate to succeed current CEO Howard Stringer to head Sony, said that in addition to fixing the money-losing TV business, a growth strategy depended on boosting the company's smartphone business, especially in the U.S.

He said Sony will work at attractive network services so that entertainment can be enjoyed on various gadgets, such as mobile phones, game machines and bigger displays.

Hirai said Sony is in talks with powerful South Korean rival Samsung Electronics Co. about the future of their flat panel joint venture that makes panels for Sony.

But he did not say any decision had been made. Japanese media had speculated Sony might pull out of the joint venture or sell part of it.

Sony's image also suffered a severe blow earlier this year because of a massive online security breach around the world, affecting more than 100 million online accounts.

Quarterly sales fell 9 percent from a year earlier to 1.58 trillion yen ($20 billion), mainly because of an unfavorable exchange rate. The yen has recently hit record highs against the dollar, which has faltered amid worries about the U.S. economy. A strong yen erodes the value of Sony's overseas earnings.

Sony, which makes about 70 percent of its sales outside Japan, is expecting the dollar to trade at about 75 yen for the rest of the year, down from about 85 yen a year earlier.

Plunging sales of liquid-crystal display televisions also hurt results, not only from price declines but also the economic slowdown in the U.S. and Europe, according to Sony.

The future of Sony's PlayStation game business is also unclear.

Its much hyped latest portable Vita is set to go on sale in Japan later this year, where it faces off against Japanese rival Nintendo Co.'s 3DS, which features 3-D gaming without glasses. But Vita won't be ready for the year-end holidays overseas.

In its film business, Sony returned to quarterly profit from losses the previous year, riding on the success of "The Smurfs," and higher TV revenue from cable programming, it said.

But it did not do much better in its music business compared with the previous year. Best-selling albums included Beyonce's "4'' and Adele's "21."

Last month, LM Ericsson sold Sony its 50 percent stake in Sony Ericsson, a mobile phone joint venture with Sony, for $1.46 billion. The results from Sony Ericsson are reflected in the full year projections, as the deal is expected to close in January.

Tokyo-based Sony had a loss of 260 billion yen in its previous fiscal year.

Sony shares were down 4 percent to 1,520 yen in Tokyo, shortly before earnings were announced.

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at http://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2011-11-02-AS-Japan-Earns-Sony/id-1ffe5cbf8cc74da8976f6d3bde258374

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mollyshannis

WASHINGTON ? Federal health officials have approved a first-of-a-kind artificial heart valve that can be implanted without major surgery, offering a new treatment option for patients who are too old or frail for the chest-cracking procedure currently used.

The Food and Drug Administration said late Wednesday it approved Edwards Lifesciences' Sapien heart valve, which can be threaded into place through a major artery that runs from the leg up to the heart. Cardiologists say the highly anticipated new approach will help old, sickly patients who cannot undergo the more invasive open heart surgery, which has been used to replace valves for decades.

Other companies have won approval for less-invasive heart valves before, but Edwards' implant is the first replacement for the aortic valve, the heart's main doorway.

About 300,000 U.S. patients suffer from deterioration of the valve, which forces the heart to work harder to pump blood, often leading to heart failure, blood clots and sudden death. More than half of patients diagnosed with the condition, called aortic stenosis, die within two years, according to the FDA.

Every year about 50,000 people in the U.S. undergo open-heart surgery to replace the valve, which involves sawing the breastbone in half, stopping the heart, cutting out the old valve and sewing a new one into place. Thousands of other patients are turned away, deemed too old or ill to survive the operation.

The Mayo Clinic's Dr. David Holmes said the Sapien valve is a "game changer" for those inoperable patients, many of whom are in their 80s with medical conditions like diabetes, emphysema and liver disease.

"We don't have very good therapy for them at this time ? some of them receive palliative care and some receive medication," said Holmes, who is president of the American College of Cardiology. "But this is really a mechanical problem, and for mechanical problems medications don't work very well."

Edwards' transcatheter valve is threaded through the femoral artery via a small incision in the leg, and then guided up to the heart via catheter. The valve is then wedged into the aortic opening by an inflatable balloon, replacing the natural heart valve. The device is made from cow tissue and polyester supported by a steel frame.

FDA based its approval on a 365-patient study that compared outcomes for patients with the valve and those who received basic comfort care and other non-surgical treatment. After one year, 70 percent of patients with the valve were still alive, compared with only 50 percent of those who received alternatives. However, the device was associated with serious complications, including stroke and internal bleeding. Under the conditions of FDA approval, Edwards will track the medical history of all patients who receive the valve.

The device is only approved for patients who cannot undergo open-heart surgery.

About 20,000 new U.S. patients will be eligible to receive a heart valve each year based on Wednesday's approval, according to Morgan Keegan analyst Jan Wald.

The larger opportunity for the new valve is in patients who are healthy enough to undergo surgery, but are considered high-risk and could benefit from a less invasive procedure. The FDA is expected to clear the device for those patients next year, and analysts estimate that group could eventually number between 50,000 and 80,000 annually as the U.S. population ages.

Edwards is expected to charge about $30,000 for the valve, though hospital fees could bring the total cost of surgery closer to $70,000. Standard heart valve replacement costs upward of $50,000, mostly from surgical and hospitalization fees.

The approval represents a dramatic business opportunity for Irvine, Calif.-based Edwards Lifesciences Corp., which had total sales of $1.5 billion last year. Analysts estimate that sales of the Sapien valve could help double the company's revenue to $3 billion within a decade. Company shares rose $3.11, or 4.2 percent, to $77.48 in after-hours trading.

The company expects to train surgeons at 150 to 250 sites across the U.S. to implant the Sapien in the coming year.

The valve has already been approved for four years in 40 countries around the world, including most of Europe. In most of those countries Edwards already sells a next-generation version of the device.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111102/ap_on_bi_ge/us_heart_valve_fda_approval

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mollyshannis

LONDON (Reuters) ? The downturn in euro zone manufacturing in October was even deeper than previously thought, according to "grim" business surveys on Wednesday that showed the currency union's debt crisis is dragging its economy back into recession.

The final Markit Eurozone Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for October, which gauges changes in activity levels across thousands of euro zone manufacturers, fell to 47. 1, revised down from a preliminary reading of 47.3 and down from 48.5 in September.

This marks the third consecutive month the manufacturing PMI has been the 50 level that divides contraction from growth. Output and new orders indexes plunged to levels not seen since mid-2009.

The survey suggests the crisis is putting a chokehold on euro area business and, along with news that German unemployment unexpectedly rose for the first time in nearly two years to 7 percent, it adds pressure on the European Central Bank to cut interest rates.

The latest Reuters ECB poll from last week showed a rate cut was already on the cards by December and possibly as early as Thursday.

"It makes grim reading," said Alan Clarke, economist at Scotia Capital. "If there was any doubt that the euro zone was headed for recession, these data should confirm it."

The survey's factory output measure plunged to 46.6 in October from 49.6.

"Output, new orders and new export orders all suffered their fastest declines since mid-2009, against a backdrop of weak domestic market conditions, the ongoing debt crisis and a darkening outlook for the global economy," said Rob Dobson, senior economist at Markit.

Broken down by country, in Germany, the economic engine of the euro zone economy, manufacturing activity contracted for the first time in just over two years.

But the euro rose 15 pips to $1.3780 after the German data were released, on slight relief the figures weren't worse.

Spanish factory activity shrank for a sixth straight month, while conditions in Italy, increasingly the focal point of worry in the still-raging euro zone debt crisis, deteriorated much more sharply than expected to a 28-month low.

The Italy manufacturing PMI fell 5 points to 43.3, the biggest one-month fall since the survey began in 1997, suggesting an economy deep in recession.

French manufacturing was also on the back foot in October, with new orders drying up and a fall in output.

Ireland was the only euro zone economy not to report a fall in factory activity.

For the euro zone as a whole, the new orders index fell for the fifth month running, plummeting to 43.4, the fastest rate of decline since May 2009. As a reliable forward-looking indicator, that bodes poorly for factory activity in November.

While firms hired more workers for the 18th consecutive month, hiring was the weakest since June 2010. Euro zone unemployment rose to 10.2 percent in September, nudged up by Spain, where unemployment reached 22.6 percent.

The euro zone debt crisis, which has persisted for more than two years, seemed a step closer to resolution last week when leaders struck a deal that involved Greek debt write-downs and boosting the size of the rescue fund to 1.0 trillion euros.

However, details of the plan remain unclear and progress was dealt a further blow on Monday when Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou shocked markets by calling a referendum on the latest bailout deal.

Papandreou won his cabinet's backing on Wednesday for that referendum, to be held by January, but may have a much tougher time convincing euro zone leaders, who meet along with the wider G20 in Cannes this week.

The latest PMI data also pointed to the first decline in input prices in just over two years. Euro zone inflation is currently running at 3.0 percent, well above the ECB's preferred 2.0 percent ceiling.

"The only possible bright spot was an easing in inflationary pressures, allowing manufacturers to hold fire on further selling price increases," said Dobson.

Manufacturing in the euro zone's key trading partners is also slowing, according to similar reports this week.

Factory growth in the United States, measured by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) index, unexpectedly slowed in October, in line with similar trends in China, Britain and Canada, data showed on Tuesday.

- Detailed PMI data are only available under license from Markit and customers need to apply to Markit for a license.

To subscribe to the full data, click on the link below:

http://www.markit.com/information/register/reuters-pmi-subscriptions.

For further information, please phone Markit on +44 20 7260 2454 or email economics@markit.com

(Reporting by Anooja Debnath; Editing by Ross Finley/Toby Chopra)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111102/bs_nm/us_eurozone_factory

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mollyshannis · Nov. 2, 2011

Coach is a defensive guru, but this New England team simply has too many holes to fix

Gregory Shamus / Getty Images

Patriots coach Bill Belichick talks to Jerod Mayo (51), Patrick Chung (25) and Brandon Spikes (55) during Sunday's defeat?to the Steelers.

updated 10:40 a.m. ET Nov. 2, 2011

Mike Tanier

Bill Belichick isn't a coach who twiddles his thumbs while his defense gets torched.

The Steelers racked up 427 total yards in their 25-17 victory over the Patriots on Sunday. The game wasn't as close as the score: the Steelers settled for three short field goals and missed a fourth. They marched up and down the field and could have scored well over 30 with a more aggressive red-zone strategy.

A defensive guru like Belichick learns from bad games, makes adjustments and sends his defense onto the field hungrier and more prepared the following week. Research suggests that is exactly what happens most of the time. Belichick defenses usually bounce back from beatings, at least for a game or two. But once his defenses reach a certain ineptitude, there is little he can do.

Ghosts of '05 and '09: For this exercise, we define a ?bad defensive game? as a game in which the Patriots a) lose and b) allow 400 or more yards. We don?t include games the Patriots won, because the opponent get 400 yards while playing catch up. A 400-yard defensive game is not always bad (an opponent can gain 400 but turn the ball over five times), but these are Belichick defenses, so the standard is set pretty high.

We also start our study in 2005 and do not plow through ancient history of the Super Bowl victory years. Those defenses rarely had bad games. These are the modern Patriots, not the team that had Rodney Harrison, Ty Law, Ted Bruschi and others in their primes.

The Patriots have had 15 bad defensive games since the beginning of the 2005 season, counting Sunday. They are 12-2 the following week. They lost their bad defensive games by an average score of 31-19. They won the following week by an average score of 28-14, including 41-7 and 59-0 victories.

That?s the good news.

Here?s the bad news: when the Patriots have several bad defensive games within a few weeks of each other, like they have had this year, they get stuck in an on-again, off-again rut. The defense mixes poor performances with OK performances while the offense masks the bigger problems. Often, the final team-wide collapse happens at the worst time: in the playoffs.

Take the Good With the Bad: The Patriots finished 10-6 in 2005, but their defense was not good. They finished 17th in the league in points allowed and 25th in yards allowed. They had four bad defensive games in October and November. They lost 41-17 to the Chargers, allowing 431 total yards. They lost 28-20 to the Broncos, allowing 432 yards. The Colts racked up 453 yards in a 40-17 win. The Chiefs gained 420 yards in a 26-16 win.

The Patriots answered each loss with a victory, but most of those wins were not defensive gems. Typical of the in-between games was a 21-16 victory over the Dolphins. Gus Frerotte threw for 360 yards in that game. The Patriots' defense recorded one interception and zero sacks. The Dolphins actually led in the fourth quarter, and Tom Brady had to execute a comeback. It was a prime example of the Patriots offense covering for its defense.

Later in 2005, the Patriots did go through a three-game stretch when they outscored opponents 79-10, though it helped to be facing quarterbacks like J.P. Losman, Brooks Bollinger, and Chris Simms. The Patriots' defense wasn't good that year, and no amount of Belichick scheming could change that. Ty Law was gone, Rodney Harrison missed most of the season, and veteran fill-ins like Duane Starks played terribly in the secondary while cornerbacks Asante Samuel and Ellis Hobbs played like talented but inexperienced youngsters. If that profile sounds familiar, replace Starks with ?Leigh Bodden:? it sounds like we are talking about this year?s Patriots. When the 2005 playoffs arrived, the offense fell flat, and the Broncos beat the Patriots 27-13.

The Patriots also had a run of bad defensive games in 2009, the year Brady was injured. The Broncos beat them 23-20, generating 424 yards of offense. The Patriots answered by clobbering the Titans 59-0, but a few weeks later the defensive woes returned. The Patriots endured three bad defensive games in four weeks, losing to the Colts, Saints, and Dolphins by a combined 95-72 score. It was the first time in years that the Patriots experienced back-to-back bad defensive games (by our definition), and the problem returned in Week 17, when the Texans beat them 34-27. The Patriots went on to lose to the Ravens in the first round of the playoffs, and while the Ravens gained just 268 total yards, 234 of them were rushing yards.

Once is a Coincidence, Twice is a Habit: Sometimes, a Patriots' stinker is an anomaly. In the famous Wildcat game of 2008, the Dolphins shocked the Patriots with a brand new offense, carving out 461 rushing yards and a 38-14 win while the Patriots tried to figure out why Ronnie Brown was playing quarterback. The Browns played a similar trick last year, trotting out every gadget they could think of score 34 points. The Patriots' defense settled down after both games, and it?s not like opponents can unveil a whole new offensive concept every time they face Belichick.

But when bad defensive games come in bunches, it is a sign that there won't be easy answers. That is why Sunday?s loss should set off alarms. The Patriots had a bad defensive game in Week 3, with the Bills gaining 448 yards in a 34-31 win. The Patriots beat the Raiders 31-19 the following week, but they allowed a whopping 504 yards to a Jason Campbell-led offense. It was shades of 2005 and 2009: a string of awful defensive performances, with the offense sometimes riding to the rescue.

Despite that 12-2 record after bad defensive games, history suggests the long-term prognosis isn't good. This team was a preseason favorite to win the Super Bowl, so an 11-5 record and a playoff loss won?t cut it. The Patriots might rebound against the Giants and their injury-riddled offense Sunday. But what about the Jets in two weeks? The Eagles in a month? What about the Bills, who like the Jets may be nipping at their heels in the AFC East race?

Mike Tanier writes for NBCSports.com and Rotoworld.com and is a senior writer for Football Outsiders.

More newsKevin C. Cox / Getty Images Gregory Shamus / Getty Images

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45116981/ns/sports-nfl/

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mollyshannis

NEW YORK ? Over the past decade, Nikolai Baskov has emerged as one of the biggest selling recording artists in Russia.

He's a favorite of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and his performances ? with dramatic lighting and dazzling showmanship ? are becoming legendary there and in Europe.

Now, the rest of the world may be in Baskov's grasp. The classically trained vocalist has his eyes ? or more appropriately, voice ? on seizing the rest of the world with his powerful range.

"For me, really this is the beginning. Because I've accomplished so much in my country, I'm used to being received at a certain level, but I also appreciate a certain level of anonymity here when I'm in New York," he said in an intimate performance earlier this month. "The public perception of me has been really phenomenal. In America, if they love you, they love you unconditionally, which separates the U.S audiences and American audiences from any other audiences in the world."

Classically trained in Russia, Baskov turned down an offer to study in the United States at Julliard. That opportunity came during tough times in Moscow; Baskov opted to study at home. He also admitted he couldn't be away from his mother for that long.

"I love my mom more than anything else in the world," Baskov, 35, said.

"My mom made me believe since I was very young," he added. "She always told me that I was destined to be an artist."

His father was not as optimistic ? at least not at first. As a high-ranking officer in the Russian military, the elder Baskov saw a different life for his son. But as he began to perform, his father slowly became more comfortable with his son's dream. The support began in the early stages of his career and has grown throughout the years.

Now that he's an adult, he still stays very close to his parents.

"No matter where I am in the world, I call her," Baskov said. "And my father too."

The tenor's stratospheric rise to the top of the Russian charts began with a music video of the song "Caruso." It was picked up by every television outlet in Russia, and was played for months. Based on the popularity of that song and video, he became began to perform, and quickly learned how to charm audiences with his charisma and stage persona.

His favorite artists include Barbara Streisand and Lady Gaga.

"I can't stop myself from watching Lady Gaga perform," Baskov says with. "She makes music so interesting to watch."

Besides Gaga and Streisand, Baskov cites Italian crooner Mario Lanza as his main influence.

"I admire everything about him, from the way he carries himself on stage to the way he sings."

In June, PBS ran Baskov's Moscow concert from the famed Luzhniki Arena. Earlier this month, that performance was released on CD and DVD as "Romantic Journey."

Baskov will tour North America early next year with dates in Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Hartford, and other cities.

He will also perform in New York, which is a favorite.

"There is so much life here, and I love the shopping," he said.

___

Online:

http:// www.nikolaibaskov.com

___

John Carucci covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow him at http://www.twitter.com/jcarucci_ap

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111031/ap_en_mu/us_music_nikolai_baskov

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mollyshannis

A Second Take on Meeting the Press: From an up-close look at Rachel Maddow's sneakers to an in-depth look at Jon Krakauer's latest book ? it's all fair game in our "Meet the Press: Take Two" web extra. Log on Sundays to see David Gregory's post-show conversations with leading newsmakers, authors and roundtable guests. Videos are available on-demand by 12 p.m. ET on Sundays.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/45094218#45094218

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