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You Could Always Go To Poland Shoppers outside of a mall in Krakow, Poland. EnglishGirlAbroad/flickr   Spain has record unemployment. Ireland's credit rating keeps getting cut. The UK's national debt could quadruple. And Poland's economy is set to grow over the next several years. Wait. What? That's right. Poland, one of the poorest countries in the European Union, a country that still hasn't been allowed to switch over to the Euro currency, is -- relatively speaking -- one of the most booming economies in Europe. One of the largest factors is likely the Polish aversion to debt. During the 1970s and 1980s, Poland's Communist government took out heavy loans in order to operate, causing massive debt that eventually bankrupted state-owned businesses which employed thousands. As a result, the modern Polish government never allowed the sort of government and private borrowing that we've seen in other free market economies -- to the point that it's still not touched a $20 billion "no-strings-attached" IMF line of credit it received in April. Poland's also seeing the return of thousands of expats who left the country to work in more prosperous European countries after it joined the EU in 2004. For the past few years, these foreign workers have sent millions of dollars home. Now those that are returning, are embracing the growing economy and are eager to consume. » E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 7 Jul 2009 | 3:33 pm Warren Spector Scores $8 Million Today in Bear Stearns alums: * Ace Greenberg's grand-dog Bagel remains missing, feared dead * Warren Spector, who got fired for taking too many days off by Mr. Out of the Office himself, has sold his Greenwich Village co-op for $8 million * Jimmy Cayne, very much desperate at this point, still looking to unload his 6,000 square foot grow house-- make him an offer Sponsored Topics: Bear Stearns - Warren Spector - James Cayne - Greenwich Village - Jimmy Cayne Source: Dealbreaker | 7 Jul 2009 | 3:29 pm Presented By: Source: Dealbreaker | 7 Jul 2009 | 3:24 pm Is There Any Way To Save UBS? It has been a rough couple of years for the folks at UBS. Switzerland's answer to Citigroup hasn't seen a profit in years and will likely rack up another loss for 2009. Having seen its profits and investment banking headcount surge during the credit bubble, the firm has been hemorrhaging people almost as fast as money for the past several years. But even with massive cuts and routine management changes, UBS has still not been able to stop the bleeding. This week the firm received another kick in the teeth seeing BAC surpass it as the world's #1 wealth manager. With each passing quarter, those discussions with private banking clients about being the "most powerful two-person financial firm in the world" have to be getting ever more painful. With Swiss regulators watching the firm's every move, the golden era of secret bank accounts coming to an end, and new lawsuits by the day, UBS is quickly running out of lifelines free of Credit Suisse. Gruebel Isn't Saying How Cutting 40% of UBS Can Help Earnings [Bloomberg] Sponsored Topics: Credit Suisse - Switzerland - UBS AG - Investment Banks - Business Source: Dealbreaker | 7 Jul 2009 | 3:24 pm UK investors lambast EU hedge fund rules Draft EU rules that would impose draconian new restrictions on hedge funds and private equity are "not fit for purpose", according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), which today urged Europe to rethink its plans. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Jul 2009 | 3:23 pm Let's See Them Pull This Sort Of Thing On Evelyn Davis Not sure how we missed this, but apparently Deutsche Bank spied on management, board members and one "troublesome" shareholder in particular a few years back. Not that big a deal, say the Germans, but now that there's the possibility of a lawsuit they've told the guy they're sorry, have put it out there that they'd love to forget it ever happened and wondered aloud whatever is German for "we cool?" during one incredibly awkward phone call. The bank had external helpers investigate a shareholder believed to have links with Kirch -- Michael Bohndorf, a lawyer who resides on the island of Ibiza. The investigators compiled detailed reports on his movements and even looked into whether he had any personal weaknesses: alcohol, gambling, women? One insider reports that the agency resorted to hiring women to test him. For years, Bohndorf has been annoying Deutsche Bank by asking dozens of questions at annual shareholder meetings and taking legal action if his questions aren't answered. The bank has already informed Bohndorf of the spying operation and apologized for it. Bohndorf couldn't be reached by SPIEGEL last week by the time the current issue went to press. Data protection officials in the western state of Hesse, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) and possibly even the public prosecutor's office in Frankfurt will now have to check whether any laws were broken in the snooping operations. Many members of Deutsche Bank's supervisory board have little doubt that laws were broken. And they're particularly worried about the Michael Bohndorf case. The litigious shareholder has proved that he doesn't shy away from suing the company. Clearly DB would never have gotten away with pulling a stunt like this on everyone's favorite fractional bank owner Evelyn Davis, who'd cut a bitch (CEO) for stepping into her den (believe Ken Lewis, he's tried). Sponsored Topics: Deutsche Bank - Ken Lewis - German - Business - Board of directors Source: Dealbreaker | 7 Jul 2009 | 3:05 pm Auto parts maker Lear Corp files for bankruptcy (Reuters) Reuters - U.S. auto parts maker Lear Corp filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, a day after setting out plans to restructure its $3.6 billion debt burden under a proposed deal with creditors. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:50 pm Wall Street dragged lower by energy shares (Reuters) Reuters - U.S. stocks fell further on Tuesday as investors fretted about the looming earnings season, while a fifth day of declines for crude oil prices hit energy shares. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:48 pm Bond Report: Treasurys tread water ahead of 3-year-note auction Treasury prices reverse an earlier decline, before the government sells $35 billion in 3-year notes, the second of four major debt sales this week. Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:48 pm Europe Markets: Utilities offset miners, banks in choppy session European shares shake off early uncertainty to trade higher, paced by banks and miners. Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:46 pm David Weidner's Writing on the Wall: Speculation curbs a victory for the markets NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- For all of the hype surrounding the Obama administration’s plan for reforming the financial-services industry, it’s a move by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission --potentially reining in rampant speculation in energy futures -- that could have the most significant effect. Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:46 pm Ikea to axe more staff as demand falls Ikea, the cut-price Swedish furniture retailer, is set to make more job cuts on top of 5,000 redundancies announced last month. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:44 pm When a takeover battle goes nuclear David Crane, CEO of NRG Energy and a father of five, was standing in a stubby cornfield in Bucks County, Pa., one windy evening last October when his BlackBerry began to stir. He checked his in-box, but he didn't respond, not right away. It was Sunday night, and he was on an outing with his family, waiting in line for a Halloween hayride. Nor did he respond an hour later on his way to the Amtrak station to catch a train to Washington, D.C. How could he, when he drives a Mini Cooper with a stick shift? You need both hands to manage a car like that. So it wasn't until after nine at night, having found a quiet corner of the waiting room behind a Dunkin' Donuts kiosk, that Crane finally got around to calling back John Rowe. Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:41 pm Who Doesn't Want Us To Hear About Sergey Aleynikov's "Love Story" Obviously Goldman Sachs is behind this, somehow, but why? Above, the "Love Story" of Sergey and Elina, a video that's been available since 2007, and was up until some point last night. Now, alarmingly, the audio's been stripped, supposedly over copyright infringement, though we have it on good authority there's more to this than meets the Blankfein. Is this some sort of coded message via LB? The WSJ suggested earlier that Serge and the wife should be embarrassed about the video, which tells how workaholic Aleynikov found love via a genie in a lamp, and would perhaps want to bury evidence of its existence. With all due respect, the Journal clearly has no idea what it's talking about-- this is nothing to be embarrassed over. It's the sort of thing you shout loud and proud. Sponsored Topics: GoldmanSachs - Lloyd Blankfein - Wall Street Journal - Copyright infringement - Business Source: Dealbreaker | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:40 pm Tech Stocks: Chip gains fail to spread across tech sector Technology stocks put in a mixed early trading performance, as chip stocks get a lift following several upgrades by an analyst at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch. Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:38 pm Telefonica wins exclusive Palm Pre deals in Europe Palm reaffirms its commitment to the European market as it announces an exclusive deal for Telef?nica to sell its Pre device. Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:36 pm Moran Joins NS Capital as Managing Partner for Advisory Services STAMFORD, Conn., July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Dave Moran has joined NS Capital, Stamford, CT, as Managing Partner for Advisory Services. In this role, he is responsible for the... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:35 pm Baskin-Robbins Opens Raleigh and Durham for Franchise Sales; Plans More Than 30 New Stores in the Region America's Favorite Neighborhood Ice Cream Shop Hosts Local Franchising Seminar on July 14, 2009 CANTON, Mass., July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Baskin-Robbins, America's... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:34 pm Wall Street falls on recovery worries; earnings loom (Reuters) Reuters - U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday as investors turned cautious ahead of earnings season, and talk of a second stimulus package underscored worries about the U.S. economic recovery. Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:33 pm Retail Stocks: Retail stocks mixed; Kohl's upgraded Retail stocks were mixed Tuesday amid worries over monthly sales figures, to be reported Wednesday and Thursday. Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:32 pm China United Engineering Corp Builds on Previous Order Based Upon Prior Success SUGAR LAND, Texas, July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- href="http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AuGeZvmfIPHlOvLNgXAANaqxcq9_/SIG=110feoc9h/**http%3A/irgnews.com/coi/EXOU">Exousia... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:31 pm Independent / Provider-Sponsored Administrative Cost Trends Increase in 2008 as Ratios Decrease on Product Mix Change PHILADELPHIA, July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Per member administrative costs grew by 11.5% in 2008, compared with 4.9% in 2007. Adjusting for the shift in product mix towards Medicare... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:31 pm Wall St falls ahead of earnings season US stocks remained in a narrow range as the price of oil continued to dominate trading, with many investors remaining cautious ahead of the start of earnings season Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:30 pm Worst of UK recession 'over' The worst of the UK's recession is over, according to a business group, but there are still dangers in the economy. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:28 pm Futures Movers: Crude futures fall sharply, extending recent drop Crude futures turn lower in volatile trading, extending their sharp decline from the previous session. Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:28 pm Movers & Shakers: Tuesday's biggest gaining and declining stocks Stocks making significant early moves in U.S. trading include Discover, Greenbrier, GenCorp, MoneyGram and Steel Dynamics. Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:27 pm Boeing to pay $580M for 787 parts plant in SC The plant makes and installs systems in aft fuselage sections of Boeing's 787, a next-generation aircraft that has been hampered by repeated delays due to production problems. The delays... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:26 pm London Markets: Home builders higher again in London; FTSE 100 up The FTSE 100 index builds on early gains in London, with shares of key miners all smartly higher and home builders extending their Monday moves higher. Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:26 pm IPO for Genworth's Canadian operations closes Genworth Financial Inc. said Tuesday that an initial public offering of 44.7 million shares of its Canadian mortgage insurance operations priced at 19 Canadian dollars ($16.35) per share. Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:25 pm IPO for Genworth's Canadian operations closes (AP) AP - Genworth Financial Inc. said Tuesday that an initial public offering of 44.7 million shares of its Canadian mortgage insurance operations priced at 19 Canadian dollars ($16.35) per share. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:25 pm NetQuote Offers More Help for Small Business Owners SmallBizSmarts.com helps owner-managers make smarter financial decisions DENVER, July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- As a free service to small business owners, Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:25 pm Samuel Manu-Tech to Acquire Partners' Investment in Samuel/Sekisui Joint Venture TORONTO, July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Samuel Manu-Tech Inc. (TSX - SMT), a leading North American industrial products and technology company, today reported that it has signed Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:25 pm Bob Shiller didn't kill the housing market It's noon in New Haven, and Yale economist Robert Shiller and I are leaving his office to walk down the block for pizza. It was a damp morning, but now the sun is breaking through the clouds. "Do we need an umbrella?" he asks. I say I don't think so. But a few steps outside his office, he turns around to get one. "It's better to be safe," he says. Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:23 pm U.S. consumers fall behind on loans at record pace (Reuters) Reuters - Soaring U.S. unemployment and a shrinking economy drove delinquencies on credit card debt and home equity loans to all-time highs in the first quarter as a record number of cash-strapped consumers fell behind on their bills. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:22 pm Health Care Companies Play Let’s Make A Deal (CI, AET, HUM, UNH, WLP, CVH, THC, HLS) Managed health care company stocks are rising Tuesday despite press reports that hospitals will contribute $155 billion over 10 years toward insuring the nearly 50 million Americans who do not have coverage. The cuts would largely come from the amount the insurers receive as reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid. Shares of Cigna corp. (NYSE: CI), Aetna Inc. [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:21 pm Airline Stocks: Airline stocks in the red with the wider market Airline stocks were heading south in morning activity, shrugging off a drop in oil prices and instead trending the wider market. Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:21 pm BullMarket.com Publishes 40-Page High-Yield MLP Report PRINCETON, N.J., July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- BullMarket.com ( href="http://www.bullmarket.com/">http://www.bullmarket.com ), an online investment newsletter focused on long-term... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:21 pm Stocks dip as investors await earnings season (AP) AP - Investors sent stocks falling in early trading as they waited for some signals about where the economy is headed. Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:16 pm Golden Dragon Holdings, Inc. Announces Mid-Year Shareholder Conference Call MIAMI, July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Golden Dragon Holdings, Inc. (Pink Sheets: GDHI) href="http://www.gdfbhk.com/">www.gdfbhk.com , will host its mid-year shareholders Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:15 pm Ben Bernanke's job review In the next six months, President Obama faces one of his biggest and most important decisions about the economy. Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:12 pm CFTC considering tighter controls on commodity trading WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The regulator of the U.S. futures markets is considering tough new rules to clamp down on speculative trading in energy and other commodities and will hold public hearings in the next few weeks to seek comment. Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:07 pm 5 small stocks ready to soar The FSB 100 is filled with fast growers, but money managers picked these 5 small-caps as stocks with especially bright prospects. Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:06 pm Looking for those white iPhones Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:05 pm Delinquencies on home-equity loans hit record Late payments on home-equity loans rose to a record in the first quarter as 18 straight months of job losses and a slumping economy left more borrowers unable to pay their debts, the American Bankers Association... Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:02 pm Delinquencies on home-equity loans hit record Late payments on home-equity loans rose to a record in the first quarter as 18 straight months of job losses and a slumping economy left more borrowers unable to pay their debts, the American Bankers Association reported. Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:02 pm US consumer delinquencies hit new highs Soaring unemployment has pushed credit card and home-equity delinquencies to record levels as US consumers struggle with the loss of income, household wealth and sputtering investments, the American Bankers Association said Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:57 pm Day Traders & GM Stock: Drag Race To Zero (GMGMQ) How many bankrupt companies have OTC and Pink Sheet stocks before they disappear for the long haul?  Enron, Lehman, Adelphia… General Motors (GMGMQ) is on this list. Some of these stay trading for some time even after the bankruptcies have closed because there is a hope that the paper would have some value in future [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:45 pm Xinjiang capital placed under curfew Armed Chinese gangs have turned on the Muslim Uighur minority in Urumqi, prompting the authorities to slap a curfew on the Xinjiang capital in an effort to prevent ethnic violence engulfing the city Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:45 pm Stocks churn in early trading Stocks struggled Tuesday morning, with investors jittery ahead of the start of the G8 summit and the start of the second-quarter corporate reporting period. Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:45 pm Stocks dip as investors await earnings season Stocks are mostly lower as investors await more clues about the economy. Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:44 pm Stocks dip as investors await earnings season Stocks are mostly lower as investors await more clues about the economy. Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:44 pm Orders for new houses lifts Persimmon's outlook Persimmon today sounded a note of cautious optimism after selling more homes than expected this year amid signs that the fall in house prices is easing. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:43 pm U.S. consumers fall behind on loans at record pace NEW YORK (Reuters) - Soaring U.S. unemployment and a shrinking economy drove delinquencies on credit card debt and home equity loans to all-time highs in the first quarter as a record number of cash-strapped consumers fell behind on their bills. Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:41 pm Wall Street slips on recovery jitters NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks slipped on Tuesday as investors were cautious ahead of earnings season, and talk of the need to plan for a possible second fiscal stimulus package underscored worries about the U.S. economic recovery. Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:41 pm Jobs under threat as Coffee Republic goes bust Coffee Republic, the British coffee shop chain, has gone into administration after weeks of speculation about its future. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:30 pm BAIC bid for Opel puts China in focus BERLIN (Reuters) - Chinese carmaker Beijing Automotive (BAIC) aims to outmaneuver Canada's Magna in the race for General Motors unit Opel with an offer that foresees less state aid and fewer job cuts. Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:29 pm Michael Page hints at more cuts amid profit fall Michael Page, the global recruitment company, said it expected a challenging third quarter and signalled that more job cuts could be in the pipeline. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:11 pm Coffee Republic in administration The coffee chain Coffee Republic goes into administration, becoming the latest victim of the economic downturn. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:09 pm CFTC considering tighter controls on commodity trading (Reuters) Reuters - The regulator of the U.S. futures markets is considering tough new rules to clamp down on speculative trading in energy and other commodities and will hold public hearings in the next few weeks to seek comment. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:07 pm Oil rises toward $65 after four day fall LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose toward $65 a barrel on Tuesday after a four-day losing streak and as U.S. crude oil inventories were expected to fall for the fifth week in a row. Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:05 pm Opening Bell: 07.07.09 Goldman Trading-Code Investment Put at Risk by Theft (Bloomberg) "The bank has raised the possibility that there is a danger that somebody who knew how to use this program could use it to manipulate markets in unfair ways," Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Facciponti said, according to a recording of the hearing made public today. "The copy in Germany is still out there, and we at this time do not know who else has access to it." Sergey Aleynikov Makes Bail (Reuters) Apparently three "fiscally responsible individuals" put up the $750,000, which is nice. Also, Aleynikov's house in New Jersey is for sale (two-story Colonial), if anyone's interested. Big Banks Don't Want California's IOU's, Signed Copies Of Junior (WSJ) The group of banks included Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., among others. Not The Bair Minimum (NYP) Supposedly people think SheBair "overstepped her authority" with last week's proposal to limit private-equity firms' ability to buy banks. Also, there's this: AIG Brands Hank Greenberg 'Liar' (FT) AIG attorney Ted Wells said that the 84-year-old acted as if he could "walk through raindrops and not be touched" and that he had disrespected the witness stand by dodging questions and lying under oath. Goldman Says Morgan Is All Wrong About Fed's Quantitative Exit (Bloomberg) "Joachim Fels, co-chief global economist at Morgan Stanley, sees a risk that the Fed will keep the easiest credit since the Great Depression for too long. Ed McKelvey, U.S. economist at Goldman in New York, says those concerns are overblown, and that officials have time to deploy as many as 10 options for ending their $1.1 trillion aid to the banking system and economy without letting consumer prices climb." Accountant Accused of Stealing Nearly $780,000 from Harvard Hillel (Crimson) William O'Brien, a Hillel accountant contracted from New England company Insource Services, is accused of having "stolen significant sums of money through fraud." Soros: The System Is Flawed (WSJ) Source: Dealbreaker | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:00 pm HSBC cuts cheque guarantee limit HSBC is cutting the cheque guarantee limit on some of its customers' debit cards to £100 from £250. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Jul 2009 | 12:54 pm June sales likely rained out for U.S. retailers NEW YORK (Reuters) - Unseasonable weather and consumers without the stimulus boost they received last year were expected to have dampened U.S. retail sales in June, analysts said. Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Jul 2009 | 12:52 pm Hansen Medical Credibility As Weak As The Stock (HNSN, ISRG) Hansen Medical Inc. (NASDAQ: HNSN) is becoming the Boulevard of Broken Dreams in the land of speculative medical instrument stocks.  We gave a volume spike alert at VSInvestor.com on this one, but this situation goes much deeper now.  The maker of The Sensei® robotic catheter systems guided second-quarter revenues lower and withdrew previous system placements [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 7 Jul 2009 | 12:50 pm Sir Philip Green warns that retailers will find the final quarter tricky The billionaire owner of Topshop and Bhs expects the weaker pound and VAT change to make life tough in the run in to Christmas. Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 Jul 2009 | 12:50 pm June sales likely rained out for U.S. retailers (Reuters) Reuters - Unseasonable weather and consumers without the stimulus boost they received last year were expected to have dampened U.S. retail sales in June, analysts said. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 7 Jul 2009 | 12:43 pm GM wins in court. Now what? Thanks to a bankruptcy court decision issued late Sunday night, General Motors is close to making a quick trip through bankruptcy. But that doesn't mean that its reorganization is almost done. Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Jul 2009 | 12:39 pm The Silver Lining within Rising Jobless Numbers By John Tamny of RealClearMarkets   Last Thursday’s news of yet another increase in the national rate of unemployment was predictably met with quite a few downcast headlines. The Wall Street Journal led with “Rising Job Losses Damp Hopes of Recovery”, while top Pimco investment strategist Mohamed El-Erian penned a piece for the Financial Times titled “American [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 7 Jul 2009 | 12:39 pm Pope proposes new financial order The Pope urges stronger international bodies to take moral leadership in a time of global financial crisis. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Jul 2009 | 12:33 pm Stimulus: Progress or broken promise? Nearly five months after President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), a still-worsening economy has many wondering if stimulus is a bunch of baloney. Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Jul 2009 | 12:25 pm Jury discharged in Richard Desmond libel case A jury hearing a libel action brought by Richard Desmond, owner of the Daily Express, against the author of a biography of Conrad Black was discharged today after "fundamental" evidence emerged. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:55 am N Brown profits hit by increase in bad debts Shares in N Brown fell by more than 7 per cent this morning after the online and catalogue fashion retailer admitted to an increase in bad debts. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:47 am T. Boone Pickens Oil Targets For 2009 and 2010 (CLNE) Today marked the one-year anniversary of the launch of The Pickens Plan.  Oil magnate T. Boone Pickens was giving a large update and gave his oil targets for 2009 and 2010 in a CNBC interview early this morning.  He is still touting natural gas as the replacement for dependence upon foreign oil as a bridge [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:44 am Shire rises on rush for new drug Shares in Shire rose this morning after the UK’s third largest drugs company said it may launch a treatment for a new $1.2 billion market sooner than expected.$ Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:42 am Obama's financial watchdog gets more teeth Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:35 am Lear files for Chapter 11 protection US car parts supplier Lear files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for its US and Canadian businesses Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:31 am Lear files for Chapter 11 protection Lear Corporation, one of the world's biggest auto-supply groups, said on Tuesday it was filing for bankruptcy protection. The Chapter 11 filing covers Lear and some of its US and Canadian subsidiaries,... Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:31 am European stocks see modest rebound (AFP) AFP - Europe's main stock markets rebounded slightly on Tuesday, with London supported by recovering mining shares, while banks and autos fared well in Frankfurt. Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:27 am Top Early Bird Analyst Calls (APC, NLY, CTL, KEY, INTC, LSI, MMM, MRVL, STO, STLD) These are the top pre-market early-bird analyst calls we have seen with about two and a half hours until the market opens this Tuesday morning: Anadarko Petroleum (APC) Raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch. Annaly Mortgage (NLY) STarted as Overweight at Barclays. CenturyTel (CTL) Raised to Buy at UBS. KeyCorp (KEY) Raised to Outperform at KBW. Intel (INTC) Raised to [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:12 am CFTC prepares crackdown on speculators Sweeping reforms for oil and natural gas trading are being considered by the US commodities regulator in a bid to reduce the systemic risks posed by speculators Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:11 am Ikea furniture retailer to cut more jobs (AP) AP - Swedish flat-pack giant Ikea must cut more jobs than previously announced as the financial crisis continues to weigh on demand for its furniture, founder Ingvar Kamprad said Tuesday. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:09 am Goldman Sachs worker arrested for 'stealing secrets' A former Goldman Sachs employee has been arrested by the FBI and freed on bail over accusations that he stole secret trading codes from the US bank. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:06 am Obama urges end to cold war distrust Barack Obama called for an end to cold war distrust and the forging a new global partnership as he pressed ahead with an effort to 'reset' relations between the two countries and told Russians the future world order was in their hands Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:05 am Plans to axe 93 cement plant jobs A cement company plans to cut 93 jobs reduces output "to a minimum" following a drop in orders. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:58 am Only now have MPs realised that some of the lowestpaid pay higher marginal rates of tax than millionaires Why has it taken so long for MPs to wake up to the fact that some of the lowestpaid are paying higher marginal rates of tax than millionaires? Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:57 am Netscape founder's new fund Ben Horowitz was toiling as an unheralded product strategist at Netscape Communications when he opened a scathing e-mail from his boss, Marc Andreessen. It was the winter of 1996; Netscape's public offering, several months earlier, had ignited the dotcom craze, and co-founder Andreessen had just appeared on Time's cover, sitting on a throne, feet bare -- the very portrait of a cocky 24-year-old tech wunderkind. Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:47 am European stocks edge up despite Nikkei's 5th fall (AP) AP - European stock markets rose modestly Tuesday following late day-before gains on Wall Street — but the fifth straight retreat on Japan's main Nikkei index provided ample evidence that investor sentiment remains extremely fragile. Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:44 am Protect Your Best Asset at All Costs Source: Business Pundit | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:43 am Bernie Ecclestone regretful over Hitler comments but no resignation Bernie Ecclestone the Formula One F1 motor racing boss said he regretted the upset caused by his comments about Adolf Hitler over the weekend but suggested he would not resign over the matter. Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:40 am Palm Pre set for sale in UK shops by Christmas O2 on Tuesday confirmed that the Palm Pre a new hitech mobile phone which is regarded as the most serious challenger to Apple's iPhone will hit the shops in time for Christmas. Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:38 am Greece fined over airline subsidy European Court of Justice orders Greece to pay 2m euros for failing to recover illegal state aid granted to Olympic Airways. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:35 am Rate Alert: Grab a savings rate of 5pc The banks and building societies are continuing to offer ever increasing rates of interest on fixed rate bonds. Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:28 am Telefonica wins exclusive European Palm Pre deals LONDON (Reuters) - Telefonica's O2 and Movistar have won exclusive deals to sell Palm's new Pre smartphone -- regarded as the closest rival to Apple's iPhone -- in Britain, Ireland, Germany and Spain. Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:14 am Ex-Goldman worker in theft charge A former worker for Goldman Sachs is released on bail having been charged with "theft of trade secrets". Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:13 am Sony (SNE) Gets Into Netbooks Late Sony (SNE) never got into the multimedia handheld business the way that Apple (AAPL) did with the iPod. The Japanese company’s joint venture with Ericsson that builds and markets handsets is behind Apple, RIM (RIMM), and even Palm (PALM) is the race to get out a fully-featured smartphone. Sony was also late getting its PS3 gaming console [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:13 am Sterling hit as UK manufacturing dips The latest data underlines the serious headwinds still facing the sector. Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:03 am Auto parts maker Lear Corp files for bankruptcy (Reuters) - U.S. auto parts maker Lear Corp filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, a day after setting out plans to restructure its $3.6 billion debt burden under a proposed deal with creditors. Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:00 am Move over Moscow: Tokyo now most expensive city for expats Tokyo has knocked Moscow off the top spot as the most expensive city for expatriates, a survey suggests. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:00 am Economists quash hopes of end to UK recession Hopes that the UK recession ended in the second quarter were dealt a further blow today as one of the country's leading economic institutions forecast that GDP fell between April and June. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Jul 2009 | 9:59 am Consumer Reports May Start To Fire Staff Consumer Reports, the non-profit advocacy magazine owned by the Consumers Union, may fire 21 editors and product reviewers if its writer’s union does not agree to sacrifice raises. According to the New York Post, other employees have already agreed to cuts. The magazine does not take advertising because it wants to appear independent when it reviews [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 7 Jul 2009 | 9:57 am Persimmon sales trends improving The UK's largest housebuilder by volume, Persimmon, says its prospects are better than this time last year. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Jul 2009 | 9:51 am Michael Jackson Is 'Money' They're remembering the King of Pop today in Los Angeles, at the Staples Center. Organizers gave out 17,500 free tickets for Michael Jackson's memorial service, but the city expects as many as a million extra visitors this week. Economists debate the impacts of giant events, from Super Bowls to celebrity passings. In this case, the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation says the local tourism industry could get a $4 million boost. The group's chief economist, Jack Kyser, tells the LA Times: "It's definitely going to help downtown hotels who now have an average of 56% occupancy. This is going to be good news for them." In the short run, it's perhaps less welcome news for the public coffers. LA Citycouncilwoman Jan Perry has said she'd like to see the Jackson family help cover the cost to the city, which could include as much as $1 million in police overtime. The city's wrestling with a $530 million budget gap. Bonus: Michael Jackson, a Lesson in Economics » E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 7 Jul 2009 | 9:42 am China Economy Defies Gravity It does not make any sense that China’s GDP is growing, unless the government is buying that growth with its stimulus package. If that is true, it is remarkable how well China’s program is working while similar efforts in America appear to be getting nowhere. An important economic leader in China says he expects second quarter [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 7 Jul 2009 | 9:42 am JJB backs Jones over 1.5m Ashley loan JJB Sports, the troubled leisure wear retailer, on Tuesday insisted Sir David Jones commanded the "unanimous support" of its board as it confirmed the existence of a loan made to its executive chairman... Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Jul 2009 | 9:29 am World’s Oldest Bible To Go Digital One of the wonderful things about technology is that it can make the old new again. Parts of the oldest Christian Bible, probably written in the fourth century, will be available online. According to PC World, readers will even be able to see the texture of the parchment. While the debate about online ownership of print [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 7 Jul 2009 | 9:24 am Kamco to rescue stranded shipping companies State-run Korea Asset Management Company said on Tuesday it would buy 62 vessels from shipping companies in South Korea through its Won4,000bn ($3.2bn) fund to help free up funds for the troubled groups... Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Jul 2009 | 8:46 am DoJ to review handset arrangements The US Department of Justice has started an informal review of the exclusive arrangements that limit handsets like Apple's iPhone to particular wireless communications companies, people said Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 7 Jul 2009 | 8:21 am Telefónica wins exclusive Palm Pre deals Spanish group will be exclusive network in Germany, Ireland, Spain and the UK for the new smartphone, which is widely seen as the most serious challenger to Apple's iPhone Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 7 Jul 2009 | 8:01 am Telefnica wins exclusive Palm Pre deals Telefnica on Tuesday announced a deal to be the exclusive mobile phone network in four European countries for the much-anticipated Palm Pre, the handset widely seen as the most significant challenger to... Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Jul 2009 | 8:01 am Aussie stocks: Market closes marginally down MELBOURNE - The Australian share market closed weaker amid lower commodity prices and a mixed US lead. The Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) decision to leave the official cash rate unchanged was widely expected and had little... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:36 am Profits decline at Tootsies firm Clapham House Group, which owns Tootsies and Gourmet Burger Kitchen, sees its profits fall 18%. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:29 am Persimmon 'encouraged' by housing market Persimmon one of the UK's largest housebuilders is selling more homes than this time last year and expects the improvement in the market to continue. Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:21 am South Canterbury Finance facing credit downgrade Ratings agency Standard and Poor's has put South Canterbury Finance's BBB- rating on CreditWatch negative, a move that could strip the Timaru based finance company of its coveted investment grade rating and unsettle many investors... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:18 am JJB pledges support for chairman Sir David Jones over £1.5m loan row The board of the embattled retailer gives strong support to chairman over £1.5m from rival. Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:14 am Jackson memorial to be broadcast in movie theaters About 17,000 people in at least 20 states will be able to watch the service free at theaters equipped with Cinedigm Digital Cinema network equipment. ... Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:00 am Twitter becoming a tool for scams, bureau says The Better Business Bureau says it's seeing a surge in online lures to get rich quick or make money from home by using the social media site. Online predators have hit on social media site Twitter as the latest tool to lure victims into get-rich-quick and work-at-home schemes, according to the Better Business Bureau. Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:00 am Twitter becoming a tool for scams, bureau says The Better Business Bureau says it's seeing a surge in online lures to get rich quick or make money from home by using the social media site. ... Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:00 am Antitrust review of wireless carriers is urged The AT&T-iPhone deal and other exclusive arrangements, as well as price increases, trouble several senators and consumer advocates. Verizon and AT&T have denied any coordinated actions. Cellphone customers have long complained about exclusive deals between handset makers and wireless carriers -- many, for instance, won't buy the iPhone because it runs only on the AT&T network -- and federal authorities now are being prodded to take action. Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:00 am Jackson fans flocking to L.A. for memorial service The throngs of visitors -- some flying in from as far away as Europe -- could give the local economy a $4-million boost as area hotels, restaurants and tourist destinations report a jump in business. ... Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:00 am Jackson memorial to be broadcast in movie theaters About 17,000 people in at least 20 states will be able to watch the service free at theaters equipped with Cinedigm Digital Cinema network equipment. Michael Jackson's public memorial service will be a theatrical event too, as digital events company Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp. has arranged with AEG Live and the pop singer's family to broadcast the event live at dozens of movie theaters in at least 20 states. Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:00 am Axiom Translations looks to talk up services The Torrance firm hopes to increase sales. An expert's advice includes having the owners network and become a certified female-owned business. Lori L. Anding drew what she considers the short straw when she and Marlene Gomez were setting up their small business that uses independent linguists to provide translation services. Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:00 am Jackson fans flocking to L.A. for memorial service The throngs of visitors -- some flying in from as far away as Europe -- could give the local economy a $4-million boost as area hotels, restaurants and tourist destinations report a jump in business. Today's Michael Jackson memorial service at Staples Center may put a strain on city services, but it's turning out to be a shot in the arm for Southern California's slumping tourism industry. Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:00 am LeBron James joins the big (media) players at Sun Valley The NBA All-Star is mixing with industry luminaries this week at the exclusive Allen & Co. conference in Idaho. Kobe Bryant may have four championship rings, but it's the Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James who wrangled an invitation to hobnob with moguls at this week's Allen & Co. media-industry conference in Sun Valley, Idaho. Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:00 am LeBron James joins the big (media) players at Sun Valley The NBA All-Star is mixing with industry luminaries this week at the exclusive Allen & Co. conference in Idaho. ... Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:00 am Michael Phelps ads prove a new cultural tolerance of marijuana Super-swimmer Michael Phelps returned to big-time advertising Sunday with a TV spot for Subway titled "Be Yourself." Oh, the irony. Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:00 am U.S. should plan 2nd fiscal stimulus: economic adviser SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The United States should be planning for a possible second round of fiscal stimulus to further prop up the economy after the $787 billion rescue package launched in February, an adviser to President Barack Obama said. Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Jul 2009 | 6:34 am NZ stocks: Investors sit on sidelines The sharemarket inched into the black today as investors sat tight awaiting some direction. The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed up 3.27 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 2746.24, following yesterday's nearly 19-point decline. Turnover... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 7 Jul 2009 | 6:12 am Currency: Dollar little changed The New Zealand dollar held onto overnight gains, but made no headway today despite a significant improvement in business confidence. The kiwi had fallen to a three-week low against the greenback of US62.40c, but then rebounded... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 7 Jul 2009 | 6:09 am Wells Fargo to expand securities business: report (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co will announce an expansion in its securities business, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website. Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Jul 2009 | 6:08 am Comment: House prices will rise this year Nationwide's "Real" House price Index recorded an increase of 1.6pc in June. Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 Jul 2009 | 5:55 am Individuals face minimum fine of £100000 for insider trading as FSA cracks down Individuals face a minimum fine of £100000 for insider trading while companies could be hit with a penalty of up to £50m - under radical plans being drawn up by the Financial Services Authority. Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 Jul 2009 | 4:46 am Recession now 'normal', as confidence improves A rebound in business confidence to much less negative levels is seen as indicating New Zealand is now in a "normal" recession, rather than something much worse. The Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion (QSBO) for the June quarter,... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 7 Jul 2009 | 4:00 am Futures Flat as Traders Eye G-8 (Market Update) News at a Glance Futures Mixed: Investors eye G-8 meeting Wednesday. Europe Up: Banks and metals lead the way. Asia Lower: Commodity stocks fall, offset utility, tech gains. Crude Gains: Oil prices rise on possibility of regulation. The Lowdown The morning after an 11th-hour rally, Wall Street looks headed toward a quiet open. Stock futures were mixed Tuesday morning, as investors looked ahead to the Group of Eight summit Wednesday in Italy and the start of earnings season at home. Shortly after 8:15 a.m., Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures were trading just below fair value, while Dow futures were slightly up. World markets were mixed ahead of the G-8 talks. The world leaders will meet at a time when their government debt is at its highest point since World War II, a burden that may threaten the nations' influence. European shares pushed higher, led by metal and banking stocks, as investors snapped up bargains after Monday's losses. Rio Tinto (RTP) and Santander (STD) were among the movers Tuesday morning. The gains came despite unexpected May declines in manufacturing and industrial production data for the U.K. Asian markets were broadly lower, with commodity stocks declining in response to falling oil and metal prices. Gains in utility and technology stocks, such as Tokyo Electric Power and Samsung Electronics, offset some of the losses. Oil prices rose amid news that U.S. regulators may curb speculation on oil and gas by limiting the holdings of energy futures traders. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission will hold hearings to weigh tighter restrictions on energy markets, Chairman Gary Gensler said Tuesday in a statement. Crude traded up 44 cents to $64.49 a barrel at 8:19 a.m. The yen and the dollar rose against the euro on investor concerns that the economic recovery is on shaky ground. Government bonds fell in advance of planned debt sales by numerous countries, including the U.S. Corporate News Goldman Sachs (GS) stands to lose millions from increased competition if the software allegedly stolen by ex-computer programmer Sergey Aleynikov is used by outsiders, a prosecutor said. Aleynikov was arrested July 3 at Liberty International Airport in Newark, N.J. He has allegedly transferred Goldman's proprietary trading code to a computer server in Germany, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Facciponti who spoke in federal court July 4. General Motors will be allowed to pursue its sale of assets to a Treasury-funded buyer, despite an appeal by some of the company's creditors. The single appeal to the bankruptcy judge's approval of the sale was filed by people with accident-related claims involving GM vehicles. They want the new company to take responsibility for current claims, but they will not prevent the sale from going forward, their lawyer Steven Jakubowski told Bloomberg. Lear (LEAR) filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday after creditors approved a reorganization plan. The auto-parts supplier listed debt of $4.5 billion and assets of $1.3 billion as of May 30 on documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York. The company was faced with a dramatic sales drop as global auto sales tanked this year. The Economy There are no significant economic indicators scheduled to be released Tuesday. 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 | 7 Jul 2009 | 4:00 am 5 Bargain Growth Stocks (Screens) Growth is scarce at the moment. The average of America’s 500 largest companies saw its sales shrink 8% in its last reported quarter. Yet investors seem willing to pay high prices for shares. The S&P 500 trades at 16 times forecast 2009 earnings (a projection which assumes earnings will rise 12% this year). How that compares with the long history of stocks, we can’t say, since consensus estimates and forward price/earnings ratios weren’t always available, but the index has for more than a century traded at an average of less than 15 times trailing earnings. Forward price/earnings ratios should be lower than trailing ones. I recently searched this full-price market with mostly sliding sales for companies that are cheap and growing. Few turned up. I started with 1,500 stocks: those in the large-company S&P 500 index along with smaller companies in the MidCap 400 and SmallCap 600 indexes. After looking for 10% increases in both sales and earnings in companies’ most recent quarters — by no means torrid growth — I was left with barely 130 stocks. Just over 50 of these had forward P/Es below 15. From these, I selecting five with strong balance sheets, listed below. Advance Auto Parts (AAP) is benefiting from the misery of car makers, who in June sold 28% fewer cars than a year ago. Poor sales of new cars means more repairs on older ones, and Advance Auto is seeing brisk customer traffic and strong demand from garages in its more than 3,000 retail shops. Sales at longstanding stores surged 8.2% in the company’s most recent quarter, with commercial sales at those stores up 17.5%. Free cash flow swelled 34%. The stock’s dividend is a pitiful 0.6%, with less than 10% of profits paid out to stockholders, but management has spent aggressively to pay down debt. If the pace holds, the company might owe nothing by year’s end. Shares sell for 14 times earnings. Home-health-care agencies have scrawny stock valuations at the moment. Investors fear a government health-care overhaul might lead to slashed Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement for visiting nurses. Almost Family (AFAM), a small but prosperous agency, is growing its sales and profits by greater than 20% apiece and has more cash than debt, yet its shares fetch just eight times forecast 2009 earnings. According to analysis by Jefferies & Company, an investment bank, a worst-case scenario would trim the company’s profit to $1.81 per share by 2011, while a more likely path would lead to a profit of $2.51 a share. That works out to either 13 or nine times earnings — a fair deal or an excellent one. For thoughts on the remaining companies in the table below, have a look at some other SmartMoney stories. James B. Stewart recently made a case for investing in Buckle (BKE), a Nebraska-based seller of hip (which is to say, $80) jeans. Sales are expected to grow 15% this year and the company is debt-free with $4 a share in cash. I mentionedITT Educational Services (ESI) last month in a screen for companies producing “organic” sales growth — that is, higher sales from operations, not acquisitions. Schools are finding plenty of new customers among the jobless, and government loan programs are providing the financing. Finally, The J.M. Smucker Company (SJM) is growing at a pace that’s almost indecent for a peanut butter and jam specialist. Sales are forecast to rise more than 20% this year. I’ll focus on Smuckers and some of its pantry kin later this week with a look at why stock investors might want to cash in recent gains in banks and tech in favor of consumer staples.
Company	Ticker	Industry	Share Price	Price Change YTD (%)	Forward P/E	Sales Growth Last Quarter (%)
Advance Auto Parts	AAP	Car Parts Stores	$42.24	25.53	14.18	10.32
Almost Family	AFAM	Home Health care	23.46	-47.84	8.57	77.30
ITT Educational Services	ESI	Schools	95.00	0.02	13.24	22.65
Buckle	BKE	Clothing Stores	30.35	39.09	11.37	24.58
The J.M. Smucker Company	SJM	Packaged Food	48.21	11.19	12.92	81.11

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.

An Interview With Burton Malkiel

AS A YOUNG INVESTMENT BANKER AT SMITH BARNEY in 1959, Burton Malkiel proposed that the firm ramp up its over-the-counter trading. His idea got shot down by a senior partner, who admonished Malkiel for even thinking about putting the firm's capital at risk.

Malkiel soon left Wall Street for graduate school at Princeton, where he began teaching economics in 1964, and where he has spent much of his academic career since. He's had a lot more impact on Wall Street away from it than when he worked there. His still-popular 1973 classic book, A Random Walk Down Wall Street, has sold more than 1.5 million copies. In it, Malkiel holds that, for the most part, stock prices are unpredictable, and that retail investors are much better off investing in index funds rather than actively managed funds.

Recently, China has piqued Malkiel's curiosity. He is the chief investment officer at AlphaShares, an asset manager with about $150 million under management. The firm has two indexes used for exchange-traded funds dedicated to international investors who want exposure to China. Barron's caught up with Malkiel recently, to hear his views on China and other topics -- including how the random walk is going these days.

Barron's: The first edition of A Random Walk Down Wall Street was published in 1973. With the benefit of hindsight, is there anything you would have written differently?

Malkiel: I can tell you honestly that it would be pretty much the same take. What I suggested in 1973 is that investors would be much better off if they had simple, low-cost index funds.

But there weren't any index funds in 1973. The first one available for the public wasn't started until 1976, by Vanguard.

We have a lot of information about how index funds have done, as well as the typical actively managed mutual fund. I find that consistently two-thirds of active managers are beaten by the indexes, and those that beat the index in one year are not necessarily the ones who beat it the next year.

Over a very, very long period, sure, there are a few people who have outperformed the index. But you can almost count them on one hand. I still believe -- even more strongly than I did in 1973 -- that most investors would be much better off having at least the core of their portfolio in a low-cost index fund.

In a recent interview we did with Ron Baron, a growth manager who's had long-term success, he said that "with index funds, you are going to be investing in the most successful businesses at that point in time, and at the top of the market you will be massively over-weighted in those companies."

There is no question that it is a rap on indexing -- that at the peak of the market in 2000, you had more Internet stocks than you should have had, in retrospect. But active managers had an even a greater proportion than did the index funds.

Similarly, you could say that with an index fund at the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008, you had too much in financial stocks, absolutely. But that's what killed all the value managers who had done so well for so long.

So you are quite right that, with an index fund, you will be invested in what turns out to be the most overvalued part of the market. But you will also be invested in what turns out to be the most undervalued part of the market.

The term "random walk" has become so ingrained in the investing culture. What does it actually mean?

For me, it simply means that prices are unpredictable. It also has a technical meaning that, in fact, there are certain statistical properties of prices suggesting that there is no way you can predict the future price based on what has happened in the past. And, therefore, technical analysis is really useless.

Now, the market is not actually a perfect random walk. There is a book, co-authored by my friend [MIT professor] Andy Lo, called A Non-Random Walk Down Wall Street. I don't know how he got that title! He concludes that you can look at statistics and say, "You actually do fail the random-walk hypothesis on many occasions." But the market is very close to a random walk.

Why does the random walk ever fail?

There is a bit of a momentum in the market. But the market is so close to a random walk that, in fact, after you pay transaction costs and, particularly after you pay high taxes on any short-term gains, you would be much better off assuming that it was a random walk.

In a recent review of the book The Myth of the Rational Market, by financial journalist Justin Fox, you wrote he was not "able to bury the hypothesis that our security markets are usually remarkably efficient." Could you elaborate?

He uses an example in his book, where the efficient-market professor is walking along with one of his students. The student sees a $20 bill and stops to pick it up. The professor says, "Don't stop to pick it up; if it really was a $20 bill, it wouldn't be there." That to me encapsulates the efficient-market theory.

In other words, there is no easy arbitrage opportunity; there is no easy way to pick up the bills. My own feeling about it is not that the $20 bills never exist. But I say pick up the $20 bill fast, because those opportunities aren't going to be there for long. There are just too many smart people out there looking for arbitrage opportunities.

The Financial Times reported recently that a survey by the CFA Society of the U.K., an association for chartered financial analysts, found a lot of skepticism in the belief that market prices reflect all available information. Any thoughts on that?

If you think that the market doesn't reflect important information, that means you ought to know the information, you ought to be able to trade on that information, and you ought to be able to beat a simple index.

But what I come down to again and again is OK, if you think that, why do you persistently underperform the index? Look, stock prices are not always right, and there are a lot of people who say, "Well, I knew it." Well, if you knew that in advance, you ought to be able to beat the index. The only market that I find that is inefficient is the local A-share market in China. In a market dominated by individual gamblers, it turn out that professionals can and do outperform. But I believe the stocks of Chinese companies traded in Hong Kong and New York are efficiently priced.

When A Random Walk was fist published, behavioral finance was much less prominent than it is today. What kind of contribution have the behaviorists made?

I teach behavioral finance in my course on financial markets, and I believe the contributions are really very great. Now, behavioral finance doesn't give you a way to beat the market. But it teaches us a lot of lessons about how to avoid mistakes. The behaviorists teach about overconfidence -- that we've got some illusion of control, and that we tend to trade too much. And that's absolutely right; it's a wonderful lesson for investors.

Ibbotson Associates data suggest that, over the long haul, the markets have an average annual rate of return of something like 9½% since 1926. But average investors don't make anything like 9½%, because they tend to get in at the top and out at the bottom.

What about portfolio managers who say they can use behavioral finance to exploit opportunities?

I don't believe that at all. I haven't found any of them who can exploit those opportunities. The bubbles are only so clear in retrospect.

You've been skeptical about hedge funds. Are you still?

I still am a skeptic. I see some of the strategies as being not unreasonable. What's unreasonable is the 2 and 20 -- a 2% management fee and a 20% cut of profits. Those fees are going to come down.

But some of these hedge-fund strategies, particularly if they have reasonable expense ratios, would make some sense. And to the extent that some of these hedge funds may have holdings that are illiquid -- let's say a portfolio of mortgage-backed securities, where markets are disrupted and maybe if you hold them for 10 years they are going to be OK -- that kind of strategy still makes sense. That's because in an efficient market, you are going to get paid for taking on more risk, and you are going to get paid for bearing the illiquidity.

It seemed like from around 2004 to, say, 2007 various asset managers were pitching alternatives very hard, particularly hedge funds, private equity and real estate. Was that salesmanship overdone?

For the individual investor, absolutely. It is perfectly OK for Princeton University, where I teach, to get into some of these alternatives, because No. 1, Princeton is a prestigious investor. People will let us into investments that the individual investor can't get into.

The individual investor will get the worst of the hedge funds, the worst of the alternatives. But this is something that an investor like Princeton can do. For one thing, we have loyal alumni who run some of these funds, and they want to help out the university. But the individual investor should stay away from these investments.

What got you interested in investing in China?

It has been the most rapidly growing economy in the world. And since the revolution of -- I call it a revolution -- of Deng Xiaoping [the late Communist leader], the economy has grown at a real rate of about 9.5%.

China's economy has slowed down a great deal with the worldwide recession, but growth has started to pick up again. So they probably will do at least 7% real GDP in 2009. They've got the center and western regions of the country to develop. They are starting to develop a consumer market. They've got a stimulus package that is bigger than the U.S. package, relative to GDP. A lot of that stimulus package was more front-loaded than ours is. Education is an important part of the culture in China. It is also hard-working and entrepreneurial, and it has a gambling instinct; that's what you need if you are going to be entrepreneurial. I expect it will be the economy that grows the fastest over the next decade.

There are various classes of Chinese shares, not all of which are accessible to U.S. investors.

Interestingly enough, that will help the U.S. investor, because the major Chinese companies now are available not only in A-shares, which are the local shares traded in Shanghai and Shenzhen -- but they also have H-shares for companies that trade in Hong Kong and N-shares for companies that trade in New York on the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq, and they are available for international investors. So you can't buy the A-shares, but you can buy the H- and N-shares, and that is actually an advantage.

Why is that?

When you look at the same companies that trade in Shanghai, Hong Kong and New York, the prices in Hong Kong and New York are the same, because you can arbitrage those. The prices in Shanghai tend to be higher for the same companies. China Life Insurance [ticker: 601628.China] will sell at a premium, at times, over the price it gets in Hong Kong. Currency controls, and lack of arbitrage, make the A-shares more expensive. As an international investor, you can get very good companies, and you can get them at cheaper prices than you would if you were buying the A-shares.

Are the indexes in China truly representative of that market, and have they been sufficiently time-tested?

They are relatively new, and I don't think they are the best indexes. I've been working with a group at AlphaShares, and we're actually going to come out soon with a very broad-based index that we think will be better than any of the ones that are out in the market.

We already have what we think is a very good small-cap index, the Claymore/AlphaShares China Small Cap, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker HAO. I don't think there is a perfect broad-based index right now, though I believe there will be one very soon.

What else intrigues you about investing in China?

China will be the only major economy in the world that grows in 2009. I still think it is the best bet. They have probably 500 million educated people who are either unemployed or underemployed, because they are living on farms, and there are too many redundant workers. The economy in the eastern part is very well developed, but the rest of the country is underdeveloped. It is a matter of national policy, because there is a lot of unrest.

The income distribution in China is much more unequal than it is in the United States -- not only between rich and poor, but also between the geographic regions. I know that the Chinese leadership wants to stay in power, and growth is part of the solution. And it's a matter of national policy to make sure that the growth reaches the central and western parts of the country.

What kind of allocation to Chinese equities should investors have?

At official exchange rates, China has 5% of the world's GDP. If you did a purchasing-power adjustment, they've got 10% of the world's GDP. Almost no equity investors have anything like that percentage in China. China is only about 1.5% of the world's index funds. So if you just put an economic weight on it, people ought to have 5% to10% in China, but they have nothing like that now.

Thanks, professor.

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.

10 Things Your Real Estate Broker Won't Say (10 Things)

1. “Your open house is really just a networking party for me.”

Hire a real estate broker to sell your home, and one of the first things he’ll likely suggest is hosting an open house so that potential buyers can casually check out your property on a weekend afternoon. But while open houses are promoted as a great way of finding a buyer, a National Association of Realtors study found that their success rate is a mere 2 to 4 percent.

No matter. Holding an open house serves another important purpose—for the broker. “It gives him a database of clients,” says Sean McNeill, an independent real estate broker based in New York City who says that he doesn’t like open houses, preferring to match clients with appropriate buyers. “At open houses, you get all kinds of people walking in. Some are [trying] to see how much they should sell their own places for; others just want to get a look at what’s out there.” All are perfect pickings for a broker looking to increase his roster of buyers and sellers. “Think about it,” McNeill says. “The broker is devoting a couple hours of a weekend. He won’t do that unless it helps him in a big way.” But it doesn’t necessarily mean that a seller should forego an open house altogether—says McNeill, “It’s still a real good way to showcase your house.”

2. “My fees are negotiable.”

Brokers like to make it sound as if their fees are engraved in stone, but that’s rarely the case. During the housing bubble, for example, as the number of brokers sharply increased, so did the competition for listings—one broker says he lowered his fee by a full percentage point just to give himself an edge. But even in the wake of the recent crash, you have a good chance of negotiating a better deal—that same surplus of brokers is still out there competing for even fewer listings, giving you something of a leg up.

The broker we spoke with, who asked not to be named, says that sellers should always shop around for better terms and has some suggestions for the best conditions to induce brokers to lower their fees: “If somebody’s willing to commit to me for selling one place and buying another,” or “If you’re in a particularly desirable neighborhood with a house that will bring a lot of traffic” for an open house. And with a lot of smaller brokers, he says, “all you need to do is ask and they’ll lower the commission.”

3. “Think you’ve had no offers? Actually, there’ve been several.”

Legally, the broker you hire to sell your home is obligated to tell you about all offers that come in. In reality, some do not. Perhaps he thinks the offer is insultingly low for you, but more likely, “the broker thinks it’s too low for his own purposes,” says McNeill. “He wants to hold out for a bigger commission.” Another possibility is that there’s an outside broker (or “co-broker”) circling your house, and the primary broker is waiting for one of his own clients to make an offer so he can keep the full 6 percent to himself.

“You must be clear with your broker that you want to be informed of all offers,” McNeill says. “Otherwise, you may be leaving him to make decisions that you should be making.” Check the listing agreement drawn up when you hire the broker; if the promise to disclose all offers isn’t listed explicitly, insist that it be added.

4. “I’m not obligated to keep my mouth shut for you.”

You spot your dream house as you’re driving through a neighborhood and call the broker listed on the “for sale” sign. That’s how a lot of buyers stumble on a broker—who, in turn, happily shows you other houses, asking about your needs, laughing at your jokes. It’s easy to get loose-lipped and forget whom you’re dealing with: someone else’s agent. “Legally, brokers are obligated to provide their sellers with any information that can help them get the best prices for their homes,” says Stephen Israel, president of Buyer’s Edge, a Bethesda, Md.–based company that represents homebuyers. “If you tell the broker that you’re willing to pay $500,000 but want to offer $450,000, they’ll pass that on to the seller. They have to.”

Also, some brokerage companies encourage prospective buyers to get preapproved for loans. While that can make a buyer more attractive to a lender, it also tells a broker whether a buyer can afford a $600,000 house when he’s trying to haggle on a $400,000 property. “When somebody asks for [a preapproval], find out who they’re representing,” says Israel, acknowledging that such details can short-circuit your negotiating leverage. “If they represent a seller—or someone in their office does—they shouldn’t have it. The broker may tell you she will be impartial, but how can she be?”

The bottom line: You need to hire your own broker. “The only safe way to go about it is to have an agent who represents you,” Israel says.

5. “Sometimes I forget whose side I’m on.”

The past 15 years have seen the proliferation of the buyer broker, agents who are supposed to work strictly in the buyer’s interest, helping him get a fair price on a home as well as avoid pitfalls along the way. Unfortunately, things don’t always unfold so nicely. While buyers may think they’re getting a broker who isn’t commission-hungry, many buyer agents are just that: They usually get about 3 percent, the same amount any broker typically earns when he gets involved with another agent’s listing. “Buyer brokers are sometimes too focused on closing the sale and getting that commission,” says Max Gordon, an Overland Park, Kan.–based real estate broker and attorney, so it’s often in their best interest to see you pay as high a price as possible.

Even worse, some brokers who call themselves buyer advocates are actually working for companies that also represent sellers. “Brokerages offer bonuses to buyer agents if they sell an in-house listing,” says Israel. A good way to get a broker who has no such conflicts of interest: The National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents. Its website (www.naeba.com) can help you find a buyer agent near you who pledges to help you get the best deal possible and has no ties to sellers’ agents; many even work on a fee structure rather than on commission.

6. “I know zilch about zoning.”

Real estate agents love to suggest big ideas to prospective buyers—say, removing trees to enhance a view, or even squeezing a rental unit out of a roomy garage—meant to happen once the deal is done and they’re out of the picture. But just because it sounds like a good idea doesn’t mean it’s legal.

“We had a client who bought a dilapidated house with a beautiful piece of property on a marshland,” recalls New York City–based architect Mary Langan. “The broker told him that he could fix the house up however he wanted, insisting that this was a sleepy little town where nobody would care what he did.” Langan says that the client built a $15,000 shed in the backyard, took down some trees, and had some of the marshland filled in—only to have the town insist he put things back because of environmental zoning regulations. The moral of the story: Before you buy into your broker’s creative thinking, check with your local zoning commission about what you can and cannot do on a given piece of property.

7. “I won’t let termites—or pesky inspectors—kill a deal.”

If a broker is selling a house, you figure he knows the place pretty intimately—after all, he talks a good game about the new kitchen, the big closets, the heated garage. What you need to worry about, though, are the home’s features that he keeps to himself. Steve VanGrack, former chairman of the Maryland Real Estate Commission, says, “We have had cases where [brokers have] been deceptive about termites and flood damage.”

You’d figure that the home inspector, who comes to check out the place before you close the sale, might notice those things. And he probably will—if he’s not in cahoots with the broker. “Realtors give potential homebuyers lists of home inspectors,” says S. Woody Dawson, a structural inspector and owner of Dawson Inspections in Connecticut. “Those are people who will rubberstamp the house” in return for repeat business. As one who works outside those lists, Dawson says that he sometimes butts heads with overly controlling brokers. “One time I had a broker tell me that unless I told her the results of my inspection—which is confidential between myself and my client—she wouldn’t let me get up on the roof,” Dawson says. “I got out my ladder and told her that unless she was big enough to stop me, I was going up there—she wasn’t big enough.” For information on where to find your own home inspector, see item No. 4 in “10 Things Your Home Builder Won’t Tell You,” on page 94.

8. “I sometimes forget I’m not a lawyer.”

Most states strictly regulate the contracts used in real estate transactions, stipulating the use of boilerplate agreements that offer little room for creativity—but some brokers can’t keep their clauseadding instincts in check. “I see [brokers] pushing the envelope all the time with amendments and addenda,” says Gordon, the Kansas broker and attorney. “They draft language that can have consequences without really understanding it, but they want to keep the sale going.”

For example, Gordon points out, it’s fairly common for “a transaction to close on one day but possession doesn’t happen until a later date, in which case the buyer rents the house back to the seller for those days.” Gordon also warns that issues of responsibility for the house often require more than just a couple of lines from the broker’s pen—he says, for example, that if a clause is worded improperly, you, the buyer, could end up liable for damage done by your “rental tenant.” Same goes for purchases of non-real estate items (such as patio furniture) and owner carryback (in which the seller provides some of the financing). “In both cases payment terms might not get spelled out clearly,” Gordon says, “and can result in one party taking advantage of the other.”

Whether you’re the buyer or the seller, it’s probably worth the legal fees to get the offer contract reviewed by your lawyer before you sign.

9. “My website is a dead end.”

Considering that 77 percent of house hunters look on the Web, according to the National Association of Realtors, sellers might assume that using a broker with a site can help make a sale happen. But some brokers’ sites are better than others, and you need to look beyond a welldesigned home page to figure that out.

One common flaw: posting houses that sold long ago. While the mistake can be simple negligence, others think that it’s a bait-and-switch-style ploy. “It brings people in, but it gets them upset when they find out that the property’s [gone],” says Frank D’Ostilio, Jr., sales manager for Coldwell Banker in Newton, Conn. “If a broker has to advertise properties that are already sold, it tells you that he doesn’t have enough inventory to keep his [roster of houses] full.”

Aside from checking up on its prominently placed listings, prospective sellers should also make sure that a site is easy to navigate. And Roger Lautt, a Chicago-based broker with Re/max Exclusive Properties who has his own site, recommends using a broker who “keeps himself relatively high on the search engines.” Lautt says he pays a Webmaster to make sure this happens for his site, which is linked with Realtor.com, Yahoo, and the Re/max site.

Another important feature of a good real estate site: community information. It’s “one of the big things a broker should have on his site,” Lautt says—schools, recreation facilities, commuting options, maps, all of which “attracts people who are thinking of moving to the community.”

10. “You can probably do this without me.”

Brokers like to create a lot of mystique about selling homes, insisting that the process is complicated and best left to professionals. Not so, say homeowners who have sold their homes themselves (about 20 to 25 percent do so each year). William Supple, publisher of the sale-byowner real estate magazine Picket Fence Preview and author of How to Sell Your Own Home, says that “properly priced and advertised, a house sells itself.” Supple adds that sellers should plant a yard sign and post online ads for the property on local sites aligned with print publications (call current advertisers to see if a site is effective).

When it comes to the negotiations between buyers and sellers, Supple thinks brokers and their commissions tend to just get in the way. “Usually, the haggling occurs over a 5 to 10 percent difference,” he says. “And that is more or less the broker’s cut of the sale price. You don’t need him.” Just be sure you price your home well. The way most self-sellers hurt themselves, Supple says, is in setting either an unreasonably high or tragically low asking price. “Hire an independent appraiser for $200,” he suggests, “and he will tell you [the parameters of] what to charge.”

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.

Secret Stimulus Savings

Six months after President Obama unveiled his $787 billion stimulus package, some of the benefits are still hiding in the fine print. But that’s no reason for consumers to miss out on the perks. Here’s how to cash in.

Upgrade your home

The package doled out a $1,500 tax credit to help consumers buy certain energy-efficient products. But you may get even more help from your state or local utility companies. Amounts vary by state, but some companies give as much as 20 percent toward the purchase of items like green refrigerators. For a single-family home, installing a $10,000 air-conditioning system may cost only $6,500 after a $2,000 rebate from the utility and the federal tax credit. New York, California, Florida, Texas and Pennsylvania offer especially big rebates, says the Energy Coalition’s Executive Director Craig Perkins, but the trick is making sure the products you buy qualify. Some don’t, and some offer better rebates than others. Salespeople also “often don’t know enough” to point you to the right machines, says Perkins. You can research using the “Rebate Locator” at www.energystar.com or try www.dsireusa.org for programs offered in your state. Keep in mind, some of this year’s programs aren’t even out yet. The Department of Energy says details of its $300 million in state-issued Energy Star appliance rebates should be announced in the coming weeks.

Buy a home to retire in

First-time home buyers get a tax credit of up to $8,000 in 2009. That’s great news for newlyweds, but what about older folks? Actually, “first time” applies to those who haven’t owned a home in the past three years and have a maximum household income of $150,000. So wealthier renters looking for retirement homes who wouldn’t think they qualify do, says Tom Ochsenschlager, vice president of taxation for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Trim your health care costs

The Cobra subsidy makes health care more affordable for the unemployed. But if you chose an expensive plan, fees can still be steep. You can switch to a cheaper one if your former employer okays it. Just make sure your old boss knows where to notify you of the benefits. “People who move may miss out,” says Connecticut-based benefits consultant Tom Billet.

Commute to work for less

Employees can now set aside up to $230 pretax dollars a month from their paycheck for public-transportation costs. That’s up from $120. But there’s no requirement that employers have to notify you about this perk, says Scott Mezistrano, of the American Payroll Association. It’s very possible people don’t know, he says.

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.

5 Kinds of Stores Discounting Deeply (Deal of the Day)

Summer has just started, but retailers are already feeling the heat.

Clothiers, restaurants and other vendors are wilting – and cutting prices – as they struggle to cope with a slowdown in consumer spending. The upshot for customers is a slew of deals across a variety of sectors.

For many stores, the situation is grim. The personal savings rate hit 6.9% in May, its highest level in more than 15 years and up from close to zero in early 2008, according to the Commerce Department. At the same time, a steady rise in the unemployment rate is putting downward pressure on consumer confidence; the Consumer Confidence Index stood at 49.3 in June, down from 54.8 in May, according to the Conference Board.

The combination of tighter wallets and lower confidence is creating a huge challenge for retailers, says Mike Gatti, the executive director at the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association, a trade group that tracks company advertising and marketing strategies. Since the beginning of this year, consumers have focused on necessities like groceries and on value, he says.

Almost every sector has been hit hard, and retailers are responding by printing coupons, slashing prices and pairing up with high-quality brands on deals exclusive to their stores, Gatti says. For example, Kohl’s (KSS) sells a Vera Wang summer clothing line. Other retailers are sticking to traditional sales, like back-to-school summer deals, which typically begin in late July, says Kathy Grannis, a spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation, a trade group that tracks seller and consumer behavior.

Here are the five retail sectors that have been hit the hardest and a few ways to take advantage of their discounted pricing.

Car dealers

Retail sales: $52.1 billion in March, down from $70.3 billion a year ago.

The auto industry has experienced the biggest decline in sales during the past year, according to the Commerce Department. Many consumers remain wary of purchasing a car for fear of missing payments if they lose their jobs, says Ron Stampfl, a marketing professor at San Diego State University.

Some dealers are attempting to boost sales by removing some of the risk associated with purchasing a car during a period of high unemployment. Hyundai’s Assurance program, which launched in January, lets customers return their new car if they lose their job and absolves them of up to $7,500 of negative equity, the difference between what you owe on a car and its worth. (Ford (F) and Saturn have also offered similar deals.)

It’s no secret the sector is hurting. Chrysler projects the U.S. industry will sell fewer than 10 million new cars this year – the fewest since 1986, says Kathy Graham, a spokeswoman for the firm. Chrysler, which emerged from bankruptcy on June 10, sold 66,324 vehicles in June, down 16% from the year-ago period. The firm’s July incentives include 0% financing for 60 months on select 2009 models or up to $4,000 in cash back. Current Chrysler owners are eligible for up to $1,000 cash back when they purchase select 2008 and 2009 models. Because Chrysler didn’t produce new vehicles in May and June, inventory on several models – including Jeep Wranglers and Chrysler Sebring convertibles – is down, so consumers may not find the exact model they hope for, Graham says.

Home furnishings

Retail sales: $7.7 billion in March, down from $8.8 billion a year ago.

Home furnishings are in a slump right now primarily because fewer people are buying new homes, says Jeff Green, the president of Mill Valley, Calif.-based Jeff Green Partners, a retail consulting firm. Those who are staying put are paying off their mortgages, not upgrading their decor, he says.

That leaves traditional furniture stores in a sticky situation. Earlier this year, Z Gallerie and Fortunoff went into bankruptcy. To boost sales and move inventory, other furniture stores are offering steep discounts ranging between 50% and 70% off, Green says.

Pier 1 (PIR) remains committed to the summer sales strategy it’s used for several years, says Kelly Keenum, a spokeswoman for the company. “We recognize that more than ever customers are looking for deals,” she says. But the store’s summer sale isn’t new and hasn’t been altered because of current economic conditions, she says.

At Pier 1 more than 1,000 items are selling at up to 50% off sticker price. A curved-back counter stool is selling for $60, down from $149, and an ornate wooden storage box sells for $100, down from $150. At Crate & Barrel, a veranda arm chair and side table sell for $139 and $50, respectively, down from $216 and $100. 

Apparel

Retail sales: $16.3 billion in March, down from $17.8 billion a year ago.

Department stores have been hit especially hard in the past year, Green says. Two regional department store chains have liquidated in the past eight months: Gottschalks and Mervyn’s.

In a way, these stores were doomed before their announcements. Consumers perceive department stores to sport higher prices than discount chains like TJ Maxx (TJX) and Marshalls, junior department stores like Kohl’s and J.C. Penney (JCP) and the big-box chains like Wal-Mart (WMT), Target (TGT) and Kmart, Green says.

Macy’s (M) projects its same-store sales to drop between 6% and 8% in 2009, says Jim Sluzewski, a company spokesman. Last year, total sales at Macy’s came in at $25 billion. The company’s main promotional strategy, which includes coupons and discounts, has been in place since before the economic downturn, he says. The chain’s response to the downturn has been to offer more “everyday value prices,” which means that the merchandise hits the racks at the lowest price the retailer is willing to go, rather than starting higher and then being discounted, he says.

Women’s clothing stores have seen sales slide by about $400 million between February 2008 and February 2009, according to the latest data from the Commerce Department. As household budgets tighten, more women are focusing on groceries and their children’s needs, Green says. During the last year, women’s retailers including Talbots (TLB) and Ann Taylor (ANN) each saw their sales fall by at least 10%.

If stores are still flush with summer inventory by early August (the end of the retail summer cycle), expect 25% to 50% discounts, Green says.

At Macy’s, a women’s Tommy Hilfiger coat sells for $91, down from $182, and a men’s Ralph Lauren cotton suit is down to $299 from $495. J.C. Penney’s “Christmas in July” sale features 40% to 60% discounts on jewelry and an additional 10% discount online, leaving a pair of 18-karat gold earrings at $53, down from $169. Ann Taylor’s semi-annual sale features discounts of up to 60% off apparel, including tops starting at $13.

Electronics

Retail sales: $7.8 billion in March, down from $8.7 billion a year ago.

Even after Circuit City’s liquidation earlier this year, there is still competition in the consumer electronics sector among national chains like Best Buy (BBY), online retailers like Amazon.com (AMZN) and manufacturers like Dell (DELL) and Apple (AAPL).

Amazon is offering discounts of up to 40% on a variety of consumer electronics. A Samsung 52-inch LCD HDTV is selling for $1,700, a 15% discount, and Denon headphones are selling for $427, 39% below the usual price.

This week, Dell is offering savings of $50 to $234 on its laptops. The Inspiron 15 laptop is selling for $399, down from an original price of $449, and the Studio 15 is selling for $649, down from $854.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) is offering rebates of $75 to $300 throughout the summer on its desktops. Until July 7, HP is offering a discount of upwards of $400 on the Pavilion p6150t series.

Full-service restaurants

Retail sales: $15.63 billion in February, down from $15.69 billion a year ago.

More consumers are passing on full-service restaurants, downgrading to fast food or home-cooked meals, Stampfl says. As a result, restaurants are promoting lower prices and value meals at fixed low prices, Green says.

For example, Applebee’s 2-for-$20 deal, includes one appetizer and two entrees. Outback Steakhouse introduced a new menu in February with 15 meals under $15, including a six-ounce sirloin steak with grilled shrimp and a baked potato.

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.

Russians complete NZ dairy factory takeover

Reserve Bank needs to tell Govt solutions, says Key

Methven in hot water over shower head claims

MFR's Shapiro Sees More Joblessness, Doubts Sustained Recovery

Workers fight $20,000 job plan

Brad Hintz Says We Can Write This Year Off for M&As

Departing brokers leave locals to flourish

AIG brands Greenberg 'a liar'

California credit rating cut close to junk

Dover's Cliggott Sees Relentless Downward Pressure on Profits

Senator Warner Prefers Committee to Regulate Systemic Risk

Gerstner Discusses Obama, Economy, Health Care, Education

Write-Offs: 07.06.09

$$$ Miracle on 78th St: Marisa Noel Brown Finds a Buyer [Cityfile]

$$$ Sallie Krawcheck might go work for UBS [clusterstock]

$$$ Sex Diaries: The Gay Commodities Trader [NYM]

$$$ Are you among those absolutely loving the unemployed track? [via AWL]

For Once, The Government Does Not Want Its Voice Heard

According to the administration, the Treasury is trying to find every way possible to make sure that its voice is not heard in the companies in which it has become an accidental shareholder. While it feels it should have significant control over the businesses in which many of these companies operate in, the administration wants to make sure that it doesn't use its shares to determine such things as executive pay.

The Obama administration is set to release a policy on how it will vote the government's shares in the coming weeks. On many resolutions offered by investors -- from demanding pro- environment policies to allowing domestic partner benefits to reining in executive bonuses -- the Treasury plans to ask that its ballots be counted in the same proportion as the votes of other stockholders so it won't impact the results.

As Kenny Lewis can attest to, when it comes to the stuff that really matters, backroom waterboarding is a far more compelling tool than shareholder votes.

Treasury Plans to Limit Voting of Shares in Rescued Companies [Bloomberg]

Hear: Which Teacher's Worth More Money?

Protesting budget cuts in Berkeley, Calif. Justin Sullivan/Getty

 

On today's Planet Money:

-- Here's an economic riddle: A listener says teacher colleges in his nation compete for students by making the coursework easier, resulting in rookie educators who aren't as well-trained as they might be. What would an economist call this problem, and how can it be fixed? Robert Frank, author of the Economic Naturalist's Field Guide, spots an answer.

-- Should good teachers make more than bad ones? The Obama administration says the nation needs to start rewarding merit, and economist Michael Podgursky of the University of Missouri agrees. It's just that there's no simple means of carrying that out.

Bonus: They're so glad they paid off their mortgage.

Download the podcast; or subscribe. Intro music: Girl Talk's "Hands in the Air." Find us: Twitter/ Facebook/ Flickr.

Responding to the debate about paying off a mortgage, Jason McDonnell writes:

I find it strange that people feel that they will live a life with a home mortgage hanging around their neck.

My wife and I waited till we were nearly 30 before we bought our first home. Back in 1999 we searched around SE Michigan and bought a brand new home for $163,700. Our realtor at the time said to us "Do you want to buy a house that cheap?". We were qualified for $245,000 at the time.

When we bought the house we put 20% downpayment and avoided the excess PMI fees that others with 10~5% down did. Then we made a budget and paid each month our monthly payment, plus 100% of any overtime take home pay, after taxes. Any bonus, Christmas gift, etc was put against the home loan. Each year when we got raises, we put 100% of the additional take home pay, towards the home loan. Near the end of paying the loan off we were paying over 2x the minimum payment.

As interest rates fell, we avoided swapping our 7.75% mortgage for a cheaper one, because at the time we would pay more in refinancing fees than what we would save at the rate we were paying the loan off. In the end it took 3 years and 5 months, but we paid off our loan in FULL.

Since that time we have been free of a home mortgage for over 6 years. When we moved from Michigan to Arizona we got discounts as we could pay cash for the house. As the housing market fell it is sad we lost equity, but at the same time we can buy about the same house else where for about what our home is worth. Our exchange value has not changed much, so really it is not a big loss.

I can't understand why you would pay the mortgage and not get out from under it. The standard IRS deduction covers us just fine and we have lots of money to do as we wish. If we lose our jobs, it is not a horrible issue as no one is going to take our home away. We could flip burgers and still stay in the house.

For us, there is no NEW ECONOMY. The basic systems of money do not change. With the biggest rule: Don't owe people money for anything you don't have to.

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How the major stock indexes fared on Monday (AP)

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

Marshall Goldman Says Missile Defense, Oil of Concern to Russia

Levitt Says SEC Wrongly Accepted Money from Firms It Regulates

Indicator: Too Broke For Firecrackers

Up like a rocket in Cayucos, Calif. Kevin Cole

 

Anybody else notice a strange quiet on American streets over the holiday weekend? Hoover Pendleton writes from Portand, Ore., that the recession has resulted in "people setting less stuff on fire":

Every year (first with our skittish dog and now with our early-to-bed toddler) the 4th of July has been kind of a nightmare for us, as every kid (defined loosely as anyone under 15, and any male under the age of ~57) in the City spends three days or so setting a match to anything and everything in the hopes that it will make some kind of large exploding sound. The 3rd, 4th, and 5th have always been the worst, with fireworks going off until the wee hours of the morning for three consecutive days.

But this year was different.

The 3rd (even though it was a Friday) came and went as simply another day. The 4th erupted with its usual bang (except in Vancouver, Washington, where they canceled their regionally-famous fireworks display - citing fiscal woes), but didn't seem to drag on as long. And the 5th was all quiet on the Northwestern front. I mentioned this to my co-workers this morning (7/6), and they all agreed. Even though they hail from different neighborhoods scattered throughout Portland, they all reported quieter, more sane holiday weekends this year. And a good friend of mine who is an EMT (and who was on-duty over the weekend), said that his last few days have been "surprisingly mellow."

Our collective theory, of course, is that, like the City of Vancouver, individuals and families have been feeling the pinch, and therefore not buying as much ammunition, er, fireworks this year. Stated in simpler terms, economic meltodown = relative peace and quiet.

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Cali Madoff Victims Tempt Fate

The Ponzi circle of life has now come full circle in California. For years, Madoff victims paid real money in state taxes on their fake Bernie profits. Now those victims want the state to issue tax refunds in the neighborhood of $20 million for their phantom gains. The Californians who invested 100% of their money with one guy and are looking to be made whole should really pick their battles. If they continue down this path, some legislator will not be able to resist the temptation to slap them in the face again by using the state's three-letter solution to everything to deal with this problem as well.

Madoff victims explore tax refunds on 'phantom' profits [Boston Herald]

Hours Worked Hits Historic Low: You Saw It Coming

The lowest ever. source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

Viewed a certain way, the drop in the average American workweek looks small -- very, very small. In June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports, production and nonsupervisory workers spent one-tenth of an hour less on the job than they had in May. Six minutes? How big a deal is that? Here's how big:

It's "the lowest level on record for the series, which began in 1964," the BLS says.

Late last year, we started hearing from you folks about your hours being cut or your employers sending you out on furlough. At the time, the experience was so new that you couldn't find much record of it in the government stats. Now you can, and it's a scary sight. That average of six minutes a week reflects a nation of people who've been laid off, or pushed into part-time work, or lost a day's pay here or there, or can't pick up the overtime that they once used to cover their bills.

Harvard's Jeff Frankels writes that the length of the workweek is his favorite means of taking the economy's pulse. Frankels notes that total hours worked fell by .8 percent, "continuing the same rapid deterioration we have seen since last September, the month when Lehman Brothers failed and the recession worsened sharply."

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Was The Russian Sending Goldman A Coded Message?

That this is what happens when you f a stranger and/or employee in the ass? In the figurative sense of not compensating him as much as he thought was deserved (we can't speak to whatever off the clock relationship Aleynikov had with Lloyd Blankfein)? Matthew Goldstein, who broke the story, says yes.

'Transformers' freezes out 'Ice Age' in updated box office tally

Betting On California IOUs

Seen in Sacramento. beerzie boy via Flickr

 

California started paying some of its bills in registered warrants
just before the July 4 holiday. It's an extraordinary step.

With the state promising to pay an interest rate of 3.75 percent annually until the warrant is redeemed, a small market for the IOUs has already cropped up, with people looking to buy them and make a profit on the interest. Second Market, a company that trades illiquid assets, has set up a whole team to work on the warrants.

And as you can see in the picture above, the IOUs haven't made for a seamless system. Some banks are still weighing whether or not to accept them while others have set a deadline for cashing them in.

Last Thursday, the state issued warrants totaling $53.3 million. Warrants have been issued to private businesses, local governments and individual taxpayers.

Facing a budget gap of nearly $27 billion, California could end up doling out $4.8 billion in IOUs by the end of August. California is reportedly the only state to ever issue warrants -- it has done so twice before, in 1992 and 1933.

The registered warrants can be redeemed on Oct. 2, 2009, or earlier if the state has sufficient cash.

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Indicator: More Pages

Listener Jun-Dai points out that the FDIC just added pagination to their failed bank list. The press department at the FDIC confirmed the change, which went live last week. FDIC spokesman David Barr says: "With the list getting longer, the Web people were looking at ways to make it more user friendly." Last week six banks in Illinois and one in Texas were added to the list, bringing this year's total up to 52 failed banks.

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The road a new GM must take

'Hugging saint' embraces vendors too

Clutch players get in business

The untold costs of discount prices

Upside: Garden center sees growth

Why hasn't the stimulus trickled down?

Goldman formula may have been stolen

Firms show caution in Russian investing

Dan North Sees `Significant' Inflationary Pressures in 2011

Saut Sees U.S. Treasuries in Bubble Until Second Half of 2010

MFGlobal's Tyson `Wary' of Treasuries Due to Increased Auctions

'Why I'll Never Pay It Down'

Susheel writes:

I'd like to tell you about why I'll never pay my mortgage down, EVEN if I come into a nice stash of cash like those folks you interviewed on the last show.

First, the tax break. I've read that the tax break is a wash in the end, but generally I think having that deduction is a good arrow to have in your income tax avoidance quiver.

Second, even assuming the tax break is a wash, it turns into a definite benefit when you consider what you can do with the principal. I'd much rather invest that money in other asset classes to diversify my portfolio, especially since it is the mortgagee, not the mortgagor, that sees all the benefits of appreciation. This is, of course, leverage, which as of late has a bad rap but is a good thing when managed well.

Third, I live in California, so instead of taking earthquake insurance (which I've read is a scam), I just don't pay down my principal. Then in the unlikely case that my home is destroyed by an earthquake (or ravaged by a weak market :) ), I can walk away from the home, and though I will suffer 7 years of bad credit due to foreclosure, I will not be on the hook for the whole value of the property.

Next, I'd like to debunk the main reason folks cling to as reasons to pay down the mortgage, i.e., people say they like the piece of mind of owning their home.

I don't see why folks who own their home outright own it much more than a mortgagee. The bank can't just evict from my home for any reason. Sure, I have made payments, but I've been saving the principal in other MUCH more liquid asset classes, so I can draw from it as need be. I can save the money interest rate, FDIC insured savings account, and then the only difference between my ownership and a person who has paid off their mortgage is a quick wire transfer .

Also, for those who do own their home outright, they may feel better if they get laid off, etc., but they can't eat their house. If I get laid off, the fact that I own my house won't be of any consolation. In fact, by not paying down my principal and instead saving that money / investing it in other non-risky asset classes, I would be better off when I do get laid off, as I can then (figuratively) eat part of my house by using that liquid savings to eat (and continue making interest payments to keep the house). Also, a home equity loan is not an option if you get laid off, so owning your home outright won't help in that respect either.

To sum up, not paying down your mortgage but instead storing it away, even in a low interest rate, FDIC insured savings account, is economically advantageous and also gives one more flexibility.

Of course, my biggest problem with not paying down my mortgage is convincing my wife it is a good idea (she is, like me, a disciplined saver).

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SuccessFactors’ David Karel Weighs In on Employee Productivity

Managers have been struggling to maximize employee productivity almost since the beginning of time. Shelves full of books exist on the subject. Magazines and online articles try to tackle the problem on a daily basis. High-priced consultants, experts, and speakers add to the mass of productivity-improvement tips. Could there possibly be an easy answer?

In SuccessFactors‘ world, there is. The San Mateo, CA-based company provides scalable talent management software that helps companies track, review, profile, compensate, and manage their employees more effectively. The company provides a variety of on-demand solutions for every size of company, from startups to “mega-businesses” with 20,000+ employees.

If you’re not sure whether software can actually cure age-old management woes, just ask the market. Last year, Deloitte put SuccessFactors on its Fast 50 list of fastest-growing software and IT companies. That’s because the company experienced 1,437% between fiscal years 2003-2007. Clearly, something is working.

Business Pundit caught up with SuccessFactors VP of Product Marketing David Karel to find out more about the company’s views on employee performance, company efficiency, and how SuccessFactors itself has attained such, well, success.

BP: What are 2-3 of the biggest pitfalls that all companies face in terms of productivity? How do your products address those pitfalls?

1. Companies are unable to bridge the strategy/execution gap.

In many organizations, there’s a gap between the overall company strategy and day-to-day execution in the organization. Why? Because execution hinges on a company’s ability to clearly communicate strategic goals throughout the entire organization, ensure everyone is aligned with those goals and enable line management to measure and manage performance of individual contributors at a tactical level in order to drive strategy on a daily basis. This gap gets increasingly larger as companies grow and executives are asked to do a lot more with a lot less.

SuccessFactors gives organizations the ability to easily set and communicate goals to literally every person in the organization (no matter how big or small), hold people accountable for progress against all goals and proactively address productivity and performance gaps as they occur.

2. Companies have a tough time hanging on to their best, most productive people.

Identifying, attracting and keeping top talent is a hot button for most executives because star performers vastly outperform the lower performers in an organization — by as much as 3 times according to research. Even in times as difficult as these, a company’s best people may leave if not given a reason to stick around. The war for talent has not ended; a company’s top performers are still being targeted by competition.

SuccessFactors gives companies the ability to hone in and identify high potential employees and provide them with leadership opportunities, development opportunities and stretch goals to keep them highly engaged. In tandem, we give them the tools to develop employees and reward them based on performance which can have a dramatic effect on both retention and bottom line business results.

3. Companies are not getting the most out of their workforce.

Every organization has a bell curve of performance across their workforce; the rule of thumb is that ten percent are leading the bell curve, 80 percent fall in the middle and about ten percent trail behind with the lowest performance. Not ideal at all. While companies often focus on nurturing their top talent — or fret about managing their low performers — imagine the impact on an organization that could do something to shift the performance curve of the “mass in the middle” even slightly to the right.

We help set clear goals and expectations, and we provide meaningful feedback. Plus, we help companies optimize their workforce with tools to develop and promote from within and make the right external hires when they must go to the outside – so companies can make sure key positions remain filled with the right person for the right job.

Currently, companies are spending about 70 percent of operating expenses on their people. Why should such an immense asset not be fully utilized? SuccessFactors helps provide ways to make better business decisions in today’s tough economy and we pride ourselves on giving our customers the tools to pull the most powerful levers they have to shift that curve to the right.

BP: Can you briefly describe the ideal “pay-for-performance” environment?

Ideally, a pay-for-performance culture takes root when:

1. Employees are given visibility into what really matters to the organization

2. Expectations are clearly set around how each employee is to make an impact

3. Everyone’s performance is compared against these expectations is then measured — always fairly and consistently.

4. Rewards in the form of raises, bonuses, etc. are then passed out based on real achievement.

5. Execution is the most important, and most often overlooked, part of running a successful business. Especially in the current environment, executives should use every tool at their disposal to make sure their company is running as a single machine and moving toward big-vision goals. This means ensuring each employee compensations, bonuses and so on are tied to performance, and SuccessFactors provides tools to do just that.

BP: How do your products and services ensure that a manager’s team is working at peak levels of efficiency 100% of the time?

In this environment, with many organizations forced to downsize or put a hold on hiring, managers are being asked to deliver a lot more with less. It’s quite the conundrum. Against this backdrop, team optimization is the key to survival. SuccessFactors’ suite of tools helps managers do just that by getting everyone focused on what matters most to the team, and to the organization at-large. Whether it is giving managers the solutions they need to both develop each employee to his or her full potential or making sure teams are fully engaged and motivated to give their most — everyday — SuccessFactors is there everyday to help companies achieve tangible and measurable results, lower costs, and align their organizations.

BP: SuccessFactors is doing really well as a company. How did the company grow so successful? How is it staying successful in a difficult economy?

Today, SuccessFactors is one of the fastest growing software company in the world — but it hasn’t been easy. In fact, SuccessFactors was born in 2001, during a challenging economic time in Silicon Valley, and we’ve battled every step of the way to rise from an unknown start-up to a market leader. We now boast a massive and growing 4.7 million strong user base with more than 2,600 customers in 185 countries — and we’re only getting started.

Since day one, SuccessFactors has been focused on customer success and our on-demand platform helps us do this quickly – getting customer-driven product evolution and frequent enhancements up-and-running when they need it. We also deliver innovative, customer-driven new features on an iterative monthly basis, allowing customers to continuously increase the value they receive from us. We also interact and work closely with our customers on a daily basis – a paradigm shift from the legacy, on-premise software sales model of selling multi-million dollar license deals and then reengaging the customer five years later.

How has this downturn changed our business? Now, our customers are pouring everything to keep their existing customers satisfied and do more with less. They’re doing that by putting increased focus on their top talent and high performers to make sure their employees are motivated and engaged. As a result, SuccessFactors has gone from a nice-to-have to a must-have in the arsenal of software solutions. That’s how we’re able to thrive in the downturn.

David Karel is the VP of Product Marketing at SuccessFactors. Learn more about SuccessFactors here.

World Bank: Free Trade, Please

Cheaper. Rick Alfaro

 

When countries put up barriers to free trade, bad things tend to happen. That's a long-held tenet of economics: protectionism is harmful. You've heard it recently from economists on Planet Money, and now the message comes again, from the World Bank. Reuters reports on remarks by World Bank president Robert Zoellick, who spoke at a World Trade Organization conference.

"High-income countries have used subsidies for troubled industries, while low-income countries are using selective increases in border barriers," Zoellick said. "These trends could easily spin out of control in coming months as unemployment rises and one country feels compelled to respond tit-for-tat to the policies of another."

Zoellick compared the protectionist measures and counter-measures to "playing with fire" and said that when the economy picks up again, countries locked in by tariffs and other trade barriers will suffer longer. Countries committed to free trade will break out of the recession faster, he argued.

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