[Taking notice]

NEW JOBS

>> Dawn Matsuyama has joined Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo as marketing and business development coordinator in the firm's Honolulu office. She replaces Dean Kawamura, who became WATG's corporate marketing resource manager. Matsuyama will coordinate the marketing, business development, and public relations activities for the architecture and design office. She recently returned to Honolulu as assistant vice president at Pacrim Marketing Group after six years as a marketing manager in the Los Angeles area.

>> Bank of Hawaii has named Scott Rodie vice president, chief appraiser and environmental risk manager. He joins the bank after working at Pacific Century Bank in California. Other bank employees promoted to vice president include: Derek Chang, emerging industry group; Sharon Crofts, cash management department; Terrie Tatum, direct marketing and collateral team; and Katherine Vehikite, trade payments/operations department.

>> Ian Mattoch has hired his son, Scott Mattoch, as an associate attorney in his personal injury law firm. Scott Mattoch has had internships with Hawaii Supreme Court Justice Robert Klein and Federal Magistrate Francis Yamashita. He has also worked at his father's firm since high school, first as a messenger and later as an accident investigator.

>> Zyron Schoniwitz has been named assistant general manager at Morton's of Chicago-Honolulu. He will also serve as maitre'd at the restaurant. Schoniwitz was most recently banquet manager and assistant restaurant manager at Kapolei Golf Course.

PROMOTIONS

>> First Hawaiian Bank has promoted Frederick J. Shine III to executive vice president. Shine, a 28-year veteran at First Hawaiian, previously served as head of the bank's managed assets department since 1993.

>> Carol Koepke has been named general manager at the Lahaina Shores Beach Resort. She will be responsible for day-to-day operations at the beachfront condominium as well as owner relations and management of the condominium homeowners association. Koepke most recently served as general manager at The Whaler on Kaanapali Beach.

>> Mark Barnes has been promoted to director of marketing at the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort and Spa at Ko Olina. He will be responsible for oversight of all marketing, public relations and sales at the hotel and Ihilani Spa. Barnes has been with the Marriott corporation for over 16 years.

>> Sean Huh and Jon Kaita have been promoted at AT&T Wireless Services Inc. Huh will serve as retail manager at the company's Mililani location. Kaita will oversee the AT&T Wireless store in the Pacific Guardian Center along with a kiosk at Sears Ala Moana. Huh has been with AT&T Wireless Services since 1999. Kaita joined the company in 1996.

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Goldman's Cohen cuts S&P 500 forecast

NEW YORK >> Goldman, Sachs & Co.'s chief investment strategist, Abby Joseph Cohen, says companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index will earn less in 2002 than she previously forecast.

The analyst also says profits will grow faster than she had projected, Bloomberg News reported.

In a note to clients, Cohen said S&P 500 operating earnings per share will be $42 this year, down from her prior estimate of $52. Cohen also lowered her 2001 profit estimate to $34 from $47.

The new forecast from Cohen anticipates a 23.5 percent increase in profits this year.

London magazine names Tokyo world's priciest city

LONDON >> Japan is the world's most expensive country to visit and live in, a British magazine said last week.

Tokyo and Osaka head a list of 134 cities in its annual survey on the worldwide cost of living, the Economist Intelligence Unit said.

"Football fans who are thinking of heading to the World Cup this summer should do so with caution," the magazine said.

The cost of living index stood at 137 for both Tokyo and Osaka against the base index of 100 for New York, it said.

Tokyo has retained its status as the world's most expensive city since 1991 while Osaka's position rose from second in the previous year.

A taxi ride from Narita airport to the center of Tokyo will cost a staggering $229, the survey said. Comparable figures are $51 in London and $42 in New York.

New York remained the most expensive city in the United States with its global position as the seventh most expensive city unchanged, the magazine said.

Tehran was the world's cheapest city in the latest survey with an index of 28.

Japan's trade surplus falls for 18th straight month

TOKYO >> Japan's government said last week that its trade surplus fell 18.4 percent in December from the same month last year for the 18th consecutive monthly decline -- a signal that the struggling economy cannot rely on any immediate export-led recovery.

Tokyo's politically sensitive trade surplus with the United States narrowed 23.6 percent to &YEN526.9 billion ($3.92 billion) in December, the ministry also said.

The country's merchandise trade surplus -- the measure of all goods exported minus those imported -- decreased to &YEN667.2 billion ($4.96 billion) as falling exports continued to outpace declines in imports, the Finance Ministry said.

Ariba gives former CEO $2 million in cash

SUNNYVALE, Calif. >> Ariba Inc. gave former Chief Executive Officer Larry Mueller, who left after three months on the job, more than $2 million and 2 million fully vested stock options as part of a severance package, Bloomberg News reported.

The maker of business software for buying goods on the Internet disclosed the information in a filing.

The options are worth more than $11 million.

Mueller was promoted to CEO in April of last year. At the time, he was hailed by analysts and investors as a savior for the money-losing software maker, which had just posted a large loss and fired 700 workers.

He left in July and Ariba didn't disclose the reasons behind his departure.

Apple co-founder starts wireless company

LOS GATOS, Calif. >> Steve Wozniak, who co-founded Apple Computer Inc. with Steve Jobs, started a company called Wheels of Zeus to make wireless electronic devices for consumers.

Bloomberg News reported Wheels of Zeus, based in Los Gatos, Calif., will make unspecified "wireless products to help everyday people track everyday things," the company said in a statement.

Wheels of Zeus -- or Woz, a play on Wozniak's nickname, "the Woz" -- has secured $6 million in venture capital funding from Mobius Venture Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Palo Alto Investors, all California-based venture capital firms, the statement said.

Johnson & Johnson's Weldon to become CEO

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. >> Johnson & Johnson said William Weldon, head of the company's drug business, will succeed Ralph Larsen as chairman and chief executive in April, Bloomberg News reported.

James Lenehan, head of the medical device business, will become the company's president. He succeeds Robert Wilson, who had been the company's No. 2 officer under Larsen. Johnson & Johnson made it clear that Weldon and Lenehan would become the new leaders of Johnson & Johnson when the two were promoted as vice chairmen last year. Both men are 53 years old.

Larsen, 63, and Wilson, 61, have led Johnson & Johnson since 1989. Larsen will retire in July and Wilson will retire in April 2003.

Weldon will be only the sixth chairman at 116-year-old Johnson & Johnson, which also makes products ranging from Band- Aids to surgical equipment to soaps and baby powder.

Brazil eases its restrictions on industrial power consumption

Brasilia >> Brazil eased electricity rationing for industrial consumers to 10 percent of average consumption from 15 to 25 percent after increased rainfall allowed hydroelectric power plants to boost output.

The government also further reduced rationing to residential consumers to an average 6 percent from an average 12 percent in the three regions where rationing is in force, according to Bloomberg News.

An end to rationing should help spur economic growth, which slowed after the cutbacks were adopted in June to cope with a drop in water reservoirs used to produce electricity as a result of drought. Hydroelectric generators produce about 85 percent of Brazil's electricity.

Italian business confidence at 4-month high in December

Rome >> Italian executives were probably more optimistic in December than at any time in four months as the global economy showed signs of recovering from its slump, analysts said last week.

An index of business confidence, based on a survey of 4,000 manufacturers by the state-funded Isae research institute, rose to 87, from 83 in November, according to the median forecast of 11 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

"Global manufacturing appears to have bottomed out," said Ken Wattret, an economist at BNP Paribas SA in London. "Business confidence should recover relatively quickly over the next few months."