Ever since the first cases of swine flu broke out earlier this year, demand for hand sanitizer has skyrocketed. Some makers of the gels are now scrambling to keep up with the demand.

The marketing research firm Panjiva recently estimated that 3 million kilograms of hand sanitizer were shipped in the 3rd quarter, compared to 1 million kilograms during the same quarter last year. Panjiva CEO Josh Green says that concerns over the H1N1 virus is the "most likely explanation" for the surge. Given the outlook for a particularly bad flu season, demand is only expected to rise further.

In response, companies like Purell are ramping up production and are urging customers not to hoard the product. Purell manufacturer Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) says that demand for Purell has been "heavy" since the first swine flu cases were reported.

J&J spokesman Marc Boston said in a statement:

"Due to the influenza A (H1N1) virus outbreak this past spring and resurgence this fall, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies Inc. has experienced heavy demand on supplies of Purell.

Boston said that the company is working to increase production for the remainder of 2009 and the beginning of 2010, but acknowledges that supplies could be limited in some areas:

The worldwide recession has caused hard times for many businesses, however it has had little effect on their use of mobile data services. According to an update to ABI Research's Business Mobility Market Data, global mobile data services revenue are expected to increase by 17 percent in 2010, and through 2014, mobile data services revenues will grow at a Compound Annual Growth rate of 12 percent.

Revenues from mobile broadband are expected to be at their highest from 2010 to 2014 in North America, but the largest share of mobile broadband services revenue will go to mobile business customers in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, where 2014 revenues will increase to 27 and 26 percent of total spending respectively.

The Asia Pacific area, application download revenues will see its greatest growth amongst mobile business customers The highest portion of average revenue per user spent for these applications will come from business customers in Western Europe and Asia Pacific.

ABI practice director Dan Shey said:

News Corp. posted a $203 million loss for its fourth quarter, which is down from a profit of $1.1 billion during the same period one year ago. It should thus come as no surprise that Rupert Murdoch plans to do something about that. We he has decided, however, has "Fail" written all over it. On Wednesday Murdoch announced plans to charge for online access to all of News Corp's media properties.

Murdoch vowed to charge for access to all the online content owned by News Corp., including their newspapers and television news channels, which goes well beyond his prediction from May that the company would test pay models on some of its stronger papers sometime this year.

Murdoch said:

"We intend to charge for all our news websites. If we're successful, we'll be followed by all media."

He added, that he predicts "significant revenues" from charging for differentiated news online, and warns that "the big competition will be coming from the BBC", which offers free online news. However, he said "Our policy is to win."

While much of the financial industry is lucky to even have a job, the folks over at Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) can expect to receive their biggest bonus payouts in the firm's 140-year history after an amazing first half of the year. This news, however, has sparked concerns that the big investment banks that have survived the credit crunch will ultimately derail financial regulation reforms.

Due to a lack of competition combined with a surge in revenues from trading foreign currency, bonds and fixed-income products, profits at Goldman Sachs have soared. Last week, the firm's London staff were briefed on the company's prospects and were told to look forward to bumper bonuses, if it completed its most profitable year ever, as it is predicted they will.

Figures to be released next month which will detail the firm's second quarter earnings are anticipated to show a bigger jump in profits. They've already paid off $10 billion in TARP funds from the government. Financial genius Warren Buffet, who purchased $5 billion of Goldman Sachs' shares in January, has already made an impressive $1 billion gain on his investment.

Now that bankruptcy proceedings are in action, things are moving along pretty swiftly at General Motors Corp. An individual briefed on the deal now says that GM has a tentative agreement to sell its Hummer brand to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. in China. GM announced earlier on Tuesday that they had in place a memorandum of understanding to sell the brand, but did not disclose the buyer.

A formal announcement is expected to be made this afternoon.

GM also says that they have 16 buyers interested in purchasing their Saturn brand, and three parties interested in purchasing the Swedish Saab brand.

Sichuan Tengzhong primarily deals in plastics, resins, road construction, and other industrial products. The person who was briefed on the deal notes that Hummer would be its first venture into the automotive business.

After traces of cocaine were found in samples of Red Bull Cola, the drink may be banned in Germany. Samples of the drink were examined by German food authorities, and were found to contain 0.4 micrograms of cocaine per litre, which was said to have been caused by the method used to process cocoa leaves.

Six German states have already ordered retailers to stop selling the beverage. More are expected to follow suit this week.

Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment said that the cocaine levels found were too low to pose a health risk. A more detailed report is expected tomorrow.

Red Bull is currently available in 148 countries worldwide. It is banned in Denmark, Norway, Uruguay, and now German due to health fears.

Greece's Data Protection Authority (DPA) has banned Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) from gathering detailed, street-level images within the country for a planned expansion of its panoramic Street View mapping service until additional privacy safeguards are provided. DPA would like clarification from Google on how it will store and process the original images, and safeguard them from privacy abuse.

The decision was announced earlier this week, despite assurances by Google that it would blur faces and vehicle license plates when the images are displayed online. Google also said that they would promptly respond to removal requests.

DPA is also seeking clarification on how the U.S. internet company plans to inform the public that its camera-mounted vehicles are being used to take photographs.

"Simply marking the car is not considered an adequate form of notification. The authority has reserved judgment on the legality of the service pending the submission of additional information, and until that time will not allow (Google) to start gathering photographs," said a DPA statement.

As talks with debtholders have broken down, Chrysler LLC will become the first of the "Big Three" American automakers to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The White House all but confirmed the impending action Thursday morning announcing that President Obama and members of the auto task force would address the fate of the company at noon.

According to individuals briefed on the talks, last minute efforts by the Treasury Dept. to win over Chrysler debtholders failed Wednesday night. Barring a last minute agreement, Chrysler is now expected to seek Chapter 11 protection, and most likely in New York.

Chrysler is also in talks with the Italian automaker Fiat. They would, however, file for bankruptcy first, and then subsequently would present an agreement with Fiat to the court for approval. This could possibly take place on Monday, according to the sources speaking with the media.

Chrysler's bankruptcy filing could serve as a preview as to what a General Motors filing might look like. GM, like Chrysler, received federal assistance last year and now faces a June 1 deadline for restructuring.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) confirmed Monday morning that CEO and Chairman Rick Wagoner is stepping down immediately following the White House's rejection of restructuring plans that were submitted by both GM and Chrysler. In a written statement, Wagoner said that administration officials asked him to "step aside."

Taking over as CEO is Fritz Henderson, GM's current chief operating officer. Kent Kresa, a board member, will take over as chairman.

President Barack Obama is also expected to announce Monday that his auto task force doesn't believe that plans GM and Chrysler delivered in February will or even can result in viable companies. He's expected to give them more time, as well as an aggressive set of conditions.

Presently, GM and Chrysler are operating on a combined $17.4 billion in government loans that were approved by the Bush administration in December. They were given until March 31 to show that they were viable to qualify for additional loans. They have requested another $21.6 billion. The companies will be given more time, but Obama's administration has also not ruled out a controlled bankruptcy for either company.

Barack Obama: Finger Lickin Good?

One German company's supposedly good intentions and attempt to capitalize on the success of President Barack Obama has been met with outrage on this side of the Atlantic. The company, Sprehe, recently began marketing a new fried chicken product called "Obama Fingers".

NYC Councilman Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn) is mad and is calling for a boycott:

"It's racist and inappropriate. We should do all that we can to see to it that no [company] disrespects the first black President."

Todd Shaw, assistant professor of political science and African-American studies at the University of South Carolina, says that the stereotype is blatant and "broadly offensive" to African-Americans. "This sends a shiver down the spines of Germans and Americans, given our interesting histories of race and racism," he added.

Sprehe sales manager Judity Witting said that the connection between Obama and fried chicken - a stereotype that has long been associated with blacks in the U.S. - never even occurred to her:

"It was supposed to be a homage to the American lifestyle and the new U.S. President.