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Opening Bell: 07.30.09Senate Probes Banks For Meltdown Fraud (WSJ) Tax Evaders Flock To IRS To Confess Their Sins (WSJ)
Citigroup 'Moving Extremely Fast' on Asset Sales (Bloomberg) Goldman Sachs Hatred Might Cost You Your Bonus (Bloomberg) Congress Aims For More Accountable Corporate Boards (Reuters) Central Park Tree Tragedy (NYP) 
Sponsored Topics: United States district court - Internal Revenue Service - UBS AG - United States - Barney Frank Source: Dealbreaker | 30 Jul 2009 | 7:15 am AstraZeneca lifts forecast on strong performanceAstraZeneca, the drugmaking group, today raised its full year profit forecasts after quarterly profits proved better than expected. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 30 Jul 2009 | 6:49 am Motorola posts profit even as revenue falls (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 30 Jul 2009 | 6:14 am Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades in Tech & Telecom (AKAM, DRIV, IFX, LEAP, PCS, NETL, SAP, TEL)These are the top upgrades, downgrades, and new coverage calls from Wall Street analysts in technology and telecom this Thursday morning: Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM) Cut to Hold at Jefferies; Cut to to Neutral from Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford. Digital River (NASDAQ: DRIV) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank. Infineon (NYSE:IFX) Raised to Buy at RBS. Leap Wireless [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 30 Jul 2009 | 6:12 am European stock markets rally (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 30 Jul 2009 | 6:05 am Earnings Watch: Updates, advisories and surprisesA roundup of the latest corporate earnings reports and what companies are saying about future quarters.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 30 Jul 2009 | 6:01 am Stock futures point toward higher opening (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:59 am Xecel profit climbs 10% on higher ratesXcel Energy says favorable rulings in rate cases boosted its latest quarterly profit by 10%.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:56 am International Paper profit falls 40% on flat salesInternational Paper's second-quarter earnings fall 40% on flat sales due to a drop in demand in its end markets.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:55 am Enron boss seeks early release in court appealThe former chief executive of Enron may see his 24-year sentence for fraud cut by ten years today after his case was re-examined by an appeal court. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:54 am UK regulator summons oil market playersThe UK regulator has called a special meeting of oil market participants to review regulation of the commodity market following last year’s record rise in crude pricesSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:53 am Dow Chemical posts loss on charges, weaker salesNEW YORK (Reuters) - Dow Chemical Co posted a second-quarter loss on Thursday as sales slumped and the company took large charges to revamp its operations.Source: Reuters: Business News | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:52 am Oil bounces above $64LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose above $64 a barrel on Thursday, boosted by stock markets in Europe and Asia, better than expected corporate results and data suggesting the economic downturn was bottoming out.Source: Reuters: Business News | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:51 am Oil bounces above $64 (Reuters)Reuters - Oil rose above $64 a barrel on Thursday, boosted by stock markets in Europe and Asia, better than expected corporate results and data suggesting the economic downturn was bottoming out.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:51 am Treasury finally getting tough on banksDon't look now, but the government has actually strung a couple modest victories together in its dealings with big banks.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:51 am Currencies: Dollar loses steam as equities riseThe dollar slips against most major counterparts on Thursday.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:49 am Motorola post profit even as revenue fallsNEW YORK (Reuters) - Motorola Inc posted a quarterly profit versus a year-earlier loss as it cut costs and shipped more cell phones than expected, although revenue fell short of Wall Street estimates.Source: Reuters: Business News | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:47 am Madoff gives feeder fund managers' names to lawyerLOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A San Francisco attorney who interviewed imprisoned swindler Bernard Madoff in a federal prison this week said on Wednesday he plans to amend a lawsuit to include possibly several fund managers who funneled investor money to Madoff's $65 billion Ponzi scheme.Source: Reuters: Business News | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:47 am Madoff gives feeder fund managers' names to lawyer (Reuters)Reuters - A San Francisco attorney who interviewed imprisoned swindler Bernard Madoff in a federal prison this week said on Wednesday he plans to amend a lawsuit to include possibly several fund managers who funneled investor money to Madoff's $65 billion Ponzi scheme.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:47 am Phone call to NYSE set off Braikan fraud probe (Reuters)Reuters - A phone call to the New York Stock Exchange from an investor worried that he'd just been duped helped spark a chain of events early last week that led U.S. authorities to file fraud charges against a Kuwaiti financier, who was later found dead in his home.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:44 am Waste Management profit falls 22% on pricesWaste Management's second-quarter net income falls 22% as the trash hauler absorbs lower prices for its recycled materials.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:42 am Futures rise on profit optimism; GE upgradedNEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures rose on Thursday following another string of stronger-than-expected quarterly corporate profits, including from Visa Inc , and fresh indications that the global economic downturn is easing.Source: Reuters: Business News | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:40 am Futures rise on profit optimism; GE upgraded (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:40 am Futures rise on profit optimism; GE upgraded (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:40 am China's central bank reassures on monetary policy (Reuters)Reuters - China's central bank pledged to maintain loose monetary policy to support the economy and said it would ensure sustainable credit growth without resorting to heavy-handed quotas to rein in a lending spree.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:38 am China's central bank reassures on monetary policyBEIJING (Reuters) - China's central bank pledged to maintain loose monetary policy to support the economy and said it would ensure sustainable credit growth without resorting to heavy-handed quotas to rein in a lending spree.Source: Reuters: Business News | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:38 am UPDATE 2-Cigna profit rises, beats estimates* Expects steeper drop in year-end enrollment (Adds details from results, outlook)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:37 am Goldman Sachs Raises GE… on Barney Frank (GE)It seems that the sudden relief of political and regulatory pressure against General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) caught more than just our eyes after the close yesterday. The conglomerate and financial giant saw its shares raised at Goldman Sachs to Buy from Neutral based upon the fears of a separation from manufacturing and financial units [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:30 am UPDATE 1-Patterson-UTI sinks to quarterly lossNEW YORK, July 30 (Reuters) - Patterson-UTI Energy Inc , an onshore drilling contractor, sunk to a loss for the second quarter as weak North American natural gas prices in shrunk demand for its drilling...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:30 am America's deficit: Just too damn bigWhen George Bush took office at the beginning of 2001, the federal government was running a substantial budget surplus and projected rising surpluses "as far as the eye could see." Now, the United States is facing massive current deficits -- as a share of the economy, the largest since World War II -- and an increasingly dire and unsustainable outlook over the next 10 years and beyond.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:30 am London Markets: Reed Elsevier shares tumble in upbeat LondonReed Elsevier shares fall sharply in London on Thursday, after the Anglo-Dutch publisher posts a drop in profit.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:30 am Stocks on track for early riseU.S. stocks appeared set to open higher on Thursday although trading could be volatile as investors take in another round of corporate profit reports.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:28 am Motorola post profit even as revenue fallsNEW YORK (Reuters) - Motorola Inc posted a quarterly profit versus a year-earlier loss as it cut costs and shipped more cell phones than expected, although revenue fell short of Wall...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:27 am Dow Chemical swings to second-quarter lossDow Chemical posts a second-quarter loss, a reversal from the prior year's profit, as the company's CEO paints a mixed picture on the business outlook for the balance of 2009.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:26 am Krka says Jan-June group net steady at 78.1 mln euroTRSKA GORA, Slovenia, July 30 (Reuters) - Pharmaceutical company Krka said on Thursday that January-to-June group net profit was 78.1 million euros ($110.1 million) compared with 78.4 million in the same...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:25 am Sky edges closer to 10 million customer goalBSkyB, the satellite broadcaster, signed 124,000 customers in the three months to June, and ended its financial year with more than one in seven of its television subscribers taking both its internet and phone services as well. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:22 am Colgate-Palmolive profit tops expectationsCHICAGO (Reuters) - Colgate-Palmolive Co's quarterly profit rose more than expected, as cost-cutting helped offset the impact of weaker consumer spending and the stronger U.S. dollar.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:22 am UPDATE 3-Telecinco, A3 profits fall but outlook brightensMADRID, July 30 (Reuters) - Spanish broadcaster Telecinco posted a heavy fall in first-half profit on Thursday, hit by lower advertising revenues, but it beat market expectations and management tipped...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:22 am Car and truck maker results weak, less gloomyPARIS/TOKYO (Reuters) - Automakers in Europe and Japan unveiled weak results for the first half of the year on Thursday and are set to keep tight control over costs but most predict an improvement in conditions for the rest of 2009.Source: Reuters: Business News | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:20 am Investors holding stocks at pre-Lehman levelsLONDON (Reuters) - Leading investors have taken their holdings of stocks back up to levels last seen just before the collapse of Lehman Brothers, a series of Reuters polls showed on...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:17 am Indications: U.S. stock-index futures point higherU.S. stock-index futures are on the rise, signaling a potential rebound by Wall Street from the previous day’s decline amid an ongoing flood of second-quarter earnings news.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:17 am UPDATE 2-AstraZeneca ups outlook after generic drugs stall* 2009 EPS now seen $5.70 to 6.00 vs $5.15-5.45 previouslySource: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:14 am Oil prices recovering some groundGlobal oil prices rise in Thursday's market trading, recovering some ground after big declines on Wednesday.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:11 am CNN.com: Ex-Enron chief to be resentencedFormer Enron Corp. chief Jeffrey Skilling, convicted three years ago of fraud, is scheduled to be resentenced Thursday after a federal appeals court vacated his 24-year sentence earlier this year.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:08 am RPT UPDATE 1-Lundbeck, Solvay stop schizophrenia drug studiesCOPENHAGEN, July 30 (Reuters) - Danish pharmaceuticals group Lundbeck and Belgium's Solvay have stopped Phase III clinical trials on the experimental schizophrenia drug bifeprunox, Lundbeck said on Thursday...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:04 am RPT-FACTBOX-European firms sell over 8.5 bln euros in junk bondsLONDON (Reuters) - European companies have raised more than 8.5 billion euros this year via the high-yield or "junk" bond market, re-opening a market which had effectively shut down at the start of the...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:02 am Sony, Sharp post losses, Nintendo loses steam (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:01 am Sony, Sharp post losses, Nintendo loses steamTOKYO (Reuters) - Sony and Sharp's third straight quarters of losses underscore the challenges they face in flat TV market as they struggle to compete with Samsung Electronics and other South Korean rivals benefiting from a weaker won.Source: Reuters: Business News | 30 Jul 2009 | 5:01 am BT shares surge on hopes of turnroundBT's shares surged on Thursday after the UK's leading fixed line phone company released first quarter results that beat analysts' expectations.Ian Livingston, BT's chief executive, was able to report significant...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 30 Jul 2009 | 4:56 am Global IT unit knocks BT profitsTelecommunications firm BT reports a sharp drop in quarterly profits, following problems at its global IT services division.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 30 Jul 2009 | 4:54 am Robert PestonThe pensions black hole at BT just got blackerSource: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 30 Jul 2009 | 4:54 am MarketWatch First Take: Reed Elsevier shows pitfalls of playing recoveryReed Elsevier results show the pitfalls of playing a V-shaped recovery strategy.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 30 Jul 2009 | 4:54 am Homes 'may rise in value in 2009'The Nationwide believes there is a "reasonable chance" UK house prices could end the year higher than they started 2009.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 30 Jul 2009 | 4:51 am Singapore Air has first quarterly loss since 2003Singapore Airlines posts a first-quarter net loss of S$307 million ($212.6 million), the first time the carrier has shown red ink in six years, and warns it could see a loss for the full fiscal year against a backdrop of difficult business conditions.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 30 Jul 2009 | 4:47 am Profits fall at phone companiesThree of Europe's biggest telecoms firms report falling profits, but the results came in ahead of expectations.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 30 Jul 2009 | 4:42 am BSkyB to launch first 3D channel as recession boosts profitsBSkyB to launch its first 3D channel next year as broadcaster gets boost from more people staying at home and watching HDTV.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 30 Jul 2009 | 4:42 am Gold will hit 1000 againInvestment demand and jewellery purchases will support gold price.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 30 Jul 2009 | 4:39 am Winning gameFootball and basketball seek Asian boostSource: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 30 Jul 2009 | 4:27 am Europe stocks hit fresh eight month highEuropean equities staged a broad-based rally on Thursday, hitting a fresh eight month high as a string of mostly well-received corporate earnings convinced investors the recent run should continue.The...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 30 Jul 2009 | 4:23 am Earnings give world markets another positive boost (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 30 Jul 2009 | 4:22 am Shell unveils 70% drop in profitsShell sees its profits for the April to June period slump 70% from a year earlier, due to the fall in oil prices since last summer.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 30 Jul 2009 | 4:14 am FSA lambasted by MPs over handling of Dunfermline Building Society collapseChief financial regulator Financial Services Authority rejects MPs' criticism that it failed to adequately warn Scotland's biggest mutual.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 30 Jul 2009 | 4:04 am U.S. trust in business bounces back from lowBOSTON (Reuters) - Trust in business has rebounded from 10-year lows in the United States, but the majority of Americans still do not count on corporate America to do what is right, according to a survey released on Thursday.Source: Reuters: Business News | 30 Jul 2009 | 4:02 am A Lesson For Detroit From VWChrysler sells very few cars overseas, so it may never recover from the auto industry recession. GM and Ford (F), which have fairly large operations outside the US, should look at VW’s results for the last quarter. The largest car company in Europe posted profits that were 83% lower than last year at $398 million, [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 30 Jul 2009 | 3:59 am Weak results from VW and RenaultVolkswagen and Renault are the latest carmakers to report poor results as the industry struggles with a sharp drop in sales.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 30 Jul 2009 | 3:48 am GE gets a 'buy' recommendation from GoldmanGoldman Sachs upgraded its equity recommendation on General Electric Co. to 'buy' from 'neutral.' At the same time, the bank lifted its 12-month target price for the stock to $15 from $13, which currently suggests upside potential of 22%.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 30 Jul 2009 | 3:48 am Boeing (BA): Another Setbank In A Long SeriesThe delays in the Boeing (BA) Dreamliner were bound to cause its customers to take actions against the airplane manufacturer and that has happened. The Wall Street Journal reports that British Air is seeking to delay payments for the plane. It is a convenient time for the UK carrier to make the move. Its margins and [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 30 Jul 2009 | 3:42 am Reed Elsevier shares drop on profits fall and placingReed Elsevier shares fell sharply after the publisher posted a 52pc fall in firsthalf pretax profits and unveiled a placing to pay down debt.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 30 Jul 2009 | 3:35 am Volkswagen's cash pile growsVolkswagen on Thursday showed relative resilience against the global economic crisis, as Europe's largest carmaker further increased its cash pile and invested heavily in new products and technologies...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 30 Jul 2009 | 3:32 am FTSE higher as earnings lift the moodLondon equities rose on Thursday as investors gave a warm reception to a good proportion of the earnings news out from eight FTSE 100 constituents. On one of the busiest days for corporate newsflow of...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 30 Jul 2009 | 3:30 am Dunfermline downfall 'own fault'A report by a group of MPs says the Dunfermline Building Society was ultimately responsible for its own collapse but the FSA failed to ring alarm bells.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 30 Jul 2009 | 3:30 am Nintendo Earnings Hammered As Wii Sales Fall By HalfNintendo had its worst quarter in a long time. Sales of its aging Wii video console fell by over half to 2.23 million units for the last period. Profits also dropped by more than half to $447 million. Ninetendo only has a few options to turn its fortunes around. The company could cut the price of the [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 30 Jul 2009 | 3:28 am NYSE Euronext swings to lossThe transatlantic exchange swung into a second quarter loss after absorbing a whopping $355m one-time charge, but seen ‘accretive’ by year-endSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 30 Jul 2009 | 3:20 am Hot demand for pricey iPhonesSource: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 30 Jul 2009 | 3:15 am This Recession Is OverNo one wants to say the recession is over. It would be bad luck. The minute a prominent economist or the head of the Fed or Treasury Secretary calls an end to the downturn, some new piece of data will prove the claim to be wrong. That would make someone look like a fool. That [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 30 Jul 2009 | 3:14 am Profits down at British Gas ownerEnergy group Centrica sees half-year profits fall to £875m, although profits at its British Gas residential business rose.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 30 Jul 2009 | 3:13 am Sterling lifted by rising house pricesSterling was among the best performing of the major currencies against a generally weaker dollar on Thursday, as rallying equity markets and better-than-expected housing data drove appetite for risk.Investors...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 30 Jul 2009 | 3:08 am Reed begins £1 billion cash call to slash debtReed Elsevier, the information group, is today trying to raise about £1 billion by placing a tenth of its shares in an effort to reduce a £5.1 billion debt burden described by the company as "too high". Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 30 Jul 2009 | 3:07 am Hotel Mom and Dad: Should you charge?Question: Should I charge rent to an adult child who's living at home and, if so, how much? I've been grappling with this issue for a while and was hoping you might be able to give me couple of pointers. --FrankSource: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 30 Jul 2009 | 3:04 am House market upturn gains traction on price riseHouse prices rose for the third month in a row during July and are now higher than they were at the start of the year, the Nationwide Building Society said today. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 30 Jul 2009 | 3:02 am European stocks advance at open (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 30 Jul 2009 | 2:54 am Microsoft + Yahoo!: A Deal Without A BossWall St. found a lot of things wrong with the joint venture in the search engine industry between Microsoft (MSFT) and Yahoo! (YHOO) The smaller company’s stock dropped 12% and analysts felt that it was particularly badly served by the actions of its relatively new CEO Carol Bartz. Investors wanted Microsoft to pay upfront for the [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 30 Jul 2009 | 2:48 am Voser warns of further job losses at ShellThe new chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell has warned of "substantial" job cuts to come and announced a planned reduction in the company's capital spending programme, as it copes with weak demand, excess...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 30 Jul 2009 | 2:45 am Voser warns of further job losses at ShellPeter Voser, the new chief executive of Shell warned ‘substantial’ job cuts were likely as the oil group seeks to reduce capital spending and save costs to cope with falling energy pricesSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 30 Jul 2009 | 2:45 am Sumitomo Trust to pay $1.2bn for Citi unitTOKYO, July 30 (Reuters) - Sumitomo Trust & Banking said it will buy Citigroup's Japanese asset manager for Y112.4bn ($1.18bn), as Japan's fifth-largest bank looks for scale amid tough competition...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 30 Jul 2009 | 2:44 am Apple and its iPhone have put technology funds in the spotlight againStock markets plunged when the dotcom bubble burst nearly a decade ago but following strong results from Apple some experts claim the sector could be ripe for revival.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 30 Jul 2009 | 2:37 am National Express makes loss on East Coast hitNational Express, the bus and trains group, plunged into the red during the first six months of the year when it was forced to write-off £54.7 million after being stripped of its loss-making East Coast Mainline franchise. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 30 Jul 2009 | 2:36 am Russia signs oil contracts with CubaRussia and Cuba have signed contracts that ‘set the bases’ for Russian oil company Zarubezhneft to search for oil in Cuba’s part of the Gulf of Mexico, Cuba’s state-run press saidSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 30 Jul 2009 | 2:32 am RollsRoyce says recovery not here yetRollsRoyce which makes engines for a range of industries from aeroplanes to oil and gas companies said there are no signs of a recovery in the economy and expects the improvement to be slow when things do pick up.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 30 Jul 2009 | 2:30 am NYSE Euronext cuts jobs, as Q2 profit drops (Reuters)Reuters - Transatlantic exchange group NYSE Euronext on Thursday said it planned to cut 290 jobs in Europe and the U.S. as second-quarter earnings before one-off items dropped 34 percent to $132 million.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 30 Jul 2009 | 2:28 am NYSE Euronext cuts jobs, as Q2 profit drops (Reuters)Reuters - Transatlantic exchange group NYSE Euronext on Thursday said it planned to cut 290 jobs in Europe and the U.S. as second-quarter earnings before one-off items dropped 34 percent to $132 million.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 30 Jul 2009 | 2:28 am World stocks, commods up after China, Europe earnings (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 30 Jul 2009 | 2:26 am Foreclosures: How bad is your city?Sun Belt cities dominated the list of metro areas with the biggest foreclosure problems during the first six months of 2009.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 30 Jul 2009 | 2:24 am Taiwan's TSMC sees rebound in demandTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world's biggest contract chipmaker, on Thursday said the rebound in demand would continue into the third quarter as it posted an 87.9 per cent quarter-on-quarter...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 30 Jul 2009 | 2:23 am Alcatel-Lucent surges on break-even targetAlcatel-Lucent, the Franco-American telecoms equipment maker, on Thursday slipped to an operating loss in the second quarter, but said it still planned to break even for the full year.Ben Verwaayen, Alcatel-Lucent's...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 30 Jul 2009 | 2:09 am BSkyB profits as high definition TV attracts new customersBSkyB the satellite broadcaster said strong demand for its high definition TV service added 124000 net customers in the last quarter as subscribers joined at the fastest rate for five years.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 30 Jul 2009 | 2:05 am BT pension debt swells by £3bn as profits fallBT today revealed that a black hole in its pension fund grew by a further £3 billion over the first quarter, after the struggling telecoms group was forced to make more conservative assumptions about the scheme’s financing. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 30 Jul 2009 | 2:01 am California IOUs hard to turn into cashCalifornia may have a budget, but that doesn't mean it has the money to cash the $1.1 billion in IOUs sent out this month.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 30 Jul 2009 | 2:00 am Media Digest 7/30/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, BloombergReuters: Unemployment is causing further stress in the housing market. Reuters: The Microsoft (MSFT) deal with Yahoo! (YHOO) may have challenges with regulators. Reuters: Sony (SNE) lost money on weakness in its TV business. Reuters: The Senate is looking the roles at Goldman Sachs (GS) and Deutsche Bank (DB) may have played in last year’s meltdown in mortgage [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 30 Jul 2009 | 1:59 am Centrica's profits fall despite 80pc jump in British Gas earningsCentrica reported a slump in firsthalf profits despite an 80pc jump in earnings at its British Gas arm due to last year's price rise and a colder than average winter.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 30 Jul 2009 | 1:52 am Aussie dollar closes highSYDNEY - The Australian dollar closed higher on Thursday after positive local data and a strong day on regional equity markets lifted risk appetite and pushed the currency back above US$0.8200. At 1700 AEST, the local currency...Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 30 Jul 2009 | 1:50 am Diary of a Private Investor: 'Why do we have to assume stock markets will correct?'However you play it the income return on shares looks good compared with that on bank deposits.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 30 Jul 2009 | 1:48 am Sony profits beat expectationsSony announced on Thursday a smaller than expected first quarter net loss of Y37.1bn ($392m) because of stockmarket gains in its financial subsidiary and cost cuts that reduced losses in its core electronics...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 30 Jul 2009 | 1:48 am Aussie stocks at 9-mth highSYDNEY - The Australian share market closed moderately stronger at a fresh nine-month high, led by the banks, on increasing optimism that the economic downturn won't be as severe as expected. At the 1615 AEST close, the benchmark...Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 30 Jul 2009 | 1:47 am Shell takes axe to jobs as profits tumbleOil company delivers downbeat outlook as recession erodes demand for oil and gas.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 30 Jul 2009 | 1:44 am Shell cuts jobs as profits plunge 70%Royal Dutch Shell, Europe's largest oil company, said today profits fell by 70 per cent in the second quarter due to lower prices and a collapse in demand. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 30 Jul 2009 | 1:34 am Asia Markets And Europe Open 7/30/2009Most markets in Asia were up slightly. The Nikkei rose .5% to 10,165. Honda (HMC) rose on good results as did Sony (SNE). The Hang Seng was up .9% to 20,312. Lower oil prices pushed down shares in PetroChina (PTR). The Shanghai Composite was up 1.7% to 3,322. At the open in Europe, the FTSE was up .9% to [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 30 Jul 2009 | 1:26 am Microsoft beefs up in battle with Google over search engine marketThe software giant's blockbuster pact with Yahoo would give it almost a third of the market. But the proposed alliance faces antitrust hurdles.After a decade of skirmishes among dozens of Internet search services, only two major players may be left standing on the battlefield: the world's largest search engine, Google Inc., and its newly powerful rival, Microsoft Corp.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 30 Jul 2009 | 1:00 am Federal Reserve finds signs of economic stabilization in some regionsThe so-called beige book survey of business conditions across the country offers a brighter assessment than a previous report.The U.S. economy's downward slide is slowing, with more regions seeing signs of stabilization since mid-June, according to the Federal Reserve's latest snapshot of the economy.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 30 Jul 2009 | 1:00 am In New York, the big money's in (covering) real estateThrough boom and bust, the staff at Real Deal magazine have their hands full covering the who, where and how much of New York's inimitable real estate market.Despite carnage on Wall Street, vacant storefronts on Madison Avenue and pricey restaurants offering "grill menus" (read: cheap burgers), some things remain unchanged in the great metropolis. The price of the average Manhattan apartment is still hovering at more than $1 million.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 30 Jul 2009 | 1:00 am House Democrats make a healthcare dealAn agreement that saves $100 billion and addresses 'Blue Dog' and business concerns could lead to a vote in September. But now some angry liberal Democrats will have to be mollified.After weeks of fractious debate that threatened to derail President Obama's healthcare overhaul, House Democrats on Wednesday reached a critical if fragile agreement that appeared to pave the way for the chamber to vote on a package in September.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 30 Jul 2009 | 1:00 am TLC enjoys year of success under Eileen O'NeillEver since O'Neill took charge as president and general manager, the cable network of 'Jon & Kate Plus 8' and 'Cake Boss' fame has been on a ratings roll."Heaven and hell" is how Eileen O'Neill describes her first year at the helm of TLC, the cable network that is home to the controversial hit reality show "Jon & Kate Plus 8."
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 30 Jul 2009 | 1:00 am Coffeepot maker vents about doing business in CaliforniaCostly housing, heavy traffic, skewed spending priorities are a bitter brew for Wilbur Curtis Co. Only its deep roots in the state keep it from moving.Wilbur D.Curtis invented the globular glass coffeepot, that staple of coffee counters everywhere, in 1940. Since then his son and grandsons have turned Wilbur Curtis Co. into a manufacturing concern that earns revenue approaching $100 million by turning out commercial coffee brewing equipment from a sprawling factory in Montebello.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 30 Jul 2009 | 1:00 am TVs are getting brighter, thinner -- and cheaperIrvine's Vizio Inc. is getting ready to release its LED-backlit TV for $1,500 less than its competitors' sets.The future of television could be sitting in an Irvine laboratory.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 30 Jul 2009 | 1:00 am Robot developers learn perils of new mediaSomewhere in the blogosphere the biomass-fueled robot being developed for the military turned into a battlefield corpse-eater. Their lesson was that information, once released, can't be controlled.Robotics expert Robert Finkelstein has had a company in the field for nearly a quarter of a century without controversy. He never paid attention to blogs, didn't have a company website until last year and never felt the need to issue news releases about his work.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 30 Jul 2009 | 1:00 am Stocks lose ground on concern about the economy's pathThe Dow drops 26 points for its first two-day decline in more than a month. The S & P 500 index and Nasdaq also slip.The stock market is holding up, just not pressing ahead as the economic signs look a little less promising.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 30 Jul 2009 | 1:00 am Money troubles don't have to be at the expense of marital blissExperts say couples need to communicate better and understand that they perceive money differently. And they should set goals together and put emotions aside when they discuss their finances.For many couples, the financial crisis has come down to a test. How good are they at tackling tough money issues? The question for Lorne Epstein is this: business or pleasure?
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 30 Jul 2009 | 1:00 am NZ market 'as is' post-OCRInvestors paused to take stock on a day the New Zealand central bank left the official cash rate unaltered, leaving the local sharemarket little changed. The NZ dollar fell as low as US64.70c from US65.85c yesterday in response...Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 30 Jul 2009 | 12:32 am Senate probes Goldman, Deutsche: report (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 29 Jul 2009 | 11:37 pm Kiwi dollar fallsThe New Zealand dollar fell today after the Reserve Bank expressed concern about the impact of the rising NZ dollar on the economic recovery. The central bank kept its official cash rate unchanged at 2.5 per cent. But it said...Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 29 Jul 2009 | 11:27 pm Unemployment spreads distress in U.S. home loans (Reuters)Reuters - Cities in the U.S. Sun Belt states of California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona dominated the record foreclosure spree in the first half of the year, but distress in other regions emerged as joblessness spread, RealtyTrac said on Thursday.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 29 Jul 2009 | 11:23 pm Unemployment spreads distress in U.S. home loansNEW YORK (Reuters) - Cities in the U.S. Sun Belt states of California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona dominated the record foreclosure spree in the first half of the year, but distress in other regions emerged as joblessness spread, RealtyTrac said on Thursday.Source: Reuters: Business News | 29 Jul 2009 | 11:23 pm Stock Futures Up Before Earnings Bonanza (Market Update)News at a Glance
The LowdownTraders may drag markets out of the doldrums on Thursday. Stock futures traded higher after back-to-back weak sessions and ahead of a new batch of earnings releases. Shortly after 7 a.m., Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures were trading above fair value. In corporate news, Sony (SNE) posted a smaller-than-expected loss and said it hopes to break even during the fiscal year. Dow components ExxonMobile (XOM), the Travelers Companies (TRV) and Disney (DIS) are also scheduled release earnings. In Europe, shares rose Thursday, led by telecoms like BT (BT), France Telecom (FT), and telecom equipment supplier Alcatel-Lucent (ALU). Asian markets closed up after positive earnings from companies like Honda Motor (HMC) and news from Japan that the country's industrial output had grown by a record 8.3% in the last quarter. Oil prices rose after a day of steep declines. By 6:28 a.m., crude was trading up 84 cents at $64.19 a barrel. The dollar fell against most major currencies as Chinese gains increased investor appetite for risk. Corporate News
The Economy
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Source: SmartMoney.com | 29 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pm OSI: The Little Biotech That CouldOSI PHARMACEUTICALS IS SMALL FRY IN the $48 billion global market for cancer drugs, dominated by Switzerland's Roche Holding , which markets Avastin. But Melville, N.Y.-based OSI, with its $1.8 billion market value and $400 million in sales, is poised to grow market share as it expands the uses for its own leading lung-cancer drug, Tarceva, whose sales hit $1 billion last year. OSI (OSIP) developed Tarceva but co-markets it in the U.S. with Genentech , a unit of Roche (ROG.Switzerland.) It splits sales 50/50, and gets a 21% royalty on international sales from Roche. Founded in 1983, OSI became profitable only in 2007. Yet, at 32 a share, it is one of the most compelling investment bets among smaller biotechnology concerns. It has a promising drug that serves a large market. Tarceva, a once-a-day-pill, is the second-largest oral anticancer drug in the U.S., with a 23% share, behind Novartis' (NVS) Gleevec, according to IMS Health. OSI also boasts a strong balance sheet, with more than $500 million in cash and investments, and a deep-pocketed partner in Roche. OSI's stock is down 41% from an August 2008 high of 54. Shares fetch 18 times 2010 earnings estimates of $1.73 a share, and trade for 3.6 times enterprise value (market value plus net debt) to 2009 estimated sales. The mid-capitalization biotech group, by comparison, trades for 5.1 times EV/sales. Analysts think OSI is worth at least 40 a share. If the market doesn't afford the company a higher valuation, a takeover could. Some analysts expect a buyer -- Roche, say -- to pay at least 45 a share for OSI, one of the few profitable small biotechs. Roche said it doesn't "comment on rumors or speculation," and OSI was unavailable. In the meantime, OSI stock is Krazy-Glued to news about Tarceva, which of late has been a good thing. Shares jumped sharply last Thursday after the company re-affirmed its expectation for $1.2 billion of Tarceva sales globally this year, up from about $600 million in the first half of 2009. Indeed, Wall Street largely ignored the fact that OSI's second-quarter profit fell 26% on higher research-and-development expense and lower-than-expected U.S. Tarceva sales -- $113 million. Tarceva generates about 90% of OSI's sales; royalties from licensing diabetes technology kick in much of the rest. Management, led since 1998 by Colin Goddard, a scientist formerly with the National Cancer Institute, cited government-rebate charges for the slow Tarceva sales. But Tarceva sales have been sluggish since last year, due to a bum economy and Medicare reimbursement rules that burden patients receiving oral medications with higher co-payments. Still, analysts expect a recovering economy to help push profit to $108 million next year, on $474 million in sales, from an expected $82 million, or $1.36 a share, on revenue of $409 million this year. OSI shares gained 8% in mid-July, when the company released data from a study showing certain patients who took Tarceva following chemotherapy lived longer. Details of the study, which measures Tarceva in maintenance therapy, where it is given after chemo but before new tumor growth, are expected at the end of this month, and, if positive as expected, could push the stock higher still. Another potential positive: The Food & Drug Administration is likely to approve Tarceva in January as a maintenance therapy. RBC Capital Markets upgraded OSI to Outperform from Sector Perform after the study was released. The firm reported that its proprietary survey of doctors and payers points to increased use of Tarceva in the next 12 months. TARCEVA WAS APPROVED IN 2004 as a secondary treatment for patients who have failed at least one round of chemo and have locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer. It was approved for pancreatic cancer the following year. Deutsche Bank estimates more than 45,000 Tarceva patients this year. OSI wants to expand its patient pool by applying to use Tarceva as maintenance therapy and as a first-line treatment for advanced lung cancer in the U.S. and Europe. Goddard puts U.S. maintenance opportunity well north of $500 million. Such expaned use of Tarceva could re-ignite sales and possibly add 20 cents a share to 2010 earnings, says Canaccord Adams analyst George Farmer. He expects OSI to trade in the 40s in a year. To reach that level, OSI must overcome headwinds. Congress is seeking to lower costs to Medicare for Tarceva, and health-care reform legislation could put more pressure on prices. Also, the company is relying on a relatively thin pipeline of about six early-stage cancer, obesity and diabetes drugs to spur long-term growth. Significantly, OSI faces strong competition from rival drugs such as Alimta, from Eli Lilly (LLY), which has proved efficacious in extending the lives of certain lung-cancer patients by almost three months. But Tarceva causes fewer side effects than the injectable Alimta and, as the National Comprehensive Cancer Network suggests, oral cancer drugs could be the wave of the future. Betting on a company with just one big product isn't for the timid, but if Tarceva continues to gain, OSI itself could be a blockbuster.
The Bottom Line
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Source: SmartMoney.com | 29 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pm Personal Branding: How It WorksOne of the hottest trends for high-end job seekers is “personal branding.” Here’s how it works, and here are some of the career gurus who want to market your brand. THE BRANDING PROCESSAs unemployment swells to record levels, more job hunters are looking for ways to stand out in the crowd. Personal branding advocates encourage candidates to view themselves as a product to be sold and to communicate unique assets—skills, personal qualities, passions—in everything from letters and résumés to in-depth “branding reports.” While some experts question the approach, one group, Reach Communications, provided branding certification for nearly 100 coaching firms last year. To create its own 20-plus-page reports for job hunters, the firm uses a detailed questionnaire that candidates send to at least 30 contacts, probing for strengths, weaknesses and answers to questions like If Joe were a breakfast cereal, which one would he be? BLASTING YOUR BRANDSo who sells your brand to employers? Rather than do it themselves, some high-end job seekers turn to so-called executive marketing firms, which function like personal telemarketers by calling hundreds of target employers or e-mailing them your branded materials. These outfits say the blast approach, which can cost between $3,000 and $20,000, clearly gets people’s names out and is a must in a job market as tough as today’s. But critics wonder how many interviews it really scores and suggest skipping any firm that guarantees a job offer or requires up-front payment. THE WHITE-GLOVE APPROACHLooking for more-personalized treatment, corner-office dwellers who find themselves in transition sometimes hire executive agents to pitch their brand. Claiming to be widely connected and especially strategic, these agents charge retainers ranging from $5,000 to $25,000, plus fees that often take a cut of the client’s compensation. Of course, their services include much more than just branding. Many offer to help map out a career path, exhaustively research opportunities and make personal introductions. Critics question why presumably well-connected execs even need a rep. Agents say they provide anonymity and can help clients to switch into new industries. —Kristen Bellstrom 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 | 29 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pm 3 Stocks the Bosses Are Buying (Screens)If America's bosses are leading by example this summer, investors might want to sell shares. According to analysis by Form 4 Oracle, named for the stock transaction reports that executives, board members and major stakeholders must file with regulators, the ratio of companies with net insider buying to those with net insider selling is the most bearish it has been in two years. Insider selling generally isn't worrisome. Bosses have plenty of reasons to periodically unload the stock they're given as pay. Sometimes they diversify their holdings, or free up money to buy a house, or, I don’t know, fill an in-ground swimming pool with cognac and tears of the working class. Still, the four-week buy/sell ratio, which was more than 60% at the start of 2009, recently fell to 33%. A drop like that suggests insiders are either strapped or skittish, or both. A few are still buying, of course, and whereas insiders have many reasons to sell, they have only one good reason to buy. Well, maybe two. The first is that a contract they signed when they joined the board mandates a minimum level of stock ownership. The second and more common reason is that they think the stock is going up. As insiders, they’re in a good position to predict that sort of thing. Big stock purchases bode well, but there’s more than size to pay attention to. A string of buys by multiple insiders bespeaks agreement. Executives with chief-this-or-that in their title tend to fare better on stock trades than directors and major stockholders, long-term studies show. Naturally, purchases made by insiders of any type who’ve profited nicely from past trades are worth noting. Below are three companies with recent buys of each of these types. High-Level Buy: Mentor GraphicsMentor Graphics (MENT) stock has lost half its value in a year. In late June, the company’s president bought 20,000 shares at $5 and change. Mentor makes electronic design automation software, and has suffered a drop in demand along with chip makers over the past year. Two years ago the company earned a dollar per share. If it can make half that next year -- early forecasts call for earnings of 52 cents a share -- then the stock trades at a reasonable 13 times earnings. The company is only modestly indebted. Multiple Buys: Orexigen TherapeuticsOrexigen Therapeutics (OREX) makes no money. I repeat: no money. So why have nine different insiders loaded up on stock this month? The company is a drug developer focused at the moment on a single pill called Contrave. It’s a weight-loss drug made by combining the antidepressant Wellbutrin with an addiction-suppressing drug called naltrexone. Phase 3 trials of the pill -- those are the ones that typically come just before a request for approval -- wrapped up earlier this summer. Subjects lost heaps more weight with Contrave than with a placebo, and reported few side effects that would give regulators pause, according to Canaccord Adams, an investment bank. Canaccord envisions Orexigen booking modest sales in 2011, ramping up to more than $250 million by 2014. That’s roughly what the company sells for today, net of its cash. Sizable Buy: Lions Gate EntertainmentCorporate raider Carl Icahn is loading up on shares of Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF). The small, quirky film studio has grown its sales in recent years on a mix of commercially if not societally successful torture porn from the "Saw" and "Hostel" franchises; self-aggrandizing documentaries from Michael Moore and Bill Maher; and a French nature film with marching penguins that, unforgivably, made me cry. Expect Icahn to badger Lions Gate management in the press about failing to sufficiently unlock stockholder value (that is, boost the stock price). Based on Lions Gate’s sales, the stock looks cheap. Profit margins are dismal, though. Management is planning a leaner film slate for next year and to ramp up television production revenues to smooth out swings in its movie fortunes. Investors should probably wait for a sustainable pick-up in profits before joining Icahn as an shareholder. 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 | 29 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pm Match Game: How to Cope With a Suspended 401(k) (Deal of the Day)Starbucks (SBUX) employees got some good news this week. After announcing in December that 401(k) matches for its employees would depend on the coffee company’s future performance, Starbucks said the match would remain in effect for 2009. After that, there are no guarantees. The market’s losses caused palpable damage to retirement accounts over the last year: The median rate of return for 401(k) plans was negative 28.3% during 2008. Now, however, many workers are missing out on one of the biggest benefits of this investment vehicle. Reducing or suspending 401(k) matches has become a flexible cost-saving tactic for companies under financial pressure over the last couple of years. Research by Hewitt Associates, a human resources consultancy, suggests firms can save, on average, more than $1,500 per employee each year by suspending their 401(k) match (assuming the average employer match of 50 cents to the dollar up to 6% of pay). A typical large company like Starbucks may save $25 million a year, according to Hewitt, and an average midsize company could save more than $10 million. A wide variety of companies have turned to this money-saving strategy: FedEx (FDX), J. Crew (JCG), Weyerhauser (WY) and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, among others, have scaled back or stopped matching their workers’ 401(k) contributions this year. The Pension Rights Center, a consumer group that promotes retirement security, counted more than 280 companies that have done so since last year. When the economy slipped after the dot-com bust of 2001-02, employers made similar moves. But it was “nothing like what we’ve seen with this most recent downturn,” says Bill McClain, a defined contribution consultant at Mercer, a benefits administration provider that tracks trends in compensation. The cutbacks are unlikely to last, though. Employers know that a good retirement benefits package is a compelling draw for workers and that they’ll need to keep them if they want to attract and retain talent. “I think once the economy turns around, most companies that do these temporary [match] suspensions will resume them,” says Jack VanderHei, the research director at the Employee Benefits Research Institute, a nonprofit firm that studies retirement and savings. So what should workers do to make up for lost retirement money? Here are three ways to shore up your savings in the recession. Ramp up contributionsWhen an employer takes away their match, the free money that makes saving in a 401(k) such a no-brainer disappears, undermining a worker’s incentive to keep funneling part of their paycheck into the plan. So the real challenge for employees is to overcome the loss of that motivator, VanderHei says. Without stellar investment returns – and not many people are depending on those – the only way to recoup losses is to step up your contributions. Get a feel for how much should be going into your account this year relative to your overall retirement picture. Say your magic number is 9% of your compensation and that your employer had been putting in 3% before temporarily suspending its match. If you want to stay on track, you should not only continue putting in the 6% you had before, but – at least temporarily, until the match returns – make up the 3% taken away, VanderHei says. Consider a RothIf you think your tax rate will rise in the future, consider adding a Roth to your retirement account, says Bryan Place, a certified financial planner and the founder of Place Financial Advisors in Manlius, N.Y. (Not all 401(k) plans offer a Roth provision; workers should find out if their employer's plan has this as an option.) No one can predict where tax rates will be in the future, but most believe they're likely to rise as the government tries to offset ballooning deficits and the cost of other federal programs like Medicare, VanderHei says. Let’s say you’re in the 25% tax bracket now. You anticipate your tax bracket will go up to 35% when you retire. You can contribute to a Roth with after-tax dollars today – at that lower 25% rate – and take it out tax-free when you retire. With a traditional 401(k) plan, you’d contribute pretax dollars but pay taxes on the money you take out at the 35% rate later. Catch upOlder workers are at more risk of falling short in retirement, and the match suspensions magnify that risk. Not only have plan participants older than 55 decreased their contribution rates since last September, but only 8% of participants over 50 who contributed in 2008 took advantage of “catch-up contributions,” according to data compiled by Mercer. If you’re over age 50 and already contributing the maximum ($16,500 for this year) to your 401(k), check to see if you can do a catch-up contribution, McClain says. For 2009, you can put an additional $5,500 of your pay on a pretax basis into your 401(k) – totaling $22,000 for the year. You'll have to notify your plan that you want to allocate a certain amount to participate in the catch-up. 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 | 29 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pm Broker Talk: How Fragile Is the Recovery? (Broker Talk)The domestic and global economies are improving on a fundamental and technical basis, but the nascent recovery is still fragile, these brokerage experts say. Who's Talking: Fidelity's Market Analysis, Research and Education Group The Gist: Keeping an eye on leading economic indicators -- those that identify emerging trends -- is one of the most useful ways for investors to gauge the direction of the U.S. economy, the folks at Fidelity write, so it's good news that more leading indicators are pointing towards improvement. For example, five of the 10 components of the Conference Board's Leading Economic Index were moving in a more positive direction on a trailing six-month basis at the end of June, up from three in April, and just two in March, the team at Fidelity says. "Taken together, the steady improvement in recent months in many leading U.S. economic indicators has continued to support the notion that the economy is firmly in a stabilizing trend and that the worst of the economic recession is in the past," Fidelity says. However, that hardly means the recovery is a foregone conclusion, the research team says. "Although the economy may have rebounded from its worst level, there is much uncertainty about the timing, sustainability, and magnitude of any potential recovery," Fidelity says. "Some leading indicators have shown only modest improvement after falling to dramatically low levels, while others have yet to demonstrate any sustained progress." It's also troubling that leading indicators for critical, tangible economic activity such as employment and manufacturing have yet to turn definitively upward, Fidelity says. "Given the level of trauma in the labor markets, employment indicators are likely to provide important clues about the timing and strength of an economic recovery," the group says. Who's Talking: Mary Ann Bartels, technical research analyst, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BAC) The Gist: On a technical basis, the market confirmed its breakout from the downtrend line in place since May 2008, thanks to volume and breadth (which measures advancing issues vs. declining ones). The good news is that Bartels's year-end target for the S&P 500 remains intact at 1055 to 1065, implying an upside of 9% to 10% from current levels -- and a full 60% from the early March low. In other positive signs, cash on the sidelines remains elevated and provides a potential source of demand for stocks; flows into domestic mutual funds remains light; and individual investor sentiment still has a bearish bias. "This all sums up to be a good contrarian bullish signal for the market," Bartels says. There are some good technicals on the global stage as well, most notably increasing demand for copper. "Considered by many market participants to be an indicator of global economic growth, copper continues to rally," Bartels says. "The Baltic Dry Index has also rallied, pointing to global growth, especially from China and other Asian economies." Perhaps most importantly for equity investors making allocation decisions, the technicals indicate that mega-cap multinationals are emerging into a leadership position vs. the broader S&P 500. Names such as 3M (MMM), Altria (MO), Boeing (BA), Honeywell (HON) and Wal-Mart (WMT), among others, appear poised for relative outperformance as a group, the analyst 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.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 29 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pm Are Job Coaches Worth It?The recession may be leaving millions of people unemployed, but for one profession it’s been more of a boom: the job guru field. This growing legion of self-styled employment experts say they’re dedicated to getting America back to work. Some have carved out their own job-search niche, focusing on nothing but résumé overhauls or interview prep. Others bill themselves as do-it-all career coaches, taking clients from deciding on an industry to negotiating salary. There are even “personal brand specialists” and Ari Gold–style executive agents who promise to open their golden Rolodexes to a few high-powered job seekers. Fees range from just a few dollars for group seminars to $500-an-hour coaching or even—you guessed it—a cut of your salary. Gurus, of course, think they’re worth the money, especially in such a daunting employment climate. According to career coach Paul Bernard, people should plan for at least a month of searching for every $12,000 to $15,000 they want to earn. Employment pros say their knowledge of the recruiter perspective gives job hunters an insider edge they’d never have alone—especially if they’re among the 55-and-over set with rusty job-hunting skills and a skyrocketing unemployment rate (at its highest point in 60 years). Many job seekers are trying to transition out of distressed industries into new, unfamiliar fields. Some need help rehearsing for the rigorous, multistage interviews now standard in many screenings. Others aren’t sure how to leverage online resources like networking Web site LinkedIn. Sorting through the maze of these various employment mavens is, well, a job in itself. Government regulation of this $400 million industry is practically nonexistent, and gurus themselves admit there’s no third-party policing organization. Instead, they rely on industry certifications, which critics say are a dime a dozen. In fact, trade group Career Management Alliance recently counted a total of 48 possible certifications, ranging from “certified workplace development professional” (cost for the credential: $75) to “certified career management coach” ($2,295). Liz Sumner, the group’s director, recommends that job seekers not just accept the alphabet soup of credentials but also check references and ask for samples of their coach’s work. To gather some samples of our own, we dusted off our résumé, put on our interview duds and (don’t tell our boss) hit the pavement to meet a few of the most popular types of job gurus. Résumé WritersNothing provokes quite as much angst as creating the perfect résumé—Amazon.com lists over 268,000 titles on the subject—it’s not surprising that a résumé writer is many job seekers’ first hire. When it comes to qualifications, they often tout backgrounds in human resources or recruiting and, of course, those industry certifications. Some focus on senior executives and charge between $800 and $1,500 per résumé, but according to the Directory of Professional Résumé Writers, the majority work with a range of clients, charging an average of $350. But résumés have become more than a sheet of paper. A recent survey by recruiter network ExecuNet found that 86 percent of job recruiters said they use search engines to find out more about prospects, while a whopping 44 percent said they’d actually eliminated a candidate based on information they turned up online. For résumé writers, this has meant a slew of new Web-oriented offerings, which can include an online “audit” (determining what face you present to the world in cyberspace), along with authoring or editing clients’ online profiles. It also might entail damage control if the audit turns up anything that could spook an employer—spanning from the minor (old marathon results that broadcast your age) to more-sensitive details about lawsuits or political donations.
To get help punching up our own résumé, we visit Barbara Safani, owner of Career Solvers, a New York-based career-services company, whose average résumé-doctoring fee runs over a thousand bucks. Her first reaction? “We need to kind of sexy it up,” she says. Like too many CVs, she explains, this one reads like a laundry list of responsibilities rather than a bouquet of specific accomplishments. The document has no “headline” and is woefully short on style—no catchy graphics, shading or boxes setting off the key information. Even the font isn’t right. “Boring,” she says. First, she suggests, we should kick off with a summary of our profession and skills. To play up our accomplishments, we should add the number of “hits” tallied by our online articles, to show measurable results and play up our Web savviness. To start building toward the next step in our career, Safani also suggests highlighting any management experience. (Does bossing around interns count?) And it seems we need to beef up our online presence; our Twitter account is practically tweet-free, and that personal Web site we’ve been talking about for years still hasn’t created itself. Safani also diplomatically points out that our Facebook photos could be “a little more professional.” By far the most important thing she could do for us, Safani says, is build out our LinkedIn profile, which we could use to start bulking up our networking contacts. Including it as a link in our e-mail signature is “the best way of saying ‘look at my résumé’ without actually sending it,” she says. Career CoachesInside the cavernous public atrium of a midtown Manhattan skyscraper after work hours, tourists mill about snapping pictures, a coffee bar blares hip-hop music, and a janitor loudly drags around a mop and bucket. Not exactly corner-office ambiance, but in the midst of it all, a dozen or so job seekers cluster eagerly around a motley group of café tables, straining to hear their “coach” for the evening. A petite, girlish Aussie casually dressed in a pink T-shirt and stretchy fabric headband, our presenter is causing eyes to widen as she describes one job seeker who sends Monopoly money with his résumé, along with a cover letter describing how he’d make a company boatloads of the real stuff. She’s also instructing attendees in how to track down and call decision makers at a target company, even if a job description expressly forbids it. “Every no,” she says, “gets you closer to a yes.” Some tips, like practicing our spiel on voice mail to hear how we sound or standing up to make our voice sound more energetic, seem useful; others, less so. (Do we really need three ways to say, “I was referred to you?”) As for our presenter’s take on the toy money, “There’s no harm in trying.” Fellow attendee Denise Gerstenfield, laid off from her job as customer-service director in January, doubts she’ll use all the advice from the evening—or upgrade to full-price coaching sessions. But she says she definitely plans to add some of the suggestions to her job-search routine. “I left feeling motivated,” she says. Interview CoachesRole playing. Videotaped practice sessions. Flash cards. All are part of the fun of interview coaching (typical range: $75 to $200 an hour), a key part of many career gurus’ bag of tricks. For the last leg of our career counseling, we’re sitting in the hot seat on a Monday morning, decidedly not ready for our close-up. But that doesn’t stop interview coach Paul Bernard from peppering us with questions, from the predictable “Tell me about yourself” to the more panic-inducing “How would you fire someone?” As we stumble through this hour-long interrogation, we can’t help feeling self-conscious—probably because of the camcorder capturing our every “uh” and “um” for posterity. Turns out our problem is not about sounding canned; it’s our tendency to ramble. While the ideal response to the dreaded-but-popular “tell me about yourself” question should run about 90 seconds, he says, ours takes well over three minutes. Rather than prattling on about your childhood (guilty) or mentioning every job you’ve ever had, he suggests answering open-ended questions with the so-called “inverted pyramid.” Start broad, with a quick summary of your professional experience, then drill down to three specific skills, then briefly highlight a few accomplishments. We also flop when it comes to asking our own questions—crucial for showing seriousness, he says. Bernard suggests showing up to an interview with a minimum of three. 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 | 29 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pm Oil dips towards $63 on U.S. crude build, China fears (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 29 Jul 2009 | 9:38 pm Property price plunge predictions ridiculous, says economistWith the housing market seeming to have easily fended off the worst predictions of its fall, at least for now, the doomsayers have come in for some derision. In his Weekly Overview commentary out today, BNZ chief economist Tony...Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 29 Jul 2009 | 9:30 pm Closing gap with Aus biggest challenge since WWII, says BrashFormer National Party leader Don Brash, put in charge of a taskforce to look at ways of closing the economic gap with Australia, says the task is "arguably the biggest challenge New Zealand has faced since the Second World War". In...Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 29 Jul 2009 | 9:28 pm Interest rates stay low - Bollard sticks to the planReserve Bank governor Alan Bollard has stuck to the script this morning and done what the market expected, leaving the Official Cash Rate steady at a record low 2.5 per cent. "Despite signs of a levelling off in economic activity,...Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 29 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pm Microsoft and Yahoo sign historic dealMicrosoft has finally roped Yahoo into an internet search partnership, capping a convoluted pursuit that dragged on for years and setting the stage for them to make a joint assault against the dominance of Google. The 10-year deal...Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 29 Jul 2009 | 7:30 pm Vodafone customers frustrated at network glitchAuckland Vodafone customers experienced frustration this morning after a network outage that lasted at least four hours. Vodafone spokesman Paul Brislen said the problem happened at 5am and lasted until about 9.15am. He said...Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 29 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm Santander produces 'exceptional' resultsSantander, owner of Abbey, Alliance & Leicester (A&L) and part of Bradford & Bingley (B&B), has bucked the trend in the banking industry with a 30 per cent leap in UK profits for the first half. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 29 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm Institutional investors ready to bypass banks in protest at rights-issue feesBritain’s leading institutional investors are considering joining forces to bypass investment banks in a protest over the fees they charge for rights issues. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 29 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm Presented By:Source: Dealbreaker | 29 Jul 2009 | 5:03 pm Write-Offs: 07.29.09$$$ Heidi Moore wants every to shut up about Goldman Sachs already. [The Big Money] $$$ Brazilian Soccer Star Romario Proves that Hating Taxes is a World-Wide Institution [Going Concern] $$$ Janet Tavakoli has bones to pick with Meredith Whitney, Nassim Taleb and Charlie Gasparino. [PDF] $$$ AIG Not the Resume-Killer You Expected It to Be [Cityfile] $$$ As to the eternal question of whether it's faster to take Third Avenue or Park Avenue uptown, the former having staggered lights, the latter not, the former RenTec employee equivocated: "It depends on your nature. If you want speed right now, you take Park. If you like to understand a system and maximize it, you take Third. I'm a system guy." [New Yorker]
Sponsored Topics: MeredithWhitney - GoldmanSachs - Park Avenue - Charlie Gasparino - Big Money Source: Dealbreaker | 29 Jul 2009 | 5:03 pm Australian property market 'recovering'New data shows the Australian housing market has seen its strongest growth since the financial crisis took hold. The figures from Australian Property Monitors show house prices rose more than 3.3 per cent on average across the...Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 29 Jul 2009 | 5:02 pm Visa boosted by increased reliance on cardsVisa, the world’s largest electronic payments network, reported higher fiscal third-quarter profit as consumers increasingly turned to credit, debit and charge cards to pay for goods and servicesSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 29 Jul 2009 | 5:00 pm Somebody Save These Barclays First Years!
About 40 Barclays S&T first years, all wearing Barclays T-shirts, are stuck in a broken down bus in the middle lane of an expressway somewhere in the vicinity of the Brooklyn bridge. They were on their way back from an end-of-training community service trip. Barclays has dispatched 15 black cars to pick up the Barclettes but the resulting traffic jam is so severe that none are getting through. The poor Barclettes are sweating it out Sanford style in a metal box with no air conditioning.
Sponsored Topics: Air conditioning - Brooklyn Bridge - Construction and Maintenance - Mechanical - Business and Economy Source: Dealbreaker | 29 Jul 2009 | 4:40 pm US regulator criticises Obama bank planThe Obama administration’s plan to give US states more power to protect consumers from unfair banking practices would make it more difficult and costly for large lenders to operate across the country, a financial regulator has warnedSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 29 Jul 2009 | 4:30 pm Trustee sues Madoff’s wife for $45mRuth Madoff was sued for $44.8m on Wednesday and accused of living a “life of splendour” by the trustee seeking to recover money for the victims of her husband, the disgraced former broker Bernard MadoffSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 29 Jul 2009 | 4:30 pm Lady Hard Up For Cash Whores Self Out For Hot Tips, Help With Subprime Mortgage
Eventually the two settled into a comfortable day-to-day routine in their respective offices in New York and Philadelphia, staring at the same Yahoo Finance screen. Mr. Gansman led Ms. Murdoch in a guessing game about which deals he was working on, she said. Oh, but that wasn't enough for Donna. She wasn't satisfied. She needed more (money), so she met another dude who could get the job done (monetarily) and started two-timing Gansman. The information wasn't enough to pull off an insider-trading plan. Ms. Murdoch was in such financial difficulty -- she and her husband owed $1.45 million on a subprime home mortgage -- that she needed money to make trades.
Sponsored Topics: Wall Street Journal - New York - Rupert Murdoch - Yahoo - Philadelphia Source: Dealbreaker | 29 Jul 2009 | 4:21 pm Government Relaxing Pressure on GE Financial Regulation Threats? (GE)There is news out in the after-hours session that General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) may be a bit safer from all of the fears that it would have to separate its manufacturing and its financial units. Bloomberg ran excerpts from a quick interview with U.S. Representative Barney Frank on this topic. We put in a [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall Street | 29 Jul 2009 | 4:14 pm SEC Catches Renegade Bunny
Sponsored Topics: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission - Bernard Madoff - Business - Stanford Financial Group - Investment Source: Dealbreaker | 29 Jul 2009 | 3:51 pm Hear: The Latest Recession Casualty? American Power
Counting money in Iraq, which Ian Bremmer says is "becoming a good-news story." (Sabah Arar / AFP/Getty Images © 2009) On today's Planet Money: Almost a year into the financial crisis, we ask foreign policy analyst Ian Bremmer to take stock of America's position in the world. Bremmer wrote The Fat Tail and leads the risk consulting firm Eurasia Group (Twitter, Facebook). He says that yes, America has lost some of its power. Bremmer gives two reasons for that. First, he says, other countries have recovered from the crisis more quickly. The second, he says, is that the crisis has forced U.S. leaders to pay more attention to domestic affairs and play a less active role on the global stage. On the upside, Bremmer says this is a great time to invest in Iraq. Bonus: Eurasia Group's Global Political Risk Index. Download the podcast; or subscribe. Intro music: Frankmusik's "Better Off As Two." Find us: Twitter/ Facebook/ Flickr. Each month, Eurasia Group looks at conditions in 24 emerging markets, weighing each nation's "ability to absorb political shocks." The resulting Global Political Risk Index, ranks countries from strongest to weakest. The latest index is below: 
The scariest places are at the bottom. (Eurasia Group © 2009) » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 29 Jul 2009 | 3:43 pm Report: Kohlberg Kravis plans Dollar General IPO (AP)AP - Private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. is preparing for an initial public offering of discount retailer Dollar General Corp., according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 29 Jul 2009 | 3:33 pm Confidential To Johnny Damon: Gird Your LoinsAnd your money! Matthew Goldstein reports that the Allen Stanford court-appointed is seeking to clawback almost a billion from former employees and investors of Sir Stan, including Mr. Damon. Also: the Libyan government. And Kevin Bacon. No, just fucking-- that one's all B-boy, who always bags the best bitches. 015 20090728 Appendix in Support of Recs Amended Complaint Naming Relief Defendants
Sponsored Topics: Allen Stanford - Johnny Damon - Kevin Bacon - Matthew Goldstein - Business Source: Dealbreaker | 29 Jul 2009 | 3:09 pm Healthy Banks Not So Healthy?By Mathew Katz Our investigative reporter friends over at ProPublica are reporting that a number of small and midsize banks that got bailout money have stopped paying quarterly dividends to the government in order to save capital. At least 18 banks have either decided to stop the payments, or have been ordered to by regulators. What's concerning is that back in March, the Obama administration declared each of these banks "healthy." If these banks are having trouble now, post-bailout, it brings into question whether they could have survived without TARP. There's another implication to this: not paying your dividends has consequences. After six quarters of not paying, the Treasury has the right to appoint two members to the bank's board of directors. Check out the full report -- it's interesting stuff. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 29 Jul 2009 | 3:03 pm America's Influence Wanes In The Era Of 'Ad-hocracy'
"There is no Obama Doctrine," says Ian Bremmer. (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images © 2009) By Laura Conaway The way Ian Bremmer sees it, America's global influence is on the wane. Bremmer, author of The Fat Tail and president of Eurasia Group (Twitter, Facebook), says the U.S. remains the biggest player but it's showing up less often for games. That's partly because the financial crisis has forced President Barack Obama to focus more on domestic issues. "There is no Obama Doctrine, in the way there's been a Bush Doctrine, a Reagan Doctrine, a Carter Doctrine," says Bremmer, who's on the podcast today. "Like them, don't like them, they existed. Obama's foreign policy approach is 'I'm going to deal with it as a risk manager, and I'm going to respond to crises as they pop up." The problem, Bremmer says, is that when a major situation erupts, people don't know what to expect from Obama. "With Bush, we knew," he says. "We probably didn't like it on many occasions, but we knew. This is going to lead to a lot of 'ad-hocracy' on the part of some of our allies and some of our more strategic competitors around the world." After the jump, Ian Bremmer writes on Obama's foreign policy. As president of Eurasia Group, Ian Bremmer sends a weekly analysis of the global situation. The following is excerpted from his April 20, 2009, note. Bremmer writes: "With an already deeply divided electorate, it's no surprise that domestic American responses to President Obama's foreign-policy stances depend on where you sit. Democrats hail a new era, delighting in getting the Bush administration behind them. Republicans say the actual foreign policies being put in place are very little different from those pursued by the Bush administration that Obama so criticized...at least, in the second half of President Bush's last term. The Democrats are closer to correct here--Obama's foreign policy intentions are, on balance, a more significant shift toward multilateralism than were generally expected before his inauguration (with the notable exception of the war in Iraq, which Obama generally tried to sidestep, maintaining it as a legacy Bush administration issue). But the Republicans may end up looking vindicated nonetheless, since Obama's ability to effectively achieve meaningful policy gains in the international arena will be seriously limited. "Perhaps the biggest shift in American foreign policy is the principally analytic, problem-solving approach to foreign policy adopted by the Obama administration. It's by nature more tactical/less strategic than the Bush doctrine; indeed, there's really no Obama doctrine to speak of. In part that's because of President Obama's more pragmatic/less ideological inclinations in an area of policymaking where he's fairly inexperienced (and, thus far, remains lower priority); but it's also because the Obama approach is better suited to a broad variety of strong, and not always agreeing, foreign-policy advisors; and a particularly fast-moving international policy environment, where the Obama administration recognizes it has limited bandwidth to address issues on a global basis. To boil that down into a couple of rules of thumb, that means more modest, nearer-term foreign policy goals (in contrast to the historically expansive nature of a broad group of domestic policy goals), and more plainspoken assessment of the foreign-policy challenges themselves. So, for example, Obama's (and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's) admission that US drug consumption drives the drug war, and resulting political instability, in Mexico; that Pakistan is in no position to support US/NATO efforts in the war against Afghanistan; that years of sanctions against Burma and Cuba have had no definable impact on policy. "So far, so good. Indeed, it's striking to see the notoriously skeptical Washington thinking class seem reasonably content with all this, insofar as the Obama administration's foreign-policy approach is analytically commonsensical (though perhaps leaving the pundits a little less to write about). But there's a related question of how far this approach actually gets the Obama administration. And it's harder to be enthusiastic on that point. "In particular, Obama's first months in office have included a number of initial forays on translating this pragmatic approach--along with Obama's significant international political capital--into success on the foreign-policy front. But the international response has remained anemic. That's most obvious in Afghanistan, which Obama has made a strong priority--but with repeated requests for greater European engagement firmly rebuffed; leading to essentially the transformation from a badly coordinated NATO effort to an inadequate American effort (pick your poison). In Europe, Obama made the strongest statements of a US president to date on the importance and urgency of Turkish accession into the European Union. But if American officials were hoping for flexibility and dialogue, instead they got an immediate public rebuff from French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who expressed his firm opposition (and later a private rebuff when the French leader told a group of French MPs that Obama was weak and indecisive). "North Korea tested a long-range ballistic missile/communications satellite, leading president Obama to call for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to condemn the North Korean action. China and Russia opposed firmer sanctions, and that was the end of the meeting. "The point here is that despite the Bush administration's generally poor record internationally, the only significant foreign-policy crisis actually created under his presidency (and granted, it was a big one) was Iraq, which started to improve with the General Petraeus-led troop surge and change in military strategy and continues on an upward, if unsteady, trajectory today. But all of the other major foreign-policy challenges faced by the United States today are the result of growing structural imbalances in the geopolitical order (the comparative weakness of the United States, the lack of international leadership or effective international organizations, and the growing influence of rogue states and organizations). They weren't caused by the previous administration, and they aren't likely to be much improved upon under the present one." » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 29 Jul 2009 | 2:57 pm Microsoft and Yahoo seal dealYahoo ran into a fresh wave of doubts in the financial and technology worlds as it bowed out of the race to compete with GoogleSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 29 Jul 2009 | 2:56 pm Fed sees signs of economic improvementThe pace of economic decline has moderated or stabilised in most parts of the US, the Federal Reserve said, with manufacturing, residential property and even employment showing some signs of improvementSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 29 Jul 2009 | 2:42 pm Posen Says Fed Audit Not Best Path to AccountabilitySource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 29 Jul 2009 | 2:38 pm U.S. learns to treat China with careAmerica met with its lead banker this week and was forced to answer plenty of tough questions about its spending habits. "Attention should be given to the fiscal deficit," China's finance minister, Xie Xuren, warned the U.S.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 29 Jul 2009 | 2:37 pm Chris Dodd Is No Countrywide VIPFed up with the Senate Ethics Committee dragging their heels and delaying decisions which may never come or amount to anything, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd went on the record again that he was no special friend of Countrywide when he went to A-Moz for a refi back in 2003. Distraught that "allegations hurt" and that the tendency of people is to believe those allegations, Dodd may have finally found himself in the same situation that every Wall St. CEO who received a special invite from him over the past year has had to suffer through when explaining their own actions.
Sponsored Topics: Christopher Dodd - United States Senate Committee on Banking Housing and Urban Affairs - Countrywide Financial - United States - Politics Source: Dealbreaker | 29 Jul 2009 | 2:25 pm Federal Reserve: Wages Falling NationwideBy Mathew Katz Today, the Federal Reserve released the Beige Book, a regular summary of what each of the different Federal Reserve banks are seeing in their local economic scene. Overall, the Beige Book says the recession has begun to taper off. But toward the bottom of the summary, there's one big, scary money quote: Boston, Cleveland, Richmond, Chicago, Dallas, and San Francisco cited a range of methods firms are using to limit compensation, including cutting or freezing wages or benefit contributions, deferral of future salary increases, trimming bonuses and travel allowances, reducing hours, temporary shutdowns, periodic furloughs, and unpaid vacations. No matter how you spin it, companies are trying to pay employees less money. As we've talked about before, falling wages are a key ingredient in deflation. Still, we haven't seen the other factor in deflation: falling prices. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 29 Jul 2009 | 2:15 pm Why Gas Cost $4 Last YearBy David Kestenbaum I was obsessed with this question last summer before the financial crisis. Gas at the pump was suddenly $4 a gallon and economists could not agree why. It drove me crazy -- Really? We don't know why?? I called expert after expert after expert. Some said it was just supply and demand, others blamed speculators. It seemed like a question that should be answerable. As we noted here, the WSJ reported this week that a new report may point the finger at speculators in the commodities market. The puzzling thing is that some economists argue that's impossible. Paul Krugman makes the argument pretty clearly here. At the end of the day, actual oil goes from a supplier to a consumer. Speculators don't change that unless they're storing the oil in some secret repository, so the price should eventually be anchored to supply and demand. I still don't know what to make of the debate. Some agricultural economists who study other futures markets for things like soy and corn also told me it's hard to imagine how you get a speculative bubble without someone hoarding the stuff. So I say, sure go ahead and ban (or restrict) speculative trading, which some have suggested. It will be a great experiment. If the price of oil jumps inexplicably again, maybe that wasn't it. Interesting side bar: As far as I can tell, futures trading has only been banned for one item. Weirdly, it's onions. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 29 Jul 2009 | 1:33 pm Moran Says Yahoo, Microsoft Agreement Better for MicrosoftSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 29 Jul 2009 | 1:21 pm Bernie Madoff's Penthouse: Basically A Dump
Sponsored Topics: Picture frame - Shopping - Bernie Madoff - Visual Arts - Supplies Source: Dealbreaker | 29 Jul 2009 | 1:15 pm Ruth Madoff Sued For $44 MillionBy Mathew Katz It's not over yet for Ruth Madoff, the wife of fraudster Bernie Madoff. The trustee liquidating Bernie's business is suing Ruth for $44.8 million, saying that she profited for years off his Ponzi scheme. The trustee, Irving Picard, said that she received at least $23.7 million directly or indirectly from Bernie's firm. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 29 Jul 2009 | 12:54 pm Discretionary Spending Way Down, Especially TravelAccording to a well respected value investor named Ron Muhlenkamp, the biggest change in US Economics has been a measurable -5% step function on discretionary spending. In the sixth month period since the economic collapse last October, the public has lowered its spending significantly and most of this come in the form of discretionary purchases. What does this mean in everyday language? It means that consumer habits have changed. And they have changed most dramatically when it comes to spending on things people realize they can give up. According to Muhlenkamp, the clearest change in discretionary spending has been in vacation and travel: People may have taken a step down in vacations. They may have stepped down a level in restaurants, or in shopping. In fact, a lot of us had to mark down our expectations. Walmart recently reported that year-over-year sales are up 5 percent. I suspect that sales at Tiffany’s are a little less than that; (year-over-year, sales are down 20 percent).The point is the mix has changed. A lot of people have taken a step down, but most of us have marked down our spending in ways that my grandparents would have called discretionary. It’s in ways that most of the world would call discretionary. While overall spending is down only 5 percent, the effect that this has on particular industries is quite severe. Joe Prato, a real estate professional with the company SeaWinds of Sea Isle who has been tracking the Jersey Shore vacation rental market for over a decade, reports that this is the first year in a very long time where the economy is taking a real, measurable toll on the rental industry. According to Prato, “2009 rentals are down over 30% from last year and everyone is negotiating rental prices and length of stays.” In other words, the 5% drop in overall consumer spending has resulted in an approximately 30% drop for this particular industry. That’s a blow to the gut. This is an important observation. While home sales have been declining now for the last 3-4 years, the vacation rental market actually didn’t get hit until this year. Why? For starters, the housing market started its decline simply because of a drop in demand (everyone had taken advantage of low mortgage rates and made the purchases they were going to make). Further, unlike the housing market, the vacation rental market depends on wide-scale discretionary spending. It depends on the public feeling like they’ve got a few grand to spend enjoying a week at the beach. If they don’t feel confident that they can afford to spend that money, they don’t… because it’s something they are willing to sacrifice when times are tough. What this shows is the emergence of a new way of thinking among American consumers. A more careful, thoughtful, discerning type of spending. It’s a step or two down from the exuberance we exhibited over the last two decades. The question that remains to be answered is whether this mindset is the new norm, from which new habits form, or just a temporary setback for a growth based economy.
Source: Business Pundit | 29 Jul 2009 | 12:52 pm CNBC Interview With Guy Who Chatted Up Bernie Yesterday Most Awkward/Awesome Thing To Come Out Of Scam To Date
"Wait a second buddy, your publicist told us this was going to be a big story" "Unbelievable, this guy"
Sponsored Topics: CNBC - Publicist - MSNBC - United States - culture Source: Dealbreaker | 29 Jul 2009 | 12:47 pm Chinese bubble fears as funds flow into IPOsChina investors snapped up two newly listed mainland construction groups after reports that China’s central bank might rein in bank lendingSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 29 Jul 2009 | 12:36 pm Bollinger Says Columbia Endowment Decline Was `Significant'Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 29 Jul 2009 | 12:31 pm Unemployment Rises In Every U.S. Met
In Elkhart County, Ind., RV-maker Jayco has laid off a third of its workers. (Scott Olson / Getty Images © 2009) By Laura Conaway The jobless rate was higher this June than the year before in every American metropolitan area, says the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In a report released today, the BLS finds that 18 of those 372 mets have unemployment of at least 15 percent. Eight of those were in California and five in Michigan. Elkhart County, Ind., with its devastated RV industry, posted one of the biggest year-over-year increases -- a 10 percent jump to 16.8. For the lowest rates, head to the Dakotas. Bismark, N.D., rings in at 3.8 percent (up from 3.2) and Rapid City, S.D., at 4.6 (up from 2.6). Bonus: Find the rate where you're from. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 29 Jul 2009 | 12:24 pm A summer drive to ride out the economyRoad trips are back this summer, as families cope with an ailing economy. Commentator Robert Reich says slowing down for a drive down the highway is actually a good thing.Source: Marketplace | 29 Jul 2009 | 11:33 am Tata Motors Raised to `Equal-Weight' at Morgan StanleySource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 29 Jul 2009 | 11:28 am Swimsuit ban's effect on swimming bizJoel Stager, director of the Counsilman Center for the Science of Swimming, talks with Kai Ryssdal about how the ban of performance-enhancing swimsuits might change the business of swimming.Source: Marketplace | 29 Jul 2009 | 11:26 am Violence lull brings mall to West BankViolence in the West Bank is at its lowest level in years and Israel has started to ease restrictions for Palestinians at some checkpoints. The new calm has encouraged a new kind of leisure activity. Daniel Estrin reports.Source: Marketplace | 29 Jul 2009 | 11:25 am The power in building bigger batteriesThe push for electric cars has given battery technology companies star status among investors. But some people think the real opportunity lies in building much bigger batteries. Sam Eaton reports.Source: Marketplace | 29 Jul 2009 | 11:25 am Oil firms protest Nigerian overhaul billLegislation in Nigeria to overhaul energy may lead to higher tax rates for oil companies that operate in the Niger Delta. Sarah Gardner reports.Source: Marketplace | 29 Jul 2009 | 11:25 am Can Microsoft-Yahoo challenge Google?CNET writer Ina Fried talks with Kai Ryssdal about what the Microsoft-Yahoo deal means for the companies and if it will help Bing compete against Google.Source: Marketplace | 29 Jul 2009 | 11:25 am Who gets what in Microsoft-Yahoo dealMicrosoft and Yahoo have announced a new deal that will comprise roughly 30% of global search traffic. Both companies hope to grab a bigger piece of online advertising. Bob Moon reports.Source: Marketplace | 29 Jul 2009 | 11:25 am Pimco's Clarida Says U.S. Housing Probably Not at BottomSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 29 Jul 2009 | 11:17 am Wieting Says Slow Corporate Spending Will Temper U.S. RecoverySource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 29 Jul 2009 | 11:16 am Levitt Says High Frequency Trading Is Important Part of MarketSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 29 Jul 2009 | 11:15 am Microhoo Can Only Beat Google Through Better SoftwareMicrosoft and Yahoo just signed an ambitious 10-year search advertising deal. While Yahoo welcomes the deal as an aid for survival, Microsoft has its eyes on dominating the global search market. The Guardian describes the deal’s search possibilities: Microsoft and Yahoo have their sights set on catching runaway search advertising market leader Google with their 10-year global deal. In the tie-up, Microsoft’s Bing search service will be integrated across both companies’ websites, while Yahoo will handle global search ad sales. “This deal will create a significant competitive alternative in search. A combination of Microsoft and Yahoo … puts the choice back into the hands of consumers, advertisers and publishers who are increasingly anxious about the influence of a single player,” she added. (Steve Ballmer) said that the partnership would enable Microsoft and Yahoo to develop a superior search algorithm to Google. A spokesman for Google said: “There has traditionally been a lot of competition online, and our experience is that competition brings about great things for users. We’re interested to learn more about the deal.” If Microhoo wants to be the world’s search engine of choice, it needs to outdo Google technologically. Currently, Bing gives the impression of being a solid search engine. However, in a Google-dominated world, solid isn’t enough. Bing is really trying to gain users on the basis of a novel format. “Look at me!” It seems to urge. “I’m a viable alternative to Google. I look different, but I’m just as good.” Fair enough. Some users may migrate. But most people won’t leave Google just for a change. They need the impetus of a superior service. No advertising campaign will be adequate unless Bing proves to users that its technology is better than Google’s. Bartz is right in assuming that people are anxious about there only being one major player in search. However, the money is where the people are, and most people use Google. Advertisers and website owners will continue to focus Google as long as they perceive it to be the most popular search website. Microhoo could tempt advertisers and webmasters with increased visibility, but who cares about visibility if nobody is using the site in the first place? Novel layout, ad campaigns, and intelligent marketing won’t work unless users perceive that Bing truly is a superior search engine. Most Google users are established enough with the service that they won’t change unless they perceive a solid or universal advantage in Bing. The only thing that can give that kind of advantage–barring the discovery of some kind of horrendous child labor camp at the Googleplex–is incredible search software. I’m interested to see what Microhoo comes up with in coming years.
Source: Business Pundit | 29 Jul 2009 | 11:13 am Homes At Risk Of Foreclosure Far Outpacing Mortgage Help
That little blue line is the represents homeowners who've staved off foreclosure by reworking their mortgages. (Center for Responsible Lending) By Laura Conaway This chart shows two things, really. First, we can see the scale on which struggling homeowners have managed to keep their homes by getting lenders to rework the mortgages. Second, we can see the scale on which the sheer number of struggling homeowners has risen. The strugglers are outpacing the rescued by a factor of seven. The Center for Responsible Lending, which produced the chart, is calling on Congress to protect families. The advocacy wants the goverment to the most of the federal Making Home Affordable program, which launched with a goal of reaching 4 million families and has so far gotten only 200,000. Mortgage servicers met with the Obama administration today and promised to speed things up. The Center is also asking Congress for legal changes that would allow bankruptcy judges to rewrite mortages on principal residences. It's lobbying for the Consumer Financial Protection Agency proposed by the Obama administration. The new agency has faced criticism from Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke and FDIC chair Sheila Bair, some of whose current power would be subsumed by the new regulator. Planet Money pal Felix Salmon notes an idea from the Center for Responsible Lending's director, Keith Ernst, for a mediation program to work out deals between mortgage services and lenders. Salmon writes: I fear that Congress is beginning to get reform fatigue, after so many attempted solutions have failed. But that's no reason to stop trying new things -- in fact, it's a good reason to try even harder. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 29 Jul 2009 | 10:45 am New Light Bulb Rules Make Citizens Hoard Old Bulbs
An EU-wide ban on incandescent (traditional) light bulbs is causing consumers to hoard the soon-to-be unlawful products. Manufacturers are enjoying massive sales as a result. Spiegel has more: As the Sept. 1 deadline for the implementation of the first phase of the EU’s ban on incandescent light bulbs approaches, shoppers, retailers and even museums are hoarding the precious wares — and helping the manufacturers make a bundle. The EU ban, adopted in March, calls for the gradual replacement of traditional light bulbs with supposedly more energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL). The first to go, on Sept. 1, will be 100-watt bulbs. Bulbs of other wattages will then gradually fall under the ban, which is expected to cover all such bulbs by Sept. 1, 2012 (see graphic below). Hardware stores and home-improvement chains in Germany are seeing massive increases in the sales of the traditional bulbs. Obi reports a 27 percent growth in sales over the same period a year ago. Hornbach has seen its frosted-glass light bulb sales increase by 40-112 percent. When it comes to 100-watt bulbs, Max Bahr has seen an 80 percent jump in sales, while the figure has been 150 percent for its competitor Praktiker. (More) Apparently, one reason for hoarding the old bulbs is that the aesthetics associated with the light they emit far outweigh CFLs, which have an “artificial” quality. As a result, art museums are buying them by the thousands, hoping to keep them in operation for years. The EU law prohibits producing and selling the bulbs, but not possessing them–so people are trying to compile long-term supplies. I thought Cash for Clunkers was a regulatory headache, but it pales in comparison to the light bulb law. The EU could at least have chosen to profit off its restrictions by, as one article source suggests, “slapp(ing) a €5 surcharge on every incandescent bulb, (which would) make people think a bit more before buying them.” Besides, who is going to regulate light bulbs? Interpol? An armed energy task force? This is too big-brotherish.
Source: Business Pundit | 29 Jul 2009 | 10:40 am Biggs Says S&P 500 Will Climb 22% to 1,200 as Economy ImprovesSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 29 Jul 2009 | 10:04 am MyFreeImplants Makes Boob Jobs Recession-Proof
Attention, women: The economy does not have to stop you from getting a boob job. I learned this sage lesson today through MyFreeImplants, a site that lets men contribute money to women’s boob jobs. The website brings together women who want breast implants, but can’t afford them, and benefactors (mostly men) who fund to their buxom cause. Women post a bio that includes pictures and plastic surgery wishes. They then have access to live text/audio/video chat with other people in the community. Benefactors, on the other hand, buy message credits or a monthly membership. They can send women direct donations, request videos or custom photos (they can even request outfits), chat, and revel in the boobulous masses. The website explains the “best part” of the process: And remember…the best part is seeing the newly transformed ladies after the surgery when they return to the website to post pictures of the results. You can take pride in knowing that you helped her improve her self esteem and self image! Viewers can also see the girls express “real (post-op) emotions” via video. The company business model–which culminates in women weeping in thanks for their new boobs–apparently works. The site is now in its fifth year. Adam Corolla said the owners are “doing the Lord’s work.” I say that despite peoples’ best efforts to advance certain causes, like acceptance of bodies and respect for women, the bottom line still applies. Sex sells.
Source: Business Pundit | 29 Jul 2009 | 9:08 am From Durable Goods To China Trade: What We're ReadingBy Laura Conaway Morning! Three recommended reads and one news item, followed by a fun picture after the jump. -- If you're trolling for pure juicy reading, start with "How Firms Wooed a U.S. Agency With Billions to Spend," a New York Times story with glamorous names -- Black Rock, Goldman Sachs -- and some great numbers, too, like $1.6 billion. -- Eliot Spitzer's living all over the American middle class (and the health care overhaul) with "In Sickness and in Wealth," a Slate column about the growing gap between rich and poor in the U.S. and the question of whither the middle class. Call it the question that keeps on giving. -- Brad Setser takes a long, fruitful walk into the weeds on the new accord between China and the U.S. Yesterday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner announced a new resolve to reduce the trade imbalance by getting Chinese consumers to shop more and Americans to save more. Setser gives you a graduate seminar in this complicated dance. -- Pure news: The U.S. Census Bureau reports that new orders for manufactured durable goods -- the big stuff like refrigerators and washing machines -- fell by 2.5 percent last month. The orders had gone up for two straight months. If you take out transportation, new orders increased 1.1 percent. Shipments fell for the eleventh straight month, by .2 percent, and inventories for the sixth straight month, by .9 percent. Think of the declines as air slowly leaking out of a balloon. Economist Ian Shepherdson's take: "Overall, the core picture has stabilized." If you're reading something great, please add it in the comments. Thanks to Twitter pal @beckerben for the picture after the jump. 
Even cats need work. (@beckerben) » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 29 Jul 2009 | 9:03 am Crossing the Facebook Line - Personal to Business
Do you use Facebook? And if so, are you using it personally or professionally? If the answer is both, do you keep separate accounts and identities? Or have you melded all into one? Maybe you’re like my friend who has a regular personal profile for friends and family, and an alter-ego for those friends who can take her special brand of humor. I ask because I’m at the point in my Facebook life that I’m ready to start really using it to market my work in magazines, in the blog, and in fiction. The problem is I’m not yet famous enough to have an “author” page. I wouldn’t have any fans. I’m hoping my some of my friends will like my work, become fans, and share it with their friends. Fundamental social networking. But up until now, I’ve pretty much only accepted Facebook friend requests from people I actually know. Granted, if we went to sixth grade together, I’m counting that. But I’ve pretty much been drawing the line at actually meeting the person at least once, or having some pretty significant online interaction with them. But that’s no way to grow a readership. So….. I’m crossing that line. And I’m looking for guidance. Because after all, those are still all my real friends and acquaintances on Facebook. Who knows what they’ll say? Anyway, I’ll keep you posted on my journey. In the meantime, I’m sharing my research.
Image Credit: daveynin, Flickr
Source: Business Pundit | 29 Jul 2009 | 8:53 am Investec's King Sees U.S. Stocks 25% Higher by Next YearSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 29 Jul 2009 | 8:53 am Capital Economics' Williams Calls U.S., China Talks SuccessfulSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 29 Jul 2009 | 8:52 am Some Signs Mean Business
Source: Business Pundit | 29 Jul 2009 | 5:14 am
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