Hyundai chief gets three years in jail for embezzlement
Seoul: The head of the Hyundai Motor Group has been sentenced to three years in jail by a South Korean court. The ruling creates a management vacuum at Hyundai and is another blow for a company contending with a rising won and restive labor unions.

Chung Mong-koo, 68, was arrested last year April on allegations that Hyundai and its affiliates set up slush funds to pay for political favors. Shares in the company fell 2.44 percent to 68,100 won after the verdict dropping as much as 3.15 percent against a 0.25 percent gain in the broader market.

Chung has been on trial on charges such as breach of trust and embezzling company funds, and incurring losses at group companies by forcing them to support weaker affiliates. Chung who is involved in most decisions at the group, was released on $1 million bail in June after spending two months in jail.

The case has put the spotlight on management shortcomings at South Korea's powerful "chaebol" -- the family-run conglomerates that helped rebuild the economy after the 1950-53 Korean War but were partly blamed for the financial crisis of the late 1990s.
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Dell begins disaster management
Michael Dell back at the helm of the company he helped to found has told employees that the company is eliminating bonuses and reducing management to cut costs.

Michael Dell also said he planned to stay with the company for the next several years and would not hire a chief operating officer.

Dell is currently under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission over accounting issues that the company has said could result in significant restatements to its earnings before the 2006 fiscal year.
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Oil continues rise on U.S. heating fuel demand
Crude oil rose for the second day in New York due to speculation that late-winter in the U.S. Northeast will increase heating fuel use. Temperatures in the Northeast, which accounts for 80 percent of U.S. heating oil use, may be below normal through Feb. 18, the National Weather Service said Feb. 4.

Crude oil for March delivery rose as much as 34 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $59.36 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $59.12 at 10:36 a.m. in Tokyo.

The contract rose $1.72, or 3 percent, to $59.02 on Feb. 2, the highest close since Dec. 29. Prices surged about $1.30 a barrel in the last 45 minutes of trading after prices reached $58 a barrel and BP Plc and Tesoro Corp. reported leaks at refineries in Texas and California respectively.

In London, Brent crude oil for March settlement was at $58.55 a barrel, up 14 cents, in electronic trading on the ICE Futures exchange at 8:21 a.m. Singapore time.

Oil prices have gained 14 percent the past two weeks as temperatures dropped. An unusually mild December in the Northeast slashed heating fuel demand, increased stockpiles and helped push oil prices to a 20-month low of $49.90 on Jan. 18.
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