Global business Shareholders in Citigroup voted against planned compensation packages for Vikram Pandit, Citi's chief executive, and its directors. It was the first time this had happened at a big American bank since the "say on pay" rule was introduced under the Dodd-Frank reforms. The vote is non-binding, but it underscores the anger felt by some investors at the perceived uncoupling of pay from performance. Citi's earnings still fail to excite the markets, and its recent dividend to shareholders has been just 1 cent.
Goldman Sachs increased its quarterly shareholder dividend for the first time in six years, from 35 cents a share to 46 cents. The bank's first-quarter earnings were better than expected, rebounding from the last three months of 2011, when investors were having an acute bout of anxiety over the eurozone.
Google announced that it would split its stock between voting and non-voting shares. The new shares, which will be listed on the Nasdaq exchange, will allow the search engine company's founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, along with the chairman, Eric Schmidt, to maintain a controlling stake. A bet on Google is now a bet that its bosses will stay sharp indefinitely.
Nokia's woes continued, swinging to a first-quarter operating loss of $1.7 billion soon after its credit rating was cut to near junk.
Recognizing that the market for solar power has "fundamentally changed," First Solar, which was once one of America's biggest solar panel manufacturers, said it would shed 30 percent of its global workforce and close its factory in Germany to cut costs. Solar firms in America and Europe have been hit by cheaper Chinese imports and uncertainty over subsidies. First Solar has seen 83 percent of its market value wiped out in the past year.
Warren Buffett disclosed that he has an early form of prostate cancer. Earlier this year, Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett's investment company, said it had a succession plan in place without revealing who would eventually take over. In a letter to shareholders, the Oracle of Omaha described his condition as "not remotely life-threatening or even debilitating in any meaningful way." He said that he plans to undergo radiation treatment in July.
Political economy In a modest but significant step toward liberalizing its currency, China loosened the trading limits for the yuan, allowing prices against the dollar to fluctuate by up to 1 percent either side of the reference rate set each day by the Chinese central bank. Soon afterward, HSBC, a global bank, issued the first yuan bond outside China or Hong Kong. It offered the bond in London, which is vying to beat other financial centers in developing an offshore market for yuan-denominated products.
India's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate for the first time in three years, by half a percentage point to 8 percent. The Reserve Bank of India had raised rates 13 times between March 2010 and October 2011 as it battled inflation, but its main concern now is the country's decelerating economy.
Brazil also cut interest rates, by 75 basis points to 9 percent. It was the sixth consecutive cut as Brazil, too, is having to adapt to a much slower rate of growth in its once-booming economy.
Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's opposition leader, will travel abroad this summer for the first time in 24 years. Suu Kyi is to go to Norway and might also visit Britain following an invitation from the prime minister, David Cameron, who on April 13 became the first Western leader to visit Myanmar since the country's regime embarked on reform.
Argentina announced that it would expropriate and nationalize 51 percent of YPF, the former state oil company now controlled by Spain's Repsol. Repsol demanded $10.5 billion in compensation, which the government says it will not pay. Spain promised to retaliate, warning of economic and diplomatic consequences.
King Juan Carlos of Spain apologized for going on an elephant hunting trip in Africa at a time of deepening recession at home. The king, who is honorary president of Spain's chapter of the World Wildlife Federation, a conservation group, had to come back early for emergency hip-replacement surgery. The WWF has requested a meeting.
