Cleaning up an out-of-whack portfolio Jeremie Maehr doesn't like to let a good thing slip away. In 2000, when his girlfriend, Christina, was packing to move from Cleveland for a new job in California, he proposed - and moved with her. They have now been married for seven years and have three kids. Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 1 May 2009 | 4:00 am Opening Bell: 04.30.09 State Street Under Investigation (WSJ) The Mass Secretary of State is looking in to whether State Street misrepresented (flat out lied) to pension funds about the nature of its Bond Fund. "A document State Street provided to clients to describe the Government/Corporate Bond Fund said it would invest in a "broad-based, investment-grade fixed-income universe." But, as of March 31, 2007, the fund had nearly half of its weighting in mortgage-backed securities and other asset-backed securities. Such securities may be investment grade but are riskier than Treasurys and specific corporate issues. In September 2005, the same fund's biggest weighting was in U.S. Treasurys, while mortgage- and asset-backed securities accounted for less than 6% of its top 10 holdings." GM Bondholders Looking For More (Bloomberg) "General Motors Corp.'s bondholders plan to present a counteroffer to President Barack Obama's auto task force in Washington today that would give them control of the carmaker, according to a person familiar with the committee representing creditors. The bondholder committee plans to reject GM's April 27 debt exchange offer that asked them to swap all their claims for a 10 percent stake in the reorganized automaker, said the person, who declined to be identified because the negotiations are private." Pang Confined To His Home (WSJ) Danny Pang out on $1 million bail, currently sporting ankle monitoring bracelet, under house arrest. Former Citi Exec To Launch Financial Services Firm (Reuters) It shall be called Primus. EU Hedge Funds Ask Regulators To Back Off (FT) "Jonathan Russell, chairman of the European Venture Capital Association, called the proposed EU directive "disproportionate, inappropriate and anti-competitive". The Commission's proposals, drawn up amid public and political anger over the risks taken by some financial institutions that led to the current crisis, would require alternative fund managers, rather than funds themselves, to register and seek government authorisation for the first time. Fund managers would also have to meet reporting, governance and risk management standards, including minimum capital requirements." Source: Dealbreaker | 30 Apr 2009 | 1:01 pm Shanghai share slump weigh on Citic Securities HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Citic Securities shares dropped in Shanghai trade Thursday after the company reported first-quarter net income that fell short of expectations, amid depressed trading volumes and a thin line up of initial public offerings. Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 30 Apr 2009 | 12:09 pm Fuel credit boosts International Paper's 1Q 93 pct International Paper Co.'s first-quarter profit nearly doubled, as a huge tax credit for alternative fuel use offset sluggish sales. Like other paper makers, IP aggressively cut mill... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 30 Apr 2009 | 12:08 pm Viacom profit drops 34% as ad sales decline LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Viacom Inc. said Thursday that its first-quarter profit fell 34% as a decline in advertising sales at some of its cable channels and unfavorable exchange rate moves hit the bottom line. Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 30 Apr 2009 | 12:05 pm US stock futures rise ahead of economic data (AP) AP - Stocks are set to extend their rally as investors hoped for reassuring readings on jobless claims, personal spending and manufacturing. Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 30 Apr 2009 | 12:03 pm Earnings Watch: Updates, advisories and surprises A roundup of the latest corporate earnings reports and what companies are saying about future quarters. Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 30 Apr 2009 | 12:01 pm Motorola loss widens on wireless weakness WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Motorola Inc. on Thursday posted a steeper first-quarter loss as shipments of wireless phones shrank again and sales in the company's two other main businesses fell. Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 30 Apr 2009 | 12:01 pm DSG to raise £310m for store revival plans DSG International, the owner of Currys and PC World, today announced that it would raise £310.6 million to shore up its capital base after credit insurance fears contributed to a shock rise in its net debt. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:57 am Bondholders propose to swap debt for GM control LONDON (MarketWatch) -- A committee of General Motors bondholders announced a plan Thursday that would see them relieve their $27 billion of debt in return for a majority stake in the U.S. automaker. Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:57 am Currencies: Dollar pressured as recovery hopes rise LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. dollar fell Thursday as investors showed renewed interest in riskier assets on expectations the worst of the steep global recession will soon be in the rearview mirror. Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:55 am London Markets: Banks help fuel gains for British shares Banks help to fuel broad gains for British shares on Thursday, as shares of Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland climb more than 10% each. Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:55 am Chrysler to find out if bankruptcy filing needed Chrysler LLC will survive. On Thursday the No. 3 U.S. automaker finds out if it will do so with or without a trip to bankruptcy court. Talks between Chrysler LLC's lenders and the... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:53 am Top 10 Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BHP, COST, DRIV, GT, PX, PZN, RAI, ROK, VIP, VMC) These are ten of the top analyst upgrades and downgrades we have seen from Wall Street early this Thursday morning: BHP Billiton (BHP) Started as Outperform at RBC. Costco (COST) Cut to Neutral at UBS. Digital River (DRIV) Raised to Perform at Oppenheimer. Goodyear Tire (GT) Cut to Hold at Citigroup. Praxair (PX) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan. Pzena Investment (PZN) [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:53 am Dow Chemical posts surprise profit NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dow Chemical Co posted a surprise first-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by cost reductions, gains in its agricultural segment and lower raw material costs. Source: Reuters: Business News | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:51 am Canada, Ontario govts to help refinance Chrysler-Globe April 30 (Reuters) - Canadian and Ontario governments will help refinance Chrysler to ensure that the U.S. automaker's Canadian subsidiary will not be separately placed in bankruptcy protection, The Globe... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:50 am Chrysler in last ditch push for survival deal ROME/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chrysler LLC rushed to clinch a last-minute deal on Thursday to stave off collapse ahead of a midnight deadline for the third-largest U.S. automaker. Source: Reuters: Business News | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:50 am Kodak posts wider 1Q loss, suspends dividend Eastman Kodak says its loss widened to $353 million in the first quarter on plunging sales and restructuring charges. The photography products maker is suspending its cash dividend on... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:49 am Procter & Gamble profit falls as consumers cut back (Reuters) Reuters - Procter & Gamble Co posted a 4 percent drop in quarterly profit on Thursday as consumers traded down to less expensive products in the challenging economy, leading to a decline in sales. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:47 am Procter & Gamble profit falls as consumers cut back CHICAGO (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Co posted a 4 percent drop in quarterly profit on Thursday as consumers traded down to less expensive products in the challenging economy, leading to a decline in sales. Source: Reuters: Business News | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:47 am UBS axed 2,000 U.S. jobs in latest round of cuts ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss bank UBS said on Thursday it had axed 2,000 U.S. jobs as part of its latest mammoth round of job cuts announced earlier in April. Source: Reuters: Business News | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:47 am KBR 1st-quarter profit falls KBR Inc. says earnings for the first three months of 2009 dropped 21 percent from a year ago when the engineering and construction company posted a $51 million gain from an arbitration... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:44 am GM bondholders seek to take majority stake A committee of General Motors Corp.'s bondholders has offered to take a 58-percent stake in the restructured automaker in exchange for their $27 billion in debt. The bondholders say the... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:44 am Indications: U.S. stock futures extend gains on economy hopes U.S. stock futures climb on Thursday, with markets taking news that Chrysler was on the verge of a bankruptcy filing in stride on hopes for a recovery in the economy during the second half of the year. Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:44 am Stock futures higher on earnings, economic optimism (Reuters) Reuters - Stock index futures were set to open more than 1 percent higher on Thursday as the first quarter's better-than-expected profits stoked optimism the economic slump is showing signs of easing. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:42 am Stock futures higher on earnings, economic optimism (Reuters) Reuters - Stock index futures were set to open more than 1 percent higher on Thursday as the first quarter's better-than-expected profits stoked optimism the economic slump is showing signs of easing. Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:42 am Stock futures higher on earnings, economic optimism NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures were set to open more than 1 percent higher on Thursday as the first quarter's better-than-expected profits stoked optimism the economic slump is showing signs of easing. Source: Reuters: Business News | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:42 am Dollar falls against euro, traders watch US The dollar dropped against the euro on Thursday while gaining versus the yen as the market reacted to the swine flu outbreak and signs of economic recovery in the United States, traders... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:38 am Motorola 1Q loss widens, but beats Street Motorola's first-quarter loss is smaller than analysts were expecting, and it regained its position as the world's fourth-largest maker of cell phones. The Schaumburg, Ill.-based company Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:36 am Phones weigh down Ericsson as profits slide 30% The world leader in mobile phone network equipment Ericsson on Thursday posted a 30-percent drop in profits, weighed down by its mobile phone unit, but said the impact of the global... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:36 am GM bondholders to present alternate plan: source DETROIT (Reuters) - Bondholders will present an alternative to General Motors Corp's just-launched debt-for-equity exchange in a deal that would swap a 51-percent stake in a restructured company for $27 billion in debt, according to a person with knowledge of the plan. Source: Reuters: Business News | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:34 am Dow Chemical 1Q profit drops 97 percent Dow Chemical posted a 97 percent drop in first-quarter profit on Thursday due to job cuts and a steep drop in sales, though results easily beat Wall Street expectations. The company... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:33 am Dow Chemical first-quarter profit plummets 96% NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Dow Chemical Co. said Thursday its first quarter net income plunged 96% as sharp declines hit its plastics businesses and in spite of robust growth in its agriculture businesses. Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:29 am Chrysler down to the wire Facing a Thursday deadline, Chrysler LLC appears on the verge of bankruptcy even as the Obama administration signaled a commitment to keep the troubled automaker alive. Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:27 am Obama has what he needs to restructure Chrysler President Barack Obama has what he needs to restructure Chrysler. With banks holding 70pc of Chrysler's secured debt agreeing to the US Treasury's 30 cents on the dollar offer the reorganisation can move ahead. Source: Telegraph Finance | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:21 am Motorola loss widens NEW YORK (Reuters) - Motorola Inc posted on Thursday a wider quarterly loss as sales missed Wall Street Estimates, but it forecast a narrower loss for the second quarter and said it plans further cost cuts. Source: Reuters: Business News | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:21 am Motorola loss widens (Reuters) Reuters - Motorola Inc posted on Thursday a wider quarterly loss as sales missed Wall Street Estimates, but it forecast a narrower loss for the second quarter and said it plans further cost cuts. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:21 am EU unemployment hits 20 million Unemployment across countries using the euro is at its highest level for four years as the jobless total n the EU reaches 20 million. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:18 am Stocks ready to charge forward U.S. stocks were set to charge higher Thursday as economic optimism overshadowed worries that a Chrysler bankruptcy may be near. Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:18 am Chrysler in last ditch push for survival deal (Reuters) Reuters - Chrysler LLC rushed to clinch a last-minute deal on Thursday to stave off collapse ahead of a midnight deadline for the third-largest U.S. automaker. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:18 am Europe Markets: Shares in Europe up; banks gain, earnings eyed European shares advance on Thursday morning, with banks in the lead and investors also eyeing results from chemicals group BASF, major technology firms and others. Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:16 am Global stocks rally despite swine flu fears (AFP) AFP - World stock markets rallied on Thursday as investors focused on hopes of a global economic recovery despite deepening fears about a possible swine flu pandemic. Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:14 am BAE Systems to cut 500 jobs in UK Defence giant BAE Systems is to close three UK factories - Telford, Leeds and Guildford - resulting in the loss of 500 jobs. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:12 am NYSE Euronext 1Q profit falls 55 percent (AP) AP - NYSE Euronext said Thursday its first-quarter profit fell 55 percent amid pricing pressure in cash markets and volume declines in Europe. However, the exchange operator's results beat analysts' expectations. Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:05 am Gordon Gecko's back with a Wall Street 2 'ripped from headlines' With his slicked back hair, braces and monstrous disregard for business ethics, Gordon Gekko was one of the emblematic cinema villains of the 1980s. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:05 am Stephanomics What is the potential economic impact of swine flu? Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:01 am Tyco International results beat estimates (Reuters) Reuters - Industrial conglomerate Tyco International Ltd posted a net $2.57 billion net loss as it wrote down assets in light of the weak economy, but earnings before special items beat Wall Street expectations. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:01 am Tyco International results beat estimates NEW YORK (Reuters) - Industrial conglomerate Tyco International Ltd posted a net $2.57 billion net loss as it wrote down assets in light of the weak economy, but earnings before special items beat Wall Street expectations. Source: Reuters: Business News | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:01 am Ericsson profits plunge 35% on falling demand Ericsson, the world’s leading mobile phone network equipment supplier, saw its net profits fall by 35 per cent today as the global downturn continued to hit the market. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:00 am Chrysler approaches key deadline Restructuring efforts continue as Chrysler is just hours away from a deadline that could force it to file for bankruptcy protection. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 30 Apr 2009 | 11:00 am Dealbreaker Afterhours: Chrysler Headed To The Suck One of the disadvantages of taking strong positions on economic events before the fact is the credibility sink one is subjected to on the flip side. Ouch. Failing one's predictive tasks as an asset manager is a potentially career limiting mistake. Missing a call as a gambler is expensive, even dangerous- at least to limb if not also to life. But missing a call while occupying the Executive Branch of government of the United States is a different matter all together. Now add the detail that your office was actively leveraging the rather substantial resources of the Executive Branch in pursuit of the effort and you have a bit of a problem. You either have been making a show of it, or your office is far more impotent than it appears. Neither outcome is desirable. The solution, of course, is not to publicly intertwine yourself in industrial policy with such visible and unbridled enthusiasm unless you have matters well in hand. With J.P. Morgan Chase leading the creditors, 90 minutes of discussion before voting wasn't enough time to tip the hands in favor of the latest deal. It wasn't even close. It should surprise no one that once an outsider (Fiat) was introduced into the mix the subsidized and coddled "avoid Chapter" process was split wide open. Can we please... please move on? Chrysler Chapter 11 Is Imminent [The Wall Street Journal] Source: Dealbreaker | 30 Apr 2009 | 10:51 am Independent News ? Media fails to reach agreement with bondholders Independent News ? Media has failed to reach agreement with bondholders over a €200m £179m bond as it announced losses of €161.4m for 2008. Source: Telegraph Finance | 30 Apr 2009 | 10:49 am Independent plunges into losses Newspaper publisher Independent News & Media falls into a loss as the health of the newspaper industry continued to worsen. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 30 Apr 2009 | 10:48 am BAE Systems to cut 500 jobs as it shuts three UK factories BAE Systems Europe's biggest defence company will cut 500 jobs and close three factories after the British government delayed the purchase of armoured vehicles. Source: Telegraph Finance | 30 Apr 2009 | 10:24 am In A Race For The Economic Bottom, EU Pulls Ahead Of US The US may have believed it had cornered the market for economic misery with back-to-back quarterly GDP drops of over 6%. But, Europe refuses to be bested. What it may not be able to match in GDP, it has matched in unemployment, posting an 8.9% number for March. The news may be a sign that the EU [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 30 Apr 2009 | 10:19 am World markets rally on Fed's US assessment (AP) AP - World stock markets rose sharply Thursday even though the World Health Organization warned that a swine flu pandemic was imminent, as investors warmed instead to the Federal Reserve's suggestion that the worst of the recession in the U.S. may be over. Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 30 Apr 2009 | 10:11 am Dollar weakens on improved risk demand The US dollar weakened against other major global currencies after demand for riskier assets grew Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 30 Apr 2009 | 10:09 am A Government Bailout For IPOs The venture capital community has made a self-serving request of the federal government, but is may not be entirely without merit. The industry’s trade association “called for lower taxes and loosened listing rules, to galvanize the pace of IPOs for when the economy improves,” according to Reuters. The VCs are trapped in their investments in a [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 30 Apr 2009 | 10:02 am JC Flowers rejects Berlin's offer for HRE Response moves the government closer to a controversial expropriation of JC Flowers' holdings in the property lender, which Berlin is determined to take into full state control Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 30 Apr 2009 | 9:52 am BAE to axe 500 jobs on Iraqi withdrawal BAE Systems today announced plans to cut 500 jobs and close three sites, due in part to the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 30 Apr 2009 | 9:46 am Global stocks surge on economic stabilization bets (Reuters) Reuters - Global stock markets jumped more than one percent on Thursday to their highest since early January as investors bet on a stabilization of the ailing world economy and took heart from some upbeat corporate earnings. Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 30 Apr 2009 | 9:44 am Swine flu: small drug developer Lipoxen jumps on vaccine results Lipoxen a small British biopharmaceutical company saw its shares more than double after announcing positive results for tests on a flu vaccine that it claims may work on swine flu. Source: Telegraph Finance | 30 Apr 2009 | 9:42 am Bondholders Ditch GM (GM) And Chrysler Nearly everyone who could keep GM (GM) and Chrysler out of Chapter 11 has gone along with supporting  painful restructuring plans. The UAW and managements at the two companies have given up a great deal. The federal government is willing to risk tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer money to keep the firms from [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 30 Apr 2009 | 9:42 am Facebook eyes additional funding: report (Reuters) - Social-networking website Facebook has held meetings with private equity firms to explore raising another round of funding, the New York Post reported on Thursday, citing sources. Source: Reuters: Business News | 30 Apr 2009 | 9:41 am Jobless in Henley: What's in it for the accidental selfemployed? We used to be in the 'affluence trap' now we're in the 'anonymous trap'. Source: Telegraph Finance | 30 Apr 2009 | 9:39 am Global shares soar to 4-month high Read full story for latest details. Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 30 Apr 2009 | 9:36 am Ken Lewis Keeps His Day Job (BAC) Ken Lewis got a slap on the hand. Shareholders of Bank of America (BAC) voted to separate the chairman’s role from the CEO’s and the bank’s board was forced to elect a new chairman, Walter E. Massey, a college president who has been on the firm’s board for so long that he is as responsible [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 30 Apr 2009 | 9:26 am The Fed: Things Will Get Better, If Everything Goes As Planned The market continues to stage an improbable rally which should have been affected by concerns about the spread of the Swine flu virus and the fact that several large American banks may need tremendous infusions of capital. GDP numbers issued by the government were also shockingly bad. The economy contracted 6.1% in the first quarter [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 30 Apr 2009 | 8:56 am Mogul Redstone says he'll never retire - or die Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 30 Apr 2009 | 8:46 am Starbucks And The Resurrection Of The Middle Class Consumer spending by America’s large middle class is an important indicator of economic recovery.  GDP numbers from last quarter and opinions from the Federal Open Market Committee may not be as accurate an indicator of the health of the middle class economy as are the results of Starbucks last quarter. For the most recent period, revenue [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 30 Apr 2009 | 8:46 am Japan in surprise economy boost Industrial output in Japan rose in March for the first time in six months, according to official government figures. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 30 Apr 2009 | 8:36 am How one state is spending its stimulus Thanks to federal stimulus funds, Rhode Island's pockmarked Route 138 in Tiverton is getting repaved. The state's 97,000 food stamp recipients are getting more money. And some 2,000 local youths will have summer jobs. Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 30 Apr 2009 | 8:33 am Robert Peston Hobbling hedgies and bashing the buyout boys Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 30 Apr 2009 | 8:23 am Chrysler set for bankruptcy as talks stall Chrysler, one of the world’s biggest carmakers, appeared to be headed for bankruptcy today after talks with lenders broke down last night. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 30 Apr 2009 | 8:12 am WHO warns of 'imminent' flu pandemic The World Health Organisation has warned a swine flu pandemic is imminent after it raised the global alert level to five out of six, while Mexico, where the outbreak started, ordered people to stay at home for five days Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 30 Apr 2009 | 8:02 am BSkyB profits soar on surge in new customers BSkyB, the UK broadcasting group, reported a 13 per cent rise in profits this morning but warned of difficult trading conditions in the months ahead. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 30 Apr 2009 | 8:01 am Standard Life reports resilient first quarter sales Insurance and pensions group Standard Life has reported a betterthanexpected 20pc fall in first quarter sales and said its capital surplus was little changed. Source: Telegraph Finance | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:57 am Media Digest 4/30/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg According to Reuters, Bank of America (BAC) shareholders voted to separate the chairman and CEO roles and Ken Lewis was replaced as chairman. Reuters reports that talks to keep Chrysler out of Chapter 11 are on the rocks. Reuters reports that the Fed sees the economic downturn easing. Reuters reports that Apple (AAPL) is building a chip designing [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:51 am BSkyB sales soar as customers flock to highdefinition TV Satellite broadcaster BSkyB saw sales soar in the third quarter as customers switched to highdefinition television. Source: Telegraph Finance | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:31 am Cadbury sales boosted by British love of Easter eggs Cadbury said chocolate sales continued to increase helped by strong demand for Easter eggs. Source: Telegraph Finance | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:20 am Australian stocks: Market closes higher MELBOURNE - The Australian share market closed higher today after a strong lead from United States markets. At the 1615 AEST close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 had risen 85.2 points, or 2.31 per cent, to 3780.5, while the broader... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:20 am Asia Markets 4/30/2009 Markets in Asia rallied The Nikkei rose 3.9% to 8,826. The Hang Seng was up 3% to 15,408. The Shanghai Composite rose .4% to 2,478. A the open in Europe, the FTSE rose .3%. The Dax was up .7% to 4,740, and the CAC 40 rose .9% to 3,143. Data from Reuters and MarketWatch. Douglas A. McIntyre [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:20 am Rural fridges China's subsidies encourage consumption Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:18 am Anglo American firstquarter production slides as diamond output dives 90pc Anglo American the mining company posted weaker firstquarter output in most of its commodities including a 90pc plunge in diamond output as it trimmed production amid weak prices. Source: Telegraph Finance | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:14 am DSG to raise £310.6m in discounted rights issue and placing DSG Internantional owner of the Currys and PC World chains said on Thursday it planned to raise £310.6m through a placing and deeply discounted rights issue to survive the consumer downturn. Source: Telegraph Finance | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:08 am Chrysler, Fiat appear near a deal Even with an alliance, bankruptcy is possible. Obama expresses optimism about a deal. Bankruptcy loomed for Chrysler late Wednesday, but an alliance with Fiat appeared increasingly likely as the U.S. automaker neared completion of terms demanded by the Obama administration to continue getting billions of dollars in taxpayer support. Source: L.A. Times - Business | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:00 am Judge blocks part of ports' clean-truck program Truckers may stay independent at Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, preliminary injunction says. Old, polluting diesel rigs can still be banned. ... Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:00 am Sumner Redstone dodges a grilling Viacom and News Corp. leaders offer some insights at the Milken Institute Global Conference. So does a Starbucks marketing executive. ... Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:00 am Time Warner to spin off AOL The Internet service's plunging revenue has been dragging down the media company that it acquired in 2000. In... Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:00 am Stocks end higher as Fed sees recession easing Major stock indexes rose more than 2% on Wednesday to their highest levels in more than 11 weeks on further indications that the economy is stabilizing, signals echoed in a statement from the Federal Reserve... Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:00 am Time Warner to spin off AOL The Internet service's plunging revenue has been dragging down the media company that it acquired in 2000. In 2000, America Online Inc. used its soaring stock price to gobble up Time Warner Inc. and create the world's largest media conglomerate. Nearly a decade later, it's Time Warner that's spitting out AOL. Source: L.A. Times - Business | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:00 am Studios forced to delay Mexico movie openings Postponing the big early-summer films because of the swine flu epidemic could cost tens of millions in revenue at a time when studios are increasingly relying on international box office. The Hollywood movie studios, about to enter the most crucial time of the year for ticket sales, are being forced to delay the Mexico releases of their big early-summer movies, including "Star Trek," "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" and "Angels & Demons" as theaters there close because of the swine flu epidemic sweeping the country. Source: L.A. Times - Business | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:00 am O.C. fund manager Danny Pang denies scheme The financier charged with a single count of structuring bank transactions to avoid currency reporting laws is free on $1-million bond following two days of trouble: an FBI arrest and SEC accusations... Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:00 am Fiat expected to sign Chrysler partnership deal DETROIT -- Italian automaker Fiat Group will sign paperwork to become a partner with Chrysler by Thursday, according to three people briefed on the deal. Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:00 am O.C. fund manager Danny Pang denies scheme The financier charged with a single count of structuring bank transactions to avoid currency reporting laws is free on $1-million bond following two days of trouble: an FBI arrest and SEC accusations. Lawyers for Orange County financier Danny Pang -- who was released from custody Wednesday on $1-million bond -- said an independent, court-ordered review found no evidence that the Newport Beach man had operated a Ponzi scheme. Source: L.A. Times - Business | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:00 am Stocks end higher as Fed sees recession easing Major stock indexes rose more than 2% on Wednesday to their highest levels in more than 11 weeks on further indications that the economy is stabilizing, signals echoed in a statement from the Federal Reserve. Source: L.A. Times - Business | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:00 am Obama 100-day crystal ball? Don't count on it A look at FDR's presidency shows the first few months of a term are no guide to the future. It has become more than a cliche: Every new president's first 100 days are a crystal ball foretelling the course of his administration. Source: L.A. Times - Business | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:00 am Sumner Redstone dodges a grilling Viacom and News Corp. leaders offer some insights at the Milken Institute Global Conference. So does a Starbucks marketing executive. With earnings coming out today, which means he can't talk business, and CNN's Larry King as his interviewer, Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. Chairman Sumner Redstone was able to dodge a grilling during his interview session at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills. Source: L.A. Times - Business | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:00 am Cruise lines reroute Mexico-bound ships Carnival, Princess and Holland America announce stops in California, Florida and Central America and schedule extra time at sea. Swine flu outbreak in Mexico prompted the new itineraries. ... Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:00 am Unemployment rates rise in all U.S. metro areas in March Biggest rise: Elkhart-Goshen in Indiana, hit by layoffs in the RV industry. Highest jobless rate: El Centro in California, at 25.1%. ... Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:00 am Studios forced to delay Mexico movie openings Postponing the big early-summer films because of the swine flu epidemic could cost tens of millions in revenue at a time when studios are increasingly relying on international box office. ... Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:00 am U.S. economy shrinks 6.1% in the first quarter The Commerce Department's gross domestic product report shows that business cutbacks and a drop in exports add to the decline. Still, the Dow jumps more than 2% on a rise in consumer spending. ... Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 30 Apr 2009 | 7:00 am UK house price fall dampens recovery hopes UK house prices continued to slide in April, suggesting that last month’s surprise rise was a blip in a downward trend, according to figures from Nationwide, the British mortgage lender. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 30 Apr 2009 | 6:52 am Bank of Japan slashes forecasts The Japanese central bank lowered its forecast for the economy to a 3.1% contraction this fiscal year to next March, rather than a previously expected 2% decline Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 30 Apr 2009 | 6:50 am US bank chairman voted out Bank of America shareholders vote to oust Kenneth Lewis as the firm's chairman, following criticism over his stewardship. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 30 Apr 2009 | 6:39 am Japan forecasts upturn in 2009 as output rises Stocks across Asia rose overnight after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) said that the world's second largest economy will begin to recover in the second half of the year and factory output rose for the first time in six months. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 30 Apr 2009 | 6:37 am NZ stocks: Market leaps as rates fall The New Zealand sharemarket leapt today as the Reserve Bank of New Zealand signalled low interest rates are here to stay and after Wall Street rose. The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed up 40.872 points, or 1.514 per cent, at 2740.585.... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 30 Apr 2009 | 6:31 am Currency: NZ dollar slides on rate cut The New Zealand dollar dropped a cent today when the Reserve Bank spelt out that interest rates would remain low until the latter part of 2010. The bank cut the official cash rate (OCR) by half a percentage point to a record low... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 30 Apr 2009 | 5:35 am Fast-food strategy: free, or practically free Chains are resorting to giveaways or less-than-$1 menu items. And they're getting smarter about engineering lower-priced but still-profitable items, though some say the cheaper food tastes that way. Before the recession, Andrew Puzder, who heads the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's burger chains, liked to joke about how sharp-priced competitors were "giving food away." Source: L.A. Times - Business | 30 Apr 2009 | 5:03 am Charter school staff face dilemma on benefits Workers at three campuses must decide whether to give up lifetime coverage, change schools or retire. Three local charter schools, including two that are widely acclaimed, face a potential exodus of teachers and others who are fearful of losing generous Los Angeles Unified School District health benefits. Source: L.A. Times - Business | 30 Apr 2009 | 5:02 am Two Beverly Hills hedge funds shut over fraud claims SEC alleges Bradley L. Ruderman scammed investors out of at least $38 million through his funds, Ruderman Capital Partners and Ruderman Capital Partners A. His assets have been temporarily frozen. A pair of Beverly Hills hedge funds were shut down Wednesday by a federal judge based on claims that their operator scammed investors out of at least $38 million, using the cachet of famous names including Oracle Corp. Chief Executive Larry Ellison. Source: L.A. Times - Business | 30 Apr 2009 | 4:43 am Economic cost The swine flu outbreak hits Mexican companies Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 30 Apr 2009 | 4:06 am Ameriprise CEO: Take My Advice...Please James Cracchiolo has a unique, dual perspective on today’s financial crisis—part titan of finance, part everyman. Two weeks out of the month he’s a typical Manhattan CEO, viewing the carnage on Wall Street from his 39th-floor corner office at Ameriprise’s (AMP) location in 7 World Trade Center. The other two weeks of the month, Cracchiolo works from the firm’s Minneapolis headquarters, where he sees the current meltdown through a much more man-on-the-street lens—and the view is even worse. Home prices in Minnesota are down 14 percent; unemployment claims are up 26 percent. Manhattan to Minneapolis is a long slog, but Cracchiolo’s commute is crucial to Ameriprise’s mission: persuading millions of Americans far removed from Wall Street to trust the same financial systems and products that just delivered a crushing blow to their savings. With more than 12,000 advisers nationwide, the $3.7 billion firm is one of the biggest purveyors of financial advice. It manages $372 billion for 2.8 million clients and provided more financial-planning services than any other brokerage firm last year. Providing financial services is hardly an easy business to be in these days. Ameriprise stock is down 44 percent over the past year, and no wonder—it has been hit with a double whammy. Not only is it hard to sell financial advice and investments when the markets are destroying wealth daily, but Ameriprise’s revenue is also directly tied to market performance. The firm’s advisers typically charge clients a percentage of their assets. As the client loses money, so does the firm. Almost 75 percent of Ameriprise’s revenue comes from client fees and its own investments in the markets; last year that revenue stream dropped 25 percent. And while a similar fate has been suffered across the industry, there’s still no end in sight, says Sterne Agee & Leach analyst John Nadel: “It would be extremely difficult to hold earnings even close to flat.” Carpe diem, says Cracchiolo, a longtime American Express executive who was chosen to lead the spin-off of Ameriprise and take it public in 2005. Now is the time when Americans need financial advice the most, he says, and Ameriprise is positioned to give it to them—as long as it keeps its own boat afloat. Cracchiolo took some time in the midst of the financial crisis to talk about the fate of the economy, why the company’s mutual funds have underperformed and how the company keeps thousands of advisers in line. Let’s start with the obvious. Fun times? This is unprecedented. Having said that, I still feel pretty good about our ability to navigate these markets and to continue to focus on financial advice, our clients and the products and services we offer them. You don’t feel great about being in an environment like this, but you feel good about running a company that you feel can come out strong in the end. It’s taken its toll on revenue. What’s the plan? We’re focused on expenses. We reduced our expenses by 10 percent last year, with a target to reduce further by another 10 percent next year. And the other thing we’re focused on is the fixed-interest-rate market coming back, so we should see some additional revenue in our certificate [of deposit] business and the fixed-annuity business. Yes, our income has been reduced, but if we can control our expenses, we’ll be in great shape for when clients want to come back. Every time we have a crisis—whether it’s the tech bubble, the savings-and-loan crisis, the oil crisis in the ’70s—people always say it’s unprecedented. When we look back on this, will today’s crisis truly seem like something new? This current crisis is so far-reaching that it feels a bit deeper and more difficult. The things we’re dealing with are on a global basis now. And it’s affecting the entire financial system much more than any crisis in the past. So it’s not that we’ve never faced these challenges before; it’s that we’ve never faced them at this size and scope. If you spin forward a year or five years, how will financial services look different? There will be much greater emphasis on managing systemic risk. The key will hopefully be to remember this more than a year or two, because there seems to be an issue like this every seven years. Hopefully, we’ll remember this in four years, before we get to the next cycle. With more than 12,000 advisers, how do you control for the quality of the advice, especially at a time like this? We communicate. We just did a webcast for advisers and clients, and we tell them the same things: We know there’s stress; people are scared. But this is a market cycle, and it’s going to get better. There’s no alarm that goes off at headquarters if an adviser starts pulling clients’ money out of the market? No. Ultimately, the client has to make that decision. The adviser might try to encourage them to be patient, but at the end of the day, the client gets to choose. If they want to hold money in cash, that’s their choice. There’s been a big effort to get people to think about Ameriprise and advice, but insurance is still more than half the company. Would you like to see that ratio come down? We like the businesses we’re in. Insurance and annuities are products clients need to accumulate assets and protect them over time. Our core value proposition is through our financial advisers and the advice we offer retail clients. But years ago we were one of the largest mutual fund companies in the industry, so we’re now reinvesting in the asset-management business as well. Let’s talk about the mutual funds Ameriprise manages. Historically, they haven’t done particularly well. What are you doing to make those competitive? We’ve brought in new talent to manage the funds that we have; we’ve launched new products; we’ve expanded our distribution capability. Overall, we started to get some really good performance—deep value and international have been excellent. On the other side, our growth area hasn’t performed as well, and fixed income has been mixed. We’re very focused on that. But I think we’ve put in place a lot of the core capabilities we need to really grow the business. Growing a business isn’t the same as improving performance, though they’re certainly linked. What will it take to improve performance? You rely on good people, and you make the right investment decisions. We just purchased J. & W. Seligman; that will provide capability in areas we’ve been weak. It’s been a mixed bag, and we’ve reallocated assets to portfolio managers that we think will perform better. You applied for government bailout money. Did you get any? No. The government didn’t extend funding beyond the Wall Street firms and banks. But we have a strong capital position and good liquidity—we applied as a strong company, and the government said it wanted to fund strong companies. If the government changes its mind, will you take the cash? There are more strings attached now. If we could use it to invest in growth, we’d consider it. But based on where the world is today, it may not be appropriate. In the industry, everyone accepts that this is a sales business-—advice and financial products. But when a consumer is talking to an adviser, he thinks he’s paying for service. We’re looking to develop a long-term relationship with our clients. And if we can identify the needs you really have, then I’m going to provide you with excellent service in trying to address those needs, because I’d like you to stay with me for 20, 30 and 40 years. So is it sales, or is it service? It’s service. But the advice is implemented through sales. SMARTMONEY ® Layout and look and feel of SmartMoney.com are trademarks of SmartMoney, a joint venture between Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and Hearst SM Partnership. © 1995 - 2009 SmartMoney. All Rights Reserved. Source: SmartMoney.com | 30 Apr 2009 | 4:00 am Swine Flu Prevention Kits: What You Really Need (Deal of the Day) All of the headlines about the spread of swine flu beyond Mexico's border are enough to make anyone want to live in a protective bubble. But with just one confirmed swine flu death in the U.S. -- a 23-month-old Mexican child brought to Texas for treatment -- it’s important to keep in mind that the scare is, well, just that. (The remaining seven laboratory-confirmed swine flu deaths have occurred in Mexico, where outbreaks began in March.) An estimated 36,000 Americans die annually from complications related to regular seasonal flu strain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Currently, the World Health Organization’s tally of confirmed U.S. cases of swine flu stands at 91 since it was first identified as a new strain April 24. On Wednesday, the WHO raised the pandemic alert level to 5 -- just one level below a full pandemic. While your odds of contracting swine flu may be slim, it’s never a bad idea to have a few preventative emergency supplies on hand, says Lesly Simmons, a spokeswoman for The American Red Cross. But you don't need to go overboard. Plenty of enterprising salespeople and entrepreneurs are hawking swine flu- and pandemic-readiness kits on web sites like Craigslist.org and Amazon.com that are overpriced or offer items that you don't need, she says. For example, Quake Kare’s $40 Swine Flu Pandemic Kit on Amazon.com includes a full-body Tyvek suit, safety goggles and plastic sheeting to “shelter in place.” Sherry Heitz, Quake Kare's CEO says that the plastic sheeting and the Tyvek suit aren't really necessary at this point, but the items may well be recommended by the government should the outbreaks worsen. The truth is you probably already have most of what you need in the drawers, closets and cabinets of your home, says Claire Pospisil, a spokeswoman for the New York State Department of Health. The emergency kit checklist she and Simmons recommend: soap, hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes and, for more worried consumers, gloves and a particulate mask. “It’s basically the same protocol people should take for seasonal flu,” she says. “A lot of it is just common sense.” Smartmoney.com went shopping at CVS in New York to see how much it would cost to put together our own flu-prevention kit (assuming someone didn’t have any of the suggested items already on hand). Our total tab: $31. (See chart below for the breakdown of items and their cost.) Our final tally is a bit pricey compared to the Red Cross’s Germ Guard Personal Protection Pack, which, for just $10, includes all the recommended gear, but you get much less for the money. The Red Cross's kit includes one N95 mask (instead of our two-pack), an ounce of hand sanitizer (we got a 15-ounce bottle), 10 cleansing wipes (our wipes came in a 24-pack), a pair of vinyl gloves (we got 25 pairs) and a pack of tissues (we passed on the tissues). Simmons says the kit is meant as a basic or travel pack. On the other end of the spectrum, Preparedness.com charges $119 for a Personal Pandemic Defense Kit containing 20 N95 masks (18 more than we got), 25 pairs of non-latex disposable gloves (our list includes the same amount), 100 hand-cleansing towelettes, 50 disinfecting wipes (compared to our 75), six 20-count tissue packs, two waste disposal bags marked with the bio-hazard symbol and a pair of protective goggles, all of which are contained in a nylon carry bag. We didn't buy the tissues, disposal bags, protective goggles or the nylon carry bag because neither Simmons nor Pospisil, from the New York State Department of Health recommended buying them. When asked why the Personal Pandemic Defense Kit was so expensive compared to the other kits we had seen, a Preparedness.com spokesman (who wouldn't divulge his full name) said: “We don’t have to justify anything.”
Item	Reasoning	Prices*
* Prices from CVS in New York City unless otherwise noted.
Soap	Washing your hands for 20 seconds with hot water and soap (antibacterial or otherwise) eliminates most germs -- and is the single best thing you can do to avoid contracting the flu, says Pospisil.	$2.69 for a 7.5-ounce bottle of Softsoap Antibacterial.
Hand sanitizer	If you’re in a location where you can’t wash your hands immediately, an alcohol-based hand sanitizer is a good substitute to kill germs, says Simmons. Waterless gel or foam is fine, as are individually wrapped towelettes.	$4.49 for a 15-ounce bottle of CVS-brand sanitizer, or $1.19 for the store’s 2-ounce travel bottle. Or buy a 24-pack of CVS-brand individually wrapped wipes for $3.99.
Disinfectant wipes	Wipe down shared surfaces (kitchen table) and those you frequently touch (office desk) to avoid spreading germs.	$6.29 for a container of 75 Clorox wipes.
Particulate mask	The CDC is not currently advising that consumers wear particulate masks, says Pospisil. But if you’re really worried, skip the store brands and go with one marked as “N95,” which is what the CDC advises to control exposure of infectious diseases like tuberculosis.	$8.99 for two N95 respirators by 3M on Amazon.com.
Gloves	This isn’t a must-do if you’re regularly washing your hands, but wearing gloves limits your exposure to germs on shared surfaces -- a train handrail, for example. Worried consumers can use their own winter-wear or buy a few disposable pairs, says Simmons. (It’s not foolproof, though, so don’t use this in place of hand washing.)	$8.49 for a box of 50 CVS-brand latex gloves.

SMARTMONEY ® Layout and look and feel of SmartMoney.com are trademarks of SmartMoney, a joint venture between Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and Hearst SM Partnership. © 1995 - 2009 SmartMoney. All Rights Reserved.

Barron's Big Money Poll: The Long View

AFTER THE WORST STRETCH FOR STOCKS IN DECADES, America's money managers say they're bullish. But do they really believe it? Based on the results of our latest Big Money poll, the pros are hoping for the best, but...hold on! Aren't those fresh bear tracks in the mud?

Nearly 60% of our respondents call themselves bullish or very bullish about the stock market's prospects through the end of 2009, a significant increase from the 50% who proclaimed themselves bulls last fall. Yet, signs of unease abound. For one, just 56% of today's poll participants think the stock market is undervalued, down from 62% last fall. Thirteen percent say stocks are overvalued, up from a prior 7%. And an alarming 58% say the market hasn't bottomed yet, even though the Dow Jones industrials hit a low of 6469 in March, before recovering to a recent 8100.

The managers are similarly wary about the outlook for the economy, at least through the end of this year. And they are downright doubtful that the government's first stimulus package, announced with fanfare shortly after the Obama administration moved into the White House, will be the last.

Given these and other concerns, only 26% of the Big Money men and women expect to be net buyers of stocks in the next six months, although 66% say they will be putting more money to work in the 12-month span. But don't look for fresh dough to flow solely to U.S. equities. Just 44% of our respondents think the U.S. will be the strongest market in the next year; 42% expect emerging markets to take the baton and lead. As Keith Wibel, a money manager at Foothills Asset Management in Scottsdale, Ariz., put it, "Confidence has been fractured. The psyche is slow to heal."

The market isn't much faster. Big Money's bullish cohort expects the Dow to end 2009 at 8676, about 7% above current levels but flat for the year. Things, or at least stocks, will pick up thereafter, with the blue chips rising another 10% or so, to 9488, by mid-2010. In concert with their short-term-skittish, long-term-sunny stance, more than 40% of bulls predict the Dow industrials will reach or breach 10,000 by the middle of next year.

The optimists see the Standard & Poor's 500 jogging to 906 by Dec. 30, en route to 1003 next June. The popular benchmark closed Friday at 866. Their mean predictions for the Nasdaq Composite: 1683 by year end, and 1841 by mid-2010, up from last week's 1694.

Some big money managers are notably upbeat even -- or especially -- after a global financial meltdown has cut most stock indexes in half. "They don't ring a bell when they announce a sale on Wall Street, but prices are as good as I've seen them in my entire career," says David A. Corbin, president of Corbin & Co. in Fort Worth, Texas. Corbin anticipates the Dow will reclaim 11,000 by year end, before advancing to 11,800 by mid-2010. He expects the S&P to reach 1160, and the Nasdaq 2100, by next June.

Corbin cites several reasons for his exuberant outlook, not least a mountain of cash on the sidelines, ready and able to fuel a continuation of the powerful rally that began about a month ago. According to Ned Davis Research in Venice, Fla., a record $3.8 trillion is invested in money-market mutual funds, equal to 43% of the stock market's $8.9 trillion capitalization as of March 31. Eighty-nine percent of the time when the liquidity-reserve balance exceeded 10.8% of total market capitalization, the market returned an average of 9.9% per annum.

As Corbin notes, corporate earnings will start improving in coming quarters. Also, high dividend yields and low returns on money-market funds could draw more folks into stocks. And equity valuations are at multiyear lows; the market's median capitalization-weighted price/earnings ratio is 13.29, according to Ned Davis' statistics.

He's betting big discounts will induce stronger companies to mount takeover bids, which could help drive stock prices higher. Indeed, that is already happening in the drug and technology sectors. Since December, Pfizer (PFE) has struck a $68 billion deal to buy Wyeth (WYE); Merck (MRK) and Schering-Plough (SGP) agreed to a $41 billion merger, and Oracle (ORCL) is shelling out $7.4 billion for Sun Microsystems (JAVA) after IBM (IBM) walked away from a possible Sun deal.

The one thing Corbin fears is fresh trouble in the banking system and another round of selloffs in financial shares. For now, his favorite stocks are UPS (UPS), Pfizer and Medtronic (MDT). "These companies have low price/earnings ratios and decent yields, and franchises that are unlikely to be damaged in a downturn," he says.

Gus Krafve, a portfolio manager at Trust Co. of the Ozarks in Springfield, Mo., is another bull. Although the bear has nibbled away at his and his clients' portfolios, he has yet to see a significant downturn in the region's economy. Community banks appear to be taking up the slack as big banks are stagnant in the market, he says, adding "the economy here is pretty sound, unemployment is below the national average, and with the exception of construction, business seems to be holding up well."

Krafve predicts the Dow will reach 9000 by year end, and 10,000 by next June, when the S&P will hit 1000 and the Nasdaq 2000.

THE BIG MONEY POLL IS produced twice yearly by Barron's, in the spring and fall, with the help of Beta Research in Syosset, N.Y. One hundred money managers from across the nation responded to our latest inquiry. Some are sole proprietors, while others manage billions of dollars for public pension funds, mutual funds and hedge funds. The poll was e-mailed to investors in late March, when the Dow was around 7775, the S&P 500 at 768 and the Nasdaq at 1457.

About 13% of poll participants declare themselves bears these days, down from 17% last fall. Twenty-eight percent profess to be neutral about the market, compared with 33% in the November survey. The bears foresee another mauling this year that could leave the Dow at 7300, the S&P at 756 and the Nasdaq at 1444 by year end. By mid-2010 they predict the DJIA will have recovered to 7596, below current levels, while the S&P will trade at 782 and the Nasdaq at 1476.

The collapse of Lehman Brothers last September scared one pro into putting nearly all his firm's assets into cash. Smart move: Stocks lost almost 40% of their value in the six months that followed. David E. Ware, president of Barrington Capital in North Barrington, Ill., still has 65% of assets under management in cash as he awaits another market downdraft and a more opportune entry point.

"IT'S NOT AS SCARY AS it was last fall, but it's still scary out there," says Steve Ethridge, a principal in San Francisco-based Stewart & Patten, who thinks stocks won't do much for the next year or so. "We're nibbling here and there, but we still feel there might be some hiccups around the corner."

In "normal" times, the firm's asset allocation is split 60/40 between stocks and bonds. Lately it has been 50/50, with short- to medium-term duration on the bond side, lest inflation becomes a headache down the road.

Horacio Valeiras, chief investment officer of Allianz Global Investors Management Partners, based in San Diego, is yet another pro who worries the bear is still prowling around the campground. Valeiras cites a brokerage-firm survey indicating retail investors still want out of stocks and are seeking the safety of Treasuries and even bank deposits, notwithstanding negligible yields. He expects the Dow to end this year at 7700 and rebound only modestly in the first half of 2010.

Financial companies might have ruined the party for investors and wrecked the economy for everyone else, but the Big Money managers expect the shares of banks, brokerages and the like to lead the market in the next six to 12 months as they recover from historic lows. Tech stocks, too, could be hot performers, along with energy shares. To that end, 58% of managers are bullish on the outlook for oil, while a mere 5% are bearish. Poll respondents predict oil prices will top $54 a barrel by year end and $63 by June 2010, up from $50 late last week.

Peter Scholtz, who runs Scholtz & Co. in New York, sees the price of oil rising to $100 a barrel as a worldwide economic recovery spurs inflation and the Federal Reserve attempts in coming months to mop up all the liquidity it has pumped into the system. "They will be walking a tightrope," he says of the Fed. "If they don't get it right, there is going to be a big inflationary problem. We are at a turning point, and I don't think the Fed has the dexterity to handle it."

Scholtz's views are consistent, at least in part, with most other Big Money respondents. Nearly 80% think inflation, not deflation, poses the greater risk in the next three years, a potential consequence of massive government spending.

CONSUMER CYCLICALS COULD exert the biggest drag on the market in the coming year, based on our latest survey. That might not surprise Valeiras, who notes Wall Street research indicating that the public has accumulated more than $2 trillion of debt, an impediment to continued spending on wants as well as needs. Health care and utility stocks also could be laggards, poll participants note, while some think financials may be down for the count.

The managers' favorite stock this spring is no stranger to controversy; it practically defines it. General Electric (GE) has been whipsawed by concerns about the credit quality of its mammoth GE Capital unit, even as the global recession has pinched its industrial arm. The company recently lost its vaunted triple-A credit rating, cut its dividend 68% and fell below 6 a share in March, an 18-year trough, before doubling to 12.

So, what's to like about this wounded giant? David C. Hartzell, founder of Cornell Capital Management in Buffalo, N.Y., praises GE's 3.5% yield (based on its new 10-cent quarterly payout) and its portfolio of valuable industrial assets. He sees the shares doubling again, to 24, in coming months as investors come to realize they have overestimated the company's risks. "Five years from now, people are going to look back and find it hard to believe GE sold for $5 or $6 a share," says Hartzell, who spent five years working for the company.

Ethridge of Stewart & Patten agrees the risks have been largely discounted in GE's current price. Its P/E of 12 is the lowest in a decade, he notes.

GE was a Big Money favorite last fall (ouch!), as were Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) and Wells Fargo (WFC), both top picks again this spring. They're joined by Apple (AAPL), Chesapeake Energy (CHK), Monsanto (MON) and Loews (L), the subject of a favorable Barron's story on Feb. 23 ("A Double Discount at Loews").

As usual, there was greater consensus among the Big Money pros about the market's most overvalued issues, a group that, in their view, includes Amazon.com (AMZN), Google (GOOG), Netflix (NFLX), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Citigroup (C), among others.

WHAT COULD CAUSE STOCKS TO rally sharply in the next six months? First and foremost, the managers look for convincing signs of improved credit conditions, followed by indications of a recovery in the housing market and a stronger economy generally. Conversely, evidence of deepening recessions in the U.S. and abroad, continued credit-market dysfunction and disappointing corporate earnings could lead to another downward spiral.

Collectively, the latest Big Money results suggest much of 2009 is a lost cause for recoveries, financial or economic. About 43% of poll respondents think U.S. gross domestic product won't turn positive until the fourth quarter, while nearly 50% don't expect the recession to end until some time next year. Most think the global economy will lift off in the first half of 2010, or the second, spurred by signs of a rebound in the U.S. The managers predict GDP will slip by a mean 0.17% this year but grow by 2.02% in the first half of '10.

Consistent with this timetable, they expect S&P 500 profits to fall by 9.69% in 2009 but show snappy growth of about 10% in next year's first half. The market's multiple could expand to 14.35 times earnings from this year's 13.7, and inflation could perk up to 2.49% from 1.45%.

President Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus program probably will deserve some of the credit for any turnaround. Yet fewer than 60% of poll participants believe the juiced-up spending will be sufficient to resuscitate the economy and keep it on track. Indeed, 74% forecast the White House will be back with a second stimulus plan.

That doesn't mean the Big Money mavens support Rounds One or Two. Japan had 10 or more stimulus packages over a decade, groused one correspondent, noting "they weren't successful, and I expect the same here."

Another wrote in: "Any stimulus plan can't avert a normal business cycle. However, some elected officials seem to feel otherwise."

The crowd was mixed in its assessment of the government's plan to engage the private sector in getting "bad assets" off the balance sheets of the nation's deeply troubled banks; it was unveiled just as the survey was hitting the Web. Fifty-five percent of money managers think the plan will succeed in freeing up bank capital and spurring lending, but 45% disagree.

THAT THERE IS NO "QUICK FIX" for what ails the markets, the banks and the economy is readily apparent, especially to professional investors. Ninety-nine percent of Big Money managers -- how's that for a consensus? -- see unemployment heading higher; 56% expect the jobless rate, now 8.5%, to peak at 10%.

As for the nation's battered housing market, 34% expect to see signs of recovery in the next six months, though more than half think any improvement could take 12 to 18 months. "Refinancings are going to go up huge[ly]," one poll participant wrote. "But that doesn't clear excess inventory."

More than three-fourths of Big Money managers indicate it will take a year or more for "normalized" conditions to return to the credit markets, though they might not be recognized as such based on the distorted standards of the past five years. "Normalcy might be a strong term, but 'relative visibility' is a viable option," wrote one.

"The shadow banking system won't be back for many years," another manager noted, referring to the elaborate securitization and derivatives market that wagged the tail of the real one, before both keeled over amid waves of credit defaults.

Who gets it, and who doesn't, about the mother of all modern financial crises? That was an easy one for the Big Money pros. Most graded Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's performance on the job an A to a B; President Obama's a B to a C, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's a C to a D, and that of the U.S. Congress -- you guessed it, a scarcely disputed F.

"Obama is a great figurehead for seeming in control and caring," says George Feiger, CEO of Contango Capital Advisers, which manages $1.3 billion. "The Treasury and Fed are late to the party and chop and change too much, especially in light of their limited ability to explain clearly what they are doing and why."

As for Congress, they're "posturing for the masses," he says.

"I would rather trust my money [to] Bernie Madoff than the U.S. Congress," another respondent wrote.

Then there are institutional investors like Scott Schermerhorn, a principal at Granite Investment Advisers in Concord, N.H. Schermerhorn says he doesn't put much faith in the workings of the Fed or the federal government, suggesting instead that the down cycle simply must run its course. Specifically, Schermerhorn worries about federal policies that seem to favor merging banks into ever-larger organizations, essentially concentrating taxpayer risk. "We seem to agree that the financial- supermarket model first embraced by Citigroup doesn't work," he says. "And what do we do but foster more and bigger Citis by rolling sick institutions into healthy ones?"

Given doubts about the market's current rally, Schermerhorn is sticking with well-known brands, such as Harley-Davidson (HOG), with depressed price/earnings ratios. He thinks any recovery will be felt first in the U.S. before it becomes effective overseas. He sees the Dow working its way up to 8400 by year end, and 9072 by the following June.

BASED ON THEIR MEAN ASSET allocations, the Big Money managers have put their clients' funds where their own mouths are. Our respondents are 59% invested in stocks, a historical low, with 22% in bonds and 15% in cash. They expect to lift their equity allocation to 66%-67% within six months and 69% within a year, mostly by cutting their cash position almost in half.

The bear market has had a major impact on the way some pros manage money. Nearly a fourth say it has forced them to adopt new equity-valuation techniques. One investor put it this way: "It is hard to determine the appropriate S&P [price/earnings] multiple, with cloudiness in the economic environment."

Others said they are placing more emphasis on balance-sheet strength and less emphasis on book value, now that so many companies are selling below book.

Although they own bonds, a stunning 84% of Big Money managers indicate they're bearish on U.S. Treasuries, which sport inflated prices and tiny yields. Only 10% give a thumbs-down to corporate bonds.

Maury Fertig, co-founder of Relative Value Partners in Northbrook, Ill., favors neither equities nor bonds, but says he has made good money in well-managed closed-end funds trading at ultra-deep 25% discounts to net asset values. These investments also provide hefty current yields. "The fever is down, but there's not enough evidence to suggest it's entirely broken," he says of the panic that gripped the stock market earlier this year. "That's why we're...underinvested in equities."

SIXTY PERCENT OF MANAGERS surveyed think stocks will be the best-performing asset class in the next six to 12 months. But 23% think commodities will take the prize. That may well reflect their fears about inflation, which in time could lead to higher bond yields and rising prices not only for oil but gold.

While the managers collectively see gold rising to $981 an ounce by June 2010 from $912 now, Richard Steinberg, founder of Steinberg Global Asset Management in Boca Raton, Fla., predicts the price will climb as high as $1,400 in the next 12 months. The Fed's penchant for "printing money" will lead to greater inflation and a loss of confidence in the U.S. dollar, he charges.

Given today's powerful investment cross-currents, it may be best to heed the advice of Gentry Lee, a portfolio manager at Houston-based Fayez Sarofim, which manages $20 billion. Lee doesn't look for outsized gains from stocks; he figures the Dow industrials will trade up to 8500 by year end and 8700 by the middle of 2010, while the S&P 500 will reach 920 and the Nasdaq 1,780. And he favors consumer cyclicals such as Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Altria Group (MO) and Coca-Cola (KO), whose products are always in demand.

But stay focused on the longer term, he says, even though the path to recovery isn't well established. The future will be here before you know it, and based on the views of the Big Managers, it's going to be a lot more fun than the present.

SMARTMONEY ® Layout and look and feel of SmartMoney.com are trademarks of SmartMoney, a joint venture between Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and Hearst SM Partnership. © 1995 - 2009 SmartMoney. All Rights Reserved.

Futures Rise as Traders Snub Chrysler, Flu (Market Update)

News at a Glance

• Ken Canned: Lewis out as BofA chairman, still CEO.
• Full Speed Ahead: Futures set to rise before data.
• Data Due: Jobless claims, income and spending at 8:30 a.m.
• Chrysler Teetering: Lenders snub sweetened Treasury offer.

The Lowdown

Not even a global health calamity could derail traders from sending the market to its second straight day in the black.

Stocks looked set to open sharply higher Thursday as traders shrugged off the threat of a pandemic and a deepening crisis at Chrysler and looked ahead to the latest round of economic reports.

The World Health Organization upgraded the threat level from four to five, and Mexico City called on its citizens to shut down all non-essential businesses in an effort to curb the spread of the swine flu pandemic.

At home, the auto sector continued to flail. Chrysler inched closer toward filing for bankruptcy protection of the firm and the Treasury failed to lure holders of about 30% of the firm's debt into sticking it out with a sweeter deal.

In finance, new leadership at Bank of America (BAC) lifted shares in premarket trading. Shareholders voted to replace Ken Lewis as chairman, though he will remain on board as President and Chief Executive for the time being.

World markets rallied. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei climbed 3.9%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng picked up 3.8%. In Europe, the major indexes of London, Paris and Frankfurt each stood up more than 1.5% in midday trading.

On the Nymex, oil prices rose with the broader market. By 6:05 a.m., crude traded up 68 cents at $51.65 a barrel.

Corporate News

• Bank of America (BAC) has a new chairman. Shareholders ousted President and Chief Executive Ken Lewis from his third role, voting to replace him with board member Walter E. Massey, president emeritus of Morehouse College.
• Ericsson (ERIC) reported a 35% drop in first-quarter net income as a decline in the demand for handsets weighed on the firm's subsidiaries Sony Ericsson and ST-Ericsson. "Extensive programs to reduce costs are ongoing to adjust to the current market environment and restore profitability," said President and CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg.
• Starbucks (SBUX) posted a 77% decline in second-quarter net income, however the coffee chain still topped Street estimates by a penny a share. The firm exceeded its goal of $100 million in cost savings by an additional $20 million.
• UBS (UBS) showed 2,000 employees the exit last month, as the firm sought to tamp down on costs, Reuters reported, citing a company spokesperson. UBS is scheduled to release its earnings on May 5.

The Economy

• The weekly jobless claims report for last week is scheduled to be released at 8:30 a.m. by the Labor Department. In the prior week, claims came in at 640,000. Economists predict the number people seeking unemployment benefits for the first time will have risen slightly to 645,000.
• The March report on personal income and spending is scheduled to be released at 8:30 a.m. by the Commerce Department. Economists expect income to have dipped 0.2% last month after a comparable decline in February. They predict spending will have slipped 0.1% in March, retreating after a 0.2% rise in February.
• The April reading of the Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index for regional business activity is scheduled to be released at 9:45 a.m. by the Chicago branch of the National Association of Purchasing Management. The Chicago PMI stood at a reading of 31.4 in March. Economists predict the index will have risen to an April reading of 34.0. A reading below 50 indicates activity is contracting.

SMARTMONEY ® Layout and look and feel of SmartMoney.com are trademarks of SmartMoney, a joint venture between Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and Hearst SM Partnership. © 1995 - 2009 SmartMoney. All Rights Reserved.

BofA's Lewis ousted as board chairman, stays as CEO

Homeowners advised not to rush to fix rates

Pike River making 'good progress' on repairs

'Suspend super fund contributions' - English

Congress approves $3,400bn budget

Japan's industrial output rises for first time in six months

CI Munro set to axe 67 jobs

Obama says he's fighting for economy

Chrysler still at risk of bankruptcy as deadline looms

Starbucks profits fall 77pc as recession hits luxury buys

Obama sets stage for long-term reforms

Women in Business Are Risk Takers

We’ve heard it a million times - that women in business face the ultimate challenge of [by nature] not taking enough risks. Well, turns out that’s not so ture, at least not about women in business.

According to a survey by Boston’s prestigious Simmons School of Management, women business leaders don’t shy from taking risks, but rather take advantage of risky opportunities on a regular basis.

Existing empirical research on gender and risk suggest women are risk-averse, particularly assessments that measure risk through financial resource allocation, and health and safety precautions. But a survey of more than 650 women managers polled during the 2008 Simmons School of Management national leadership conference in Boston revealed that businesswomen are highly likely to take risks related to business or professional opportunities.

The survey looked beyond the traditional definition of risk-taking in terms of financial allocation scenarios to include business and professional opportunities taken. And the results prove that women take a lot of risks.

“When you actually unpack the research, the finding that women avoid risk is based on very specific contexts and a limited concept of risk-taking actions,” said article co-author Sylvia Maxfield, a professor at the School of Management. “By including contexts in which significant investments of time and money are placed in projects which require learning-by-doing, and where the likelihood of success is very hard to predict, we found women engaged in a lot of risk-taking actions.”

Change is a big risk, and it turns out women aren’t afraid to tackle it.

• 80% reported pursuing a major change initiative “sometimes” or “often”
• 79% reported pursuing a new program
• 77% reported pursuing a new job
• 56% reported pursuing a major business development opportunity

While the survey proves women’s risk taking nature, society still perceives women as risk-averse. Therefore, the study authors recommend that women highlight their risk-taking in order to enhance their career potential.

For the complete article, “Risky Business: Busting the Myth of Women as Risk Averse,” go to www.simmons.edu/som/cgo

Image Credit: ellievanhoutte, Flickr

Mass. regulators probing State Street

Chrysler teeters on brink of bankruptcy

Ken Lewis out as BofA chairman

Fed says US recession appears to be easing

Lewis loses role as BofA chairman

Write-Offs: 04.29.09

$$$ Dr. Doom's tips for entertaining: "Fun people and beautiful girls," Roubini said, grinning. "I look for ten girls to one guy." His friend Bill Clinton, he added, is a fan of this ratio.

$$$ Fortress to Take Over Zwirn Hedge Fund Liquidation [WSJ]

$$$ Bernard Madoff Celebrates Birthday In Jail and Disgrace [ABC]

RDQ's Ryding Is `Bearish' on Long-Term Treasury Yields

Angry shareholders oust Kenneth Lewis from BoA chair over Merrill losses

Presented By:

Ken Lewis Out As Chairman Of Bank Of America

CHARLOTTE April 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of America Corporation today announced the results of management and shareholder proposals at the company's 2009 annual meeting.

All 18 directors were elected to the board by comfortable margins. In addition, management proposals regarding executive compensation and the retention of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC as the company's independent accounting firm were approved.

Seven shareholder proposals were not approved. An eighth shareholder proposal to change the company's by-laws to require an independent chairman was narrowly approved. (For results see the table below).

At a meeting of the Board of Directors today, after a recommendation from the Governance Committee, Dr. Walter E. Massey was elected chairman. Kenneth D. Lewis will be president and chief executive officer. The board unanimously expressed its support for Lewis to continue in that role.

Who Are The Most Beautiful People On Wall Street?

Having discussed his looks at length on several occasions, we've been aware of the fact that a decent amount of the Dealbreaker audience regards Tim Geithner as a hot piece of man meat for quite some time. And it turns out you're in good company. The Treasury Secretary, seen here bending over for the camera, has been named one of the world's 100 most beautiful, according to People. Which, at a time when he could use all the ego stroking he can get, has got to feel pretty nice. And you know who else could use some stroking right about now? Every single financial services hack, even the ones doing pretty okay for themselves. Which brings us to this-- who are the thirty most beautiful people up in this wasteland of an industry? (For continuity sake we were going to go with a 100 but...you know.) Nominate your picks now, and we'll announce the coveted few next week. The known porn stars among us are a given, but who else? Thain? Ackman? Mark Haines? Feel free, nay encouraged, to make selections based on both inner beauty and raw sex appeal (I know I don't even have to say who I mean. Like a cat in heat this Stamfordian makes us).

The Dow Jones industrials' moves since Lehman fall (AP)

Energy Sec. announces $193M for energy research (AP)

AP - The primary U.S. lab for renewable energy will receive $110 million in federal stimulus funds and another $83 million will go toward wind energy and other alternative power and efficiency projects, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Wednesday.

Energy Sec. announces $193M for energy research (AP)

AP - The primary U.S. lab for renewable energy will receive $110 million in federal stimulus funds and another $83 million will go toward wind energy and other alternative power and efficiency projects, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Wednesday.

Starbucks net profit plunges 77%

Hear: Nassim Taleb Checks In

Sending a message in Chicago. Patrick Hogan/Planet Money Facebook group

 

On today's Planet Money:

-- This week Nassim Taleb, the economist who lives by the Black Swan Theory, joined Ian Bremmer of Eurasia Group and The Fat Tail in our studios. Taleb's message to the world goes like this: Never mind math to manage risk. End the bond industry. And render Wall Street as we know it illegal.

-- Noel Paterson got laid off from the Microsoft games division in January. And then, miracle of miracles, Paterson got another gig, one he likes even better -- despite the small cut in pay.

Bonus: The card Paterson's kid made him, plus your ideas for naming the new Oliver Stone movie about Wall Street.

Download the podcast; or subscribe. Intro music: The New Pornographers's "The Laws Have Changed." Find us: Twitter/ Facebook/ Flickr

Noel Paterson's kid Kallen gave him this card during his layoff. Inside it reads, "Dad, I hope you get an awesome job. P.S. Please take me out golfing soon." Paterson writes, "This is what keeps me going."

"Work hard Dad!"Noel Paterson

 

Today on Twitter, we asked for your suggestions for the Wall Street sequel. Blue ribbons entries that are probably not coming to a marquee near you:

@RogerandDave: Yellow Submarine
@not_yet: The Incredible Shrinking GDP
@valueinvestr: Wrath of Roubini
@not_yet Wall-Eek, or Driving Miss Daisy to the Poorhouse
@thadkew Portfolio: the Embiggening
@sietecuerdas Attack of the Flesh-Eating Pigs, or Fall Street, or On Golden Ponz.
shanezilla: Bawl Street
@lukenapoli: Epic Fail Street

And winning my personal prize for greatest amount of content with least chance of winning: @saalon Wall Street 2: A Technical Explanation of Margin Debt's Decreased Role in Today's Stock Market

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Slowly Back Away From The Printing Machine And Put Your Hands Up

Paul Volcker sees the bottom. Right in front of his nose. And let us tell you something: As head of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board and a fact finding body on the United States Tax Code, Das Volk knows wherefrom he speaks- when the man says "stop the presses," he means "stop the bloody presses"

The Federal Reserve is going beyond the traditional role of central banks here or abroad," Volcker said. "At some point it's reasonable to ask should this particular institution, with its independence very well protected, be allocating so much of what is essentially government money.

This would seem to suggest that rumor to the effect that Volcker had been "mushroomed" are false (or that he escaped his minders and is presently on a dangerous public speaking rampage, just one step ahead of the law.

Volcker Says the U.S. Economy Is 'Leveling Off' [Bloomberg]

Banks cut back on overseas lending

Ken Lewis' Fate "Too Close To Call"

The key issue: Splitting the Chairman and CEO role (effectively stripping Lewis of the Chairman title) has moved from "still being tabulated" to "deadlocked" as the proxy vote is carefully counted behind closed doors.

The situation is, of course, fluid.

Chrysler: Endgame

Apparently, victory in the Chrysler battle will be announced presently:

President Barack Obama plans to announce tomorrow morning that Chrysler LLC will be placed into Chapter 11 bankruptcy leading to an alliance with Italian automaker Fiat SpA, people involved in the matter said.

Administration officials are still trying to resolve outstanding issues, and the plan is not finished yet, said one of the people, who declined to be named. If there's a bankruptcy filing, it could come as soon as tomorrow, the people said.

We will keep you up to date as we are.

Obama Said to Ready Plan For Chrysler Bankruptcy, Fiat Alliance [Bloomberg]

How the major stock indexes fared Wednesday (AP)

ETF Watch: What Happened In iShares MSCI Taiwan Index? (EWT, TWN, TFC, FXI)

How've you spent the past 100 days?

Did Prison Mellow Gordon Gekko?

So much so that he began practicing yoga regularly, cut out red meat and made up with his sworn enemies who he previously vowed to skull fuck, after ripping said enemy's eyeballs out do battle with? If the filmmakers are intent on referencing Dan Loeb's character arc with any sort of accuracy, the answer is maybe! Apparently back when the Wall Street sequel was first being discussed (circa 2007), Michael Douglas and then-writer Stephen Schiff took some lunch meetings with the Third Point founder who, it has been suggested, once exhibited similar qualities to the Gekko. Granted, the consultation took place a while ago at this point, but that doesn't mean Mikey wasn't sufficiently inspired. We'll be looking out for references to the Jewish Rambo when this thing finally comes out.

Earlier: Casting The Wall Street Sequel

Finding a future in recycled electronics

Bruton Says 60% of Foreign Investment in U.S. Comes From Europe

Fed Sees Signs Of Stabilization

The Fed's Open Market Committee wrapped up a two-day meeting in Washington today without changing the federal funds rate or increasing its purchases of Treasuries and mortgage securities. In a statement released this afternoon, the committee said the contraction of the economy appears to be slowing.

Household spending has shown signs of stabilizing but remains constrained by ongoing job losses, lower housing wealth, and tight credit. Weak sales prospects and difficulties in obtaining credit have led businesses to cut back on inventories, fixed investment, and staffing. Although the economic outlook has improved modestly since the March meeting, partly reflecting some easing of financial market conditions, economic activity is likely to remain weak for a time. Nonetheless, the Committee continues to anticipate that policy actions to stabilize financial markets and institutions, fiscal and monetary stimulus, and market forces will contribute to a gradual resumption of sustainable economic growth in a context of price stability.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Poole Sees Recession Ending, U.S. Economy Growing End of Year

Oil rises on hopes recession easing (Reuters)

Reuters - Oil prices climbed toward $51 per barrel on Wednesday as optimism that the U.S. recession was easing boosted markets and raised expectations of a rebound in energy demand from the world's largest consumer.

Hedge fund managers warn on EU plans

25 Men Behind the Financial Crisis

The current financial crisis has an Achilles Heel: Who can we blame? No single person orchestrated, coordinated, and managed the financial disaster. Unless you believe the devil or the Illuminati were behind it, the financial disaster remains more of a systemic problem than one of twisted minds.

But there are key players involved. They are men of government, business, and, thanks to the revolving door, both at once. When they slip up, permanent damage results.

For the purposes of this list, financial crisis refers to the current crisis, characterized by subprime mortgage defaults, widespread bank failures, an unprecedented government bailout program, and a basic lack of trust in the economy. A man behind the crisis is someone in a position of power during the crisis who helped form, perpetuate, or aggravate it.

We listed 25 men behind the financial crisis below:

25. Christopher Cox

Former SEC Chairman Cox left a mixed legacy. On the one hand, Cox, who served until early 2009, increased transparency, enforcement, and investor communications in the financial industry. On the other hand, he missed red flags about Bernie Madoff. He didn’t see the severity of the Wall Street mess until it was too late. Cox generally has a good reputation, but he didn’t speak up soon enough, which allots him a space on this list.

24. Adam Applegarth

Photo by Northern Rock

Applegarth ran Britain’s Northern Rock between 2001-2007. After the bank, one of the largest mortgage providers in the country, was bailed out by the Bank of England, Applegarth ran the other direction—with $1.15 million in hand. He now holds the dubious honor of heading the first bank in Britain that customers ever ran on.

23. Bernie Madoff

Madoff wasn’t directly involved in the corporate and regulatory mess that led up to the crisis, nor is he perpetuating it. But his $65 billion Ponzi scheme played an important role in aggravating a sense of cultural distrust in the financial sector.

Part of the economy’s woes come from a communal unwillingness to put money back into a deceitful economy. Madoff symbolizes this sense of reluctance, a reminder that trusting “experts” with your money is a bad idea.

22. Raymond MacDaniel

MacDaniel is the CEO of Moody’s Investor Services, one of the world’s biggest ratings companies. His company (along with Fitch and Standard & Poor’s) offered AAA ratings to subprime-backed securities during the housing bubble, which could be seen as an oversight.

But MacDaniels not only acknowledges that his agency has to manage an inherent conflict of interest–it is paid by some of the investment banks it rates–but blames Moody’s faulty ratings on bad information. His response to a Financial Times article uncovering a ratings model error was equally baffling. Moody’s paid him a $350,000 bonus this year for his troubles.

MacDaniel’s lax enforcement of the research and independent questioning his ratings agency should have done during the crisis, combined with his current defensive stance, makes him a man behind the crisis.

21. Chris Dodd

Senator Chris Dodd, chair of the Senate Banking Committee, is notoriously in cahoots with banks, which in part explains why Wall Street, not Main Street, gets the benefit of the bailout. In 2003, Countrywide Financial granted Dodd below-market mortgage rates on two of his homes as a result of his membership in the “Friends of Angelo” program. In 2008, Dodd proposed a bailout bill that included helping Countrywide. Coincidence? Hardly.

Dodd ranks first among senators for insurance industry contributions, including more than $20,000 from Countrywide (and those reduced rates) and nearly $134,000 from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Dodd refused to admit Fannie and Freddie were in trouble until late last year. Another notorious Dodd scandal (this article explains http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/03/17/dodd/ how Dodd may have actually been a pawn in this. Don’t worry, conservatives, it was Geithner and Summers who played him) concerns his flip-flopping over having retroactively added an executive pay limit onto the stimulus bill.

Sen. Dodd recently released his Countrywide financial statements after months of pressure—but did not allow the media or the public to see them.

20. Richard S. Fuld, Jr.

Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy spurred panic in the fall of 2008. Fuld, the 14-year chairman and CEO of Lehman, helped foster the bank’s collapse by refusing to sell it when he had the chance. Despite the ego blow, Fuld made off with almost $75 million in the two years leading up to the crisis (2006 and 2007), allotting him the dubious honor of winning the 2008 Financial Times’ Overpaid CEO Award of 2008.

19. Bill Clinton

The Glass-Steagall Act, had it been left intact, could have greatly reduced the severity of the current crisis. But the Clinton administration helped repeal the act, dealing a fatal blow to the economy. The clincher? Clinton doesn’t even regret it. “In the case of the current crisis,” he is quoted as saying in a meeting prior to this year’s Global Initiative Conference, “I believe the bill I signed allowed Bank of America to take over Merrill Lynch.” That’s some twisted logic.

18. Chuck Schumer

Schumer, like Chris Dodd, receives handsome contributions from financial institutions. He opposed regulating Fannie and Freddie in the years leading up to the crisis, but his real claim to fame was triggering the IndyMac bank run in June 2008. Schumer wrote in a letter to a regulator that he was “concerned that IndyMac’s financial deterioration poses significant risks to both taxpayers and borrowers and that the regulatory community may not be prepared to take measures that would help prevent the collapse of IndyMac.”

Shortly after Schumer’s remarks, depositors ran on the bank, withdrawing $1.3 billion in 11 days. Some critics say it led to the bank’s downfall; the truth is that it may have only accelerated it. Regardless, the statement caused a panic—and one of the more memorable events of the financial crisis.

17. William Donaldson

Facing regulatory pressure from the EU, George W. Bush’s SEC Chief of Staff, William Donaldson, released banks from lending restrictions in 2004. In exchange, his team would be able to regulate them as bank holding companies.
Once the EU was appeased, Donaldson and his successor, Christopher Cox, slackened their regulatory power almost to the point of ignoring the banks entirely. According to Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi, during the last year and a half Cox was in charge, the SEC commission in charge of supervising the five major banks did no inspections—nor did it have a director.

BusinessWeek reports that Donaldson said “regulators had put in place formulas to properly monitor investment banks’ leverage.” Formulas aren’t of much use, though, if you don’t actually apply them to anything.

16. James Cayne

Bear Stearns wasn’t solely responsible for the financial crisis. Indeed, former CEO James Cayne acted like he didn’t see it coming. But it was the first big financial firm to fail, leading to a gut-wrenching domino effect. After Bear fell, confidence in the industry plummeted. JP Morgan Chase bought Bear with a government loan in March 2008. The rest is history.

15. Ronald Reagan

Reagan oversaw the deregulation of the savings and loan industry. S&Ls traditionally used peoples’ savings to fund mortgages. The 1980 DIDMCA (Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act) enabled them to offer transaction accounts, consumer loans, and commercial loans. S&Ls started issuing credit cards and using up to 20% of their assets, as permitted by the new law, for consumer and commercial real estate loans.

A real estate boom and high interest rates encouraged S&Ls to pour money into risky financial ventures, including big real estate transactions, linked financing, and junk bonds. In 1986, the S&L industry collapsed, ironically resulting in more regulations.

Although the Reagan administration handled the S&L crisis well, the Teflon President seeded the risk-taking, Master of the Universe mentality that spawned the current crisis. Reagan turned deregulation into a dogma strong enough to blind businesspeoples’ ethics. This cultural legacy remains a pivotal factors behind today’s crisis.

14. Robert Rubin

As Clinton’s Secretary of the Treasury, Rubin successfully opposed the regulation of derivatives. He also supported the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act. But his most famous stint is as an adviser to Citigroup, where he served as a director until this year.

Rubin encouraged the bank’s executives to increase trading in mortgage-backed securities and other exotic instruments, according to the New York Times. He also supported Citigroup’s “unwieldy financial supermarket model” during his tenure, says the Times. These stances, combined with a lack of internal oversight, contributed to Citi’s overexpansion and overexposure to risk. When the crisis hit, bloated Citi was slammed, leading to what amounted to a government takeover of the bank.

Rubin stepped down earlier this year amidst criticism from investors. Citi paid him $126 million over the past ten years.

13. Barack Obama

In order to handle the financial crisis effectively, Barack Obama surrounded himself with people who have inside knowledge of the financial industry. The problem is that these people are also insiders. Stepping through the revolving door gave them a strategic advantage in helping out their industry. The result is that the economics branch of the government (run by Wall Street insiders) continues to bail out Wall Street.

Obama has the power to make the bailout process transparent, or have it changed entirely. He can appoint hearings, investigate the true scope of the country’s financial losses, and tell people the truth. But he chooses to sit back while the old guard—the people whose behavior caused the crisis—follows its own frenetic agenda.

If Obama wants to change the country, he needs to start from the inside of his own administration.

12. Tim Geithner

The man didn’t pay his taxes, was mentored by former Goldman Sachs CEO Robert Rubin (who helped block regulation of CDSs before the crisis), and continues on the bumbling, opaque vein that Hank Paulson initiated–yet nobody is asking for his head.

It’s business as usual for Geithner, who wants $2 trillion in taxpayer money to bail out fully capitalized and solvent banks. William K. Black, interviewed by Bill Moyers, points out the inconsistency: “Both statements can’t be true. It can’t be that (banks) need $2 trillion, because they have mass(ive) losses, and that they’re fine.” He also questions the logic behind sending $5 billion in taxpayer money to the Swiss bank UBS, then charging them $780 million in criminal fines. In essence, the government quietly bailed the same Swiss bank that was defrauding it by hoarding taxable income.

Black describes out two more Geithner missteps:

1. Geithner used to be the president of the New York Fed, which is supposed to regulate most of the country’s biggest bank holding companies. Yet Geithner has testified that he has “never been a regulator.”

2. There’s a Savings and Loan crisis-era law called the Prompt Corrective Action Law. This law mandates that when banks are insolvent and failing, regulators or the bank “must promptly correct the capital inadequacy.” If a bank does not promptly recapitalize, the law says that regulators must force it into receivership (further explanation is here).

Black claims that:

TARP II is designed to provide a federal subsidy to insolvent and failing banks. (It) violates the express purpose of the PCA law to resolve bank problems at the lowest cost to the FDIC and the taxpayers. Providing taxpayer “capital insurance” subsidies to insolvent or troubled banks increases the taxpayers’ costs.

So Geithner’s plan is not only wasteful—the government shouldn’t be paying off banks’ debts–but illegal.

11. Chuck Prince III

Businessweek reports that Citigroup, the second largest bank in the world, was “the biggest player in the roughly $400 billion SIV market (mostly CDOs).” Despite his company’s heavy investment in CDOs, Prince didn’t require his company to quantify its risk exposure. That means that Citi had no idea how risky its CDO investments were until they all collapsed.

When disaster struck, it hit Citigroup especially hard. The bank lost more than $20 billion in 2008. It cut 75,000 jobs. And the government gave it $54 billion in TARP funds, then guaranteed $306 billion in bad assets. Citi remains a mess for the government, taxpayers, and the financial industry.

10. Daniel Mudd

Franklin Raines’ successor as Fannie’s CEO, Daniel Mudd, tripled the entity’s purchase of potential subprime mortgages (those where buyers need to put down 10% or less) between 2005-2007, according to BusinessWeek. Mudd was under congressional and Wall Street pressure to boost Fannie’s position in capital markets. That meant extending more loans to low-income buyers, especially in overdeveloped markets like California.

When Mudd was forced to step down by the government conservatorship movement last September, Fannie had piles of Alt-A and subprime mortgages in its coffers. Mudd lost his severance, but earned more than $10 million during his tenure.

9. Larry Summers

Obama economic advisor Larry Summers has a history of shooting down regulation, taking money from financial firms, and bailing out companies with government funds.

When he worked in the Clinton administration, Summers, according to the American Prospect, advocated bailouts, lack of regulation, and asset bubbles. One notable example of his policies occurred when regulator Brooksley Born, then-head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) pushed a piece of derivatives regulation in the late 1990s. Summers was part of a trio that passed a law prohibiting the very kind of regulation Born was proposing. This particular type of CDS ended up bringing AIG to its knees.

Before gaining his current political appointment, Summers was informally lobbied by financial firms to the tune of $2.7 million, including $135,000 for a one-day speaking engagement at Goldman Sachs. That amounts to roughly $16,000 an hour. According to former regulator Bill Black (as interviewed by Bill Moyers), Summers’ engagement was the bank’s way of informally lobbying him before he gained his post in the new Obama administration. Summers also accepted perks like free rides on the Citigroup corporate jet.

In exchange, he continues to advocate on behalf of financial firms. The Wall Street Journal claims that Summers asked Chris Dodd to remove executive pay caps for Citigroup and other bailout recipients. He also helped bail out the very companies that paid him in advance.

8. Franklin Raines

(Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Raines was Fannie Mae’s CEO and chairman from 1998 to 2005. Raines started a program in 1999 aimed at issuing Fannie loans to low-income individuals. The idea was to increase the number of low-income and minority homeowners (people with a lower probability of paying their loans back). He also loosened the credit requirements for the bank loans that Fannie purchased. Those actions, combined with Raines’ famous book-cooking, resulted in short-term gains for Fannie and Raines, but ended in disaster.

In 2004, Raines stepped down after an SEC investigation found “accounting irregularities” including shunting losses to C-level execs so that they could earn bigger bonuses. Officials later discovered that Raines had overstated as much as $6.3 billion in earnings.

7. C.K. Lee and the Office of Thrift Supervision

The Office of Thrift Supervision—not the Fed or the SEC—was charged with regulating AIG, including its European operations, since 1999. The OTS, a small, relaxed operation that, through a legal loophole, regulated some corporate giants, only had one insurance specialist on its staff when it was regulating AIG, according to Rolling Stone. C.K. Lee, the regulator in charge of keeping AIG in check, later stated that because AIG said its CDSs were harmless, he believed them. Some regulation.

6. Angelo Mozilo

Remember how, in the not-too-distant past, mortgage brokers would try to convince you to take on ARMs, interest-only loans, anything but a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage? That kind of behavior had higher commissions, courtesy of Mozilo’s Countrywide, at its roots.

After co-founding Countrywide Financial, Mozilo built it into the biggest mortgage lender in the country. Countrywide investors enjoyed 23,000% returns between 1982-2002.

Mozilo himself made $479 million between 2001-6. He manipulated Countrywide’s stock price through private sales and buybacks, and spearheaded a “Friends of Angelo” program that offered Mozilo’s buddies, including a number of politicians, special treatment when it came to mortgages. Favors included below-market interest rates and reductions in mortgage payments.

Mozilo sold the company to Bank of America in October of 2008 at a fraction of its former stock price.
Mozilo may be out of the limelight, but his legacy continues. Old Countrywide execs like Stanford Kurland are now once again profiting off mortgages, albeit in a changed market.

5. George W. Bush

The Bush administration didn’t meddle in the building regulatory and investment bank mess that catapulted the crisis. That, it turns out, was one of its biggest mistakes. That’s nearly a decade of no oversight. Add the $3 trillion sunk into the Iraq War, and you have a national budget disaster, courtesy of GW.

Rating agencies ignored loan files until after the collapse. Federal investigators ignored signs of fraud dating back as early as 2004. According to William K. Black, 500 white-collar FBI specialists were reassigned to research national terrorist issues. Years later, the Bush administration didn’t replace those 500 agents, who would have been able to research the banking meltdown before it hit. That’s one reason for the suddenness and severity of the crisis.

4. Phil Gramm

Senators Phil Gramm and Jim Leach sponsored the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, a Depression-era bill that prevented commercial banks from acting as investment banks. The bill also stopped banks from entering the insurance business.

Gramm’s repeal of Glass-Steagall helped spawn bloated financial conglomerates like AIG and Citigroup. The investment-cum-commercial practice of writing loans, then selling them off became standard procedure.
A year later, Gramm wrote a law that prevented CDSs from being regulated as securities or gambling.
Today, Gramm says that rather than loosening up regulations on bank holding companies, Glass-Steagall ‘was the first step towards making the Federal Reserve a “super-regulator.”’

Which is worse? You choose.

3. Alan Greenspan

Alan Greenspan was an ardent free-market proponent. That’s not a bad thing in itself, but Greenspan chose to ignore several powerful signs that housing was a bubble and the free market actually needed to be reigned in. By refusing to heed warnings (an attentive Greenspan might have required bigger down payments, stricter underwriting, or mortgage insurance) Greenspan let the crisis foment.

2. Hank Paulson

Former Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson is the poster child for what happens when conflicts of interest go awry. Paulson was CEO of Goldman Sachs from 1998-2006. Next, he revolved into a new position as Secretary of the Treasury, which came with a $200 million tax deferral. Once there, he simply kept acting like the CEO of Goldman Sachs.

Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi points out that Goldman Sachs was AIG’s biggest credit default swap customer, holding $20 billion worth of the crappy assets. If AIG went down, Goldman might go with it. Paulson couldn’t allow that to happen, which might explain why he hired ex-Goldman board member Edward Liddy to head AIG, and former Goldman VP Neel Kashkari to administer the government’s TARP program. The aggregate result of Paulson’s mess is billions in unaccounted-for bailout funds, government contracts for more of his Goldman friends, and a legacy as the wrong man for the job.

1. Joe Cassano

AIG Financial Products’ Joseph Cassano didn’t invent CDSs, but he did transform them into a worldwide phenomenon. He guaranteed buyers that AIG would compensate them if the credit obligations went belly-up. He did not, however, require that buyers show any money upfront when they bought the CDSs. As a result, AIG sold about $500 billion in guarantees, but couldn’t cover them with any assets.

He also specialized in the “naked” credit default swap, in which neither buyer or seller actually have access to the loan. Rolling Stone’s Taibbi explains it:

Unlike traditional insurance, Cassano was offering investors an opportunity to bet that someone else’s house would burn down, or take out a term life policy on the guy with AIDS down the street. It was no different from gambling, the Wall Street version of a bunch of frat brothers betting on Jay Feely to make a field goal. Cassano was taking book for every bank that bet short on the housing market, but he didn’t have the cash to pay off if the kick went wide.

AIG bet that the housing bubble would never burst. But it did, resulting in the shell of a company that government vultures are still picking at today. It also ended Cassano’s glory days—after an estimated $280 million in compensation over the last seven years.

The effects of Chrysler cutting dealers

What's changed since Truman's trip?

Obama hedges his bets on optimism

Swine flu infects the global economy

Pork producers fight against swine flu

Glimmers of hope with GDP contraction

More Than Five

The Treasury Department just sent out this note:

The Treasury Department today announced the receipt of more than 100 unique applications from potential fund managers interested in participating in the Legacy Securities portion of the Public Private Investment Program (PPIP).

These fund managers are the private in the "public-private investment program" to buy up toxic assets. And Treasury has said it wants to partner with just 5 managers. 100 is greater than 5. So it looks like there are some investors willing to participate.

Now will the banks be willing to sell?

From today's NYT:

Officials from Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, PNC Financial and a number of other big lenders that have received multibillion-dollar government bailouts are reluctant to participate or have refused so far to commit until more details are offered. Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase's chief executive, has said he believes that the Public-Private Investment Program -- which depends on loans from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation -- could be "good for the system" but that his bank has no intention of being either a seller or buyer. "We're certainly not going to borrow from the federal government, because we've learned our lesson about that," he said earlier this month in a conference about earnings.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Invest In Socks

A new investing strategy in Germany. Aaron Hurd

 

Aaron sends this picture from a recent trip to Augsburg, Germany. The text says: "Financial Crisis! My tip: Invest immediately in Socks."

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Rising bond yields present fresh Fed challenge

Report: Big Banks Need Capital

From Bloomberg, "Fed Is Said to Seek Capital for at Least Six Banks." The report cites sources who've been "briefed on the matter."

This comes as the Treasury's stress test results are approaching their due date next week. Bloomberg reports that the extra capital could come converting the preferred stock the U.S. already owns in banks into common shares. It's a strategy that economist Simon Johnson told us amounts to an accounting trick, since it doesn't actually create more money.

Converting preferred shares to common ones does shift the government's position, though, from that of a lender to that of an owner, and in some cases a majority owner. Common shares come with voting rights, for one thing. Also, the owners of common shares wait much further down the line of folks to be paid if the company (or bank) goes kaput.

With Congress signaling that it's unlikely to fork over more millions for bank bailouts, troubled banks may have no choice but to seek new private investors and/or convert the government's shares. Once the government's in the position of common stockholder, one question will be whether it could afford to let a bank fail -- since the taxpayer would be at the same risk of losing money as any common stockholder in any bank.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Trone Says Bank of America's Lewis Is `Easy Target'

What Will Your Baby Look Like? VW Has the Answer.

Perez + Paris Hilton’s child

VW’s new ad campaign for the Routan minivan features an online baby maker generator. To use it, you upload a two pictures, then let the babymaker combine them into a cute (or not-so-cute–see above) digital tot who smiles at you from the back of a Routan.

If you ever wanted to know what a digital viral ad thinks your baby will look like, VW’s babymaker gives you the chance. The 3-D rendering has eyes that follow your mouse arrow, giving it eerily lifelike qualities.

It doesn’t make me want to buy a Routan, or produce offspring, but VW deserves props for creating another good viral marketing campaign.

U.S. lawmaker sees credit card law in May (Reuters)

Sinche Sees Businesses Adjusting `Very Quickly' to Economy

Gibbs Aquada Car Coming to US in 2010

Fox News (via XM) claims the Gibbs Aquada car, an amphobious car that turns into a boat, is coming to the US in 2010.* The Aquada acts like a normal–if Miami Vice-like–convertible until you drive it to the edge of the water. At that point, you push a button, drive into the water, press the gas, and, in 12 seconds, have a boat capable of going more than 30 mph, according to the Gibbs website.

I haven’t found information on how much the Aquada will cost. People are claiming $85,000-$100,000 online. I bet the super-rich and boat fanatics will pay whatever premium Gibbs puts forth–the vehicle’s James Bond-like qualities make it a sure winner during lake vacations.

Popular Mechanics issues a brief warning:

Even if Aquada is water skier-friendly, you’ll probably need a boat license. That’s what got the prototype model pulled over by an Oakland County sheriff after Gibbs did five demo runs here on Pine Lake in southern Michigan—thus legally ending our shot at a water test drive. Other than that, though, the company says this boatmobile is unsinkable, even if it’s swamped in.

http://www.eurekamagazine.co.uk/article/17937/Innovatory-challenges-to-get-out-of-the-recession.aspx
In March 2004, Branson made the fastest crossing of the English Channel in an amphibious vehicle, a Gibbs Aquada, in 1h 40m 6s. The previous record was six hours.

*I’m in the process of independently confirming this claim. I’ll update this post if/when I get in touch with Gibbs.

Moran Sees U.S. Economy Growing 2% in Second Half of 2009

Levitt Sees `Toothless SEC' Turned Over to Fed or Treasury

Herrmann Sees Consumers Attempting to Resume Normal Lifestyle

Clifton Says U.S. Stimulus Plan Is Obama's Biggest Victory

Still Headhunting?

Dan Hertz knows a lot about auditory neuroscience. Not so much about quantitative finance. But this email recently showed up in his in-box.

Hi Daniel,

I run the quant and development recruitment team at my firm, which I've been with for about 8 years. I'm working on a role for a quant research high frequency team at a major hedge fund client of mine.

My clients are the top funds and IB's in the world; it's my job to keep my finger on the pulse of the market and offer people like you an opportunity to progress within a healthy organization.

Would you be open to speaking with me about some of the opportunities I'm working on? I very much look forward to hearing from you!

Tim

Dan's a post-doc at the University of Maryland and says he doesn't want to go to Wall Street right now, but decided to check it out.

I called up the guy who sent it to me to make sure it was for real, and it very much was. He found my information by looking up people at Cornell (where I was a graduate student) who worked on data-intensive statistical analyses in physics and math. He said that while a lot of companies are struggling, some companies doing high frequency trading and other types of approaches are doing very well at the moment.

Some of Dan's friends had a different take on the email though.

One was that they might be firing older, more expensive employees and looking to hire younger, cheaper staff.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Wardell Sees Oil Close to $45 a Barrel for 2009

GDP Down: Consumers Save Day

The American economy is still shrinking, and uncomfortably fast. U.S. GDP fell at an annualized rate of 6.1 percent in the first quarter, only a little better than the 6.3 percent decline from the quarter before and about a point more than most economists expected. Why the surprisingly bad number?

Companies pulled back from investing in equipment, buildings and software -- at an annualized pace of 37.9 percent. Exports fell 30 percent, the most since the 1970s.

The good news? Ordinary people spent money. Consumption had been falling by 4 percent, but it rose last quarter by 2.2 percent. That was enough to boost GDP by 1.5 percent.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Laziness, in its Purest Form

Home Staging Companies Hire Temporary Residents to Entice Buyers

People don’t like purchasing empty homes. At least according to home staging companies, which are now hiring temporary residents to create an occupied atmosphere to lure in potential buyers. The Wall Street Journal reports:

Home “staging” companies charge owners several thousand dollars to fill houses with attractive furniture — but no human props. Faux homeowners could be the next big thing in staging. They supply “that little extra mint on the pillow,” says Steve Rodgers, president of Windermere Exclusive Properties in San Diego, which has the listing on Windward Way. “Down-low and subtle is sometimes good.”

Showhomes Management LLC, a franchise operation based in Nashville, has 350 “resident managers” living in homes for sale in 46 high-end markets, including in Florida, Arizona and Illinois. The company has seen revenues increase 88% since last year, says vice president Thomas Scott. Unoccupied staged houses aren’t selling as well as those with people in them, he says, “because people can still tell they’re vacant.”

The article goes on to recount one temp inhabitant who used borrowed furniture and Wal-Mart curtains to create a home that looked like it was owned by a “wealthy world traveler.”

The real estate market may have crashed, but the circus continues.