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Gavin Casey quits as Blue Oar throws in the towelManagement at Blue Oar, the City stockbroker, conceded defeat yesterday in the bitter battle for control of the company, triggering the resignation of Gavin Casey, its chairman.Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Dec 2009 | 12:00 am Ford hoping to attract enthusiasts with '10 ShelbyDEARBORN, Mich. Ford Motor Co. is looking to appeal to muscle car enthusiasts with its 2010 Ford Shelby GT500. The latest model of the Shelby pays closer attention to quality and...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 1 Jan 2009 | 2:42 pm CNN: Russia cuts natural gas supply to UkraineRussian energy monopoly Gazprom said Thursday it had cut off supplies of natural gas to Ukraine after a payment deadline expired.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 1 Jan 2009 | 2:03 pm NewsWatch: Citi cuts executive paySenior executives at Citigroup Inc. face cuts in their bonuses, with Chairman Win Bischoff, Chief Executive Vikram Pandit and board member Robert Rubin receiving no bonuses for the year.Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 1 Jan 2009 | 2:00 pm Bank of America Completes Merrill Lynch PurchaseGains Strength in Wealth Management, International and Investment Banking Businesses CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of America Corporation today ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 1 Jan 2009 | 2:00 pm Citigroup (C): Cutting Bonuses For The Rich
Vikram Pandit, CEO of Citigroup (C), chairman Win Bischoff, and perennial board member Robert Rubin have all agreed to give up their incentive compensation for 2008. Given that the federal government takes a dim view on bonuses at banks it has bailed out and that Citi's shares are down 77% this year, it really isn't much of a concession, and may not even be voluntary. The board probably told the group that they were lucky to still be working. Beyond that the three executives are phenomenally rich, unless they put their money with Madoff. According to Bloomnberg, "Pandit got $165 million from Citigroup in 2007 when he sold Old Lane Partners LP, the hedge fund he co-founded and ran. Citigroup closed New York-based Old Lane in June and took a $202 million writedown on its $800 million investment." By most estimates, Rubin has made over $150 million sitting on the Citi board, depending to some extent on how his stock option grants are accounted for. The long and short of it is that taking money away from remarkably rich people who do not deserve it is hardly a penalty at all. The Citigroup board compensation committee is run by former AT&T (T) CEO C. Michael Armstrong. Richard Parsons, former Time Warner (TWX) CEO, also sits on the committee. Those in charge of governance should share some of the blame for the bank's fate. They should, at the very least, ask Pandit, Rubin, and Bischoff to work for $1 a year. It would be a good gesture and each of them could afford it. Douglas A. McIntyre Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 1 Jan 2009 | 1:50 pm Viacom-Time Warner Cable in truceTime Warner Cable and Viacom worked Thursday to finalize details on an agreement that will allow TWC customers to continue to watch programming on Viacom's MTV Networks, said TWC president and CEO Glenn Britt.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 1 Jan 2009 | 1:36 pm Thousands of stores to disappear in '09The ugly sales year that was 2008 will haunt U.S. retailers in 2009, with industry experts warning that disastrous holiday sales will spark a domino effect of store closures and bankruptcy filings.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 1 Jan 2009 | 1:21 pm Gas prices: Waayy up, waayy downThis is a year drivers will never forget - gas prices surged and crashed at unprecedented levels.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 1 Jan 2009 | 1:17 pm Wells Fargo completes Wachovia purchaseNEW YORK (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co said it has completed its roughly $12.7 billion purchase of Wachovia Corp, a big bet that it properly assessed the risks in Wachovia's huge book of mortgage and real estate loans.Source: Reuters: Business News | 1 Jan 2009 | 1:16 pm Wells Fargo completes Wachovia purchase (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 1 Jan 2009 | 1:16 pm Wells Fargo completes Wachovia purchaseNEW YORK (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co said it has completed its roughly $12.7 billion purchase of Wachovia Corp, a big bet that it properly assessed the risks in Wachovia's huge book ofSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 1 Jan 2009 | 1:16 pm Estate Planning in a Down Market (BusinessWeek Online)BusinessWeek Online - When times are tough, people tend to hold on to what they have that much more tightly. But for those who can get beyond that psychological response, there's a silver lining in today's combination of depressed asset values and low interest rates: Transferring assets to the next generation has rarely been less costly.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 1 Jan 2009 | 1:08 pm Personal Finance Daily: The 10 best Personal Finance stories of 2008Here are the 10 MarketWatch Personal Finance stories that captured the most reader attention in 2008:Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 1 Jan 2009 | 1:01 pm Wall Street: Bring on '09Stocks rallied Wednesday, as investors welcomed the end of an abysmal year on Wall Street and looked forward to a better year ahead.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 1 Jan 2009 | 12:54 pm Russia shuts off gas to UkraineRussia stops gas supplies to Ukraine after the collapse of talks to resolve a row over unpaid bills and gas prices.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 1 Jan 2009 | 12:46 pm Viacom and Time Warner reach deal to avoid blackoutNEW YORK (Reuters) - Viacom and Time Warner Cable reached an agreement in principle on Thursday that avoided a blackout that would have prevented more than 13 million U.S. subscribers from seeing popular TV shows like "Dora the Explorer" and "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."Source: Reuters: Business News | 1 Jan 2009 | 12:38 pm Viacom and Time Warner reach deal to avoid blackout (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 1 Jan 2009 | 12:38 pm Group says program benefits industrial farmsA federal conservation program originally designed to help small farmers is now disproportionately benefiting industrial livestock operations, according to a new report by a family farm...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 1 Jan 2009 | 12:35 pm Bankrate: Mortgage Rates Fall AgainNEW YORK, Jan. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Mortgage rates ended 2008 on a downswing, with the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate falling to 5.64 percent. According to...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 1 Jan 2009 | 12:30 pm Russia's Gazprom cuts all gas supplies to UkraineRussia's gas monopoly Gazprom cut all natural gas supplies to Ukraine on Thursday morning after talks broke down over payments for past shipments and a new energy price contract for 2009.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 1 Jan 2009 | 12:00 pm FACTBOX-Top Russian gas customers in EuropeJan 1 (Reuters) - The following is a list of the top customers in Europe of Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom , which cut supplies to its neighbour Ukraine on Thursday over a pricing dispute.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 1 Jan 2009 | 11:55 am Russia's Gazprom cuts natural-gas supply to Ukraine: JournalRussia cut off natural-gas supplies to Ukraine after the two countries could not agree on the cost of the gas and on transit fees, media reports said.Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 1 Jan 2009 | 11:55 am Viacom, Time Warner reach deal to avoid blackoutNEW YORK, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Viacom and Time Warner Cable reached an agreement in principle on Thursday that avoided a blackout that would have prevented more than 13 million U.S. subscribers from seeing...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 1 Jan 2009 | 11:53 am Slovakia becomes eurozone memberSlovakia becomes the 16th eurozone member - the second former communist country to join the single European currency.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 1 Jan 2009 | 11:28 am The Music Business Is Doomed, Even If Digital Sales Keep Improving (AAPL)(WMG)
Since sales of CDs are more profitable than digital business, the sum of these parts undermines the music industry's ability to stay financially viable According to The Wall Street Journal, CD sales dropped "from to 360.6 million in 2008, from 449.2 million a year earlier," a 20% plunge. Including digital downloads, album sales only fell only 14%. Both numbers are bad enough to continue to destroy the value of music content companies like Warner Music. Its shares trade at $3, down from almost $24 two years ago. The movement of music consumption from CDs to devices like the Apple (AAPL) iPod will never be the industry's core problem. Even Warner could negotiate better royalty deals with its digital download partners, that would not save the company. The typical consumer of music in the US, and most other countries, will cheat artists and music labels until they are bled out. Piracy is still such a tremendous problem that it cannot be overcome by restructuring fees inside the music business. The real enemy is the lack of ethics among potential customers who appear to think they have a God-given right to access of free albums and songs. The irony of the industry's problem is that, once it has lost too much money to be viable, consumers will begin to see labels and some artists reach the point where they can no longer make and deliver content. The leaches will have killed the host. The music industry is doomed, but, with that, the variety of content will begin to disappear as the profits come out of the business of making albums. Douglas A. McIntyre Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 1 Jan 2009 | 11:06 am Media Digest 1/1/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg (GM)(C)(IBM)(TWX)(VIA)(WFC)
Reuters reports that GMAC did not hit its goal of trading debt for equity and cash. Reuters reports that GM (GM) has gotten $4 billion of its bailout money but cash to Chrysler has not been received. Reuters reports that senior officers at Citigroup (C) will not get bonuses. Reuters reports that IBM (IBM) formed an alliance with Ricoh. Reuters reports that NYSE will suspend RH Donnelly's stock The Wall Street Journal reports that Madoff gave the SEC a list of his personal assets. The Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft (MSFT) says some of its Zune multimedia players have technical problems. The Wall Street Journal reports that Time Warner Cable (TWC) and Viacom (VIA) have reached a deal so that Viacom programming can stay on the cable system. The Wall Street Journal reports that as CD sales dropped, music revenues dropped sharply. The Wall Street Journal reports that the price of crude oil moved up 14% The Wall Street Journal reports that China has begun granting licenses for the build-out of its 3G cellular system. The New York Times reports that Russia gas giant Gazprom has cut deliveries to the Ukraine The New York Times reports that US markets lost $7 trillion in value, wiping out six years of gain. The New York Times reports that China is having to reconsider its growth programs as exports shrink. It now plans to do more to help exporters. The New York Times reports that holiday retail data says sales shrank 2.3%. The FT writes that the value of the US financial stock index dropped 57% last year. The FT reports that the commodities markets had their worst annual fall, down 40% according to the Reuters-Jefferies CRB index. Bloomberg reports that Wells Fargo's (WFC) deal to buy Wachovia closed yesterday but the new firm faces troubles due to the falling housing market. Douglas A. McIntyre Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 1 Jan 2009 | 10:40 am Israel-Hamas conflict in sixth day; cease-fire proposal rejectedIsrael's attacks on the Gaza Strip continued into a sixth day, with the country and the Hamas organization rejecting calls for a cease-fire and the Israeli military recommending to the cabinet a brief but intense ground operation, media reports say.Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 1 Jan 2009 | 10:25 am Asia Markets: India's Sensex gains on Icici Bank and resource stocksIndian shares advanced Thursday on the first trading day of 2009, led by gains in Icici Bank after the lender cut its lending and deposit rates by at least half a percentage point, while resource stocks jumped after crude-oil prices surged overnight.Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 1 Jan 2009 | 10:07 am Russia cuts off gas supplies to UkraineGazprom, Russia's state-controlled gas group, said it had cut off supplies of gas to Ukraine after no new supply contract was agreed at last ditch talks. Moscow said that Ukraine still had not fully paid an outstanding debtSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 1 Jan 2009 | 10:00 am Russia's Gazprom cuts all gas to UkraineRussia's gas monopoly Gazprom says it has cut all gas supplies to Ukraine after talks on a new supply deal failed. Gazprom spokesman Igor Volobuyev says the cuts began as planned at 10...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 1 Jan 2009 | 9:09 am India's Nov refinery output down 1.1 pct y/y - govtNEW DELHI, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Indian refiners processed 3.132 million barrels of crude oil per day (bpd) in November, down 1.1 percent from a year ago, official data showed on Thursday.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 1 Jan 2009 | 9:02 am Wells Fargo completes acquisition of WachoviaWells Fargo & Co. said Thursday it completed the acquisition of Wachovia Corp., creating a financial-services giant with $1.4 trillion in assets, a service network covering 48 million banking homes and a community-banking group spanning 39 states and the District of Columbia.Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 1 Jan 2009 | 8:29 am Viacom and Time Warner Cable settle dispute, avert blackoutTime Warner Cable Inc. and Viacom have agreed to settle a dispute over carriage fees, avoiding a blackout of 19 Viacom cable channels, including MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, on TWC’s network.Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 1 Jan 2009 | 8:18 am Demand for TV converter coupons raises supply fearsSome in Congress say delays in sending out the discounts could leave many without a picture when analog signals are shut off Feb. 14. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 1 Jan 2009 | 8:00 am For some Microsoft Zunes, '08 was a day too longThe portable media gadget shuts down for an estimated 1 million users. The technical glitch is blamed on the leap year. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 1 Jan 2009 | 8:00 am Viacom, Time Warner Cable settle contract disputeViacom had threatened to pull 19 of its cable channels, including Nickelodeon, MTV, VH-1 and Comedy Central, from the cable firm's systems. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 1 Jan 2009 | 8:00 am Strapped employers force workers to take unpaid vacationMany feel obliged to accept what amounts to a pay cut as temporary layoffs reach a 17-year high. Here's the vacation...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 1 Jan 2009 | 8:00 am Stocks extend advance in year's final sessionThe Dow gains 108 points while broader indicators also rise on a drop in first-time jobless claims and an indication that the Treasury Department will expand aid to the auto industry. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 1 Jan 2009 | 8:00 am Investors' big question: Will stocks' slide get even worse?As Wall Street ends its worst year since 1931, some analysts say history is no guide in predicting what's next. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 1 Jan 2009 | 8:00 am Complex deals veiled risk for AIGThe insurer's Financial Products unit -- built on caution and managing exposure -- broke its own rules. Second of three partsSource: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 1 Jan 2009 | 8:00 am Jobless claims data paint bleak pictureThe number of laid-off workers continuing to draw unemployment benefits jumped by 140,000 to 4.5 million in the week ended Dec. 20, compared with 2.7 million a year earlier. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 1 Jan 2009 | 8:00 am 20 questions: A trip down memory laneHow well did you follow business news in 2008? Put yourself to the test. 1In February, what entertainment labor...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 1 Jan 2009 | 8:00 am Dell shakes up management ranks, shifts focusThe computer company replaces its president of global operations and its chief marketing officer as it strives to revive sales amid a worldwide recession. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 1 Jan 2009 | 8:00 am After worst year ever, commodities may lag recoverySINGAPORE (Reuters) - Commodities, until six months ago the darling of investors and an out-performing asset class, sealed their worst year on record with accelerating losses in the fourth quarter of the year, data showed on Thursday.Source: Reuters: Business News | 1 Jan 2009 | 7:04 am Sour note: Music sales down in 2008Read full story for latest details.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 1 Jan 2009 | 5:31 am How Did We Get Here?2008 was one of the most tumultuous years ever for the U.S. economy, but Condé Nast Portfolio readers had fair warning of the disasters before they unfolded. The $300 Trillion Time BombBy Jesse Eisinger • May 2007Why credit derivatives will doom the U.S. economy. A Legend's Bloated LegacyBy Jesse Eisinger • September 2007Citigroup is staggering under its own excessive weight. It's too big to succeed. Crash Test EconomyBy Jesse Eisinger • October 2007Parallel economic conditions in 2007 and 1987 indicate a stock market crash ahead. Wall Street RequiemBy Jesse Eisinger • November 2007Banks are overleveraged with dangerous amounts of debt; take note—many will fail. Wall Street's Next CrisisBy Jesse Eisinger • January 2008After the subprime shakeout, another real estate mess looms: commercial property. The Banker's BailoutBy John Cassidy • March 2008Despite denials, Washington is covertly planning a massive financial rescue for banks. The Economy of FearBy John Cassidy • April 2008Why this recession is going to hit harder and last longer than leaders are predicting. Bank JobBy Jesse Eisinger • July 2008Banks are convincing investors that the worst is over; they couldn't be more wrong. Angelo's Many "Friends"By Daniel Golden • August 2008The scandal at Countrywide wasn't limited to just subprime loans. Black HoleBy John Cassidy • September 2008Why the price of oil will drop dramatically. The $58 Trillion in the RoomBy Jesse Eisinger • November 2008The bankers who invented credit derivatives speak. The EndBy Michael Lewis • December 2008/January 2009The author of Liar's Poker returns to Wall Street to chronicle its collapse. Related Links The Morning After The He Said, She Said Economy The Great Panic Source: Portfolio.com: Top 5 | 1 Jan 2009 | 5:00 am Israeli planes strike government buildings in GazaIsraeli warplanes attacked government buildings in the Gaza Strip early on New Year's Day after Israel and its Islamist Hamas foe both spurned ceasefire calls in a conflict that has killed about 400 PalestiniansSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 1 Jan 2009 | 4:36 am LyondellBasell in debt restructuring talksThe chemical company has postponed the deadline to repay $160m in fees to lenders and is in talks with lenders about restructuring debt obligationsSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 1 Jan 2009 | 4:19 am IBM in sales alliance with Japan's Ricoh: paperTOKYO (Reuters) - IBM and Japanese office equipment maker Ricoh Co Ltd will start sharing each other's sales network this year and promote their servers and printers together, the Nikkei business daily said on Thursday.Source: Reuters: Business News | 1 Jan 2009 | 3:08 am Wall St closes out worst year since DepressionNEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street closed out its worst year since the Great Depression on Wednesday after an unstoppable credit crisis and a dreadful economic outlook left investors questioning their faith in stock markets.Source: Reuters: Business News | 1 Jan 2009 | 3:03 am Canadian Markets: Second-half rout punishes TSX; year ends with 35% lossCanadian stocks Wednesday got a late-afternoon lift from surging oil prices, putting a positive finish on a year bruised by the commodity sell-off and credit crunch.Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 1 Jan 2009 | 3:00 am Zune MP3 players glitchyBaffled consumers are griping about a mysterious glitch that appeared to cause thousands of Zune MP3 music players to simultaneously stop working late Tuesday and early Wednesday.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 1 Jan 2009 | 2:40 am GM gets $4B loan, Chrysler waitsGeneral Motors got the first $4 billion of a series of emergency loans from the U.S. Treasury Wednesday, but fellow struggling automaker Chrysler was still waiting as the new year rapidly approached.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 1 Jan 2009 | 2:39 am Risk Management Is A Business In Demand In New Era Of CautionLast year was a tough time to be a financial service firm, or a technology firm, or a new IPO.Source: Investor's Business Daily: BUSINESS | 1 Jan 2009 | 2:17 am Who Is Going To Buy All Those Homes?A housing market recovery could be just what's needed to resuscitate the recession-mired economy, many experts believe.Source: Investor's Business Daily: BUSINESS | 1 Jan 2009 | 2:17 am Business Briefs - WednesdayChina foils Microsoft piracy ring. A Chinese court convicted 11 people for distributing pirated Microsoft MSFTsoftware throughout the world. The...Source: Investor's Business Daily: BUSINESS | 1 Jan 2009 | 2:17 am GM gets $4 billion rescue loan, Chrysler on holdDETROIT (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Wednesday paid out the first $4 billion in emergency loans to support General Motors Corp but a parallel rescue payment for Chrysler LLC was on hold until the new year.Source: Reuters: Business News | 1 Jan 2009 | 2:13 am Street looks to '09 with relief after terrible '08 (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 1 Jan 2009 | 1:05 am Jennifer Openshaw: The 15-Minute Tip: Airline stocks on radar as travel changesFor most of 2008, the words “beleaguered” and “airline” went together like “chocolate” and “cake.” Could things get better in 2009?Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 1 Jan 2009 | 12:11 am UBS sells Bank of China stake for $350m$UBS sold its stake in Bank of China at a profit of about $350million (£244 million) yesterday, as the world's biggest wealth manager set about repairing the ravages to its balance sheet caused by $49 billion of investment losses.Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Being wrong would be good news just this onceThe only reason I am not going to apologise for my predictions in this column a year ago is that I didn't make any. Had I done so, they would have been hopelessly wrong. I would have said that the credit crunch, if not almost over, was not going to get very much worse. I would have said that the impact on the economy would be bad, but not that bad, certainly not as bad as the recession of the early 1980s. I would have been in good company, of course. Most people got it hopelessly wrong and many of those who got it right, got it right for the wrong reasons.Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Markets say good riddance to miserable yearThe FTSE 100’s annus horribilis ended at last yesterday, after 12 months in which the index of London’s leading shares slumped by more than 2,000 points and with Britain battening down the hatches for what is widely expected to be a severe and prolonged recession.Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Kevin Bacon caught up in Bernard Madoff scandalThe Bernard Madoff scandal widened last night when it emerged that Kevin Bacon, the actor, and his wife, Kyra Sedgwick, had been caught up in the financier's alleged $50billion ($£34billion) scam.Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Pininfarina sports car family loses controlThe rolling script of the Pininfarina trademark is as much a part of a Ferrari Testarossa as the V-12 engine, but ownership of the name that spells Italian sports car design has been forfeited in a mountain of debt.Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am How the financial system nearly crashed in 2008It was a stinker of a year by almost any measure. Most homeowning, pension-saving Britons finished 2008 strikingly poorer than they started it. They feel less secure in their jobs. And they face having to pay higher taxes years into the future to fund a rescue package whose success still hangs in the balance.Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Need to know: Currency... COSCO... Rio TintoView video and Need to Know interactive heatmapSource: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Advisers Find Opportunities In New Year (Investor's Business Daily)Investor's Business Daily - Bruce Meyer is as savvy as individual investors get. He worked as a specialist on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange for 25 years until 2005. His father before him was a specialist there too.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 31 Dec 2008 | 11:42 pm General Motors, Eli Lilly are big movers (AP)AP - Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market:Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 31 Dec 2008 | 11:39 pm Metals Stocks: Gold turns higher, ending up for eighth straight yearGold futures reverse earlier losses, pacing gains in U.S. stock markets and poised to end the year's trading up for an eighth consecutive time -- the longest winning streak since at least 1980.Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 31 Dec 2008 | 11:13 pm Mexican stocks dip as market ends dismal year (AP)AP - Mexico's IPC stock index slipped 0.18 percent to 22,380 Wednesday as the market closed a dismal year amid the global financial crisis.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 31 Dec 2008 | 11:11 pm NYSE says to suspend R.H. Donnelley stock (Reuters)Reuters - The New York Stock Exchange said it determined that trading in the common stock of yellow pages directories publisher R.H. Donnelley Corp should be suspended, effective January 2.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 31 Dec 2008 | 11:08 pm Wall St closes out worst year since Depression (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 31 Dec 2008 | 10:49 pm Wall St closes out worst year since Depression (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 31 Dec 2008 | 10:49 pm Oil out with a bang: 14% spikeThe price of oil jumped Wednesday, capping a volatile year with a swing of $7 from the session low to the close, as investors responded to news of a possible supply disruption in Europe.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 31 Dec 2008 | 10:22 pm World stocks end calamitous 2008, eye recovery (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 31 Dec 2008 | 10:11 pm VIX Index of U.S. Stock Option Prices Retreats 4% to 40Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 31 Dec 2008 | 10:09 pm US stocks suffer worst year since Great DepressionThe worst annual performance for US stocks since the Great Depression ended with a modest rally on the final day of trading as the Federal Reserve pushed ahead with its plan to buy mortgage-backed securitiesSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 31 Dec 2008 | 10:08 pm Citi execs forgo bonusAfter a shockingly tumultuous year, Citigroup said Wednesday its top executives will forego their usual annual bonus.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 31 Dec 2008 | 9:56 pm Oil jumps 14 percent, products upNEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil rose 14 percent on the final trading day of 2008 in thin pre-holiday trade on Wednesday, tracking a jump in gasoline as a slowdown in domestic refinery activity sparked fears of tightening fuel supply this winter.Source: Reuters: Business News | 31 Dec 2008 | 9:53 pm Citi executives will forgo bonuses next yearVikram Pandit, Citigroup's chief executive, and the troubled bank's chairman Win Bischoff will forgo their bonuses for 2008.Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 31 Dec 2008 | 9:51 pm First Trust's Wesbury Says U.S. Equities at Best Historic ValueSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 31 Dec 2008 | 9:43 pm Citi executives and Rubin forgo bonusesCitigroup's top executives, and Robert Rubin, a director and senior adviser, will forgo their 2008 bonuses amid internal and external pressure to atone for the company's huge losses and a $300bn government bail-outSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 31 Dec 2008 | 9:42 pm Record stock market falls in 2008Shares worldwide see record falls in 2008 after a year of financial turmoil, with Wall Street having its worst year since 1931.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 31 Dec 2008 | 9:41 pm Stanford's Kennedy Says Great Depression Isn't Recurring NowSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 31 Dec 2008 | 9:39 pm FTSE 100 index has its worst yearThe financial brutality of 2008 is confirmed, as the FTSE 100 share index has its worst year since its inception in 1984.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 31 Dec 2008 | 9:32 pm More economic pain seen in 2009, but some hope tooSINGAPORE/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Many investors said good riddance on Wednesday to one of the worst years on record and prayed that government rescue plans will pull the global economy out of its fierce tailspin later in the new year.Source: Reuters: Business News | 31 Dec 2008 | 9:27 pm More economic pain seen in 2009, but some hope too (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 31 Dec 2008 | 9:27 pm Viacom threatens Time Warner Cable blackoutPopular cable television channels such as MTV and Comedy Central could go dark in millions of homes across the US after licensing fee talks between Viacom and Time Warner Cable faltered and Viacom threatened a programming blackoutSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 31 Dec 2008 | 9:14 pm GMAC fails to hit debt swap targetGMAC, the financial services affiliate of General Motors that is receiving up to $6bn in federal aid, will cut its debt through a much-publicised debt swap, although participation in the exchange fell short of the company's targetSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 31 Dec 2008 | 9:14 pm Have a peaceful, prosperous new yearIt's an understatement to point out that this has been a year for the history books -- politically and, of course, economically. And for commentator Robert Reich, personally.Source: Marketplace | 31 Dec 2008 | 8:49 pm Looking for change -- the loose kindIn August we reported on a New York family that's built a sizable savings from money found on the ground. Kai Ryssdal checked in with Scott Humphrey and his 5-year-old daughter to find out where their nest egg stands now.Source: Marketplace | 31 Dec 2008 | 8:49 pm What are over-the-counter stocks?We've told you how credit default swaps caused trouble for the economy, which are tricky instruments traded in the over-the-counter, or OTC, market. In this Marketplace Decoder, Rico Gagliano explains.Source: Marketplace | 31 Dec 2008 | 8:49 pm Europe hit by globalization of crisisA lot of European countries have been hit especially hard by the financial crisis. Stephen Beard, Marketplace's man in London, takes a look at how those countries are faring and how they plan to react.Source: Marketplace | 31 Dec 2008 | 8:49 pm Is that bottle of alcohol nutritious?Consumer advocates are asking Treasury secretary nominee Timothy Geithner to require nutrition labels on alcoholic beverages. Nancy Marshall Genzer reports.Source: Marketplace | 31 Dec 2008 | 8:49 pm Viacom, Time Warner at battle stationsViacom is threatening to pull its 19 stations from Time Warner Cable tonight -- including Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and MTV -- if the cable company doesn't pay more for the programming. Sam Eaton reportsSource: Marketplace | 31 Dec 2008 | 8:49 pm Economy's down but certainly not outYou're probably tired of hearing that the economy's taken its biggest hits since the Great Depression. And that's true. But our Senior Business Correspondent Bob Moon reminds us that we were in pretty good shape coming into this whole thing.Source: Marketplace | 31 Dec 2008 | 8:48 pm SEC's Cox Looks Back In Anger
Looking back, the SEC may have spent too much time looking into stock option grants, digging around in the drawers of public company executives like Steve Jobs at Apple (AAPL). Any fool can go over what the SEC, Treasury, and Federal Reserve have done during the last six months, or the years that proceeded them. If wishes were horses, all the beggars would ride. Analysts will be pinning blame on Cox, Greenspan, Paulson, and Bernanke for decades. One of the actions Cox took which he now seems to regret is banning short selling for a number of financial stocks. According to Reuters, "While the actual effects of this temporary action will not be fully understood for many more months, if not years, knowing what we know now, I believe on balance the commission would not do it again," Cox said in an interview. "The costs appear to outweigh the benefits." The heads of Morgan Stanley (MS) and Citigroup (C) may believe that the ban saved their companies. The opposite may be true. Morgan would argue that short sellers drove the price of its stock so low that Japanese bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group might have walked away from its promise to buy part of the investment house. With the panic in the market in early October, it is just as likely that the deal for MUFJ to put up $9 billion for 21% of MS only closed because of revised terms brought on by the falling price of Morgan's shares. The transaction became more affordable for the Japanese company. Citigroup's shares dropped to $3.05 in early November. Would short sellers have taken it lower? Maybe. But, the government did decide Citi was too big to fail. When the Treasury and the FDIC agreed to provide protection against the possibility of huge losses on a Citi asset pool of approximately $306 billion of loans and securities backed in part by residential real estate, the value of the bank's stock was academic. Citi was bailed out on favorable terms. Citi traded below $7 today. A ban on short selling and subsequent government assistance have not done much to improve investor confidence in the bank. Cox may have fumbled almost every ball handed to him. But, the stock markets are still open. Most of the financial firms are still public or have become part of other banks. The government is on the hook for hundreds of billions of dollars. The SEC chief will get a footnote in the history books. That's the extent of it. Douglas A. McIntyre Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 31 Dec 2008 | 8:44 pm On the Ball: Bloomberg's Top 10 Sports Stories of 2008Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 31 Dec 2008 | 8:37 pm Stanford University's Zare Says Teachers Need to InspireSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 31 Dec 2008 | 8:35 pm Lipsky Says IMF to Lower Global Economic Growth ForecastSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 31 Dec 2008 | 8:29 pm Pipeline Partnerships Face Credit Crunch (EPB, EPD, KMP)
Rigzone.com carried a Dow Jones Newswires story that tight credidt is making it difficult to raise money for new pipeline construction or acquisitions. Even though natural gas prices are low, volumes flowing through the pipelines remain high. That means that revenues to the pipeline companies remains high or even increases because MLP revenue is not tied to the commodity price. Some MLPs, including El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE:EPB), Energy Products Partners, LP (NYSE:EPD), and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP, (NYSE:KMP) could see the current credit crunch as an opportunity to acquire smaller, less well-heeled competitors. Credit is available to these big players, albeit at significantly higher rates than earlier this year. To some degree higher interest rates don't matter much in the short term because when the whole economy starts to grow again, these MLPs will simply refinance at lower rates. Remember those guaranteed profits. Projections for gas drilling rigs in the continental US in 2009 predict a drop of more than 200 rigs in order to restore some balance to the natural gas market. That decline is most likely to come from the western US, where gas already sells at a discount. The shales of northern Appalachia, on the other hand, should continue to produce more gas for northeast markets. While pipeline expansion may be curtailed by expensive credit, now is not a bad time for that to happen. Natural gas in the US is in oversupply, so taking a rest from pipeline building shouldn't cause too much pain. Unless, like a pipeline MLP, you need to grow in order to survive. The survivors will be the MLPs that can afford to pay for credit and have the cash to make acquisitions. Paul Ausic Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 31 Dec 2008 | 8:08 pm Russia and Ukraine: Energy Battle, Round 2.5The dispute between Russia and Ukraine over natural gas prices is following the same path as the fracas three years ago. Ukraine paid off part of its outstanding $2 billion gas bill yesterday, but the disagreement now centers on the price Russia's Gazprom wants Ukraine to pay for gas in 2009. In 2006, Ukraine siphoned off Russian gas traveling through pipelines running through Ukraine. The country is threatening to do the same thing again. Ukraine's argument this time is slightly different: the gas flowing through the pipeline is uncontracted, therefore it has no owner. If that's the case, the gas could be confiscated. About 80% of Russia's natural gas exports to Europe runs through Ukraine. Russia is building pipelines both north and south of Ukraine in order to diminish its need to rely on the Ukrainians, but those pipelines are billions of dollars and some years away from completion. The Ukrainians, and most Western observers, believe Russia is trying once again to influence Ukrainian politics and move Ukraine back into the Russian sphere of influence. Ukraine's president is no friend of the Russians, and Russia would like to see him go. A substantial hike in the price of natural gas could accomplish that goal. Russia has been trying since 2005 to regain the hold it once held over its 'near abroad', countries like Ukraine that the old Soviet Union regarded as satellites. Now is a good time to press this issue. The intervention in Georgia last summer was a calculated move to determine how the West would react. US and European reaction was noisy, but not meaningful. The incoming US president has many more things to worry about than natural gas pipelines through Ukraine. European governments will fail to unite behind a single plan because some countries, like Germany, depend very heavily on Russian energy and won't do anything to jeopardize those supplies. A new Cold War is not likely to start over the Russia-Ukraine dispute, any more than it started over the Russian intervention in Georgia. The US will need soon to face the fact that Russia plans to increase its influence in both Eastern Europe and Central Asia. What the US and the West can do about that doesn't appear to be much. Paul Ausick Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 31 Dec 2008 | 8:03 pm Defending TARPIsolating the effectiveness of the government's $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program is proving more difficult than expected, the Treasury Department said Wednesday in a written response to an oversight agency.However, the department said it does believe that its actions, "in combination with other actions, stemmed a series of financial institution failures." The 15-page report seeks to answer a series of pointed questions raised earlier in December in the initial report from a special Congressional Oversight Panel led by Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren. To support its assertion that "the financial system is fundamentally more stable than it was when Congress passed the legislation," the report said that the average credit default swap spread for the eight largest U.S. banks has declined by "about 240 basis points" since the TARP was created. The department was more circumspect about whether billions of dollars in direct capital injections into banks has done anything to thaw frozen credit markets. Loan issuance in the U.S. in 2008 dropped 55 percent, from $1.69 trillion to $764 billion, making it the slowest year since 1994, Thomson Reuters Loan Pricing Corp. says. "It is important to note that nearly half the money allocated to the Capital Purchase Program has yet to be received by the banks," Treasury said. "Clearly this capital needs to get into the system before it can have the desired effect." Even then, it cautioned that the financial crisis and economic slump have combined to erode business and consumer confidence, which naturally dampens demand for loans as well as lenders' willingness to make them. "As confidence returns, Treasury expects to see more credit extended," the agency said. "This lending won’t materialize as fast as anyone would like, but it will happen much faster as a result of having used the TARP to stabilize the system and to increase the capital in our banks." The report was vague about how TARP is helping to prevent foreclosures, a key interest of many members of Congress. It a voluntary program to insure refinanced mortgages, and two programs to modify existing mortgages, but gave few specifics on how well any of the initiatives were working. Seeking to address complaints that TARP tactics changed radically soon after Congress approved the plan, the report said rapidly deteriorating circumstances persuaded Treasury officials that their initial idea of buying illiquid mortgage-backed securities would be too slow and too little to prevent disaster. To keep the financial system solvent, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and his lieutenants decided that they could provide quicker and more meaningful help by investing government money directly into bank holding companies. "Capital injections," the report said, "provide better 'bang for the buck.' "Related Links Sign of a Bottom? Worst of Times T.A.R.P.: Tearing Apart the Rescue Plan Source: Portfolio.com: Top 5 | 31 Dec 2008 | 8:00 pm China milk scandal 'guilty' pleaOne of four Chinese milk firm executives pleads guilty at a trial into a contamination scandal, state media reports.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 31 Dec 2008 | 7:14 pm Open Thread: When Did You See Trouble Coming?Editor's note: This item has been updated and reposted. The Planet Money podcast returns on Friday, Jan. 2. What a year, right? Planet Money launched on Sept. 7, 2008, just as the federal government unveiled plans for taking over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But never mind four months of crisis. The National Bureau of Economic Research now says we've been living through a recession since December 2007. I'm trying to remember the moment when I first got worried, when things didn't feel right. I still think it was the day this fall when I took two apples out for family breakfast instead of the usual three -- even though our household income was essentially unchanged. Drop your own first hints of trouble in the comments, please. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 31 Dec 2008 | 7:08 pm Madoff to meet SEC deadline on assets: lawyer (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 31 Dec 2008 | 7:08 pm Madoff to meet SEC deadline on assets: lawyerNEW YORK (Reuters) - Accused swindler Bernard Madoff will send U.S. regulators a list of his assets, liabilities and property by Wednesday's court-ordered deadline, his lawyer said.Source: Reuters: Business News | 31 Dec 2008 | 7:08 pm Madoff to meet SEC deadline on assets: lawyer (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 31 Dec 2008 | 7:08 pm Jobless claims dive while mortgage rates ease againWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. weekly jobless claims plummeted last week but the improvement was probably a seasonal quirk rather than a turning point for the recession-ravaged labor market.Source: Reuters: Business News | 31 Dec 2008 | 7:06 pm Russia-Ukraine gas row heats upA war of words breaks out in a gas row between Ukraine and Russia, amid claims that supplies to Europe are under threat.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 31 Dec 2008 | 7:01 pm ShopperTrak cuts holiday retail view (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 31 Dec 2008 | 6:56 pm Two executives depart in Dell restructuringTwo of the top executives brought in last year by Michael Dell to try to breathe new life into the PC maker he founded are to leave as part of a broader global reorganisation, the company saidSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 31 Dec 2008 | 6:56 pm Recession Chic: Black is the New Black
In case vamping up the wardrobe is one of your your new year’s resolutions, I thought you may like to know about a little friend of mine called Recession Chic. (As opposed to the drearier Depression Chic). In short, less is more. The pitiful economy has fashion in a downward spin of less money, less color, less bling, less designer labels. But less fun? I don’t think so! It’s Official - Fashion Says So!Last spring Time magazine ran a piece on the history of economic downturns and fashion. They cite the contrasts between 1920s flapper hemlines and the ankle skimming lines of the 1930s. The mini-skirts of the 1960s were followed by the long hippie looks of the 1970s. But our current fashion down-trend wasn’t really-really-real until Wordspy defined Recession Chic as ’style and elegance on a tight budget’ in October. Since fall we’ve seen a darker palette and starker silhouette with a sharp edge. Designers are working in severe black cocktail dresses and structured suits. Even black bowl-cut wigs and black lipstick hit the runway. Christian Lacroix calls the shift in sensibility a ‘new minimalism’ and says the color black is like a mask of protection against recession. Huh? Fashion For the Rest of UsCome on people, it’s pretty simple isn’t it? I just bought a fabulous skirt and a pair of slacks at a going out of business sale. Guess what? Both black! Why? If you’re going to spend money on quality clothes, you need to get a great return. Black is practical. (Not to mention slimming. It is post-holiday after all.) Leatrice Eiseman of the Pantone Color Institute agrees:
Duh. This is why only rich people prance around town in white pants. Enter the recessionista, that frugal fashionista who’s not afraid to troll the clearance racks. In October the New York Times reported that PR pros everywhere are pushing moderately priced makeup, salon services, and clothing lines. All they had to do was add the suffix ‘chic’. Lexicographer Barrett, a lexicographer who specializes in new words and slang, said the word is just being used to give Americans an excuse to buy more stuff. Derek Blasberg on style.com writes that fashion conscious women are finding designer threads and knockoffs at discount prices. They’re shopping at Target, Uniqlo, Payless, and Kohl’s. Most of all they “aren’t letting a little thing like falling stock prices and rising gas bills get in the way of their wardrobe.” Even designers serving the inauguration crowd are having a tough time creating dresses that are both “one-of-a-kind” and “recession chic.” Bummer. Meanwhile, I’m trying to look cute via Wal-Mart. Anyone feel like joining me on a Salvation Army run? Oh wait… I have those black slacks. If only I could afford to get them hemmed! Source: Business Pundit | 31 Dec 2008 | 6:36 pm European gas supply threatened as Russia prepares to cut off UkraineRussia will cut off Ukraine's gas pipeline after talks between the countries failed amid threats that the pipeline to Western Europe could be shut down.Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 31 Dec 2008 | 6:35 pm Mortgage rates fall to third straight record low (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 31 Dec 2008 | 6:27 pm Big Number For Old YearWe've wrestled this year with the question of where all the money went, and we're bound to wrestle with it some more in 2009. But here, at least, is one answer to how much money went away. From Bloomberg: It has been a year of record misery: the largest bankruptcy, bank failure and Ponzi scheme in U.S. history; $720 billion in writedowns and losses by financial institutions; $30.1 trillion in market valuation wiped out. Yes, that's trillion, $30.1 trillion. (Thanks, Twitter listener @aimeesblog) » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 31 Dec 2008 | 6:16 pm S.E.C. Clears Mark-to-MarketFair-value accounting was not the culprit of the financial meltdown that has brought down the biggest financial institutions in the country, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said today in a report to Congress.This method of accounting, where assets are valued at a calculated current market price, should remain the standard, the S.E.C. said, adding recommendations to strengthen accountability and sensitivity to market changes. The study, produced on more than 200 pages, was ordered as part of Congress' $700 billion bailout package. Many banks and industry organizations have blamed this accounting practice for the downward economic spiral, as it forces businesses to assign a low value to assets as they would trade today, even if the company doesn't intend to sell them. Critics have also charged that it is impossible to determine fair market value in an illiquid market, such as the one that began to materialize after the risky trading of mortgage backed securities reversed course. The S.E.C. said it entertained all such concerns and cited several others which, the agency's paper said, likened the notion of suspending fair value accounting to " 'shooting the messenger' and hiding from capital providers the true economic condition of a financial institution." The report described the recent economic souring like this: "Rather than a crisis precipitated by fair value accounting, the crisis was a 'run on the bank' at certain institutions, manifesting itself in counterparties reducing or eliminating the various credit and other risk exposures they had to each firm.Related Links Defending TARP When Monetary Policy Is Fiscal Policy Finally, Drama! A Geithner vs. Bair Clash? Source: Portfolio.com: Top 5 | 31 Dec 2008 | 6:00 pm Jobless claims dive while mortgage rates ease again (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 31 Dec 2008 | 5:38 pm US workers forced to take unpaid leaveHere's the holiday no one wants, courtesy of the recession: Forced time off without pay. Financially struggling American universities, factories and even hospitals are requiring employees to take unpaid "furloughs" - temporary...Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 31 Dec 2008 | 5:30 pm Interest Rates For BeginnersFrom Baseline Scenario, home of Simon Johnson and James Kwak, comes a tutorial on the Federal Reserve and interest rates. Johnson, you might remember, walked us through the mechanics for a podcast this month. This latest tutorial, part of the site's Financial Crisis for Beginners series, is so worth your time. Bonus: Paul Krugman argues that mortgage rates are still too high. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 31 Dec 2008 | 5:29 pm U.S. lawmakers to question SEC watchdog about Madoff (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 31 Dec 2008 | 5:25 pm Business Pundit’s Biggest Winners and Losers of 2008
If one sentence comes to mind regarding this year, it is “Good riddance.” On its coattails, next year’s sentence: “I hope it doesn’t get too much worse.” Collectively, there’s a feeling akin to a strong hangover, the kind that chooses its own terms of exit rather than yielding to the traditional 3,000-calorie breakfast, Gatorade and painkillers. If there’s any consolation, it is that all hangovers eventually fade, unless you continue to engage in the activities that created them in the first place. On that dour note, here are the losers and winners of 2008. I wish everyone a happy New Year, full of debauchery and lightheartedness, to conclude this very tumultuous year: LOSERS The Stock Market Britain’s FTSE 100: Down 31.3% The 401K -More than 52,000 jobs, and counting. The 20-city S&P Case-Shiller index has posted losses for a staggering 27 months in a row. In October, 14 of the 20 cities set fresh price decline records. In Phoenix prices have plunged 32.7% since October 2007, Las Vegas home values are down 31.7% year-over-year, while San Francisco prices fell 31%. Miami, Los Angeles and San Diego recorded year-over-year declines of 29%, 27.9% and 26.7%, respectively. In other words, prices are back to 2004 levels. Time to sit tight and wait for stimuli to wake the market back up. Retailers Jobs Honorable mentions: WINNERS The Fannie Mae Board of Directors It’s good work if you can get it. The Washington Post reports that Fannie Mae announced its new 10-person board of directors today. The article reports the members will get $160,000 each, with the chairperson getting $250,000. Heading a committee can get you an additional $25,000. The remarkable part of this story is that the Washington Post reporter could not find a single person who thought that paying part-time workers $160,000 a year was a bad idea. Insane. Smart Shorters Social Networking Are they right? Yes, to a point. The idea needs to be taken in reasonable doses, from sources who have evidence-based arguments. Consumer Discounters Honorable mentions: Happy New Year! Source: Business Pundit | 31 Dec 2008 | 5:16 pm Chutzpah Spree by Accused Lawyer Nets $380 Million: CommentarySource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 31 Dec 2008 | 5:04 pm Retailer Morgan in administrationWomen's clothing store chain Morgan goes into administration, the latest retailer to be hit by the consumer slowdown.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 31 Dec 2008 | 5:01 pm Fewer Visitors To The Burning Sands
Souvenirs for sale at the Pyramids of Giza. Caitlin Kenney/NPRI spent the two weeks before Christmas traveling through Egypt, which is experiencing a sharp downturn in tourism. On a Nile cruise, our 128-cabin boat was only at about half capacity. Our tour guide, Hatem, told us he is working less and worries that it's only going to get worse. Hatem and his financee, also a tour guide, are even thinking of postponing their upcoming wedding. According to Reuters, tourism accounts for 6.6 percent of Egypt's GDP, and though the number of visitors has been on a healthy uptick for years, the country is starting to feel the pinch of the financial crisis. The number of hotel bookings is down 30 percent in January 2009 compared to the same month in 2008. I lost my job shortly after booking my ticket this summer, and had I learned about it any earlier, I probably would have canceled my trip. I'm so glad I didn't. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 31 Dec 2008 | 5:00 pm Kevin Bacon among Madoff's Hollywood victimsThe financial whirlpool created by Bernard Madoff continued to churn this week as the price tag of liquidating his old firm rose, and duped investors including the actors Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick struggled to accurately estimate...Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 31 Dec 2008 | 5:00 pm 'Flat Is The New Up'Satyajit Das, our favorite expert in credit default swaps, sent this for your New Year's Eve enjoyment: "Shell-shocked investors are coming to terms with the financial carnage of 2008. The value of investments fell to such depths that investors needed specialised diving equipment just to find what anything was worth. "Volatility reached astonishing levels. Prices of seemingly unrelated investments moved in unison, mimicking gold medal winning synchronized divers. An investment in a Zambian copper mine behaved almost identically to a bond issued by a high-quality corporation in Scandinavia. "What the market geniuses with their investment models, risk analysis and trading strategies made of all this is unknown. "We are, of course, in a 'new paradigm.' Investors will need to adjust their expectations. The new investment mantras may well be:
"The best investment story of 2008 relates to a banker who had a modest shareholding in his employer -- a storied investment bank. Upon being transferred to London, he sold the stock to finance a Range Rover. As business in London turned down, the banker was transferred to Dubai. "When selling his Range Rover, he suffered a loss of around 50 percent of the price he paid barely six month ago. The interesting thing was that the proceeds from the sale of the car (despite the 50 percent loss) would have allowed the banker to purchase five times the number of shares he sold to finance the car. 2008 is perhaps the only year on record in which a distressed price for a Range Rover outperformed equities. "In Iceland, where there has been an oversupply of Range Rovers after the economic good time ended, the cars are now known as 'Game Overs.' For investors, 2008 was also a case of 'game over.' Look back in horror! (c) 2008 Satyajit Das Satyajit Das is a risk consultant and author of Traders, Guns & Money: Knowns and Unknowns in the Dazzling World of Derivatives (2006, FT-Prentice Hall). » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 31 Dec 2008 | 4:45 pm General Motors offering US buyers interest-free loansGeneral Motors is offering financing as low as 0 per cent this week for several 2008 and 2009 models in a big year-end sales push. The news comes after its financing arm, GMAC Financial Services agreed to take a US$5 billion ($8.6...Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 31 Dec 2008 | 4:30 pm Credit Crunch,The Board Game!
Winner Takes All If you're looking for a party game to play tonight, Kevin Kallaugher, who used to be the political cartoonist for the Baltimore Sun newspaper (back when newspapers had budgets for such things), has crafted one for our times. "Our board game pits players against each other and encourages them to pick on the weakest, kick opponents when they are down and generally manifest all the characteristics that bring success in the financial world." It's in the holiday edition of The Economist, but if you cancelled your subscription in these hard times, it's free here. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 31 Dec 2008 | 4:26 pm Commodity markets in worst annual fallOil and gold fell in the final trading hours of 2008 as investors reflected on the worst year for commodity markets since modern records beganSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 31 Dec 2008 | 4:19 pm Cheer upEntrepreneur Sir David Tang on the risks of pessimismSource: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 31 Dec 2008 | 4:04 pm In recessionThere may be bright spots for Japan in 2009Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 31 Dec 2008 | 4:03 pm The envelope, if you please ...The Business Herald team awards its brickbats and bouquets for the 2008 business year. THE MAHE DRYSDALE AWARD FOR DETERMINATION The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for its mule-like stubborness in pursuit of a part...Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 31 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm 'Sexy fruit' offers huge challengesNearly 10 years ago John Schnackenberg swapped his Queen St corporate career for a Bay of Plenty avocado orchard. He now heads a fast-growing industry targeting a quarter of a billion dollars in value but facing growing pains of...Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 31 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Flat beer market forces innovationHealthy beer. It's almost a contradiction in terms. But those in the know would point out that beer is the only alcoholic drink to contain vitamins B6 and B12, plus some essential amino acids. Practically medicinal, then. Beer's...Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 31 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Female drinkers hard to tapThey remain an untapped beer audience - women. While many have tried, none have succeeded - at least on any scale to write home about. "It hasn't happened anywhere in the world. There's something about the flavour or the concept,...Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 31 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm The fall of Lehman Bros - Part 5The beginning of the end came two days later when the Korea Development Bank talks fell apart. "The possibility of a Lehman deal wasn't big from the very beginning," Jun Kwang Woo, chairman of South Korea's Financial Services Commission,...Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 31 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Bailed Out, but Still SinkingMany of the financial services companies that have received the majority of taxpayer-funded capital through the U.S. Treasury are likely in worse shape than previously disclosed, according to a research report.Audit Integrity, a Los Angeles firm that rates companies based on corporate integrity risk, looked at the 25 financial services companies that have received more than 90 percent of funding doled out so far through the federal government's Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. More than 80 percent of those companies have a "very aggressive" or "aggressive" accounting and governance risk rating based on recent regulatory filings, and have a high likelihood to restate earnings or be affected by other adverse events such as regulatory actions or shareholder litigation. That compares with a 35 percent "very aggressive" or "aggressive" rating among the 7,000 public companies measured overall by Audit Integrity. Fourteen of the 25 financial services companies studied were rated as "very aggressive." Among those 14 companies, 10 received the largest amounts of TARP funding to date, including American International Group, Bank of America, Citigroup, Fifth Third Bancorp, Goldman Sachs Group, J.P. Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, PNC Financial, and Wells Fargo. Among the TARP recipients receiving the largest amount of taxpayer funds, the study rates Wells Fargo, Merrill Lynch, and Regions Financial as having a "weak" financial condition. Zions Bancorp, which operates Houston-based Amegy Bank of Texas, was the only financial services company that received TARP funding to earn a "conservative" rating during the most recent quarter. "As a group these are very risky companies," said Jack Zwingli, Audit Integrity chief executive. The use of federal money to bail them out should be pause for concern on several levels. "Unfortunately," Zwinglin added, "the odds are that a number of these companies will fail at some level in the future, which raises the concern that the government is throwing good money after bad. At a minimum we should demand a thorough review of their accounting and corporate governance practices."Related Links (T)Hanks Partner From Frying Pan to Fire, Stockbroker Edition Wall Street Huddles for Safety Source: Portfolio.com: Top 5 | 31 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Back-up supply chain plans essential in uncertain timesIt is not known when the economic climate will start turning upwards in 2009 or whether it will at all, so businesses should draw up robust contingency plans to deal with any scenario. Supply chain and procurement expert Alan Day...Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 31 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Meet Craig Norgate, PGG Wrightson chairmanHow has the credit crunch changed your world? Dramatically and very publicly! The failure of PGG Wrightson (PGW) to be able to complete the first stage of settlement of the Silver Fern Farms transaction was the first real reminder...Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 31 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Belarus to get $2.5bn IMF loanThe International Monetary Fund (IMF) approves a $2.5bn loan to Belarus to help it cope with the financial downturn.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 31 Dec 2008 | 3:39 pm Attorney Zamansky Says Madoff Case Not DefensibleSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 31 Dec 2008 | 3:38 pm Food and drug retail stocks a better buy in 2008 (AP)AP - Shares of grocery and drug retailers fell in 2008, but not as much as the broader market, as shoppers spent what little money they did have on staples like groceries and prescriptions.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 31 Dec 2008 | 3:37 pm Sfakianakis Says Oil's Decline Threatens Sovereign FundsSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 31 Dec 2008 | 3:36 pm BNP Paribas's Mortimer-Lee Sees U.S. Unemployment at 9% in 2009Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 31 Dec 2008 | 3:34 pm Oops, They Did It AgainPortfolio has assembled its list of the year's top business blunders. The list includes the likely suspects: Societe Generale, Jerry Yang, and Bernie Madoff. Along with a few I'd just plain forgotten about. My personal favorite -- the executives from the big three automakers taking private jets to Washington to ask for a bailout. David Kestenbaum asked David Cole, from the Center of Automotive Research, about this decision back in November, his rationale -- security. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 31 Dec 2008 | 3:03 pm Piper Jaffray Said Weak Holiday eCommerce Data Supports Thesis of Slow '09 For Amazon (AMZN)Analysts at Piper Jaffray commented on Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) following comScore data which showed that total eCommerce sales declined 4% Y/Y QTD for Q4 and declined 37% Y/Y in the last full week of December. comScore said this was the first time they've seen negative growth rates for the holiday season since they began tracking e-commerce in 2001. Piper Jaffray said, following the data, they are incrementally more confident that their thesis of a 10% decline in 2009 industry eCommerce sales and 10% growth in Amazon sales will in fact play out. Based on this view, Piper feels the Street estimates for 2009 revenue of $21.3B are too high, and is 6% above their $20.1B estimate. Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 31 Dec 2008 | 2:18 pm How about a stimulus plan for Pluto?None of the experts are doing a particularly good job of predicting how the economy is going to turn out next year. So we sent Mitchell Hartman to check out what astrology has to say about our economic fate.Source: Marketplace | 31 Dec 2008 | 2:00 pm More Bad New On Jobless Claims
First-time applications for state unemployment benefits fell 94,000 to a seasonally adjusted 492,000 in the week ending Dec. 27, the Labor Department said Wednesday, according to MarketWatch. "Despite the decline, the level of claims is 45% higher than the same period in the prior year. The four-week average of new claims fell 5,750 to 552,250. Meanwhile, the number of people collecting benefits in the week ending Dec. 20 rose 140,000 to 4.51 million - the highest level since December 1982. The four-week average of continuing claims rose 103,750 to 4.42 million - also the highest level since December 1982." Douglas A. McIntyre Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 31 Dec 2008 | 1:44 pm
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