The projected expenditures include roughly $300 million of sustaining capital and $700 million of funds aimed at improving growth and productivity.

The coal and iron-ore producer’s earnings have been soaring in recent quarters as both sales volume and prices climb. Cliffs has said it is looking to consolidate its foothold in Asian markets as part of a plan to push its share of revenue from international sales above 50%.

On Thursday, Cliffs said it will spend $60 million in the U.S. to extend the life of its Empire iron ore mine to 2015, among other projects.

In eastern Canada, the company plans to spend $470 million boosting iron ore production at a major mine, with an additional $45 million earmarked for port and rail upgrades. Cliffs plans to spend $40 million on capacity expansion in Western Australia.

The company also expects to spend about $50 million on growing production of steelmaking coal from its mines in West Virginia.

Cliffs plans to start production at a chromite deposit in northern Ontario in 2015. A recent study of the area led the company to expand its output estimate to 1 million tons of chromite ore on top of the 600,000 tons of ferrochrome expected from the site.

Shares closed at $72.03 and were inactive after hours. The stock is off 18% over the past year.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cliffs-natural-resources-outlines-1b-capex-plan-2012-01-19

Olympus avoided automatic delisting from the TSE when it filed its earnings by a Dec. 14 deadline. But shares in the scandal-hit maker of cameras and endoscopes had remained under the risk of delisting as the TSE examined whether the company’s fraudulent accounting had “a material impact” on its shares.

The report comes after the Nikkei newspaper reported last week that the TSE is likely to designate Olympus’s stock as “on alert,” whereby the company must file annual progress reports on efforts to improve corporate governance and information disclosure.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tokyo-bourse-to-keep-olympus-shares-listed-report-2012-01-17

Google disclosed in a regulatory filing that Greene, 56, will serve on the audit committee of the board, and will be granted an initial equity award of $1 million.

Greene replaces venture capitalist John Doerr on the board’s audit committee, Google said, though Doerr remains a Google board member.

Doerr’s firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers was an early backer of Google.

Greene has been a board member at tax software developer Intuit Inc. INTU +0.71% since 2006, where she serves on the audit and risk committee, Google said in the filing.

Previously, Greene served as chief executive at VMware, which provides so-called virtualization software used to run multiple operating systems within computers, from 1998 to 2008.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/google-names-vmware-co-founder-greene-to-board-2012-01-12

In its interim update, Chevron said U.S. production in the first two months of the quarter reached about 660,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, down 5.4% from a year ago and 0.3% below the third quarter.

International output reached 1.979 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, down 5.2% on the year but up 2.2% from the third quarter.

Chevron received $106.41 a barrel on average for crude oil from its U.S. fields, up 34% from a year earlier and up 5.1% compared with the full third quarter. Realized U.S. natural-gas prices averaged $3.71 per thousand cubic feet, up 1.6% from a year ago but 10.4% below the third quarter.

U.S. natural-gas prices continue to wallow at two-year lows as surging production from shale rock formations outpaces demand. The commodity’s benchmark future plummeted to a 28-month low Wednesday after revised weather forecasts indicated a warming trend across much of the nation.

The oil-and-gas producer projected breakeven fourth-quarter earnings in its downstream operations due to lower margins and refinery input volumes. Chevron also closed the sale of a U.K. refinery and other assets to Valero Energy Corp. VLO -1.42% in the third quarter, which makes for a tougher fourth-quarter comparison.

The company said its Gulf Coast refining margins fell sharply in the fourth quarter due to lower crude-input volumes. International refining and marketing margins also fell after the sale of the Pembroke refinery in the U.K. lowered input volumes.

Chevron is slated to report full fourth-quarter results Jan. 27. The company expects to report $250 million to $350 million in after-tax net charges in the fourth quarter.

Shares fell 1.9% to $105.68 after hours. The stock is up 17% over the past 12 months.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chevron-warns-of-lower-fourth-quarter-earnings-2012-01-11

The report said the world’s third-largest maker of DRAM chip memory has asked information technology equipment and chipmakers in the U.S., China and Taiwan for about Y40 billion in financial assistance, and is considering asking Toshiba Corp. for help.

Elpida has corporate bonds worth Y45 billion to pay off by April and loans from financial institutions worth about Y77 billion, the paper said. It aims to make concrete progress in assistance negotiations with its customers by the end of the month and is looking to seal long-term DRAM supply contracts, advance payments and investment in its subsidiaries, the report said.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/elpida-reportedly-seeks-500-mln-in-financial-help-2012-01-04

“Noble welcomes the proposed merger as it reflects the long-term strategy it has been working on together with the Gloucester board to create a leading Australian listed coal supplier of scale and diversified product mix,” Noble said in a statement.

Yancoal on Thursday confirmed the planned merger, which is valued at A$2.2 billion ($2.23 billion). Under the merger, shareholders of Gloucester will receive a total A$700 million of cash payment by way of special dividend and capital reduction, the equivalent of about A$3.20 for each Gloucester share.

Gloucester’s shareholders will also be entitled to participate in a pool of “contingent value rights” shares, which protect the value of the merged company’s shares.

Noble also said it plans to hold its shares in Yancoal for value accretion.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/noble-group-to-approve-yanzhou-gloucester-deal-2011-12-22

Those who hold shares through Dec. 7 will be eligible for the special dividend, which is expected to be paid on Dec. 19, the company said in a statement.

Last November Wynn Macau declared a special dividend of 76 Hong Kong cents per share, and said it would consider paying recurring dividends with a target yield of 1%-3% per year. SJM Holdings Ltd. is the only other Macau casino operator to have ever paid dividends, though analysts have said other operators such as Sands China Ltd. and MGM China Holdings Ltd. could also start paying dividends in coming years.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wynn-macau-to-pay-special-dividend-2011-11-17

The maker of factory-automation equipment and software said it has begun construction of its new manufacturing plant in the city of Jundiai, near Sao Paulo. The company’s target for initial occupancy is spring 2012 with plans to begin production at the plant by the end of summer 2012.

“As the global automation market continues to grow, gaining share requires further expansion into emerging markets,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Keith Nosbusch, noting customers can receive deliveries faster when they use locally manufactured products.

Medium- and low-voltage drives, which are used in the oil and gas and mining industries, are among the new products that will be manufactured in Brazil. The company said these heavy industries present growth opportunities in the region.

The company’s current plant in Sao Paulo makes industrial controls, motor control centers, customer control panels and other products.

Rockwell has posted seven straight quarters of double-digit sales growth on strong demand from emerging markets. Last week, the company reported its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings rose 54% as margins improved on continued double-digit revenue growth.

Shares were up 0.7% to $74.10 in recent trading. The stock is up 15% in the past three months.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rockwell-plant-to-double-brazil-manufacturing-2011-11-15

A number of companies have been buying back shares to take advantage of stock market volatility or to show confidence in their long term prospects.

The maker of chips that help connect servers and storage devices has a market value of about $1.48 billion.

The company last month reported that its fiscal second-quarter earnings fell 4.4% amid higher costs as net revenue rose 2.5%.

Shares closed Monday at $14.69 and were down a penny premarket. The stock is down 13.7% this year.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/qlogic-unveils-200-mln-stock-buyback-plan-2011-11-15

The company’s revenue jumped in recent quarters thanks to higher output, as well as better prices. In October of last year, it bought substantially all of the oil and gas assets of privately held Marbob Energy Corp., which expanded production.

Concho posted a profit of $356.2 million, or $3.44 a share, from $20.8 million, or 22 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding mark-to-market derivative effects, among other items, earnings rose to $1.14 a share from 77 cents.

Revenue doubled to $454.5 million.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters predicted earnings of $1.07 a share on revenue of $416 million.

In the latest period, the company swung to $387 million in derivative gains from $70.2 million in losses.

Overall production was up 73%. The oil business, which accounts for the bulk of Concho’s revenue, saw average daily output increase 57%. Average oil prices, with derivatives, increased 16%.

Shares were down 2.5% at $93.67 after hours.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/concho-resources-profit-soars-on-derivative-gains-2011-11-02