As with Amazon, Bezos may throw out the book

What could the billionaire founder and chief executive of Amazon.com possibly want with a dead-tree newspaper?

Jeff Bezos' historic 
$250 million acquisition of The Washington Post seems like a head-scratcher at first, but it's perfectly in line with what he's best known for: taking something old and dying, and turning it into something new and growing.

Why else would he have passed over the newspaper's online-only sister properties Slate.com and Root.com, along with Foreign Policy magazine? None of these three still toil in the world of newsprint and ink. It's that world that Bezos wants to disrupt (business lingo deems that a good word, by the way), just as he did the world of brick-and-mortar bookstores.

The good news for the Post is that Bezos — who has acquired the paper with his personal wealth, separate from Amazon — is unlikely to operate with a bean-counting mindset (but watch out, Marty Baron — he's reportedly a notorious micro-manager! The former Globe editor now heading the Post newsroom may be in for a daily earful). Bezos simply wouldn't be caught dead living in a world of annual layoffs punctuated by periodic buyouts and miscellaneous margin-driven cuts, as virtually all newspapers in America would concede as reality.

Though the Post will remain, at least for now, separate from Amazon, Bezos could easily team up the enterprises on projects, especially given the blind deference he commands from voting shareholders at his e-commerce powerhouse. Given that, I believe Bezos envisions his rein unfolding in three stages:

• Content: The Post is the ultimate content-generation organization, with its international reporting and home base in the capital. It is the perfect vehicle to produce exclusive material to feed into the Kindle e-reader ecosystem, which has struggled to compete with Apple.

• Delivery: Amazon's vision is to launch same-day delivery in every major city. From groceries to, yes, even your daily newspaper, Amazon wants to bring it to you.

• Expansion: If this is the start of cross-pollination between Amazon and the newspaper industry, the logical end result could be personally customized newspapers on demand to each Kindle.

Still, one can't ignore the Ghost of Partnerships Past. AOL was supposed to help reinvent the wheel at Time Warner Inc., and we all know how that story ends.

At Amazon, Bezos has had two main hallmarks: enchant and expand. Shareholders let him get away with razor-thin margins because they believe in his vision. And I can think of no industry in greater need of a visionary than newspapers.

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Australian central bank cuts rate to record low

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low 2.5 percent Tuesday because of slower growth and weakening commodity prices.

The Reserve Bank of Australia's quarter percentage point rate cut at a monthly board meeting comes in the first week of a federal election campaign and was expected by economists.

The bank last cut the Official Cash Rate, which is a benchmark for commercial lending rates, by a quarter point in May, following four cuts in 2012.

Australia has enjoyed a decade-long boom in mining and related construction that helped it avoid recession during the global financial crisis. Growth, however, is now slowing as China's economy cools and drags down prices for commodities such as iron ore and coal. The government last week nearly doubled its budget deficit forecast for the fiscal year through June 2014 to 30.1 billion Australian dollars ($26.8 billion) as slowing growth weighs on tax revenues.

In a statement, the central bank's governor Glenn Stevens said growth was below the long-term trend level of 3 percent as the economy adjusts to lower levels of mining investment, but there was a "reasonable prospect" of it picking up in 2014.

Stevens said the Australian dollar was still quite high despite a fall of 15 percent since April. The currency was little changed at just below $0.90 immediately after the rate announcement.

"It is possible that the exchange rate will depreciate further over time, which would help to foster a rebalancing of growth in the economy," he said. "Commodity prices have declined but, overall, remain at high levels by historical standards."

The government last week downgraded its economic growth forecast for the current fiscal year from 2.75 percent to 2.5 percent and raised its unemployment forecast for the year from 5.75 percent to 6.25 percent.

Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman said the central bank was stepping in to "save the furniture" amid a lack of economic leadership.

"The RBA have provided some relief to Australian retailers, although it is concerning that this cut has come on the back of flat retail sales, predictions of rising unemployment and falling consumer and business confidence," he said in a statement.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry welcomed the rate cut as providing much-needed relief for struggling businesses.

But the government could not rely on the central bank alone to bolster the economy as it adjusts to the end of the mining boom, the chamber's chief executive Peter Anderson said.

"Clearly other areas of economic management are falling well short of the mark and dragging on confidence," Anderson said in a statement.

"That includes not delivering on budget undertakings, poorly targeted spending, and a series of tax increases," he said.

The conservative opposition seized on the rate cut as an indictment of the economic management of the center-left Labor Party government, which has forecast deepening deficits due to dwindling company tax revenue. Labor has ruled since 2007 and hopes for a third three-year term at elections on Sept. 7.

Opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey said interest rates were now even lower than during the global recession in 2009 when Prime Minister Kevin Rudd described a 3 percent central bank rate as an "emergency level."

"The Reserve Bank has cut interest rates to record low levels because the economy is struggling under Kevin Rudd," Hockey told reporters.

"Business and consumer confidence in the United States is in better shape than business and consumer confidence in Australia and one of the key reasons for this is that Australians are worried about their jobs," he said.

The government has defended it economic credentials, boasting the Australia is one of only eight countries with a triple-A credit rating from all three major ratings agencies. Australian government debt remains low compared with most Western countries.

"Australian families and business know that lower interest rates are a good thing, especially with the economy continuing to grow," Treasurer Chris Bowen said.

The 2.5 percent policy rate is the lowest since the central bank's inception in 1960.

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Oil dips to near $106 amid Iran leader change

BANGKOK — The price of crude fell Tuesday after the swearing-in of a new leader in Iran raised hopes for less tension between the oil-producing Islamic republic and the West.

Benchmark crude for September delivery was down 35 cents to $106.21 per barrel at late afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 38 cents to close at $106.56 on the Nymex on Monday.

Michael Hewson, senior market analyst at CMC Markets, said the "softer" oil price could be attributed to an expected easing of tensions between the U.S. and Iran, whose new leader, Hasan Rouhani, took office Sunday. Rouhani is a moderate cleric who has called for a dialogue with the West.

Iran has faced international oil and banking sanctions over its nuclear program and fears it is being used to develop atomic weapons. Having a new leadership in Tehran "has raised some optimism that this new relationship dynamic will augur a much less confrontational relationship between Iran and the US," Hewson said in an email commentary. "The reopening of a Libyan terminal has also helped to weigh on Brent prices as new supply comes on stream."

Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Department, the International Energy Agency and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will this week release their latest assessments of the energy markets, including forecasts for worldwide demand for oil. Analysts are anticipating some downward revisions, given a slowdown in China's economy.

Brent crude, traded on the ICE Futures exchange in London, fell 20 cents to $108.50 per barrel.

In other energy futures trading on the Nymex:

— Heating oil fell 1.3 cents to $3.039 a gallon.

— Natural gas rose 0.6 cent to $3.325 per 1,000 cubic feet.

— Wholesale gasoline fell 1.2 cents to $2.938 a gallon.

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Apple losing innovative core?

Apple is in trouble on its own turf — innovative design paired with wow-inducing product releases — showing signs of critical weakness in the pending redesign of one of its signature devices, the iPad, with the iPhone in danger of following suit.

The new iPad due this fall is reportedly designed in the image of the iPad Mini. Not smaller, just with the screen filling more of the body, according to rumors that peg the announcement and release dates at sometime this fall, possibly September.

But here's the puzzling part: There is no indication that Apple has plans to add a major innovation to the fifth generation of its trailblazing tablet. An iPad without a gimmick is like a man without a country. We want something like Retina display, which the third generation tablet introduced. Or a front-facing camera, as was introduced with the second iteration.

And when the fifth generation of the iPad is unveiled, I'd like to see at least one of the following game-changers added to the mix:

• Instant iCloud: Microsoft helped pioneer the idea of instant cloud backup for consumers. When you save a document in Office 365, it's backed up automatically to the so-called SkyDrive cloud service. Apple should rip off this idea, as we know it's had no trouble doing in the past.

• Waterproofing: Taking a page from the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active, outfitting the iPad with a substance-fighting exterior would really help those of us who use our favorite tablet as a recipe card. Not to mention those of us with children who subject our household electronics to daily punishment. Or anyone who wants to work with it out in the weather. Or play with it on the boat.

• Wireless charging: Again, Apple could pretend it invented this technology that is being used in Nokia Lumias and devices in Japan. I truly wouldn't mind the shamelessness of such a move if it meant I could easily charge my iPad on-the-go.

But here's what I expect instead: lots of talk about how amazing the new iPad is because of its new operating system, iOS 7. I expect a similar price structure to today's iPad, and perhaps an iPad Mini with Retina display that will be announced simultaneously.

It's around that same time — just on the brink of the holiday season — that Tim Cook & Co. will release a new iPhone and the final version of iOS 7. They would be smart to follow through with long-rumored plans to introduce a cheaper iPhone. I think many of us are sick of dropping hundreds of dollars on a new smartphone that is guaranteed to be outdated in 18 months. If Apple stops making strides with its iPad, keeping current with the iPhone is the only way it will remain the world's most valuable company.

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The Ticker

Time Warner, CBS in feud

Three million Time Warner Cable customers in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and other cities remained without access to CBS for a third day yesterday, after the cable provider dropped the network in a spat over fees. Time Warner cut off CBS for viewers in select markets on Friday, saying the network is demanding retransmission fees that are out of line with what it pays other broadcasters. CBS said it had asked the cable provider to continue negotiating while its programming was still on the air.
IBT buying Newsweek

Newsweek is being sold for the second time in just a few years. The owner of the International Business Times said it's buying what is now an online-only brand for an undisclosed sum from InterActiveCorp. The publication ran its last print edition at the end of 2012.

TODAY

 Institute for Supply Management releases its service sector index for July.

TOMORROW

 Commerce Department releases international trade data for June.

 Labor Department releases job openings and labor turnover survey for June.

 CVS Caremark, Walt Disney and 21st Century Fox report quarterly earnings.

 Bristol County Savings Bank has appointed Stephen M. Hardy to the position of commercial lender. He is responsible for developing new business.

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Google finds streaming gold

Google, which has tried to carve out market-share in the living room for years, finally may have found a winner in its sleek streaming stick, Chromecast.

For a paltry $35, the tiny device just a bit bigger than a USB drive plugs into the back of your TV, ready to receive Netflix, YouTube and media from the Google Play store. Setup takes a couple minutes, and is simple through an app or a computer but can be frustrating without a reliable Wi-Fi connection.

The best part of Chromecast is how seamless the experience is. On a smartphone, a button shows up in the apps that support Chromecast — Netflix, YouTube and Google Play Music and Movies for now — when it detects Chromecast on the same Wi-Fi network. An iPhone that had never interacted with Chromecast before was able to play YouTube videos with zero setup. It even automatically changes the TV to the right input, eliminating the need to search for the right remote.

Technically, content is not streamed from a phone to the TV, Chromecast is instead fetching the URL for the content on its own. The distinction may seem inconsequential, but in practice it means the controlling device is not tied up streaming one thing. Because of this, the phone is freed up for other tasks, queuing up more YouTube videos, which play automatically when each one finishes. Still, the downside is a slight lag when you hit pause to process what just happened on "Breaking Bad."

The most disappointing aspect of Chromecast right now is the amount of content available. Netflix and YouTube are great, but Google Play videos and music are hardly the most popular options. Spokesmen for Hulu and HBO Go have said they have been looking into supporting Chromecast, and Pandora support should be arriving soon.

Right now, Chromecast does a few crucial things well in a cheap, simple package. The increasing likelihood of support from Hulu, HBO Go and such will be just icing on that sweet, $35, Internet streaming cake.

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BMW 328i is all about performance

A sports sedan traditionally includes a manual gearbox and rear-wheel-drive that provide drivers with a more intimate connection with the road, but the BMW 328i challenges that with an eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive — features that will give a sports sedan purist pause.

My first impression as I slid into the driver's seat of our 328i tester was that the sedan was more about performance driving than luxury and comfort. That's not to say that the 328i lacks a well-appointed cabin. It's extremely comfortable with eight-way adjustable firm leather seats with the right amount of padding on the doors and center console to keep a driver comfortable yet alert and awake.

Our test BMW had a turbocharged in-line four-cylinder engine that put out 240 horsepower. BMW brands its all-wheel-drive feature as xDrive, in which power is distributed with a rear-wheel drive bias — a hard-to-live-without ­option for year-round New England driving.

The 328i's modest turbo provided plenty of might for around town and back-road driving. The extra gears from the eight-speed automatic transmission provided smooth and instantaneous power for passing on the highway. The sedan also has an auto start-stop function that turns the engine off when the car stops to conserve fuel. The feature can be deactivated if it becomes annoying.

The sedan has three driving modes — a fuel-sipping eco pro, comfort and sport. Switching to sport mode distinctively increased engine RPMs and acceleration. Toggling between the modes also changed the feel of the electronic-controlled steering. Four-wheel independent suspension allowed for spirited cornering with the ability to smooth out bridge expansion joints and other road bumps. Ventilated brakes, stability and traction controls provided peace of mind.

BMW takes safety technology to another level with its lane departure warning function. The feature not only uses warning lights to alert drivers if they unintentionally exit their lane but also sends an additional alert by vibrating the steering wheel.

Our test model, which topped out at just over $52,000, returned 33 mpg highway and 22 mpg city. While those gas mileage numbers are respectable, they are offset by the ­sedan's premium fuel require­ment.

The 328i has four optional equipment lines — luxury, modern, sport and M sport. Our tester equipped with the modern package was elegantly styled. Under­stated aluminum trim on the grille, intakes, and front and rear bumpers played well against the mineral gray metallic ex­terior paint. And the 18-inch turbine-style alloy wheels served as a re­minder of the sedan's performance abilities.

A 6.5-inch flat screen display in the center of the dashboard highlights the 328i's cockpit. Navigation and radio functions were easily accessed via a large dial located beside the shift lever. I found the 328i had good front and rear legroom and a spacious trunk. A split folding rear seat-back helps to create more trunk capacity. However, I found the sedan had limited storage along the doors and the center console cup holders­ were on the small side and too close together.

The 328i's all-wheel-drive option is a must-have for Northeast driving,­ and I personally liked the eight-speed automatic trans­mission. Sports ­sedan purists can drop the xDrive feature and go with a six-speed manual. Not enough power? More power can be found with the BMW 335i turbocharged six-cylinder.

There are plenty of other­ sports sedans worthy of consideration, but few can match the resale value of the BMW.

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New Zealand botulism scare triggers global recall

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand authorities have triggered a global recall of up to 1,000 tons of dairy products across seven countries after dairy giant Fonterra announced tests had turned up a type of bacteria that could cause botulism.

New Zealand's Ministry of Primary Industries said Saturday that the tainted products include infant formula, sports drinks, protein drinks and other beverages. It said countries affected beside New Zealand include China, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia.

Fonterra said its customers were urgently checking their supply chains.

One New Zealand company has locked down five batches of infant formula and China is asking importers to immediately recall products.

Fonterra is the world's fourth-largest dairy company, with annual revenues of about $16 billion.

The news comes as a blow to New Zealand's dairy industry, which powers the country's economy. New Zealand exports about 95 percent of its milk.

Consumers in China and elsewhere are willing to pay a big premium for New Zealand infant formula because the country has a clean and healthy reputation. Chinese consumers have a special interest after tainted local milk formula killed six babies in 2008.

The Centers for Disease Control describes botulism as a rare but sometimes fatal paralytic illness caused by a nerve toxin.

Fonterra said it has told eight of its customers of the problem, which dates back more than a year, and they were investigating whether any of the affected product is in their supply chains. Fonterra said those companies will initiate any consumer product recalls.

At a news conference Saturday, Fonterra repeatedly refused to divulge the companies, countries or specific products affected. Gary Romano, the managing director of Fonterra's New Zealand milk products, said his company supplies raw materials to the eight companies and it is up to them to inform their consumers of what products might be tainted.

The company did acknowledge its chief executive, Theo Spierings, planned to fly to China Saturday, in part to deal with the fallout from the botulism scare.

New Zealand's Ministry for Primary Industries said Saturday that New Zealand company Nutricia had used some of the tainted product in its Karicare line of formula for infants aged over 6 months. Nutricia had locked down all five batches of infant formula it believed contained the tainted product, the ministry said. But it advised that parents should buy different Nutricia products or alternative brands until it verified the location of all tainted Nutricia products.

China's product quality watchdog issued a statement urging importers of Fonterra dairy products to immediately start recalling the products.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine also told quality agencies around China to step up inspections of milk products from New Zealand.

Romano said the problem was caused by unsterilized pipes at a Waikato factory. He said three batches of whey protein weighing about 42 tons were tainted in May 2012, adding that Fonterra has since cleaned the pipes.

The New Zealand ministry says the tainted product has been mixed with other ingredients to form about 1,000 tons of consumer products worldwide.

The company said in a release it identified a potential quality problem in March when a product tested positive for the bacteria Clostridium. Many strains of the bacteria are harmless, the company said, and product samples were put through intensive testing over the following months. It said that on July 31 it discovered the presence of a strain of the bacteria that can cause botulism.

Romano said Fonterra hasn't received reports of anybody getting sick and added that the problem hasn't affected any fresh milk, yoghurt, cheese or long-lasting heat-treated milk.

New Zealand's Ministry for Primary Industries said it was working with the company to investigate.

Spierings, the chief executive, said in the release that food safety was the company's top priority.

"We are acting quickly," he said. "Our focus is to get information out about potentially affected product as fast as possible so that it can be taken off supermarket shelves and, where it has already been purchased, can be returned."

Earlier this year, Fonterra announced it had discovered trace amounts of the agricultural chemical dicyandiamide in some of its products, prompting a ban on the chemical's use on New Zealand farms.

Rabobank's 2012 Global Dairy Top 20 report ranked Fonterra as the world's fourth-largest dairy company by revenue behind Nestlé, Danone and Lactalis. The company is a cooperative, partially owned by thousands of farmers.

In 2011 the company collected 15.4 billion liters (4.1 billion gallons) of milk in New Zealand, representing about 90 percent of the country's total.

In 2008, six babies in China died and another 300,000 were sickened by infant formula that was tainted with melamine, an industrial chemical added to watered-down milk to fool tests for protein levels. Fonterra at the time owned a minority stake in Sanlu, the now-bankrupt Chinese company at the center of the scandal.

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Red Sox owner enters $70M deal for Boston Globe

BOSTON — Businessman John Henry, the principal owner of the Boston Red Sox, has entered into an agreement to buy The Boston Globe for $70 million, a massive drop from its record $1.1 billion price two decades ago.

The impending purchase from The New York Times Co. marks Henry's "first foray into the financially unsettled world of the news media," the Globe said Saturday. The deal will give Henry the 141-year-old newspaper, its websites and affiliated companies, it said.

The Times announced in February it was putting the Globe and related assets up for sale four years after calling off a previous attempt to sell it. The company's CEO said at the time selling the Globe would help the company focus attention on The New York Times brand.

Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy confirmed the planned sale of the Globe and other media properties to Henry. The Times said the all-cash sale, expected to close in 30 to 60 days, includes BostonGlobe.com, Boston.com, The Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Telegram.com, the direct mail marketing company Globe Direct and the company's 49 percent interest in Metro Boston, a free daily newspaper for commuters.

Henry, in a statement published by the Globe, cited the "essential role that its journalists and employees play in Boston, throughout New England, and beyond."

"The Boston Globe's award-winning journalism as well as its rich history and tradition of excellence have established it as one of the most well respected media companies in the country," Henry said.

Henry, who also owns the English Premier League soccer club Liverpool F.C., said he would reveal details about his plans for the Globe in the next few days.

The Times bought the Globe from the family of former Globe executive Stephen Taylor in 1993 for what it said was the highest price paid for an American newspaper. The price Henry is paying is less than 7 percent of the 1993 price.

The Globe and other newspapers have faced difficulties in recent years as readers have fled to the Internet and advertisers have cut spending on newspapers and moved more ads online. Still, the Globe is a journalistic institution in New England and was lauded for its coverage of the deadly Boston Marathon bombings in April.

A 2009 round of cost-cutting, involving pay cuts, helped put the Globe on better financial footing and prompted the Times to call off a planned sale. In late 2011, the Globe started charging for access to its online version at BostonGlobe.com, which helped to boost circulation revenues.

The Times company doesn't separate Globe revenue from The New York Times revenue in its financial statements. But the Globe had an average weekday circulation of 230,351 in the six months through September, according to the Alliance for Audited Media. The newspaper's increase in digital subscriptions more than offset declines in print. But the total is still down significantly from the nearly 413,000 it boasted in September 2002.

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Low jobless claims send markets soaring

Initial unemployment claims last week fell to a 51⁄2 year low, just one in a series of encouraging economic reports yesterday that sent the markets soaring to record highs.

Applications for unemployment benefits fell 19,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 326,000, the fewest since January 2008, the Department of Labor said yesterday.

The Standard & Poor's 500, the Dow Jones industrial average and the Russell 2000 index responded by setting all-time highs. And the S&P broke through 1,700 points for the first time.

"It looks like we're strengthening a little bit," said Christine Armstrong, senior vice president at Morgan Stanley. "We're cautiously optimistic. We see things improving, but we're not off to the races right now."

Also helping to send markets higher was a positive read on China's manufacturing that helped shore up Asian markets. A trade group yesterday said U.S. factories had revved up production last month.

The Department of Labor will release July unemployment numbers this morning. The numbers could affect the markets, but Armstrong cautioned against reading too much into one set of numbers and one day of trading.

"It can be a coin toss from one day to another," she said. Still, she was hoping for positive figures today. "What I'm hearing are good numbers."

Elliot Winer, chief economist at Northeast Economic Analysis Group, said he expected the unemployment rate to go down, but was worried about the lack of progress Massachusetts has made. "We really seem to be treading water this year," he said.

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