So that's it for another week on Business Live - thanks for reading. Before we go, a quick Wall Street update: the Dow Jones and S&P 500 both ended the day up about 1%, while Nasdaq did slightly better with a 1.3% rise. We are back on Monday morning - join us then.
- Lloyds loses £660m on TSB sale
- China's factory activity steady
- Church to cut fossil fuel investment
Mark Thompson, the former BBC director-general who now runs the New York Times Co, says that while digital is the future, he is not about to give up on print just yet. "We are determined to do everything we can do to defend print advertising. Print advertising is not going to be a part of the growth story of the New York Times, but for economic reasons it matters very much that we hold it as much as we can," he says. Why is that? Revenue from print ads still accounts for more than two-thirds of the Times' advertising revenue.
Three million US households are expected to watch the boxing match betweenFloyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao on Saturday. They'll pay $100 each for the privilege says Nigel Currie, sports sponsorship expert on World Business Report. But the hype has been so big that the figure could go up to four or five million households, which could make the fight worth up to $500m. Mr Mayweather is expected to make at least $150m.
BBC Radio 4
US telecom companies are pushing back against tighter regulation.Three industry groups are attempting to block a move by regulators to reclassify broadband internet as a service that should be more heavily regulated. They say the Federal Communications Commission is seeking "sweeping" control over the internet which will create "enormous uncertainty" about whether broadband providers can continue to provide the services "that benefit consumers".
A jury in New York has convicted a former Goldman Sachs programmer of stealing the investment bank's high-frequency trading code. The jury said it had reached a split decision, finding Sergey Aleynikov (pictured left) guilty on only one count of stealing "secret scientific material" from the investment bank, but were unable to reach a verdict on another similar count. Prosecutors had charged Aleynikov, a dual US/Russian citizen, with stealing the code as he prepared to leave Goldman for a high-frequency trading firm.
Baker Hughes, which compiles a weekly survey of the number of oil rigs in the US, found that the total was down by 24 this week to 679 active rigs. That was the smallest drop since early April, after the loss of 31 and 26 rigs in the prior two weeks, and suggests that the collapse in drilling may be coming to an end as oil prices recover.
Not many Germans - Angela Merkel for one - have thought much of Greek demands for reparations following the country's Nazi occupation in the Second World War. However, German president Joachim Gauck has told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper: "It's the right thing to do for a history-conscious country like ours to consider what possibilities there might be for reparations." Reuters describes Mr Gauck as a figure who "has little real power in Germany but a penchant for defying convention".
Aston Martin is hoping to boost sales in the US by providing new financing schemes. Under a new deal,Ally Financial will provide lease deals to customers. With a 10% deposit, buyers will be able to own a V8 Vantage for $1,300 per month. At the moment the US accounts for 25% of Aston Martin's sales.
The latest movie in the Avengers series looks set to break US box office records this weekend.Boxoffice.com forecasts that Avengers: Age of Ultron could take $221m in its opening weekend. That would break the record held by 2012's The Avengers movie which took $20.7m. Shares in Disney, the film's producer, are up 0.8%.
Shares inYum Brands, which owns KFC and Taco Bell, have risen 4% and to a record. It has emerged that hedge fund Third Point has taken a stake in Yum. In a letter to investors Third Point founder Daniel Loeb said that Yum is "in the early stages of turning the page" on problems in China. Sales in China fell last year following a food scare.
Evans Cycles has been sold.Private equity firm ECI is buying a majority stake in deal that is reported to value the chain at just under £100m. Its current owners are Active Private Equity which bought a controlling stake in the firm in 2008. Under Active's ownership Evans expanded from 31 to 56 outlets. It also developed a range of bikes under the name of Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy.
So the bond market has been very interesting this week. No, wait - come back! The former chief executive of Pimco Mohamed El-Erian told Bloomberg TV that this week we have seen "a buyers' strike" in the bond market. He was referring to the yield on Germany's 10-year bund that had been heading towards zero, but on Wednesday saw a sharp reversal. Mr El-Erian has been "stunned" that investors have been buying debt that has a return less than inflation.
Chevron is latest oil major to be hit by the tumbling oil price.The US firm posted a 43% fall in quarterly profit to $2.57bn. Production grew 4% to 2.68 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. "We're responding to the current price environment by capturing cost reductions, pacing new project approvals and further streamlining our portfolio as planned," said chief executive John Watson.
Thanks to Tom and Russell for a solid morning's work. I'll be with you now until the close of play.
The Prudential has announced that Mike Wells, head of its US business, will replace Tidjane Thiam as chief executive. Mr Thiam said earlier this year that he is off to run Credit Suisse bank. Mr Wells will take up the post 1 June, Prudentialsaid in a statement.
Colgate-Palmolive cut its profit forecast for the full year again, indicating price rises will not be able to completely offset the impact of a stronger dollar. Colgate, which controls about 45% of the global toothpaste market, gets most of its revenue from outside the US.
Chief business correspondent
Developments in high frequency trading in the last ten years are, Stephanie Flanders, chief market strategist for UK and Europe for JP Morgan, tells Business Live. "It's testing this grey area between really clever trading and insider trading or manipulation of markets. It's getting harder and harder for regulators to really tell the difference between some of those things."
While first quarter results from Standard Chartered, Barclays and RBS have been "pretty depressing so far", some aspects of Lloyds' results "offer encouragement", according to an Investec analysts' note. The investment firm says one good sign is Lloyds not setting aside more funds for PPI insurance mis-selling.
Personal finance correspondent, BBC News
Amazon has confirmed that it is doubling the amount customers will have to spend to qualify for free delivery in the UK - other than for books. Until today, customers had to buy items costing at least £10 in total to be given Free Super Saver Delivery. Now the goods will have to add up to £20, unless they are books.
Radio 5 live
When asked whether she can stay on as chair of the Public Accounts Committee under the circumstances, Margaret Hodge says: "What I'm hoping is that Labour will win the election, so the job won't be up for grabs, but it will be held by a member of the opposition. But I don't believe I acted in any way inappropriately. You can't pick up the pieces for what your Jewish relatives did many years ago."
Radio 5 live
Margaret Hodge was pressed that she still picked up more than £1.5m in shares via a Liechtenstein tax scheme, despite being critical of her relatives, and asked whether this was hypocritical, she said: "If I had benefitted from those shares being offshore, I could be accused of being hypocritical... To be absolutely honest, they are worthless now, so that doesn't arise - there's nothing to give away."
Radio 5 live
When challenged about receiving shares via a Liechtenstein tax scheme, Margaret Hodge says "Am I critical of my relatives? Yeah, I don't think they should have done what they've done. I understand why they did it, because they were refugees."
Radio 5 live
Magaret Hodge is challenged that not only had she benefited from an offshore holding, but that the deal under which she got the money repatriated was under a Lichtenstein system she had criticised. She replies: "I didn't benefit from that deal personally. What happened [was] I inherited the shares when it was brought onshore. This was nothing to do with me. This was all a legacy, an inheritance from my refugee Jewish family." She added she had "paid full tax on it".
Radio 5 live
Last week The Times claimed that Margaret Hodge, who has frequently criticised tax avoidance as head of the Public Accounts Committee, hadreceived more than £1.5m in shares from Liechtenstein. Speaking on Radio 5 live, Ms Hodge says: "What happened here was I am a Jewish immigrant, my family came from Germany and Austria. During the war they dispersed all over the world, and an uncle in America and an aunt in France established a trust. I had absolutely nothing to do with establishing the trust. I didn't control it, and I didn't run it. I didn't benefit from it at all when it was offshore. I inherited the shares when they came onshore, and I've always paid tax to the full."
Tesla Motors chief executive Elon Musk says that just as mobile phones have made landlines unnecessary in remote parts of the world, batteries and solar power will make electrical grids in far-off places unnecessary. "What we'll see is something similar to what happened with cell phones versus landlines, where the cell phones actually leapfrog the landlines, and there wasn't a need to put landlines in a lot of countries for remote locations."
On Apple and IBM joining forces with Japan Post to supply iPads for the elderly in Japan, Stephanie Flanders of JP Morgan said a lot of companies are trying to develop products for the "grey market". She adds: "There are an awful lot of opportunities still in the Japanese economy around this area. They are ahead of everybody else in experiencing some of the problems involved in demographic change."
The Chinese authorities in the city of Guangzhou are reported to have carried out a raid on the offices of the online taxi-hailing service Uber, says the BBC's Shanghai correspondent, John Sudworth. The US-based company has come under scrutiny in a number of countries over issues such as unlicensed and unregulated drivers.
Chief business correspondent
The European Commission's recently-launched investigation into Google is just the start, says theFinancial Times. Brussels is set to widen its probe into US tech firms as part of a push for a 'digital single market'. The Daily Telegraph's business section leads on Greece, saying that the government has reaffirmed plans to carry out electoral spending pledges. In the Guardian, columnist Nils Pratley reflects on yesterday's court ruling rejecting claims for compensation by former Woolworths and Ethel Austin staff. It's unfair and makes no sense, he says.