Business Channel 2006-12-11&13

Let's start with the General Motors, because it looks like GM is looking to spiff up its car-line by importing one of its most popular European models to this side of the Atlantic. Beginning in the third quarter of next year, GM's Opel Astra will be sold in North America under the auto¹ giant Saturn² brand. Other Opel models such as the Vectra or Corsa could show up at American Car Dealerships not long after. GM has sold around 1.2 million of the current Astra-generation in Europe since its launch in March 2004, making it the second best-selling hatchback in its class right behind Volkswagen's Golf model, Christina.

Uh-huh, so you know a lot of those around, so what does this mean for Saturn, Val?

Well, GM executives are being a little bit coy about this. But they did say that eventually, most of the Opel and Saturn lines are going to be shared. Opel is expected to benefit from the strong dealer³ network developed by Saturn. But both brands will retain some of their unique models. A decision on the Astra US selling price is yet to be decided⁴, but we can expect, let's say, between 20,000 and 100,000 vehicles per year to ship over here, Christina.

Alright, Val. Yesterday, you are telling us about a nasal spray to keep us thin, today, we are hearing about wine compound that could keep us young. You gotta tell me more about that.

Oh, doesn't this sound almost too good to be true?

It does.

Well, there are studies on one very specific compound in red wine. And it is indeed bumping up sales of the dark vino. This is an ACNielsen survey. And it found that red wine sales rose 8.3% in a recent four-week period. The surge of popularity is due to a series of studies about the anti-aging properties of resveratrol, which is a compound that is found in dark wines. The experiments were in mice though, and a human, but have to drink hundreds of glasses to get the same effect. But you know, that's how science does thing, they start with the mice, and then, then they eventually get to us.

Yeah, I could try that, I could try that! It sounds like with the chocolate, you have to eat a pound of it to get the benefits, the anti-oxidants. So, er, wrapping that up, how seriously can we take those lab-findings then?

Well, judging from the increase in sales, many people are taking them very seriously. There is a however, Nielsen hypothesizes that the rise is mostly due to good press from the lab studies. Moderate consumption of red wine has really already been proven to help lower cholesterol⁵, and to reduce blood pressure. But even the Harvard researcher, who led the resveratrol study, said wine drinkers were going a bit overboard, and notes that the compound is found in lots of other food products including nuts. Nuts sales, by the way, Christina, slipped more than 1% this year.

Now, before I send it back to you. Let's take a quick look at how Wall Street fared today. A stronger-than-expected jobs report earlier today helped to revive stocks after a pretty choppy start, and offset⁶ a weak reading on consumer sentiment. By the close, the Dow Industrials ended the day up, nearly a quarter of a percent, adding 29 points. The broader market and the S&P 500, the NASDAQ Composite finishing up almost half a percent higher.


spiff up vt.
make neat, smart, or trim

1 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

2 Saturn   

n.农神，土星

参考例句：

• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。
• These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们，土星由较轻的物质构成。

3 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 cholesterol   

n.（U）胆固醇

参考例句：

• There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
• They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。

6 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。