Industrial production in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, dropped for the sixth consecutive month in February as the global recession hit demand for German product, both at home and abroad. Output fell a seasonally adjusted 2.9 percent from January, when it slumped 6.1 percent, the most since data for a reunified Germany began in 1991. From a year earlier, output was down by 20.6 percent.br /br /a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Sd3cGgsj5cI/AAAAAAAANeY/C0huGfcX930/s1600-h/german+ip.png"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322652339035956674" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 219px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Sd3cGgsj5cI/AAAAAAAANeY/C0huGfcX930/s400/german+ip.png" border="0" //abr /br /Although the pace of decline was slower than in January, this month’s drop was led by a 4.5 percent slump in production of investment goods, according to the Economy Ministry, and this certainly does not bode well for the future. The rate of decline in manufacturing activity continued to slow in March, although activity in the sector continues to contract at a sharp ...

by Edward Hugh: Barcelona br /br /Data from the JPMorgan March Global PMI provide solid evidence that the speed of contraction in global manufacturing is lessening at the present time. Indexes tracking trends in output and new orders generally continued to rise across the globe, and are in general now up significantly from the series lows registered at the end of 2008. However, both the output and the new orders indexes remained at very low levels, all still signalling continuing contraction and well below those consistent with anything resembling a recovery in either component.br /br /The JPMorgan Global Manufacturing PMI – which provides a single figure snapshot of operating conditions across the planet – posted 37.2 in March. Although substantially below the no-change mark of 50.0, the PMI was up for the third month in row and at its highest level since last October. The vast majority of the national ...

Health and beauty products retailer Watsons has opened a new type of concept store in Tianjin. Located in Tianjin International Shopping Mall, Watsons' new concept store is differs from its traditional personal care stores with the addition of a new perfume center and an experience area, which offers international perfume brands such as Burberry, Paul Smith, [...]

Avanex Corporation, a global provider of optical network solutions, today announced the appointment of Dr. Giovanni Barbarossa as CEO, President, and Director. Dr. Barbarossa has been with the company for 8 years, serving as Chief Technical Officer and Sr. V.P., and, since July, as Interim CEO. He has also been named as a member of the Avanex Board of Directors.

Prior to Avanex, Dr. Barbarossa held senior management roles in the Optical Networking Division of Agilent Technologies, and in the Network Product Group of Lucent Technologies. Before that he was with AT&T Labs, and a research associate with Bell Labs. He has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Glasgow, U.K., and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Bari in Italy.

Paul Smith, Avanex Board Chairman, commented on the factors involved in the decision, including Barbarossa’s company and industry knowledge, and his strong relationships with customers. “During

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Inter Parfums, Inc.’s (IPAR) growth strategy of acquiring exclusive worldwide licenses and developing new prestige fragrances under those brand names has resulted in a 19.5% sales growth rate.

The management has aggressively pursued additional license agreements -- Gap (GPS) and Quiksilver (ZQK) -- and has also entered the skincare category. Earnings guidance has been increased after each of the last five quarterly earnings reports except the most recent in August. The stock is rated a Hold.

The company’s new product pipeline continues to be strong and robust in fragrances. Most recently, the company entered into a 12-year agreement with Van Cleef & Arpels to manufacture and distribute perfumes and related products under the Van Cleef & Arpels brand name. Under the Van Cleef & Arpels brand, the company plans to roll out a new women’s scent during the fall of 2008 and Rumeur 2 Rose under the Lanvin brand.

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