Europe

It wasn't exactly Godzilla attacking, but the Japanese Nikkei index fell a whopping 7.3% today, taking U.S. markets down with it in the morning. Major European indexes were all down more than 2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 1% this morning. The blue chips battled back, however, to finish just 0.1% lower. The cause of the Nikkei crash seemed to be a weak manufacturing report from China, and concerns that the Federal Reserve could cut its Quantitative Easing program. The manufacturing report in question was the Chinese purchasing managers' index, which showed its first contraction in seven months, at 49.6, after a reading of 50.4 last month. Economists had expected a figure of 80.3. The Nikkei had also gained 80% in the last seven months, riding the worldwide bull market, so the correction needs to be viewed in that context. Many pundits have expected the stock-buying fever to break, which the Nikkei's crash may be evidence of, but the Dow's resilience today seems to be a sign that American markets are stable, and not inflated. Back on the home front, however, economic data was positive, as initial unemployment claims dropped after a spike over the last two weeks, coming in at 340,000, below projections of 348,000. Continuing unemployment claims also fell unexpectedly by more than 100,000, to 2.91 million last week, indicating that long-term unemployment may be improving. Finally, new home sales topped estimates, coming in at 454,000 -- good news for the housing recovery. Hewlett-Packard also helped the Dow recover ,as shares shot up 17.1% today after the PC-maker beat earnings estimates and boosted its outlook in its quarterly report last night. HP posted an adjusted EPS of $0.87 on expectations of $0.81, and said it now expects full-year earnings per share of $3.50-$3.60, ahead of the analyst consensus at $3.49. New CEO Meg Whitman's turnaround strategy of focusing on enterprise services and harvesting PC sales seem to be taking hold, as the enterprise segment outperformed expectations last quarter. Boeing shares also moved up 1.9% as the aircraft-maker's once-troubled 787 Dreamliner jets began flying to China once again, after regulators allowed the composite plane to begin flying in its airspace. The 787 has already received approval from the U.S., Japan, and Europe to take to the skies once again, meaning that the plane's three-month hiatus seems to be over, and Boeing can begin delivering them once again. In late-breaking news, the Nikkei was up nearly 3% Friday morning, which could bode well for the Dow tomorrow. The massive wave of mobile computing has done much to unseat the major players in the PC market, including venerable technology names like Hewlett-Packard. However, HP's rapidly shifting its strategy under the new leadership of CEO Meg Whitman. But does this make HP one of the least-appreciated turnaround stories on the market, or is this a minor blip on its road to irrelevance? The Motley Fool's technology analyst details exactly what investors need to know about HP in our new premium research report. Just click here now to get your copy today.

More than 25 creative agencies have set up 22 installations at The Rocks in Sydney for the start of Vivid Light. Vivid Light will launch tonight, with everything from small-scale sculptures to lights on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The agencies involved in the set up of Vivid Light include Story Box, Frost, Grimshaw, and YG Partners. While the majority of the 22 projects were created by Australian artsits and agencies, however there are several artists from Europe, New Zealand, South America and even Asia. The full list of installations and agencies are: Every one, Every day by Kuuki After Light by Story Box Bees by Vossarch Bones by Amigo and amigo Digitalis by Codessi Hundreds and Thousands by Benevolent Society and Design Works Light Meadows by MAS, Arup/Frost Move your Building by Danny Rose Nymphaea Nelumbo by LesshTagTom and A Vel Unvelum Planet: Under Construction by Woods Bagot Polka Kucha by Grimshaw Rats by HASSELL Ricochet by Arup/Frost Two installations, Run, Sunflowers by Hammer Lighting Temporalas by Independent The Dalgety Line by HASSELL The Enlightening Piano by illumni + Steensen The Milky Way by YG Partners Walsh Bay Whispers by HASSELL We See Saw by VML Australia Which is your Brass by Aether & Hemera Underscore by Underscore The post Sydney’s creative up in Vivid Lights appeared first on mUmBRELLA.

EA announces that FIFA 14 will be released on September 24th in North America and on September 27th in Europe for Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. They detail a preorder bonus, though this seems...

via upload.wikimedia.org Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, released as Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in Europe, and Gekikame Ninja Den (激亀忍者伝?, "Fierce Turtle Ninja Legend") in Japan, is a 1989 platform game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was developed by Konami and originally released in Japan through Konami themselves, then in North America through Konami's Ultra Games imprint, followed by a release through the European equivalent, Palcom Software, in PAL regions. This was the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game, and is based on the 1987 TV series, which was in its third season at the time of the game's original release, although the art style more resembles the original comic series. The game was ported to various home computer platforms in 1990; the original NES version was ported to Nintendo's PlayChoice-10 arcade system in 1991, and the Wii's Virtual Console service in 2007. It was taken off theWii Shop Channel on January 26, 2012. via upload.wikimedia.org Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, released as Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in Europe, and Gekikame Ninja Den (激亀忍者伝?, "Fierce Turtle Ninja Legend") in Japan, is a 1989 platform game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was developed by Konami and originally released in Japan through Konami themselves, then in North America through Konami's Ultra Games imprint, followed by a release through the European equivalent, Palcom Software, in PAL regions. This was the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game, and is based on the 1987 TV series, which was in its third season at the time of the game's original release, although the art style more resembles the original comic series. The game was ported to various home computer platforms in 1990; the original NES version was ported to Nintendo's PlayChoice-10 arcade system in 1991, and the Wii's Virtual Console service in 2007. It was taken off theWii Shop Channel on January 26, 2012.

Users in the U.K. and France will have to wait a bit longer to get their hands on the HTC First. The first smartphone to come preinstalled with Facebook Home has been delayed in those countries while Facebook updates the software to address some negative user feedback.Facebook is wise to delay the rollout, one analyst said, rather than release the product to other markets and risk turning people off."It's like the old adage, 'You don't get a second chance to make a first impression,'" said Greg Sterling, senior analyst with Opus Research."Facebook is trying to maximize Home's potential in these other markets," he said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Hyundai’s permanent presence at Nürburgring is expected to boost the quality and performance of the popular Korean maker’s cars closer to that of its European rivals. The purpose-built facility will launch in August, offering Hyundai a dedicated resource for evaluating its vehicles on one of the toughest proving grounds in the world. Hyundai Motor’s General Manager of Vehicle Test & Development, Axel Honish, told CarAdvice during an exclusive tour of the facility that having a full-time presence at the Nürburgring is critical to the on-going improvement of company’s cars. “The Nürburgring is an ideal track that covers all possible driving situations for performance testing. It’s a safe environment because it’s not a public area,” he said. “Proving grounds simply don’t have the proper track layout with natural corners, compressions that offer experienced test drivers enough feedback to improve the car’s performance”. Honish added the permanent presence at the Nürburgring would give Hyundai a better opportunity to benchmark competitors. “It is important to find out where we are in comparison and how far we have to go to match these rivals”, he said. Asked specifically about the latest Volkswagen Golf, which is considered by the motoring media to be the benchmark in the small car segment, Axel said: “The Golf is very balanced in all conditions, but we are very proud to be competitive with our rivals and will continue to refine our cars”. Hyundai’s new facility will allow it to complete a greater number of the arduous ‘accelerated durability tests’ where an intensive 10,000km (480 laps) running each car at 90-95 per cent of the best lap time (in wet and dry conditions) is the equivalent of 180,000km on the road. Over 20 specific measurements are taken on every run, while the driver’s observations are also recorded. Hyundai uses up to six highly experienced test drivers who have years of experience on the Nüburgring – most with at least 10,000 laps under their belt and all of whom can replicate lap times to within one second and hitting certain speeds in certain positions. “Every test brings improvements to our vehicles. Even those models not tested here will benefit from what we learn. The data we collect is not only valid for Europe, but is shared with Hyundai’s offices around the world”, said Honish. “We also test other brands – all German cars, including premium models. This provides a valid data set for comparisons”. The post Hyundai set for Nürburgring performance boost appeared first on CarAdvice.

This summarizes the study of the financial and economic crisis in Europe. The starting questions were\\ 1) Why do we have a crisis? Unde venis? 2) What will be the outcome? Quo vadis? read more...

Users in the U.K. and France will have to wait a bit longer to get their hands on the HTC First. The first smartphone to come preinstalled with Facebook Home has been delayed in those countries while Facebook updates the software to address some negative user feedback.read more

Of all the high-performance sedans to come out of Europe over the past few decades, the 1990-1995 Mercedes-Benz 500E (renamed to E500 in 1994) must be one of the most understated and to some extent, under-appreciated models. Due to the limited production numbers, finding one these days, isn't easy, let alone a stock version with just 10,000 miles (16,000km) on the odometer, like the one I discovered for sale on eBay today. Read more »

Some lucky Germans could pay upwards of $120,000 for the SRT Viper, should an example or two find its way across the pond. With prices like that, we wonder if we’ve chosen the wrong business altogether.