World important news by Eliz

* Sees Q2 revenue at $300 million to $320 millionOct 18 (Reuters) - LED maker Cree Inc reported a steep decline in first-quarter profit as stiff competition hurt pricing and kept inventories high.Profit for the first quarter ended Sept. 25 fell 78 percent to $12.8 million, or 11 cents per share, from $58 million, or 53 cents per share, in the year-ago period.Excluding items, the company earned 25 cents per share, compared with the average analyst estimate of 26 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.Gross margin fell to 36.4 percent from 48.6 percent.Revenue was flat at $269.0 million. The company said it expects second-quarter revenue of $300 million to $320 million.

The anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, is the ligament inside the knee that helps keep the joint stable. About 150,000 ACL injuries occur each year in the United States.”Less than 50 percent of the study sample had returned to playing sport at their preinjury level or returned to participating in competitive sport when surveyed at 2 to 7 years after ACL reconstruction surgery,” wrote Clare Ardern at La Trobe University in Victoria, Australia, who led the study.Ardern and her colleagues followed more than 300 men and women for two to seven years. Participants had either played Australian-rules football, basketball, netball or soccer before their surgeries.At 39 months post-surgery, 208 out of the 314 people who had the operation were still playing a sport, the researchers said.Of those 208, 68 said they played at a lower level than before their injury and 140 said they played about the same as before their injury. The remaining 106 participants either were not playing sports or did not complete the entire study.”Although almost all people returned to playing some form of sport, they did not play continuously for many years after their surgery,” Ardern told Reuters Health in an email.She also noted there may be other reasons why people stopped playing sports, such as fear of getting injured again or less confidence in performing.Of the 196 people who played competitive sports before their injury, 91 returned to their competitive sport.”This is a big injury,” said Edward McDevitt, a spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, who was not part of the study.”Many athletes who choose surgery have a long and difficult road to face. If you’re not willing to go through it, then you might be better off just getting a brace.”He added that while knee surgery does allow people to return to their sport, they couldn’t perform as well as doctors might wish.People who tear the ACL can either opt for physical therapy and surgery or just physical therapy alone.”Some people find that they are able to function well without surgery, provided they have adequate leg strength to support the injured knee,” Ardern said.”Other alternatives may be to avoid sports involving direction changes, jumping and landing or activities that make the knee feel unstable, or use knee braces and supports.”McDevitt speculates that after surgery, some athletes may not have the same range of motion, preventing them from playing as before.”I tell my patients, ‘I can’t make you like before, I’m not God. But I’ll do the best I can to restore you back to the way you were,’” he added.

Oct 13 (Reuters) - ITT Corp on Thursday said growth in emerging markets and acquisitions would fuel sales and profits after it splits into three companies.The company, which is spinning off its water and defense segments later this month, also said product orders are holding up despite global economic jitters.”We’re not seeing challenges in our orders at this point,” Chief Financial Officer Denise Ramos, said during an investor presentation on Thursday. He will become chief executive of the new ITT after the spin-offs.The new ITT Corp will provide components for aerospace, rail, energy and other markets with estimated 2011 revenue of $2.1 billion. Its products include shock absorbers used on railroad cars and buses, aircraft parts and industrial pumps used to refine oil and gas. ITT had revenue of about $11 billion in 2010.Ramos said expansion in places such as China, India and Brazil would bolster growth from emerging markets.She also said acquisitions that fill gaps in technology or complement its core businesses would aid results.”Our sweet spot for acquisitions is companies with annual revenues between $15 million and $50 million,” Ramos said.ITT said on Thursday that it will buy Blakers Pump Engineers, an Australia company that is a distributor for its Goulds Pumps industrial business.The addition of Blakers, which had annual revenue for the latest year of about $27 million, will help ITT expand in energy and mining industries in Australia. Terms weren’t disclosed.Based in White Plains, New York, ITT is spinning off its water and defense units to take advantage of recovering commercial and industrial markets as global military spending comes under pressure.The new water company will be called Xylem and the defense spinoff will be called ITT Exelis.ITT shares closed down 2.3 percent to $44.88 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.

Oct 13 (Reuters) - ITT Corp on Thursday said growth in emerging markets and acquisitions would fuel sales and profits after it splits into three companies.The company, which is spinning off its water and defense segments later this month, also said product orders are holding up despite global economic jitters.”We’re not seeing challenges in our orders at this point,” Chief Financial Officer Denise Ramos, said during an investor presentation on Thursday. He will become chief executive of the new ITT after the spin-offs.The new ITT Corp will provide components for aerospace, rail, energy and other markets with estimated 2011 revenue of $2.1 billion. Its products include shock absorbers used on railroad cars and buses, aircraft parts and industrial pumps used to refine oil and gas. ITT had revenue of about $11 billion in 2010.Ramos said expansion in places such as China, India and Brazil would bolster growth from emerging markets.She also said acquisitions that fill gaps in technology or complement its core businesses would aid results.”Our sweet spot for acquisitions is companies with annual revenues between $15 million and $50 million,” Ramos said.ITT said on Thursday that it will buy Blakers Pump Engineers, an Australia company that is a distributor for its Goulds Pumps industrial business.The addition of Blakers, which had annual revenue for the latest year of about $27 million, will help ITT expand in energy and mining industries in Australia. Terms weren’t disclosed.Based in White Plains, New York, ITT is spinning off its water and defense units to take advantage of recovering commercial and industrial markets as global military spending comes under pressure.The new water company will be called Xylem and the defense spinoff will be called ITT Exelis.ITT shares closed down 2.3 percent to $44.88 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.

* Total investment could reach $12 bln in 4-6 yearsBy Hugo BachegaBRASILIA, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Taiwan’s Foxconn confirmed it will start producing iPads in Brazil in December but is still negotiating a multibillion-dollar expansion plan in the country, senior company and government officials said on Thursday.President Dilma Rousseff first announced the Foxconn proposal to build Apple’s hot-selling tablet in Brazil during an official visit to China in April.Since then plans have been delayed because of complex negotiations over tax breaks and other benefits the company is seeking.The lengthy negotiations reflect the country’s sometimes difficult investment climate and the Rousseff administration’s ambiguous stance between a heavy government hand and the need to attract private capital.But Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou and Brazil’s Science and Technology Minister Aloizio Mercadante told reporters on Thursday the company will start assembling the iPad locally in December at its plant in Jundiai in Sao Paulo state.”They’re maintaining the deadline they had announced, which is December. The iPhone is ready for large-scale production and for the iPad they’re working with that deadline,” Mercadante said after a meeting between Gou and Rousseff.Both sides were still negotiating fresh Foxconn investments, including two new factories to assemble touch screens, Mercadante said.”We haven’t finished the process, it’s moving ahead but there’s no date,” said Mercadante, who had trumpeted the announcement back in April as a sign of growing Asian investments and high-tech industries in Brazil.Six state governments were competing to attract the factories, Mercadante said. Logistics, such as the proximity of airports, were key issues, he added.The deal involves local investors, as well as financing from state-owned development bank BNDES, Mercadante added.If all goes well, Foxconn expects to invest up to $12 billion in coming years.”We will be still investing US$12 billion in a (few) years, maybe four years, maybe six years,” Gou told reporters in a separate news conference.Brazil recently granted tax breaks on specific computer components and attraced companies such as Samsung , Motorola and Positivo Informatica to assemble tablets.

* Initial carbon price set at A$23 a tonneBy James GrubelCANBERRA, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Australia’s plan for a national carbon price passed its biggest political hurdle on Wednesday when the lower house of parliament voted in favour of the scheme — a major victory for beleaguered Prime Minister Julia Gillard.Gillard, who is staring at electoral defeat according to opinion polls, has staked her minority government’s future on the sweeping economic reform that will impose a carbon tax on around 500 of the country’s biggest polluters from July 2012, before moving to a carbon trade scheme in 2015.”Today is a significant day for Australians and the Australians of the future who want to see a better environment,” Gillard said before the bills passed by 74 votes to 72 in the House of Representatives.Australia, the world’s biggest coal exporting nation, accounts for only around 1.5 percent of global emissions, but is the developed world’s highest per capita polluter due to a reliance on coal for 80 percent of its electricity generation.The carbon legislation, and a bill for A$300 million ($298.7 million) in assistance for the steel industry, must still pass the upper house Senate in a vote due in mid-November, but the government and Green senators have the numbers to ensure the bills will become law.The carbon plan, if passed by the Senate, would see Australia join the European Union and New Zealand with national emissions trading schemes, while the United States and Japan have smaller regional schemes.The government and the Greens hope the carbon tax will reignite momentum for a global emissions reduction agreement at climate talks in Durban, South Africa, in December.GOVERNMENT CELEBRATES CARBON VOTEGovernment lawmakers applauded when the lower house vote was taken, while Gillard and her ministers hugged each other and waved to supporters . However anti carbon-tax protesters later disrupted parliament by shouting at the prime minister from the public galleries.Two previous attempts to pass laws for a carbon price failed in 2009, and were partly responsible for the ruling Labor Party’s decision to dump then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in favour of Gillard in June 2010.The carbon price is the central plank in the government’s plan to cut carbon emissions, blamed for global warming, by 5 percent of 2000 levels by 2020.The conservative opposition, which opinion polls put on track to win an election in two years, said it would dismantle the tax if victorious and replace it with an alternative that did not explicitly price carbon.”We can repeal the tax, we will repeal the tax, we must repeal the tax. This is a pledge in blood. This tax will go,” opposition leader Tony Abbott said.Business and mining groups vigorously oppose the carbon scheme, arguing it will close coal mines, cost thousands of jobs, hike power bills and damage Australia’s international competitiveness.”The carbon tax will undermine the competitiveness of Australian coal mines with no reduction in the amount of global greenhouse gas emissions from coal mining,” Australian Coal Association chairman John Pegler said.The Minerals Council, which represents big mining companies such as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto , said the vote was a retrograde step which would undermine export competitiveness and cost the mining sector A$25 billion by 2020.But environment groups welcomed the parliamentary vote and urged the Senate to deal with the bills as soon as possible.”Today’s vote is historic for the millions of Australians who, in the face of well-funded scare campaigns, have tirelessly urged successive Australian governments to take action on climate change,” Australian Conservation Foundation chief executive Don Henry told reporters.INITIAL A$23 A TONNE CARBON PRICEThe bills set an initial carbon price of A$23 a tonne, and guarantees billions of dollars of compensation for big business and households, which will face higher electricity prices.Export-exposed industries such as aluminium smelters and steel makers will receive up to 94.5 percent of carbon permits for free, while liquefied natural gas projects will receive effective assistance for 50 percent of emissions.The scheme sets up a A$10 billion clean energy finance fund to leverage private investment in renewable energy. Legislation for the fund will be introduced in early 2012. The scheme also sets aside A$1.3 billion to help coal mines reduce emissions.The plan also includes an extra A$300 million to help the steel industry, which is struggling with a high Australian dollar and higher costs for raw materials.The scheme will also allow the government to buy-back up to 2,000 megawatts of electricity from Australia’s dirtiest coal-fired power stations by 2020, encouraging new investment in renewable energy and gas-fired power plants.Agriculture is exempt from the carbon price, although farmers will be able to cash in on the market for carbon offsets.

Panetta, in what the Pentagon billed as his first policy address, also called on Congress to be a “responsible partner” by supporting a defense strategy that might not always include their favorite base or weapons system.”We need to build the military force that the country needs but also help ensure that the country maintains its economic strength,” Panetta said in a speech to the Woodrow Wilson International Center think tank.Panetta’s remarks were the most detailed yet elaborating on his views about what the Pentagon will have to do to meet the spending reductions called for in the debt reduction agreement approved by Congress and President Barack Obama in August.That deal calls for $350 billion in cuts over 10 years in comparison to a Congressional Budget Office baseline of projected national security spending. The cuts represent more than $450 billion when measured against the Pentagon’s own baseline projections.The cutbacks come as the United States is slowly winding down its involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq after a decade of war while seeing growing challenges abroad from rival powers like China and countries with growing nuclear programs like North Korea and Iran.Panetta said the Pentagon would attempt to find $60 billion reductions by streamlining, cutting overhead and eliminating waste and duplication. That figure comes on top of the $150 billion in efficiency savings announced previously by former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.Panetta said the Defense Department also would have to deal with rising military personnel costs, which have grown more than 80 percent in the past decade while the level of military employment has grown only 5 percent.He did not say what action would be taken, calling it “an area of extreme challenge, because my highest priority is maintaining the vitality of our all-volunteer force — and keeping faith with the men and women who have put their lives on the line to defend the country.”Panetta said the overall size of the ground forces would have to be reduced and some procurement would have to be set aside or delayed.”We will need to consider accepting reduced levels of modernization in some areas, carefully informed by strategy and rigorous analysis,” he said.