business

Adobe CEO Chizen to step down; stock sinks

Adobe Systems Inc., the maker of Photoshop, Flash and Acrobat software, said CEO Bruce Chizen will step down, and President and Chief Operating Officer Shantanu Narayen will replace him on Dec. 1. Chizen, 52, who has been at Adobe for 14 years, will remain CEO until Nov. 30, then work as a strategic adviser until the end of fiscal 2008. He said in a phone interview he was stepping down "to take a break." Wall Street reacted negatively to the loss of Chizen, a blunt-speaking executive known for keeping Adobe's morale high. The stock closed at $42.19, down 2.4 percent, as news dribbled out before the announcement.

Consumer prices in China up 6.5% over year ago

China's consumer prices rose sharply in October, tying a decade-high monthly inflation rate of 6.5 percent, the government reported today, adding to pressure for measures to cool a surge in food prices. Food prices jumped 17.6 percent in October over with the same month last year, while the price of pork, China's staple meat, soared 54.9 percent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The overall October inflation rate was higher than the 6.2 percent reported in September and matched August's 6.5 percent, the highest rate in 11 years.

Japanese GDP grew at 2.6% rate in third quarter

Japan's economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.6 percent in the July-September quarter on strong exports, the government said today, but the outlook for exports was clouded by sluggish economic signs in the United States. Gross domestic product grew a price-adjusted 0.6 percent from the previous quarter, according to preliminary data released by the Cabinet Office. On an annualized basis, the July-September GDP increased 2.6 percent. In the April-June quarter, Japan's GDP declined 1.2 percent on an annual basis, marking the first contraction in three quarters.

Lincoln Financial will exit media business

Lincoln Financial Group is getting out of the television and radio business. The financial services company, a unit of Lincoln National Corp. in Philadelphia, said it is selling all three of its TV stations, as well as its sports syndication business, to Raycom Media Inc. for $583 million in cash. The stations are in Charlotte, N.C., Richmond, Va., and Charleston, S.C. Lincoln Financial Sports in Charlotte, N.C., produces and syndicates college football and basketball games.

Toyota pulls ad after Fresno officials complain

Toyota Motor Corp. pulled an ad that likened Fresno, Calif., to an outdated pit stop after U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein wrote the car company to complain. The commercial depicted people driving the fuel-efficient Prius in an imagined future in which "gas stations will become nothing more than low-budget tourist stops. Like ghost towns ... or Fresno." Fresno Mayor Alan Autry asked Feinstein to intervene, and on Friday, Toyota officials recalled the spot, produced for auto dealers in the Southeast United States, and edited out any mention of Fresno.

Countrywide warns of impact of 'junk' rating

Countrywide Financial Corporation's ability to raise money and increase deposits in its banking subsidiary could be hampered if its credit ratings are downgraded below investment grade, the mortgage lender said in a regulatory filing. Countrywide, the nation's largest mortgage lender, said further reductions to its credit ratings would severely limit its ability to access public debt markets, according to a quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Microsoft to offer engravings on Zune players

In a bid to one-up Apple, Microsoft said it will engrave designs by contemporary artists on the back of its Zune media players free of charge starting today, when the new line goes on sale. Microsoft's Zune Originals include work from 18 artists, including illustrators Catalina Estrada of Spain, Skwak of France and Nobumasa Takahashi of Japan. The intricate designs take up most of the metallic backs of the players. Market leader Apple Inc. will engrave a line or two of text on the back of iPods and iPhones.