Today in business: 5 things you need to know
China frightens investors, Carlos Slim again tops Forbes' list of the world's richest people, and more in our roundup of the business stories that are making news and driving opinion
1. CHINA PLUNGE SCARES GLOBAL MARKETS
Stocks dipped across the world on Monday after the Chinese government announced moves to cool home prices, including higher down payments and mortgage rates on second homes. The news hit Chinese equities first — sending them into their deepest plunge in months — then spread. In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost as much as 0.4 percent in early trading after its third highest close in history on Friday. "The news out of Asia put a bit of a question mark to the U.S. market today," said Rick Fier of Conifer Securities, "and for now we're really just treading water." [MarketWatch]
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2. SLIM TOPS FORBES' GROWING LIST OF BILLIONAIRES
Forbes' annual list of the world's richest people has a familiar group at the top. Mexico's Carlos Slim Helu is No. 1 for the fourth year in a row, followed, unsurprisingly, by Microsoft's Bill Gates. Investment guru Warren Buffett slipped to fourth, falling behind Spaniard Amancio Ortega, founder of Zara fashion stores. This year's list has a record 1,426 billionaires — 200 more than in 2012 — who are worth a combined $5.4 trillion, a 17 percent leap since last year. [Forbes]
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3. ANHEUSER-BUSCH REJECTS WATERY-BEER COMPLAINT
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Anheuser-Busch InBev launched a newspaper ad campaign Monday to counter a lawsuit accusing the giant beverage company of watering down its beers. The full-page ads show one of the cans of drinking water the company donates to the American Red Cross for disaster relief. The text reads: "They must have tested one of these. We take no shortcuts and make no exceptions. Ever." The lawsuit was filed by two former Budweiser fans who claim the company now adds water, reducing alcohol content, so it can sell more beer and boost profits. [Kansas City Star]
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4. SAMSUNG LAUNCHES TEASER AD FOR GALAXY SIV
Samsung is cranking up already feverish anticipation ahead of the March 14 unveiling of its Galaxy SIV smartphone with a new teaser video. In the spot, a boy named Jeremy is given the task of being the "secret messenger" for the company's Unpacked event on March 14, at which the Korean tech giant is widely expected to lift the curtains off the next incarnation of its wildly popular handset. The Galaxy SIV is reportedly going to boast a 5-inch HD screen, a 13-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera and, and run Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. [The Week, CNET]
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5. MILLIONS OF EVERNOTE USERS FORCED TO CHANGE PASSWORDS
Digital note-taking service Evernote is urging its 50 million users to change their passwords after the company discovered suspicious activity on its network over the weekend. The company said no stored user content or financial data was changed or lost, but that hackers may have gained some personal information including usernames, passwords, and email addresses. The company said it had "discovered and blocked" in time to avoid serious damage, but it urged people to reset their passwords as a precaution. The attack is the latest in a series of security breaches that affected companies such as Microsoft, Apple, and Facebook, as well as similar incidents at The New York Times and The Washington Post. [CRN, Mashable]
Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
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