Business Channel 2007-03-14&16

Well, the increased demand for ethanol is pushing up the price of corn, the key ingredient in the alternative fuel. And the Agriculture Department says that as corn prices rise, so too would food prices. It says consumers can expect to pay more for meat and poultry¹ because of the rising demand for corn. That's because corn is used as a feed for chicken and livestock². And with corn prices rising, the cost of meat is likely to go up, too. Last year, ethanol production took 20% of the US corn crop and it's expected to use more than 25% of the corn crop this year, Richard.

Oh, hey Gerri, is it, uh, just meat?

Well, no. Coca-Cola is also feeling the effect of high corn prices. The main sweetener it uses to create soda³ is high fructose corn syrup⁴. A company official speaking at a, a food industry conference said Coca is looking at using a more concentrated syrup because of high corn cost. He also indicated that Coca may be looking at using other sweeteners altogether in place of corn syrup. Richard.

Oh, yeah. It's in everything, I guess, corn is, er, (Right) switching to ethanol that's certainly one way of helping⁵ the environment. Others are making more use of commuting⁶. Is that using mass transit⁷ if you will? You got more numbers on that? Uh?

Absolutely, that's right. Use of public transportation is on the rise. The American Public Transportation Association says last year Americans took more than 10 billion trips on mass transit. That's the highest level in nearly 50 years. Public transit use is up 30% since 1995. The trade group says not only do people save money, but they also avoid traffic in the stress of driving. The advantages are even leading some companies like Google and others to pay for shuttle bus service to work. That sounds pretty good, doesn't it, Richard?

Yeah, it does. And that was the free food, always a good idea. (Right) How the markets are doing before you take off?

Stocks posted modest gains here even though there are mounting worries about the subprime mortgage market and the impact it could have on the entire housing industry. Trading in New Century Financial was halted all day by the NYSE. This after the mortgage lender which specializes in making loans to those with poor credit said all of its bank lenders were cutting off financing. Without the money, New Century is unable to grant new mortgage loans. But those concerns were offset⁸ by a series of mergers⁹. And the Dow gained 42 points on the day, the NASDAQ rose more than 0.5%. And the S&P 500 added 0.2%. That's the latest from New York. Richard, back to you.

Notes:

1. Standard & Poor's 500 Index - S&P 500

An index consisting of 500 stocks chosen for market size, liquidity¹⁰ and industry grouping, among other factors. The S&P 500 is designed to be a leading indicator¹¹ of U.S. equities¹² and is meant to reflect the risk/return characteristics of the large-cap universe.

Companies included in the index are selected by the S&P Index Committee, a team of analysts¹³ and economists¹⁴ at Standard & Poor's. The S&P 500 is a market-value weighted index - each stock's weight in the index is proportionate to its market value.

2.NYSE:

New York Stock Exchange

3. New Century

New Century Financial Corporation is an American mortgage REIT headquartered in Irvine, California. New Century originates and purchases mortgages through its subsidiaries New Century Mortgage Corporation and Home123 Corporation and via it's FastQual internet site.

As of 1 January 2007, New Century had approximately 7,200 full-time¹⁵ employees[1] and a market capitalization of $1.75 billion. FY 2005 net income was $417 million.[2]

New Century is listed on the NYSE with the symbol "NEW".

1 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

2 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

3 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

4 syrup   

n.糖浆，糖水

参考例句：

• I skimmed the foam from the boiling syrup.我撇去了煮沸糖浆上的泡沫。
• Tinned fruit usually has a lot of syrup with it.罐头水果通常都有许多糖浆。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 commuting   

交换（的）

参考例句：

• I used the commuting time to read and answer my mail. 我利用上下班在汽车中的时间来阅读和答复给我的函电。
• Noncommuting objects are as real to the mathematicians as commuting objects. 对于数学家来说，不可交换的对象与可交换的对象是一样真实的。

7 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

8 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。

9 mergers   

n.（两个公司的）合并( merger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Mergers fall into three categories: horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate. 合并分为以下三种：横向合并，纵向合并和混合合并。 来自辞典例句
• Many recent mergers are concentrated within specific industries, particularly in retailing, airlines and communications. 现代许多合并企业集中进行某些特定业务，在零售业、民航和通讯业中更是如此。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

10 liquidity   

n.流动性，偿债能力，流动资产

参考例句：

• The bank has progressively increased its liquidity.银行逐渐地增加其流动资产。
• The demand for and the supply of credit is closely linked to changes in liquidity.信用的供求和流动资金的变化有密切关系。

11 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

12 equities   

普通股，股票

参考例句：

• These are invested mainly in the OECD bonds and equities. 这些资产主要投资于经济合作及发展组织的债券与股票市场。
• They are also advantage of the global rebound in equities. 它们还在利用全球股市反弹的机会。

13 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

14 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。