Buytolet: relief for reluctant landlords as homes start to sell

The number of people being forced to rent out their homes because they cannot sell them is falling as the housing market picks up research has showed.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 1 Sep 2009 | 4:28 am

Goldman Sachs CEO Blankfein Tops Vanity Fair Power List

Vanity Fair has announced its “The New Establishment 100″ list for 2009. The selections are based on wealth, influence, and philanthropy, as well as such intangibles as vision and the X factor.” Topping the list is Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO Lloyd Blankfein. Apparently, the big pay packages that he and his top executive get are not [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 1 Sep 2009 | 4:28 am

Manufacturing records shock fall on cost cuts

The manufacturing sector retreated in August after last month's gain prompting concerns that the recent growth was only a temporary rally and not a sustainable recovery, figures from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply indicate.


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Sep 2009 | 4:26 am

Guitar Hero boosts Vivendi profit

French media giant Vivendi reports better-than-expected profits after strong performance at its video games division.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 1 Sep 2009 | 4:24 am

Eurozone jobless at 10-year high

Unemployment across the 16 nations that use the euro hits a 10-year high, official figures show.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 1 Sep 2009 | 4:22 am

Britons' mortgage repayments outstrip new loans

Mortgage repayments outstripped new lending in July for the first time since records began in 1993 according to the Bank of England.


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Sep 2009 | 4:19 am

The housing recovery mirage

Is the housing bust over?
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 1 Sep 2009 | 4:08 am

Sony (SNE) Browser Deal With Google (GOOG) Too Small To Matter

Google (GOOG) has set a deal to distribute its Chrome browser on Sony (SNE) PCs. Google has not had much success in getting computer users to switch from the two dominant browsers which are Microsoft (MSFT) Internet Explorer and Firefox. The partnership between the companies is too small to matter. The largest PC companies including Dell [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 1 Sep 2009 | 4:05 am

China’s Insatiable Energy Deals Only Growing (PTR, XOM, CVX, RDS-B, SNP, CEO, MRO)

On Monday, the Shanghai Composite went under 2,700 and between Monday and Tuesday is back to lows not seen since May’s end. Technically, it is back in bear market territory now that it has come off 20% from the highs.  But there is one single aspect here which may be the silver lining for China.  [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 1 Sep 2009 | 4:01 am

Peek inside Madoff's Montauk beach house

The only thing that's truly spectacular about Bernie Madoff's Montauk, New York beach house is its stunning views of the Atlantic.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:59 am

Most Asian markets rise, Shanghai index up 0.6%

Chinese stocks advanced Tuesday, recouping some of their hefty losses in the previous session, as economic data showing an expansion in manufacturing activity helped boost sentiment.



Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:59 am

All Systems Go In China?

The number of pieces of data that point to a strong recovery in the Chinese economy rises every day. The Purchasing Managers Index rose to 54.0 for August, up from 53.3 in July. A number above 50.0 signals an expansion in the sector. China’s export figures have begun to improve and the central government expects GDP [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:56 am

European markets fall on fears stocks overvalued (AP)

An investor walks past a stock price monitor at a private securities company Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009 in Shanghai, China. Asian markets rebounded modestly Tuesday as the Shanghai Composite Index was up 12.09 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,679.84, following a 6.7 percent plunge Monday that took it to its lowest level in three months. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)AP - European markets dropped Tuesday after a mild rebound in Asia, as investors worried that stocks are overvalued and that an economic recovery will be only gradual.



Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:54 am

European markets fall on fears stocks overvalued

European markets dropped Tuesday after a mild rebound in Asia, as investors worried that stocks are overvalued and that an economic recovery will be only gradual. In Europe, that view...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:54 am

Indications: U.S. futures down before manufacturing report

U.S. stock futures point to a weaker start Tuesday ahead of a key report on the manufacturing sector, with a similar report from Britain raising the specter that the global economy will backslide after a recent stabilization.



Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:54 am

Telecom Report: AT&T's iPhone deal under scrutiny

As a stronger regulatory breeze gusts through the nation’s capital, wireless phone companies are feeling the heat to change some of their business practices.



Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:54 am

Decline in UK personal debt level

The amount of personal debt in the UK has fallen for the first time since records began in 1993, the Bank of England says.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:50 am

Comment: fund groups talk up commercial property again

Investors often get their timing wrong. They pile in at the very moment their shrewder counterparts are taking profits. Commercial property could turn out to be a classic example.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:45 am

eBay set 'to sell Skype at $2bn loss'$

eBay, the internet auction giant, is poised to unveil plans to offload Skype, the internet calls business, in a potential $2 billion deal.$


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:43 am

Icahn Dumps Yahoo! (YHOO) Shares

Carl Icahn, who took a large stake in Yahoo! (YHOO) along with board seats, has started to sell his shares. He seems to have come to the same conclusion that Wall St. has. The Yahoo! restructuring is a failure and it not likely to get any better. Icahn has sold about 13 million share in a [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:42 am

Pringles maker backs US Olympians

Consumer product giant Procter and Gamble signs up as a sponsor of the US Olympics team for forthcoming games.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:40 am

Madoff's Long Island beach getaway put up for sale

Those who see Bernard Madoff as an evil purveyor of excess might be disappointed by his beach house: It's not that palatial. At 3,014 square feet, the home is cottage-size by superrich...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:30 am

eBay (EBAY) Sells Skype

eBay (EBAY), which had planned offer shares in its VoIP business Skype though an IPO, has sold it to private equity interests instead. Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen, Index Ventures, and Silver Lake Partners are part of the buyout group according to a report in The New York Times.  The purchase price is apparently about $2 [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:27 am

Stocks poised to tumble

U.S. stocks were set to open lower Tuesday, ahead of a slew of economic reports and amid worries about how quickly markets have risen in recent months.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:25 am

Index futures point to lower open for U.S. shares (Reuters)

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, August 3, 2009. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidReuters - Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 fall 0.5-0.6 percent, pointing to a weaker start for Wall Street on Tuesday.



Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:24 am

Index futures point to lower open for U.S. shares

(Reuters) - Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 fall 0.5-0.6 percent, pointing to a weaker start for Wall Street on Tuesday.
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:24 am

Index futures point to lower open for U.S. shares

(Reuters) - Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 fall 0.5-0.6 percent, pointing to a weaker start for Wall Street on Tuesday.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:24 am

Index futures point to lower open for U.S. shares (Reuters)

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, August 3, 2009. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidReuters - Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 fall 0.5-0.6 percent, pointing to a weaker start for Wall Street on Tuesday.



Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:24 am

EBay to sell Skype to private investors: report (Reuters)

Reuters - Internet auction and services company EBay Inc has reached a deal to sell its online telephony unit Skype to a group of private investors, the New York Times said, citing two people briefed on its plans.
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:17 am

EBay to sell Skype to private investors: report

(Reuters) - Internet auction and services company EBay Inc has reached a deal to sell its online telephony unit Skype to a group of private investors, the New York Times said, citing two people briefed on its plans.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:17 am

J.P. Morgan Launches Third-Party Clearing for SmartPool and Arca Europe Trading Platforms

LONDON, September 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- J.P. Morgan announced today that its GlobeClear(SM) business has been offering third party clearing and settlement services...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:15 am

Europe Markets: European shares pull back as banks, miners fall

European shares couldn’t hold onto early gains on Tuesday, with banks and metal stocks leading the market down on the first day of the new month.



Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:14 am

Economic Report: U.K. manufacturing sentiment turns lower

Britain, one of the first of the major industrialized nations to have a purchasing managers’ index show expansion, is now the first to have retreated back into contraction territory, according to figures released Tuesday.



Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:13 am

UPDATE 3-Vivendi Q2 beats forecasts, says Zain deal dead

* Keeps 2009 financial goals, eyes lower debt at year-end
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:12 am

UPDATE 3-Vivendi Q2 beats forecasts, says Zain deal dead

* Keeps 2009 financial goals, eyes lower debt at year-end
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:12 am

Europe Markets: European shares pull back as banks, miners fall

European shares couldn’t hold onto early gains on Tuesday, with banks and metal stocks leading the market down on the first day of the new month.



Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:12 am

Bankers Almanac Reaches Document Milestone for its Due Diligence Repository

LONDON, September 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Bankers Almanac, the leading provider of reference data for payments, due diligence and risk assessment today announced that its Due...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:09 am

World airlines lose $2bln in Q2: IATA

More than 50 global airlines lost 2.021 billion dollars during the second quarter, bringing industry losses for the first half to over 6.0 billion dollars, airline industry association IATA
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:08 am

'No-music day' in Nigerian protest about royalties and piracy

Nigerian musicians want radio stations not to play any music all day as part of their protest about royalties and piracy.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:06 am

Mortgage repayments outstrip new lending

Mortgage repayments outstripped new lending for the first time since records began during July figures from the Bank of England showed on Tuesday.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:04 am

Vivendi posts 7% profit rise and confirms outlook

Vivendi SA posts a 7% increase in second-quarter profit, helped by solid performances at its video-game and pay-TV units, and affirms its outlook for the year.



Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:01 am

For Fares That Fit Your Budget, Book Now With AirTran Airways

- You Can Plan a Vacation Without Breaking the Bank With Fares as Low as $39* - ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 1 Sep 2009 | 3:00 am

One Hundred Billion Searches: Does Google (GOOG) Make Us Smarter?

comScore, the internet research firm, announced that more than 113 billion searches were made worldwide in July. That number is significant but even more astonishing is the 41% rise that the figure represents over the same month in 2008.  Google, as expected, has about two-thirds of the global search market. China is now such a [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 1 Sep 2009 | 2:58 am

Stocks wobble, yen near 7-week high (Reuters)

Numbers are displayed on the board as the market headed to close at the New York Stock Exchange Monday, Aug. 31, 2009 in New York. Stocks fell in light trading Monday after a plunge in China's main stock market sent a wave of selling around the world and added to concerns that stocks have rocketed too high, too fast. The Dow fell 47.92, or 0.5 percent, to 9,496.38. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)Reuters - Global stocks eased on Tuesday as buoyant shares and economic data in China failed to erase concern over the durability of the recent rally, while the yen held firm after a landslide election win for Japan's opposition.



Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 1 Sep 2009 | 2:58 am

London Markets: RSA Insurance shares decline in lower London

Shares of insurance provider RSA Insurance Group fall in a lower London market on Tuesday, as investors take their first chance to react to weekend reports that the firm could be mulling a plan to raise cash.



Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 1 Sep 2009 | 2:57 am

Oil prices bounce back above $70

Oil prices rebounded slightly on Tuesday, a day after tumbling on fears crude demand growth could weaken in China, the world's second biggest oil consuming nation after the United States,...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 1 Sep 2009 | 2:56 am

British manufacturing suffers surprise contraction in August

Sector dipped unexpectedly in August as employers cut jobs and inventories and the pace of pickup in new orders slowed PMI data showed.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 1 Sep 2009 | 2:55 am

Drugs giants drive FTSE 100 rise

A strong performance from the pharmaceutical sector helped fuel a morning of gains for the leading FTSE 100 index.


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Sep 2009 | 2:51 am

Apple may unveil new iPods next week


Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 1 Sep 2009 | 2:40 am

EBay reportedly in deal to sell Skype

EBay is set to announce a deal Tuesday to sell its Skype Internet phone unit, according to a report in the New York Times.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 1 Sep 2009 | 2:32 am

Sony signs Google browser deal

Google signs a deal with Sony to incorporate its Chrome browser into the Japanese technology giant's personal computers.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 1 Sep 2009 | 2:31 am

The big riddle: How to lower health costs

More coverage. More choice. Better care.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 1 Sep 2009 | 2:30 am

Further decline in Indian exports

India's exports fall at an annual rate of 28% in July, as the weak global economy continues to hit demand, figures show.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 1 Sep 2009 | 2:29 am

London shares fall as resource stocks falter

London equities failed to hold initial gains on Tuesday as the losses around the world on Monday, when UK markets were closed, weighed on sentiment. The stocks from the forefront of the FTSE 100's summer...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 1 Sep 2009 | 2:26 am

Currencies: Australian dollar slips after RBA holds steady

The Australian dollar slips after the Reserve Bank of Australia leaves its cash rate unchanged.



Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 1 Sep 2009 | 2:23 am

RSA shares fall on 1bn cash call report

RSA was the largest faller on the FTSE 100 on Tuesday as investors reacted to reports the company planned to launch a 1bn rights issue in the next couple of weeks.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 1 Sep 2009 | 2:21 am

'Soft target' motorists hit by 2p fuel duty rise

Motorists will face extra pain at the pump from today as the 2p rise in fuel duty comes into force — the third increase in the tax on petrol in nine months.


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Sep 2009 | 2:11 am

Five funds for a higher income

If you are fed up with meagre returns on savings and are willing to take more risk in pursuit of higher returns it may be worth considering a stock marketbased income fund.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 1 Sep 2009 | 2:10 am

9 of 10 cities slash spending

More than nine out of 10 cities are slashing spending this year as the recession wreaks havoc on their sales and income tax revenue, a new study found.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 1 Sep 2009 | 2:06 am

Recession pain: Cut my pay...please!

Finding work in this recession takes determination, perseverance and, most of all, sacrifice.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 1 Sep 2009 | 2:06 am

Brown calls for cap on bankers' bonuses

Gordon Brown has turned up the heat on bankers by calling for an international debate on a possible cap on bonuses in the financial sector.


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:59 am

Media Digest 9/1/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

Reuters:   Ebay (EBAY) will sell Skype to private investors. Reuters:   China’s manufacturing index gained. Reuters:   A  late Labor Day will hurt August retail sales. Reuters:   A US judge ruled against AIG (AIG) in a dispute with its former CEO. Reuters:   Bank of America (BAC) is offering to pay back part of its government bailout money. Reuters:   Several regional surveys show [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:57 am

Permira, KKR, CVC, Bain bid for Bellsystem: sources

TOKYO (Reuters) - Permira, KKR , and CVC Capital are among the private equity firms bidding for Citigroup's telemarketing company in Japan, Bellsystem24, three sources said, in a deal that could fetch more than $1 billion.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:53 am

Activist investor Icahn trims Yahoo stake

Read full story for latest details.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:52 am

UK PM calls for bank bonus reform

Prime Minister Gordon Brown says the culture of bank bonuses should be geared towards long-term success.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:51 am

The best ways to pay for a new car

A new car is one of our biggest purchases - so it is important to get the finance right.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:50 am

Relapse feared even as German retail rebounds (AFP)

file=AFP - German retail sales posted their first rise since April last month, but economists warned headwinds could stall a sustained rebound in consumption in Europe's biggest economy.



Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:49 am

Europe Markets: European shares start new month on firm note

Shares start the new month on a firm note in Europe, with media firms such as Vivendi helping Tuesday’s advance.



Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:49 am

eBay 'reaches deal to sell Skype'

Online auction site eBay is poised to reach a deal to sell Skype to a group of private investors, reports say.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:37 am

China manufacturing gains strength despite share gloom (Reuters)

Reuters - China's vast manufacturing sector kept up its steady recovery last month, ignoring the gloom engulfing the Shanghai stock market, a pair of surveys showed on Tuesday.
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:36 am

China manufacturing gains strength despite share gloom (Reuters)

Reuters - China's vast manufacturing sector kept up its steady recovery last month, ignoring the gloom engulfing the Shanghai stock market, a pair of surveys showed on Tuesday.
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:36 am

China manufacturing gains strength despite share gloom

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's vast manufacturing sector kept up its steady recovery last month, ignoring the gloom engulfing the Shanghai stock market, a pair of surveys showed on Tuesday.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:36 am

Asia Markets And Europe Open 9/1/2009

Markets in Asia were slightly higher. The Nikkie rose .4% to 10,530. Honda (HMC) and Toyota (TM) both rose. The Hang Seng was up .8% to 10,892. The Shanghai Composite was up 8% to 2,684. At the open, in Europe, the FTSE was up .1% to 4,916. The Dax was up .5% to 5,495 and the CAC 40 rose [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:26 am

eBay close to deal to sell Skype

Online auctioneer is expected to announce a deal to sell its internet telephone business to a group of private equity companies on Tuesday the New York Times reported.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:25 am

Big rally for Australian stocks

The Australian share market has closed at an 11-month high, driven by rallies on banks, mining and defensive stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 35.5 points, or 0.79 per cent, at 4514.6 points, while the broader All Ordinaries...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:15 am

Tout ability to save clients money, not your small-business status

Dear Karen: We supply Cal State University campuses with money-saving lighting, but we can't get new orders with the budget cuts. Don't they have a mandate to buy from certified small businesses?



Source: L.A. Times - Business | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:00 am

Boeing's Scott Carson steps aside

The airplane unit leader has overseen the 787 Dreamliner's development. He will be replaced by Jim Albaugh, who has run Boeing's defense business since 2002.

Scott Carson is stepping aside as the head of Boeing Co.'s troubled airplane business, part of a sweeping management shake-up announced Monday by the Chicago aerospace manufacturer.



Source: L.A. Times - Business | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:00 am

Tout ability to save clients money, not your small-business status

Dear Karen: We supply Cal State University campuses with money-saving lighting, but we can't get new orders with the budget cuts. Don't they have a mandate to buy from certified small businesses?
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:00 am

Flying Pigeon LA peddles bike culture north of downtown

Brothers Adam and Josef Bray-Ali host monthly tours -- with dim sum or art the destination -- to introduce their shop's Chinese bicycles and also to cultivate a vision of a different Los Angeles. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:00 am

Gasoline prices remain stable as Labor Day approaches

California's average has topped $3 a gallon for the last month but has varied by less than a penny. It's now $3.04. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:00 am

Southwest discovers more planes with unapproved parts

The airline had said 46 aircraft had the part, which deflects engine exhaust away from wings, but the number has risen to 82. Southwest has until Tuesday to settle a dispute with the FAA over the part.

Southwest Airlines Co., facing a deadline of today to settle a dispute with regulators over the use of unapproved parts, said Monday that the parts were installed on almost twice as many planes as it first believed.



Source: L.A. Times - Business | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:00 am

Boeing's Scott Carson steps aside

The airplane unit leader has overseen the 787 Dreamliner's development. He will be replaced by Jim Albaugh, who has run Boeing's defense business since 2002. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:00 am

French trader to stand trial over Societe Generale losses

Jerome Kerviel is accused of making unauthorized transactions that caused the bank to lose $7 billion. The scandal broke in January 2008. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:00 am

Disney to buy comic book powerhouse Marvel

Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America, Thor and the Fantastic Four are among the 5,000 characters it hopes will inspire countless movies, TV shows and video games. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:00 am

Stocks end strong month with a bout of selling

Investor worries about the economy send the Dow down almost 48 points. Now comes September, historically the worst month for stock markets. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:00 am

Toyota concealed evidence in rollover cases, ex-attorney alleges

In a lawsuit, lawyer says Toyota repeatedly forced him to illegally withhold information from victims of hundreds of accidents that resulted in deaths and injuries. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:00 am

Tobacco firms R.J. Reynolds and Lorillard sue to block marketing restrictions

The companies and others joining the suit allege provisions in the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act violate the 1st Amendment. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:00 am

California homeowners facing insurance rate hikes

In a state parched by a three-year drought, wildfires are at least partly to blame for the price increases, industry officials and even some consumer advocates agree.

As California heads into another season of wildfires that have been growing more frequent and more ferocious, homeowners are facing higher prices to insure their property.



Source: L.A. Times - Business | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:00 am

Tobacco firms R.J. Reynolds and Lorillard sue to block marketing restrictions

The companies and others joining the suit allege provisions in the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act violate the 1st Amendment.

Two of the three largest U.S. tobacco companies sued Monday to block marketing restrictions in a law that gives the Food and Drug Administration authority over tobacco, alleging the provisions violate their right to free speech.



Source: L.A. Times - Business | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:00 am

Audi, BMW sell the sizzle of diesel, not the soot

Imagine trying to market a product that most Americans regard as old and obsolete, that is remembered -- if at all -- as low-class and low-tech, noisy and noisome, and whose most notable advocates are truck drivers with prominent trouser cleavage.



Source: L.A. Times - Business | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:00 am

Disney to buy comic book powerhouse Marvel

Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America, Thor and the Fantastic Four are among the 5,000 characters it hopes will inspire countless movies, TV shows and video games.

Mickey Mouse is bringing in some muscle.



Source: L.A. Times - Business | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:00 am

Toyota concealed evidence in rollover cases, ex-attorney alleges

In a lawsuit, lawyer says Toyota repeatedly forced him to illegally withhold information from victims of hundreds of accidents that resulted in deaths and injuries.

Toyota spent years concealing evidence from victims of hundreds of rollover accidents that resulted in death and injury, a former top lawyer for the automaker says.



Source: L.A. Times - Business | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:00 am

Flying Pigeon LA peddles bike culture north of downtown

Brothers Adam and Josef Bray-Ali host monthly tours -- with dim sum or art the destination -- to introduce their shop's Chinese bicycles and also to cultivate a vision of a different Los Angeles.

On the third Sunday of each month, a dozen or so people pedal out of Highland Park atop steel-frame bikes straight out of the Chinese Cultural Revolution or on more luxurious Dutch cruisers -- all in search of dumplings.



Source: L.A. Times - Business | 1 Sep 2009 | 1:00 am

End in sight for 100W light bulb

The traditional light bulb will no longer be manufactured or imported into the European Union from today as new energy-saving rules come into force.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 1 Sep 2009 | 12:52 am

Disney pays superhero price for Marvel

Walt Disney is paying a superhero price to swoop in on Marvel Entertainment the parent of Spiderman and Iron Man.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 1 Sep 2009 | 12:52 am

NZ shares end lower

The New Zealand sharemarket ended down but recovered from its lows today as Asian markets took heart from a steadier Chinese market. The benchmark NZX-50 index closed down 13.323 points, or 0.43 per cent, at 3084.68. Turnover...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 1 Sep 2009 | 12:45 am

Transcript: the full Gordon Brown interview

Gordon Brown talks about bankers' pay and bonuses reform of the financial system and his hopes for the G20 summit later this month in an interview with the Financial Times.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 1 Sep 2009 | 12:17 am

U.S. August ISM manufacturing seen showing expansion

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A key gauge of U.S. manufacturing activity likely rose in August, which would bring the index into positive territory for the first time since the recession began, according to a Reuters' poll of economists.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 31 Aug 2009 | 11:33 pm

Late Labor Day seen pulling down August sales

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. retailers are likely to get an "incomplete" mark for the key back-to-school season when they report August sales this week, as a later Labor Day is expected to pull some sales into September, pressuring August results.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 31 Aug 2009 | 10:45 pm

Late Labor Day seen pulling down August sales (Reuters)

Customers wait in line at an Aeropostale store in New York August 20, 2009. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidReuters - U.S. retailers are likely to get an "incomplete" mark for the key back-to-school season when they report August sales this week, as a later Labor Day is expected to pull some sales into September, pressuring August results.



Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 31 Aug 2009 | 10:41 pm

It's Free! (Really)

Whoever said there’s no such thing as a free lunch hasn’t been dining out this recession.

As more consumers have snapped their wallets closed, desperate companies have are bringing back the once-humble freebie. The bonanza encompasses everything from fast-food chicken dinners (thanks, Oprah!) to tech toys (a free netbook or camcorder with some Verizon service “bundles”) to a few months of free rent. According to Ryan Eubanks, founder of deal-spotting Web site HeyItsFree.net, the value of offers on the site has spiked this year, with its volume of daily gimmes up 30 percent.

Many of these giveaways target the unemployed—what Michael J. Silverstein of Boston Consulting Group dubs this “altruism marketing. When Debra Fidler of Arlington, Va., for example, was laid off last winter, she had to give up little luxuries like regular trips to the hair salon and local boutiques. But not Botox. Thanks to a local spa offering free injections for the unemployed, Fidler may still be pounding the pavement, but at least her forehead is wrinkle-free.

Despite their own battered bottom lines, companies have plenty of reasons to give away the store. For one thing, free seems to be the only word that still perks up the ears of consumers jaded by the past year of endless sales and discounts. And in an era of populist outrage over corporate excess, giveaways—especially those aimed at groups like the jobless—can go a long way toward building goodwill. What’s more, says Mike Gatti, executive director of the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association, many companies prefer freebies to price reductions because when the economy starts to rebound, it’s easier to abandon them without upsetting customers.

Of course, free doesn’t necessarily equal no strings attached. Many of the most enticing sounding offers require a hefty purchase to qualify; others have lists of qualifications that make an FBI background check look lax. Then there are the no-deal deals, arrangements that trade an up-front freebie in exchange for paying more in the future. So we decided to sort out the free from the sort of free, combing through the fine print on a few of the latest giveaways.

Travel

Bill Crane, a communications executive who’s on the road as many as 60 days a year, sees his share of travel offers and didn’t expect much from the latest proffered by the InterContinental Hotels Group: one free night for every two paid. But the deal, it seems, was in the details; the offer could be used at any of the company’s brands, including the ultraluxe InterContinental properties, allowing Crane to parlay four recent inexpensive nights at U.S. Holiday Inns into two freebies at the InterContinental Hong Kong (average room rate: $400). “It’s like finding cash on the ground,” says the Atlanta resident.

Indeed, while freebie-loaded packages have long been a travel-industry staple, the latest deals now include even the one sector that previously played hard to get: luxury. For travelers pining for seats at the front of the plane, there’s British Airways’ first-class freebie, buy-one-get-one fares on all premium tickets (available to holders of a British Airways Visa card), while high-end cruise line Regent Seven Seas now allows guests access to most shore excursions free of charge. Tony hotels are also getting into the gratis game, with the Mandarin Oriental handing out spa credits and free nights and the Ritz-Carlton launching a three-nights-for-the-price-of-two package deal at some properties.

Free offers are especially popular with hotels because they allow properties to put more heads in beds without dropping rates, which are notoriously difficult to jack up again later, says Bjorn Hanson, a professor of hospitality and tourism management at New York University. Hotels also hope that these guests will boost revenue by spending on drinks, dinner and other extras not included in the package price, he says. While freebie packages can be steeper than basic room rates, they’re generally a good deal, assuming you use all the otherwise pricey add-ons. Recently, the package price for a night at Florida’s Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne was $399, or $129 more than the stand-alone rate on the same room; but with free breakfast, parking and kids’ activities thrown in, the total savings can easily shave 45 percent off à la carte pricing.

Real Estate

With the housing market still scraping the bottom, it’s no shock to see would-be sellers attempting to sweeten the pot with comps like convertibles and spa getaways. (Even celebrities aren’t immune; former football star Dan Marino recently offered $1.5 million worth of designer furniture—and a signed football—with his Florida home.) In fact, more than 40 percent of sellers offer some incentive, according to the National Association of Realtors. More surprising is how these offers are cropping up in the typically more-resilient rental market. Although a few building owners have tried throwing in extras like free cleaning or personal-training sessions, most are appealing straight to renters’ pocketbooks with a month or two of free rent. Actually, so many landlords are offering free months that the average national “effective” rent (the amount paid after freebies) is now more than 6 percent lower than the average listed rent, according to Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services.

Another hot spot for real estate freebies is the remodeling industry. With spending on home improvement predicted to drop 12 percent this year, more contractors say they’re turning to creative ways to persuade customers to sign on the dotted line. Some, like Linda Minde, have taken a straightforward approach; Minde’s company, Tri-Lite Builders, took out ads in her local Phoenix-area newspapers touting an offer of up to $1,000 worth of free work. Others offer freebies on more of a case-by-case basis. Chuck Weidenbach, project manager at Madison, Wis.–based Kitchen Ideas Center + Design, for instance, says he’s tried several successful incentives this year, ranging from little extras like a gratis $125 lighting plan to a full $8,000 worth of services he donated to a client—in exchange for referrals.

Health Care

Health care may be one of the few sectors where free services don’t always require an additional purchase, but it’s also the most restrictive, with many offers available only to those who lost jobs or health insurance in recent months. Still, people who fit the description will find a variety of choices, like gratis walk-in treatment at Walgreen’s Take Care retail clinics and pharmaceutical giant Pfizer’s recent pledge to provide more than 70 free prescription drugs. Of course, to take advantage of these offers, patients have to bring both paperwork (to prove that they are unemployed) and a keen eye for the details—Pfizer, for instance, requires patients to have already been taking their drug for at least three months.

As for doctors, discounting remains more common than straight-up freebies. (In fact, many doctors cannot legally discount copays and other fees.) Still, there are a few exceptions, like the free generic medications offered by Hello Health, a group of New York City doctors who specialize in treating uninsured patients. In general, Ted Epperly, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, says doctors are increasingly willing to waive some fees for needy patients; in fact, a recent survey by the group found that 71 percent of family doctors reported providing more uncompensated health care in the past several months. Patients who have just lost their job or insurance should ask their health care providers whether there might be some room for negotiation, says Epperly.

For those who have (so far) managed to hang on to their jobs, there are still a
few free options, mostly centered around elective or cosmetic procedures and targeted at repeat patients. For Susan Dutton, a project manager from South Jordan, Utah, seven years of faithful visits and countless referrals to plastic surgeon Renato Saltz have earned her a coveted “friends of the practice” designation—and the free massages, treatments and product samples that
go along with it. “I’m in there like clockwork,” she says. “Those incentives make sure you’re coming back.”

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 | 31 Aug 2009 | 10:00 pm

Lessons From the Crash

IT’S NOT THE KIND OF anniversary most of us will celebrate with bubbly. In fact, plenty of investors have spent the better part of a year trying to forget the series of events last fall that nearly brought the financial system to its knees and wrecked portfolios everywhere. Strategists, while cautious given the staggering deficit and billions in government spending, are more optimistic. For instance, Bob Doll, global chief investment officer of equities at the $1.3 trillion asset manager BlackRock, expects a choppy market with slow but steady improvements. “I think we’re in for a soggier-than-usual recovery,” he says. Clearly, the level of optimism varies among economists and investment managers, but regardless of their take, the pros are asking the same question: What have we learned, and what should we do differently?

LESSON #1: BE WARY OF DEBT

One of the biggest legacies of the credit crisis is that credit will be much harder to come by, for companies and individuals. That’s why investors should focus on a firm’s balance sheet, says Strategas chief strategist Jason Trennert. Firms with plenty of cash, little debt and solid market share will be better positioned for a rocky recovery. And fund managers say many of these high-quality firms—the likes of Coca-Cola (KO) and Microsoft (MSFT)—are still relatively cheap.

LESSON #2: DON’T DISMISS GLOBAL GROWTH

The U.S. generated the global recession and exported it to the developed world. But experts expect countries like China and India to generate high single-digit growth next year, despite the global downturn. The emerging markets aren’t immune to what’s happening in the rest of the world, but their growth is real. One way to tap that opportunity is through local firms catering to domestic demand, a strategy that has Richard Gao, manager of Matthews China (MCHFX), beating most of his peers. The T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Stock fund (PRMSX) takes a more global approach, focusing on bargain firms with big growth ahead.

LESSON #3: BRACE YOURSELF

There’s an old joke: Put two economists in a room and you’ll get three opinions. That’s never been more true than on the topic of inflation today. Some economists are worried that the deluge of money the federal government has pumped into the economy will soon usher in 1970s-style inflation that is completely unfamiliar to a generation of investors. Others say the unemployment rate, now at a 26-year high, and weak consumer demand will keep a lid on prices for some time.

Sentiment is likely to zigzag from one extreme to another for the foreseeable future, says Rex Macey, chief investment officer of Wilmington Trust, which manages $35 billion. Whatever happens, the crisis underscored the importance of guarding against all sorts of unlikely events. That’s why Macey recommends putting slivers of your portfolio beyond the usual stocks and bonds. Investors should consider buying commodities, he says, like the gold ETF (GLD), when prices, currently on the high side, pull back a bit. Careful stock selection can achieve the same result, says T. Rowe Price New America Growth fund manager Joe Milano. He likes firms that should be able to raise prices, like agriculture-related firms Monsanto (MON) or Potash (POT). Milano expects them to benefit from an expanding global population and rising incomes in the developing world.

LESSON #4: BONDS ARE ANYTHING BUT BORING

The differences among Treasury, municipal, corporate and high-yield bonds have rarely been as stark as they have been lately. That’s good news for investors willing to take on a little risk but bad news for investors who are accustomed to stashing some money in Treasurys and then forgetting about it. Because so many investors sought safety in Treasury bonds in the wake of the crash, prices have run up to the point of being riskier than some investors realize, says Jeremy Zirin, senior equity strategist for UBS Wealth Management Research. When bond prices rise, yields fall, and inflation would only eat away at that income. Plus, Treasury prices could fall sharply if interest rates start moving up.

Instead, fund managers have pounced on bargains in the corporate-bond market to grab stock-like returns with less risk. Of course, some bonds could be land mines, which is why planners suggest turning to the pros, like the Harbor Bond (HABDX) or Fidelity High Income (SPHIX) funds.

LESSON #5: DON’T UNDERESTIMATE D.C.

The crisis has shifted power and influence from Wall Street to Washington, and the administration’s efforts aren’t limited to the financial industry. That was a shock to investors who piled into health care stocks last fall because of their traditional resiliency in downturns. They reasoned that failing banks and a teetering economy would take precedence over health care reform, minimizing the risk for the group.

But health care played a central role in President Obama’s budget proposal released this spring, surprising investors who then dumped the stocks. But AIM Global Health Care fund manager Derek Taner has been bargain-hunting. Reform won’t affect every health care company in the same way, he says, and there are many examples of firms it could help, like generics giant Teva (TEVA). He also picked up battered managed-care firm WellPoint (WLP). “If anything happens in terms of reform, it won’t be implemented until 2013 or 2014,” he predicts. “Until then, there is a
viable business.” 

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 | 31 Aug 2009 | 10:00 pm

10 Things Your School District Won't Tell You (10 Things)

1. “Like our student/teacher ratio? It includes Hank the Janitor.”

It’s considered Math 101 in the education business: A smaller class size equals a better learning experience for your child. So it’s no wonder that school districts are often quick to point to their cozy student/ teacher ratios as proof their schools are strictly honor-roll material. But watch out, say experts. Those numbers don’t always mean what you think.

Click on the New York State Education Department’s website, for instance, and you’ll discover that the Pocantico Hills Central School District, a single-school district for pre-K through eighth grade in upstate New York, has a student/teacher ratio of 9-to-1. Impressive, certainly—except for one thing: It isn’t true. “We have 20 kids to every class on average,” says a spokesperson for Pocantico Hills. Why the discrepancy? Because in many states, there are simply no rules for determining the student-to-teacher stats. “There’s only state information, and their numbers are always lower than the real number,” says Peter Lisi, former superintendent of Pocantico Hills. “They put in every person, from the school psychologist to the librarian and the gym teacher.”

Ronald Danforth, a former associate in Education Information Services for the New York State Education Department, says that the Pocantico Hills number is skewed because it’s a tiny district (with around 350 students). That means when you include such staff as remedial teachers—who generally work with groups of one to four students needing extra help—the teacher pool seems comparatively large.

So where can parents get accurate information about the student/teacher ratio at their kid’s school? David Paradise, of the Council of Chief State School Officers, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit that offers leadership and advocacy on education issues, says your best bet is to call the school’s district office. That way, you can find out what’s included in the statistic for that particular district, as well as what has been budgeted for new teacher hires.

2. “Our per-pupil expenditures are meaningless .”

Often the same numbers nonsense goes on with another so-called quality yardstick: per-pupil expenditures. Here the rule seems equally intuitive. More money means better school buildings and supplies, computer equipment, higher-paid teachers—in short, a better education.

Or does it? Consider two New Jersey school districts: New Brunswick City, which spends $13,126 per student a year, and Woodbridge Township, which spends $10,103 per student a year. For the two consecutive school years between 2004 and 2006, about 82 percent of Woodbridge Township’s middle school students met or exceeded proficiency in the language arts standardized test, and over 75 percent did so in mathematics. At New Brunswick City, on the other hand, only half the middle school students met or exceeded proficiency in language arts, while 47 percent did so in math. (Richard Kaplan, superintendent for the New Brunswick City School District, says, “I believe we’ll be a model for other districts; we’re going to soar within a number of years.” Woodbridge Township did not return our calls for comment.)

“There’s simply no consistent relationship between spending per pupil and student performance,” says Eric Hanushek, a senior fellow at Stanford University who has extensively studied the correlation between school spending and student performance. The problem, says a spokesperson for the American Association of School Administrators, is that per-pupil figures don’t tell you what the money’s actually being spent on: “Some schools have buildings that require a lot of work for upkeep, and that adds to the overall [per-pupil] cost.” But frankly, he says, “school systems could do a better job of sharing that fact with communities.”

3. “Lunch money? That’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

The days of eight-cent milk cartons may be as distant a memory as inkwells, but how much has America’s free public school system really changed since we were kids? Plenty, it seems. For one thing, it’s no longer, well, free. Sure, if you count your property-tax bill, public school never actually was. But today’s schools are asking parents to kick in money for things they almost never had to pay for back in the day. Kids at Seattle’s Garfield High, for example, fork over a $50 school activity fee to attend sporting events. (“If you do the math, they save a lot of money,” says Peggy Jackson Williams, activities and athletic director at Garfield High. “They receive discounts on going to certain games.”) And in Arlington, Mass., wannabe football or soccer players have to pony up as much as $290—not including uniform and equipment charges. (Arlington High did not return our calls for comment.)

While it may seem reasonable to ask students to contribute to the cost of their extracurricular activities, many parents are surprised to find themselves nickel-anddimed for curricular items as well. Utah high schoolers, for instance, are assessed an annual textbook fee and additional fees for courses that require lab work (such as biology and chemistry). And then there’s Lafayette Elementary in Washington, D.C., where local parents kicked in the salaries for the art and music teachers—a total of $150,000 in the 2006-07 school year, according to Linda Geen, copresident of the Lafayette Elementary Home and School Association. And it doesn’t stop there. “We donate money to the librarian to help update material,” Geen says. “We even help with the school’s plumbing.”

4. “You should see how we’re spending your tax dollars.”

In a 2005 audit, the New York State Comptroller’s Office identified $3.2 million in misspent funds at the William Floyd School District in Mastic Beach, N.Y. This included a $159,931 unauthorized salary increase for the superintendent and a $24,150 travel allowance for another administrator. And this wasn’t the first time: The district had misspent an additional $1.5 million in the past. A spokesperson for the school district says the superintendent has since left the post, “though it was not a result of the audit controversy”; she declined to comment on whether the other employees involved are still with the district.

In response to the audit, the New York State Comptroller’s Office sent a report to the school board with recommendations for how the board could better monitor its funds. The truth is that with little state oversight, school boards can often get away with some rather odd budgeting priorities. But it’s a more complicated issue than it appears, says Jeremiah Floyd, once the associate executive director for the National School Boards Association (NSBA). “It’s a matter of opinion what constitutes a misuse of funds,” Floyd says. “One person’s misuse is another person’s good discretion.”

5. “Sure, our teachers are well-versed—just not in the subjects they teach . . .”

Your child’s teacher may have studied Spanish for years and mastered the language. “But if the district needs a French teacher, guess what?” says a National Education Association spokesperson. That teacher will be put to work teaching French. Sounds crazy, but the misassignment of teachers happens far more often than you may think. “This is a dirty little secret that’s been going on for a long, long time,” says Richard M. Ingersoll, professor of education and sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. “It’s widespread.”

True, good teachers can and do learn on the job and even become wizards in a new area of specialization over time. Nevertheless, “most parents would assume their kid’s taking an 11th grade trig class that’s being taught by someone who studied math,” Ingersoll says. “It’s difficult [for teachers] to teach their students subjects they don’t know much about themselves.” And if test scores are any indication, today’s students aren’t exactly benefiting from the practice: According to “The Nation’s Report Card,” sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, in 2007 roughly 61 percent of fourth-graders and 69 percent of eighthgraders in public schools scored below proficiency in math, while roughly 68 percent of fourth-graders and 71 percent of eighth-graders had substandard scores on reading-proficiency tests.

6. “. . . and some aren’t even licensed.”

Lawyers have to pass the bar exam. Doctors must score well on the medical boards. Even beauticians have to prove their body of knowledge before getting a license to cut hair. But not all teachers have to demonstrate their mastery before getting their first teaching assignment. How is it that unlicensed teachers are allowed into the classroom? Normally, with limited or emergency licenses granted when school districts run into labor shortages. “It’s scandalous when you think about it, because there’s a lot of discussion that we need better-qualified teachers,” says Susan Carmon, associate director of the National Education Association. “But instead, we’ve been going around hiring people who don’t meet the standards.”

Even Indiana, which is viewed as a national pacesetter in teaching-licensure standards, issues stopgap licensing, called emergency permits. Getting one of these requires only a bachelor’s degree and takes into account whether prospective candidates have taken steps to contact whatever governing body is responsible for teacher certification in their field. Just how low is the bar? “The approval ratio is in the 90th percentile,” says Ray Graves, the assistant director of teacher licensing at the Indiana Standards Board, who says the state issued nearly 2,000 such permits in 2007. Elizabeth Schurtz, the former director of teacher licensing at the Indiana Professional Standards Board, sees cause for concern: “There’s the fear that some teachers, without the proper training for the first two years, really don’t have the necessary skills,” she says.

7. “Of course your kid aced the state achievement test. We gave him the answers.”

When students at Staten Island’s Susan E. Wagner High School scored well on standardized tests in 2006, parents were obviously pleased—until it appeared that some teachers had tampered with the grades. “It was alleged that various administrative staff, including the principal, directed the faculty to rescore several Regents Examinations,” writes David Abraham, assistant commissioner of the Office of Standards, Assessment, and Reporting at the New York State Education Department. In addition, it was alleged that some scores were changed by faculty after the official scoring procedures had been completed. (Representatives of Susan E. Wagner High declined to comment.)

The motive? High test scores don’t just mean that schools are doing their jobs well; they often translate into cold, hard cash. Starting with the 2006–07 school year, for instance, New York City has been handing out “rewards,” amounting to roughly $30 per student, that can be spent at the school’s discretion. Those schools that score As on their Progress Report—intended to help parents, teachers, and principals understand how well they’re doing—are eligible for such rewards, according to the New York City Department of Education. Says its website: “Schools that get low grades will also face consequences, such as leadership changes or closure.” (Susan E. Wagner High School earned a B on its 2006–07 Progress Report.)

The problem is widespread, according to David Berliner, a Regents professor in the College of Education at Arizona State University. “What they’re doing is tempting people, because higher stakes are involved,” he says. “It’s the principle behind Enron; it’s why athletes take steroids—when the stakes get high, people cut moral corners.”

8. “Grade inflation means your kid learns less.”

Say your child consistently earns As in math, but he got only average scores on his eighth-grade standardized math test. Is your kid just a “bad” standardized-test taker? Maybe. “But more likely, he’s just an average math student,” says William L. Bainbridge, president of SchoolMatch in Columbus, Ohio. Welcome to the world of grade inflation, where students can get good marks even when they haven’t fully mastered a subject. “It’s mindboggling to see how often this happens,” says Bainbridge, whose company audits school systems across the country. While looking at some 650 districts nationwide, Bainbridge discovered that roughly 80 percent of them were guilty of grade inflation. The proof: Many schools with students who boasted grade-point averages nearing the perfect 4.0 ranked closer to average on standardized test scores.

The College Board, which administers the SAT, agrees. Since 1997 the percentage of students who report a grade average in the A range (A+, A, A-) has grown from 37 percent to 43 percent, according to a College Board spokesperson. Meanwhile, SAT scores have fallen an average five points on the verbal portion of the test and two points on the math test. The reason for the discrepancy? Grade inflation, says the College Board.

9. “Got a problem with one of our tenured teachers? Too bad.”

Bob Nunez was concerned that his son’s second-grade teacher “was verbally abusive and demeaning to the kids,” he says. “If a child’s work wasn’t to her liking,” claims the Eagle, Idaho, resident, “she’d pull them out of their seat to the front of the room and yell at them in front of the entire class.” Nunez first went to the elementary school’s guidance counselor, then to the principal. But even after five other parents came forward with similar complaints, school administrators did nothing about the problem teacher, Nunez says. Finally, he and the other parents talked to the district administration. After an investigation, the situation was resolved when the teacher, at her own request, was transferred to another school in the district. Says a district spokesperson, “We acknowledged there may have been concerns, but there was no evidence of wrongdoing.”

“It’s very hard to get rid of a tenured teacher,” says the NSBA’s Floyd, “even if they’re incompetent.” In most states, tenure is earned after a one- to two-year probationary period. Thereafter, districts have to follow a strict procedure before they can fire a teacher. And if that teacher puts up a fight, says Thomas Mooney, a Hartford, Conn., attorney and school-law expert, the district can end up in a costly two- to three-year legal battle. Adding to the difficulty, says Mooney, is the fact that many parents prefer to remain anonymous when it comes to teacher complaints. If you’ve got a concern, go to the teacher first; if you feel the issue won’t be readily resolved, it’s also a good idea to notify (in writing) the principal, the district superintendent, and the school board. In other words, start leaving a long paper trail.

10. “We’ll let anyone into your kid’s records.”

The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) legislated that no one but school administrators has the right to peer into your child’s private school records—which include everything from grades and standardized-test scores to psychological evaluations—without your (or your child’s) permission. But as with any major federal law, FERPA allows for several exemptions, such as cases in which there’s an issued court order, or when state or local educational authorities are auditing or evaluating federal- or state-supported educational programs. Also allowed: Financial-aid sources and offices, as well as organizations conducting educational studies, other secondary schools, colleges, teachers, accrediting organizations—and the list goes on—can likewise examine your child’s file without disclosure or your prior consent.

Now, suppose there’s an error in that file. Somebody slipped in a bad evaluation that was intended to go into another file, for instance. Or the school psychologist has written an evaluation you don’t want the whole world to see. Good luck trying to change or remove it. In fact, unlike the groups above, you may have difficulty accessing your child’s entire file, says a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education’s Family Policy Compliance Office, which investigates complaints of FERPA violations. And even if you do get your hands on it, the spokesperson says, “the process can be difficult.” Under FERPA, parents have the right to a hearing if they want to amend something in the file. But if after the hearing the school decides against making the change, there’s nothing else the parents can do.

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 | 31 Aug 2009 | 10:00 pm

6 Tech Toys for Dentists

The economy might be softening, but not the appetite among dentists for technology. Bank of America, a large provider of dental equipment loans, says demand for such products actually grew in the first half of 2009. How much all those whiz-bang devices cost dentists—and you:

Digital Panoramic X-Ray Machine

Cost: $35,000 = 304 X-ray sessions
Why it’s popular: These machines, which spin around the patient’s head, expose consumers to less radiation because they capture images of all the teeth in a single take. They also offer a clearer view of the overall jaw structure.
Downside: These X-rays can cost more than traditional ones, and insurance doesn’t always cover the expense.

In-Mouth Camera

Cost: $3,000 = 19 fillings
Why it’s popular: Large, sharp images allow better visibility inside the mouth.
Downside: Howard Strassler, a professor at the University of Maryland Dental School in Baltimore, says these so-called intraoral cameras can promote unnecessary treatment. “Patients see a harmless crack in their teeth blown up on the big screen,” Strassler says, “and they want the dentist to operate.”

Cone Beam CT Scan

Cost: $110,000 = 263 facial scans
Why it’s popular: Dentists can get a highly detailed picture of the face and jaw, allowing them, for example, to locate the nerves in the jaw before operating.
Downside: Scans can run $250 to $600 each. Early models cost much more and saddled some dentists with heavy debt, creating an incentive to generate more charges per patient.

Digital Impressions

Cost: $25,000 = 121 tooth whitenings
Why it’s popular: Dentists don’t have to use messy plaster to take a custom mold of the patient’s teeth before ordering devices like retainers. Digital impressions are also considered more accurate than traditional ones.
Downside: Stand-alone impression machines are still very new and not widely tested by independent researchers.

Milling Machine

Cost: $100,000 = 299 ceramic crowns
Why it’s popular: It can whittle a block of ceramic into a crown within 10 minutes. Dentists save on lab costs, and consumers are spared the need for multiple visits.
Downside: Machine-made crowns aren’t always as strong as handmade ones, says Steven David, a professor at the New York University College of Dentistry. This can hasten the need for expensive replacements.

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 | 31 Aug 2009 | 10:00 pm

3 Stocks With Big Sales, Cheap Valuations

Most big companies are making due with less this year. Standard & Poor’s says sales for members of its 500 index have shrunk an average of 11% over the past year. Only about one-fifth of index members have increased sales of late. Most of these produced small gains with products that sell well in a stingy economy: pasta, cigarettes, medicine.

Only a few dozen companies are growing sales by double-digit percentages. The bulk of these carry worrisomely rich valuations. Apple (AAPL) is 29 times earnings. Amazon (AMZN), 48 times earnings. I recently found just a handful of big companies that are growing nicely and still have what look like affordable shares. Listed below are three of them.

CVS Caremark

CVS (CVS) shares are up 14%, since this column last recommended them in February 2007. During that time, the S&P 500 index has declined 28%. CVS has been busy. It bought prescription benefits manager Caremark and California chain Longs Drug Stores, the latter having turned up on several SmartMoney screens for takeover targets. Today, CVS’s most impressive source of growth isn’t takeover activity but improvements at its longstanding stores. Sales at these stores grew 6.1% year-over-year during the company’s second quarter, led by brisk business at the drug counter. Entering the recession, some analysts feared CVS’s underinsured customers would split pills or forgo prescriptions. Instead, they seem to be cutting costs by switching to generics and using the company’s mail-order program for 90-day supplies. Both moves expand profit margins. Earnings per share for the company are expected to climb 7% this year and twice as fast next year. Shares sell for 14 times earnings.

McAfee

There’s no recession for malicious Internet activity: viruses, spam, content piracy and more. McAfee (MFE) holds an estimated 18% share of the global market for antivirus software and a 13% share of the market for content security software. Half of its sales come from outside the U.S. In the company’s most recent quarter, consumer sales increased 13% vs. a year earlier while sales to businesses grew 21%. Since selling additional copies of already-developed software costs next to nothing, McAfee’s profitability is improving. Operating margin rose to 26.7% in the second quarter from 25.4% in the first quarter. Shares at 16.5 times earnings seem reasonably priced, considering the growth.

General Dynamics

Based on price/earnings ratios, America’s big defense contractors are about a third cheaper than the broad stock market, thanks to fears the country’s giant budget deficit will result in cuts to its lavish weapons spending. In addition to weapons systems, General Dynamics (GD) makes Gulfstream business jets, demand for which has cratered during the present recession. Yet the company has managed the downturn well, holding margins stable, and contract wins on the defense side have more than made up for lost jet orders. Companywide sales are seen increasing 11% this year. Analysts say many of the company’s weapons, like the M-1 battle tank and Stryker armored vehicle, are central to the Army’s modernization plans. With only modest debt and a 2.5% dividend yield, General Dynamics seem easily worth its current price of 9.6 times earnings.

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 | 31 Aug 2009 | 10:00 pm

Card Issuers Face Stricter 'Loco Parentis' (Consumer Action)

Signing up for a credit card is about to become a lot harder on campus.

Underclassmen once bombarded by offers of easy credit and free T-shirts may find themselves a little less popular among credit-card marketers, as a new law designed to curb the fees and penalties that credit-card companies charge consumers goes into effect.

Later this academic year, the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009 will limit how credit card companies market their products to anyone under the age of 21. Its main purpose is to lower the credit-card debt that many college students are strapped with come graduation.

The average credit-card debt among all undergraduate college students stood at $3,173 for the year 2008, up from $1,879 in 1998, according to student-loan provider Sallie Mae's 2009 study "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards." Yet, even as that debt grew, more students were being drawn toward easy credit. In 2008, 84% of college students had credit cards, up from 67% in 1998.

The reforms signed into law in May are designed to slow both of those trends, but they don't go into effect until Feb. 22, 2010. Because the new regulations will make it harder for students under 21 to get a credit card, there is likely to be a run-up in the number of students applying for credit cards between now and February, says Schwark Satyavolu, the president of BillShrink.com, a credit-card comparison site. But lenders might not be as enthusiastic to issue credit cards to college students as they were in the past. The credit crunch and the Credit CARD Act will make giving credit cards to risky borrowers less lucrative, Satyavolu says.

Still, some issuers say they plan to continue their campaigns until they're told otherwise. “For now, it's business as usual,” says Lisa Westermann, a spokewoman for Wells Fargo (WFC). She says Wells Fargo lends to customers who can repay their debts, and the bank considers many factors when approving applicants for a loan, including credit history and their relationship with the bank.

Other issuers say their current campaigns are not in conflict with the law. Mai Lee Ua, a spokeswoman for Discover, says that the company now opens most new student accounts through direct mail and the Internet and doesn't expect to change its approach after the legislative changes.

Desiree Fish, a spokeswoman for American Express, says the company doesn't market to students as other issuers do. “Our focus is more on offering additional cards to students that are on their parents account,” she says. Parents can give their children a charge card on their account and set a unique limit on that card.

Still, several firms will make changes to their marketing strategies in line with the Credit CARD Act, and college students will graduate with less credit-card debt as a result, says Catherine Williams, a vice president at Money Management International, a nonprofit credit-counseling program. Graduating with no credit-card debt and a higher credit score can increase your chances of landing a job (more employers are checking credit scores before hiring), renting an apartment or buying a car, Williams says.

Here are some provisions of the Credit CARD Act designed to protect college students.

New requirements for students younger than 21

For most 18-year-olds, income is a function of a part-time job or an allowance. So, they are often enticed by the added buying power that credit cards can offer, and many quickly find themselves in hundreds or thousands dollars of debt.

The new credit-card reforms seek to eliminate the risk to younger borrowers; once they go into effect, a credit card will not be issued to anyone under the age of 21, unless that person can submit a written application for the credit card that includes one of two requirements:

(1) A co-signer's signature; the co-signer, who will become equally responsible for the credit card, can include a parent, legal guardian, spouse or anyone who is at least 21 years old and can prove they have the means to repay debts incurred on the card.

Or, (2) Financial paperwork that confirms the new cardholder is independently capable of repaying their debts. “Regulators will be coming out with guidelines that will specify what constitutes an independent means to repay,” says Westermann. They'll probably have to demonstrate sufficient income or assets of their own (not their parents') that would enable them to pay their bills by providing pay stubs or tax statements, says Bill Hardekopf, the CEO of LowCards.com, a credit-card comparison site.

One way that the credit-card issuers may help students satisfy this requirement is by offering younger students secured credit cards, says Mark Kantrowitz, who tracks student borrowing and is the publisher of FastWeb.com, a scholarship matching service. With a secured credit card, borrowers deposit their own money with a lender and then get a card with a credit limit set to that amount.

Protection from prescreened credit offers

In college, a trip to the mailroom usually means finding tuition bills, birthday cards and credit-card offers. But starting Feb. 22, lenders will no longer be permitted to contact individuals under 21 with prescreened offers for a credit card.

Students who are at least 18 years old, but not yet 21, can elect in writing to have their names and addresses given to credit-card companies that send out such offers.

Discover's Lee Ua says the company doesn't do any direct-mail marketing to students who have campus addresses.

Co-signer approval required for increased credit line

Most borrowers would welcome an increase to their credit line, especially with today's tighter lending environment.

But students often find themselves getting into deeper trouble when they're extended more credit, says Gail Cunningham, a spokeswoman for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. Starting Feb. 22, students under 21 with a co-signer on their credit card won't be able to get an increase in their credit line unless their co-signer also agrees to it.

No more freebies

Many lenders have used free T-Shirts or pizza to lure students into filling out their credit-card applications at booths on campus. That practice will come to an end when credit card reforms take effect.

Issuers won't be able to offer a free, tangible item when a student applies for a credit card on or near a college campus or at a college-related event like a football game or a debate match. “This makes it much harder for credit-card issuers to reach this segment and market to them,” Satyavolu says.

Still, many issuers already have policies in line with this provision of the reform. Lee Ua says Discover doesn't engage in freebie marketing on campus. Stephanie Jacobson, a Chase spokeswoman, says the company doesn't conduct student-focused marketing on or near campuses, including athletic events. And Wells Fargo's Westermann says, “Our current policies and practices support California's Student Financial Responsibility Act that prohibits offering gifts to students for filling out credit-card applications.”

Disclosures required

Universities often benefit from credit-card companies' interactions with their student body. As of Feb. 22, a college will have to publicly disclose any contract or other agreement made with a credit-card issuer for the purpose of marketing a credit card.

Often colleges are paid when an issuer sets up a pitching booth on campus, Cunningham says. Colleges also make money off affinity credit cards, which bear the school's name, logo or mascot, Kantrowitz says. With an affinity card, the college gets a percentage – usually less than 1% — of every purchase made with the credit card. Starting in February, every affinity card application will include a clear statement that the school will profit from the transaction, Kantrowitz says.

“Every time you charge that card the college is making money off you,” says Satyavolu. “If you think about every purchase, that could be thousands of dollars a year for one person. And multiply that by tens of thousands of card holders and that leads to significant revenues,” says Satyavolu.

Lee Ua says Discover doesn't have affinity card relationships with any schools.

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 | 31 Aug 2009 | 10:00 pm

China’s manufacturing continues to grow

China’s manufacturing sector expanded for the sixth straight month in August to a 16-month high, according to the official purchasing managers’ index
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 31 Aug 2009 | 9:30 pm

BofA offering to repay part of bailout: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America is offering to repay part of the U.S. government bailout money, starting with the $20 billion it received in January to help with the acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website late on Monday.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 31 Aug 2009 | 9:07 pm

Key keen on bipartisan emissions trading scheme

A bipartisan decision on changes to the emission trading scheme has advantages, Prime Minister John Key says. The previous Labour government put an emissions trading scheme (ETS) into law but when National won the election it put...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 31 Aug 2009 | 9:00 pm

New Indian bank to set up in NZ

Bank of Baroda, the third-largest public sector bank in India, has been given the all-clear by the Reserve Bank to begin trading in New Zealand, marking it as the nation's 19th registered bank. The Mumbai-based lender first indicated...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 31 Aug 2009 | 8:44 pm

French rogue trader to stand trial over billion euro losses

French judges have ordered ex-Societe Generale trader Jerome Kerviel to stand trial next year over transactions that cost the bank billions of euros, in a case that drew attention to a culture of risk-taking blamed for feeding the...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 31 Aug 2009 | 8:30 pm

Fixed mortgage rates to go higher despite flat OCR, say economists

The recent rise in fixed term mortgage rates is likely to continue over time, compounded by the impact of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's new liquidity policy for banks, ASB economists said today. Short term mortgage rates are...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 31 Aug 2009 | 8:00 pm

Pow! Bam! Are takeovers back?

Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man may help provide some much needed spark to the sleepy merger market.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 31 Aug 2009 | 7:35 pm

Boeing’s (BA) CEO Finds A Scapegoat

The launch of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner has been delayed so often that it would be comical except that the aerospace firm’s shareholders and customers are not laughing. Boeing trades at $50, down from more than $100 less than two years ago. Management has been appropriately blamed for most of the tardiness which has been caused [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 31 Aug 2009 | 7:35 pm

Home sellers now have upper hand, says new report

A shortage of residential house sale listings in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch is an indication that home sellers have the upper hand over buyers, says a new report. The monthly

Source: Reuters: Business News | 31 Aug 2009 | 6:54 pm

U.S. pay czar starts review of TARP firms' proposals

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. pay czar has begun reviewing the appropriateness of the richest pay packages proposed by firms that received billions of dollars in government aid.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 31 Aug 2009 | 6:53 pm

Stocks end strong month with a bout of selling (AP)

Numbers are displayed on the board as the market headed to close at the New York Stock Exchange Monday, Aug. 31, 2009 in New York. Stocks fell in light trading Monday after a plunge in China's main stock market sent a wave of selling around the world and added to concerns that stocks have rocketed too high, too fast. The Dow fell 47.92, or 0.5 percent, to 9,496.38. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)AP - After giving the stock market a big gain during August, investors still worried about the economy backtracked the final day of the month.



Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 31 Aug 2009 | 6:53 pm

Boeing’s commercial aircraft chief retires

Plane maker Boeing said that Scott Carson, commercial airplanes chief, is retiring and will be replaced by Jim Albaugh
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 31 Aug 2009 | 6:35 pm

Hanover goes to court over teenager's $697

Hanover Finance and its part-owner Mark Hotchin are taking a small investor to the High Court over $697.96 owed to the man's teenage daughter. Michael Fallows lodged a claim with the Disputes Tribunal in Tauranga, saying the company...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 31 Aug 2009 | 6:30 pm

Yahoo board member Icahn trims stake

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc board member Carl Icahn has cut back his stake in Yahoo, selling nearly 13 million shares since last Thursday, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 31 Aug 2009 | 6:28 pm

Judge rejects Schering-Plough tax refund request (AP)

AP - A federal court in Newark, N.J. has rejected Schering-Plough Corp.'s request for a $473 million tax refund related to the drugmaker's efforts to avoid paying taxes on $690 million in overseas profits it brought back to the U.S. from offshore subsidiaries.
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 31 Aug 2009 | 6:22 pm

Spider-Man caught in Disney's web with $4bn deal$

With great power comes great merchandising opportunities. Disney has bought Marvel Entertainment in an amazing $4 billion deal that will create a combined entertainment force as powerful as any superhero.$


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 31 Aug 2009 | 6:00 pm

Need to know: Summer round-up

View video and Need to Know interactive heatmap


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 31 Aug 2009 | 6:00 pm

Some student borrowers to be paid interest

From tomorrow, for the first time, almost 400,000 university-leavers will be paid interest for borrowing money. Thanks to a loophole in repayment terms and conditions, graduates who started university before 1998 will be paid 0.4 per cent of their student loan balances.


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 31 Aug 2009 | 6:00 pm

Applicants pull out as FSA gets tough on top bank jobs

Almost one in ten candidates for senior jobs at banks and other financial services businesses have withdrawn their applications since the Financial Services Authority (FSA) began aggressively vetting senior staff.


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 31 Aug 2009 | 6:00 pm

NZX activity picks up in August

Activity on the New Zealand sharemarket picked up last month, as the benchmark NZX-50 index rose to its highest level since early October. Figures released by NZX today show the daily average value traded last month was $109 million,...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 31 Aug 2009 | 5:12 pm

Head of US forces sets out Afghan strategy

Gen Stanley McChrystal set out his plans for winning the war against the Taliban, stressing the need to protect Afghan civilians and build the country’s security forces
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 31 Aug 2009 | 5:05 pm

IBD's Top 10 - Monday (Investor's Business Daily)

Investor's Business Daily - 1 Stocks fell in mixed volume, pushing investors away from risk. The rocky start to the week began after the Shanghai composite sank 6.7% on gov't plans to turn off the flood of easy credit. The Dow fell 0.5%, the Nasdaq and NYSE composite 1%, and the S&P 500 0.8%. The 10-year Treasury yield fell 5 ticks to 3.40%.
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 31 Aug 2009 | 5:04 pm

Hynes on Markets, China; Weiss on Sale of BJ Services: Audio


Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 31 Aug 2009 | 5:00 pm

Write-Offs: 08.31.09

$$$ Allen Stanford To Undergo Heart Tests [Reuters]

$$$ Chris Flowers: Checkmate For A Wall Street Wizard? [Fortune]

$$$ Activist funds find going tough [FT]

$$$ Bailout profits? Don't make me laugh. [TBP]



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Sponsored Topics: Wall Street - Business - Reuters - Allen Stanford - Investing
Source: Dealbreaker | 31 Aug 2009 | 4:57 pm

CFTC Limits Not Impeding Canadian Natural Gas ETF Growth: Audio


Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 31 Aug 2009 | 4:52 pm

It's The FSA's Way Or The Highway

FSA.jpgWhen not tending to its duty as financial regulator, the FSA is busy playing the HR game. Figuring that who better than a regulator would know the hallmarks of senior executive success, the FSA has been busy administering competency tests to prospective C-suite candidates. Since they started deciding whether applicants had the "necessary skills, experience and integrity" to fulfill their potential duties back in October of last year, 15 of the 174 individuals under consideration for positions close to the top of the totem pole withdrew their names before a decision had been made and 12 of the 15 pulled out after the initial encounter with the FSA.

The FSA said: "In a number of cases, applications for senior roles have been withdrawn following interviews that raised questions concerning the candidate's competence."

Given some of the FSA's recent initiatives, one hopes this will be a 360-degree review process.

Applicants pull out as FSA gets tough on top bank jobs [Times Onlne]



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Sponsored Topics: Financial Services Authority - Financial services - Human resources - Business - Business and Economy
Source: Dealbreaker | 31 Aug 2009 | 4:42 pm

Nomura lands six-year London rent break

Nomura, the Japanese investment bank, will not pay any rent for almost six years on its new building in the City of London under the terms of a deal that will see up to 4,000 banking staff move into Watermark Place
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 31 Aug 2009 | 4:39 pm

Podcast: Health Insurance Is Like An All-You-Can-Eat Buffet

All-you-can-eat-buffet

It's got to do with health care, but not with overeating. (The Truth About...'s / Flickr Creative Commons)


On today's Planet Money:

Much of the debate over changing the U.S. health care system concerns the Americans who can't get care. But a majority of Americans have insurance of one type or another, and for them, the health care system often more closely resembles an all-you-can-eat buffet.

If you want to get your knee fixed, you can. If you want that drug you saw on T.V., no problem. As a consumer, you don't have to worry too a great deal about the price, to a point, because your employer pays much of your premiums and the insurer picks up much of the medical cost.

David Goldhill, author of an Atlantic article called "How American Health Care Killed My Father," calculates that the average cost of a family's health insurance over a lifetime is $1.7 million. Goldhill proposes that Americans pay for routine care up to $50,000 over their lifetimes, and then be required to build health savings accounts that would cover the rest.

Goldhill's idea strikes Richard Kirsch of Health Care for America Now as very dangerous proposition. He says you can't treat medicine like any other commodity.

Bonus: Video: "Principles of economics, translated," after the jump.

Download the podcast; or subscribe. Intro music: The Cribs' "I'm a Realist." Find us: Twitter/ Facebook/ Flickr.

Yoram Bauman, the Stand-up Economist, says you need a Ph.D. in economics to understand it -- and fortunately, he's got one. Here, Bauman finds the funny in Greg Mankiw's signal textbook, Principles of Economics.


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Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 31 Aug 2009 | 4:32 pm

How the major stock indexes fared on Monday (AP)

AP - After giving the stock market a big gain during August, investors still worried about the economy backtracked the final day of the month.
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 31 Aug 2009 | 4:29 pm

PetroChina in $1.7bn Canadian project stake

PetroChina has agreed to pay $1.7bn for a majority stake in two oil sands projects in northern Alberta in the latest of several Chinese investments to help develop the world’s second-biggest oil reserves
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 31 Aug 2009 | 4:16 pm

China Life Falls To 10-Week, Forms Flat Base (Investor's Business Daily)

Investor's Business Daily - China Life Insurance is a mega-cap stock that's slowly made its way back to a key moving average.
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 31 Aug 2009 | 4:01 pm

China Life Falls To 10-Week, Forms Flat Base (Investor's Business Daily)

Investor's Business Daily - China Life Insurance is a mega-cap stock that's slowly made its way back to a key moving average.
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 31 Aug 2009 | 4:01 pm

U.S. judge rules against AIG in Starr case (Reuters)

Reuters - A U.S. judge ruled on Monday against American International Group in the insurer's legal battle with Starr International Co, affirming a July jury verdict that Starr did not breach a trust.
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 31 Aug 2009 | 3:50 pm

Are We In For An Economic Downpour?

economic-downpour

Just when I had started feeling better about the 401k, when the idea of new hockey skates for the kids didn’t send me into a budgetary panic, when I thought designer jeans might be in reach - Psych!

This just in: TrimTabs Investment Research reported today that selling by corporate insiders last month reached $6.1 billion, the highest amount since May 2008. Further, the ratio of insider selling to insider buying hit 30.6, the highest level since TrimTabs began tracking the data in 2004. This is not good news.

“The best-informed market participants are sending a clear signal that the party on Wall Street is going to end soon,” said Charles Biderman, CEO of TrimTabs. “When corporate insiders are bailing, the shorts are covering and investors are borrowing to buy, it generally pays to be a seller rather than a buyer of stock”

Signals That Wall Street Rally Will Soon End

  • In addition to the insider selling, TrimTabs noted the following indications that the rally is about to end.
  • Short interest on NYSE stocks plummeted by 10.3% in the second half of July
  • Margin debt on all US listed stocks spiked 5.9% in July
  • 51.6% of advisors surveyed by Investors Intelligence are bullish

TrimTabs also reports that the actions of U.S. public companies have been bearish. In the past four months, companies have been net sellers of a record $105.2 billion in shares.

“Investors who think the U.S. economy is recovering are going to get a big shock this fall,” said Biderman. “Companies and corporate insiders are signaling that the economy is in much worse shape than conventional wisdom believes.”

Excuse me, I have a pair of jeans to return.

Image Credit: gilles chiroleu



Source: Business Pundit | 31 Aug 2009 | 3:37 pm

What The IRS Can Do For You

IRS_logo.jpgWhile private wealth clients were busy paying fat fees to their favorite Swiss bankers to figure out ways to dodge the tax man, clients at Topeka-based Renaissance were getting tax fraud plans straight from the crew at the IRS. A former IRS district director, Jesse Ayala Cota, will be spending the next two years behind bars for helping clients cheat his former employer.

Owners of home-based businesses who paid to become members of Renaissance received services including tax preparation, tax advice and so-called "audit protection." The "Tax Advantage System" offered by Renaissance was based on claims that business owners could legally reduce the taxes they paid by converting their personal expenses into business deductions. Cota and other defendants assured Renaissance clients that the tax reduction methods were legal, even though the tax returns filed using Renaissance's methods were based on providing fraudulent information to the IRS.

See- the gap between Wall Street and Main Street isn't really that big after all.



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Sponsored Topics: Tax - Business - Internal Revenue Service - Wall Street - Main Street
Source: Dealbreaker | 31 Aug 2009 | 3:33 pm

AIG's New CEO Will Do Unspeakable Things To Andrew Cuomo. You Don't Even Want To Know.

Benmosche.jpg

"The worst thing that will ever happen to him is when he and I meet in the room and I close the door," Benmosche, 65, said of Cuomo.

"I ain't going to meet with him with anybody else in the room. I won't tell you what I'll say to him, but I will tell you, there won't be a nice word."--Bloomberg



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Sponsored Topics: American International Group - United States - War on Terrorism - Warfare and Conflict - September 11 2001
Source: Dealbreaker | 31 Aug 2009 | 3:30 pm

Presented By:


Source: Dealbreaker | 31 Aug 2009 | 3:30 pm

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

AP - How far the Dow Jones industrial average has fallen or advanced each trading day since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sept. 15. Since Lehman's fall, which touched off a paralysis of the credit markets and deepened the recession, the stock market has gone through an extended period of volatility before kicking into a big rally starting this spring. The numbers are the closing levels for the Dow:
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 31 Aug 2009 | 3:30 pm

Logsdon Says Marvel Acquisition Is Big Plus for Disney: Audio


Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 31 Aug 2009 | 3:19 pm

Misguided Investment Banker Attributes Pals Being Broke/Not Idiots As Signs Of Maturity, Indication They've Become Hip To The Evil Of Drugs

So I missed this earlier during our discussion of hard-up coke dealers cold-calling clients, but apparently the fact that one guy's friends and colleagues aren't buying drugs anymore because either they're unemployed and can't afford to do so or because those with jobs are being slightly more cautious and not blowing rails in the bathroom at work means everyone's a grown-up now, and has come to the conclusion that illegal substances = bad (blowing guys down at the Port Authority for a bump bad).

Damien, 27, who quit doing coke almost two years ago, has been contacted by three different cocaine dealers, all wanting his business, since June. "None of my friends mess with that anymore," Damien says, "It's like they grew up overnight when the banks died."


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Sponsored Topics: Cocaine - Health - Substance Abuse - Addictions - Damien Trotter
Source: Dealbreaker | 31 Aug 2009 | 3:17 pm

Win Thin Sees Yen Weaker By Year’s End: Audio


Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 31 Aug 2009 | 3:16 pm

Stocks end strong month with a bout of selling

After giving the stock market solid gains during August, investors still worried about the economy backtracked a bit during the final day of the month.



Source: L.A. Times - Business | 31 Aug 2009 | 2:56 pm

Sheryl Weinstein Would Like Us To Know Her Breasts Are Real, And They're Spectacular

berniemadoffparty.jpgOr at least they were back when she and Bernie were having an affair, a hundred years ago. Now, probably not so much but the point is this: her newly released (and deeply discounted) book is nothing if not the pushing of agendas. One, to shout it from the rooftops that Bernie's penis was so small that it could fit into an electrical socket (she knows for sure because on one fateful night, they tried) and two to make herself sound like a hot piece of cheating whore ass (and maybe score herself another fake billionaire to "pal around" with). We've already been told, many times, how hot she was in the heat of the moment. Now let's discuss the bod.

We were sitting across the table from each other when I walked over, straddled him, and opened two of the buttons on my blouse. He looked down and moaned.

"Have you had surgery?" he asked.

"No." I smiled. "I have my mother to thank for these. But you can check for scars if you want."

And since we're unfortunately here, let's find out what happened next.



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Sponsored Topics: Penis - AC power plugs and sockets - Bernie - Heat - Shopping
Source: Dealbreaker | 31 Aug 2009 | 2:48 pm

If You’re Happy And You Know It …

happyandyouknowit

Who misses DOS?



Source: Business Pundit | 31 Aug 2009 | 2:41 pm

Cecchetti Sees Need for a `Financial Stability Metric': Audio


Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 31 Aug 2009 | 2:36 pm

Assured Guaranty Cut to `Neutral’ at UBS: Audio


Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 31 Aug 2009 | 2:31 pm

Rasmussen Says NATO Must Train More Afghan Soldiers: Audio


Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 31 Aug 2009 | 2:27 pm

Chart: How to Make Money Off Your New MRI Machine

MRI business plan.

'Quality, Comfort & ROI': The return on your investment in the MSK Extreme MRI machine. (ONI)

By Chana Joffe-Walt

Say you're a doctor, hospital or group practice looking to offer MRI services to your clients. MRI machines are expensive. How do you know if it's worth it? You can tape this handy business plan from ONI Medical Systems to the back of the machine. Just use the machine on at least 10 patients a day and you can make $2.5 million over five years.

Now, as a patient, a chart like this might seem disturbing. The MRI manufacturer is directing your hospital or doctor to use the MRI machine at least 10 times a day to maximize profits. A recent report from MedPAC worried that when doctors own their own imaging equipment they (duh) tend to use those machines more often.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that businesses run numbers like this before making such a large investment. But it does. I guess it just feels like something we (the patients) are not supposed to see.

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Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 31 Aug 2009 | 2:23 pm

Barry Tannenbaum Has An Alibi

Barry Tannenbaum.jpgIt looks like "the world's leading risk consulting company" was about as helpful as global financial regulators in identifying elite Ponziers. In addition to giving Sir Allen's empire a clean bill of health, investigators at Kroll viewed Barry Tannenbaum and his surefire HIV antiretroviral investment scheme in a "very positive light" in their 2007 report. With promised quarterly returns of 15% making it through the fraud filters, the two thumbs up from Kroll helped more investors get in on BT's golden touch. While the crew at Kroll may be licking their wounds for showing the risks of risk consultants to the world, there is one person who'd like to buy Team Kroll a round or two.

"The accusation of me running a Ponzi Scheme is unfounded and drivel. I was not running a Ponzi scheme at all...Thank goodness there is, at last, someone who believes that I am not all evil," Tannenbaum said

Once the inevitable happens and Kroll gets sued for missing the boat on this one, Barry may have to reconsider his perceived evil quotient.

US investigators gave all-clear to alleged Ponzi pair [Guardian]



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Sponsored Topics: Fraud - PonziScheme - Investment - Barry Tannenbaum - Kroll Inc.
Source: Dealbreaker | 31 Aug 2009 | 2:04 pm

Sony to distribute Google browser

Google has forged a distribution alliance with Sony’s PC division and is in talks with other computer makers as it looks to promote its well-regarded but little-used Chrome browser
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 31 Aug 2009 | 2:01 pm

Why the Stock Market Looks Bullish for Fall (Time.com)

Time.com - The summer stock-market rally is a break with traditional seasonal patterns, and that bodes well as we head into the scariest season of all
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 31 Aug 2009 | 2:00 pm

Disney to buy Marvel for $4bn

Walt Disney has unveiled a surprise $4bn bid for Marvel Entertainment, ending a deal-making drought in the media sector
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 31 Aug 2009 | 1:31 pm

My Mechanic, My Doctor

Car mechanic bill.

Take my mechanic's word for it: It's all good now. (Enlarge -- anyone heard of anti-rattle clips?)

By David Kestenbaum

We talked on the podcast about how economists sometimes compare doctors to auto mechanics, because in both cases you, the customer, suffer from a lack of information. If the doctor says you have Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, you:

a) have no idea what that is, and
b) say, "Fix it!"

The same goes with the auto mechanic. My wife and I just took our car in because it was making a rattling sound. The bill we got Friday says simply, "FOUND ANTI RATTLE CLIPS OUT OF PLACE." Cost: $82.

Really? The rattle was because our anti-rattle clips were broken? We trust these guys and paid the bill. But I always have this helpless feeling of not knowing.

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Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 31 Aug 2009 | 1:17 pm

The 5 Richest Tennis Players in the US Open

The US Open is all about the game. But the money–$1,600,00 for singles winners–sure doesn’t hurt.

Some of this year’s top contenders also happen to be some of the most financially endowed players, too. Roger Federer, though he tops the list, is hardly the only multimillionaire serving during this week’s Grand Slam. The four players trailing behind him have all done incredibly well of prize money, sponsorships, and other ventures. See who ranks richest in the 2009 US Open*:

5. Andy Roddick

andy

Career prize money: $16,818,084
Sponsors: Rolex, Lacoste, SAP, Babolat, Lagardere

Roddick won the US Open in 2003, but since then, rival Roger Federer has continually taken the title. In fact, Federer has beat Roddick for several Grand Slam titles over the years, leaving Roddick steadily behind on the court (worldwide, he is ranked 5th). The 27-year-old Omaha native, who boasts the fastest serve in tennis (155 mph), faces Federer again in this year’s US Open. Good thing he has sponsors to keep him afloat if he doesn’t win–again.

4. Venus Williams

venus

Career prize money: $23,870,938
Sponsors: Electronic Arts, American Express, Kraft, Powerade, SEGA
Also owns EleVen (a women’s clothing line) and, with Serena, part-owns the Miami Dolphins.

The #3-ranked women’s tennis player has won 18 Grand Slam titles. A number of her games have been against sister and sometimes-rival Serena, who currently outranks Venus at #2. Yet Venus, who is also a design entrepreneur and successful campaigner for equal pay in tennis, continues to show her prowess at raking in funds through areas outside of tennis. She is not only a successful tennis player, but an advocate and entrepreneur, too.

3. Rafael Nadal

nadal

Career prize money: $25,182,970
Sponsors: Nike, Kia, Babolat, Mapfre, Illes Balears, Time Force, Banesto, L’Oreal, Lanvin

#3-ranked Rafael Nadal has never won a US Open. This six-time Grand Slam winner no doubt has his sights on the prize. The real question is whether his knees, which are recovering from tendinitis, will let him perform the way he needs to in order to beat rivals like Roger Federer. That said, the 23-year-old Spaniard has raked up significant earnings during his career. Hopefully they will be enough to keep him competitive on the court.

2. Serena Williams

serena

Career prize money: $25,999,373
Sponsors: Nike, Wilson, HP, Kraft, Electronic Arts, Home Shopping Network, Gatorade
Also co-founded MISSION skincare, and has her own line of Nike designer clothes

#2-ranked Serena Williams has won more career prize money and Grand Slam titles than any other female player. Her success on the court has allotted her an unprecedented amount of prize money (for a female player). Like her sister Venus, she designs fashion, which she sells through Nike. She also has a good shot at winning this year’s US Open.

1. Roger Federer

zzzfederer

Career prize money: $49,977,919
Sponsors: Gillette, Jura, Mercedes-Benz, Nationale Suisse, NetJets, Nike, Rolex, SWISS (airlines), Wilson

Federer has won every US Open since 2004. What’s to stop him this year? A Rafael Nadal comeback, maybe, but certainly not a lack of funds. The #1-ranked men’s player is not only the richest tennis player in history, but arguably the best player, too.


*Based mainly on career prize money, as listed on the US Open official site.



Source: Business Pundit | 31 Aug 2009 | 12:44 pm

Tool Of The Week: Psyching Out Your Competition

You've heard of psychologically breaking someone, yes? It's a tool all the best money mangers use, but up until now, haven't discussed publicly. A demo of what we're talking about, featuring new SAC Chief Strategist Mike Tyson, is after the jump. It may get a little dark for those of you with weak stomachs, but if you're willing to sacrifice some queasiness in order to win, let's get it on.



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Sponsored Topics: Educational - Social Sciences - Qualitative - Methodology - Windows
Source: Dealbreaker | 31 Aug 2009 | 12:43 pm

EVE Online's Got A Real Economist (And He's From Iceland!)

EVE Online Quarterly Economic Newsletter.

Coolest quarterly economic newsletter cover ever. (EVE Online)

By Laura Conaway

You may think we here at Planet Money are the biggest geeks around. Here's compelling evidence to the contrary: EVE Online, the "massively multiplayer" game that's now witness to a virtual banking crisis, has its own economist.

Eyjolfur Gudmundsson reports in his second quarter 2009 newsletter that EVE is a closed world with a very, very free market. Gudmundsson, who's from Iceland and should know a thing or two about banking crises, writes:

"Financial institutions are not regulated by any high level authority within EVE. Deposits with banks are not insured. There is no government to support the financial system or any lender of last resort.

EVE's biggest player-run bank, EBank, froze customer accounts after panicked depositors demanded the return of their InterStellarKredits, or ISK. The problem began when the former CEO of EBank stole players' ISK and sold it in the real world for real money, Gudmundsson writes. That's against the rules, since EVE is designed to be a closed system. EVE shut the bank down for long enough to sort the matter out. The economist says the real world can learn something here:

"As of now, the question still remains open for both real life institutions and EBank: will they be able to regain the trust of their depositors and investors in the long run?"

Gudmundsson concludes the Q2 report with a note with an overall seal of good health -- a case of "mild deflation" notwithstanding.

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Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 31 Aug 2009 | 12:32 pm

Buy-out groups face opposition to annex funds

As companies acquired by buy-out firms during the market boom struggle to support their high debts, they need fresh cash. Yet, some private equity groups are running out of capital in their older funds, forcing them to ask investors for more money
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 31 Aug 2009 | 12:00 pm

Joyce Says Marvel to Be `Long-Term Positive' for Disney: Audio


Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 31 Aug 2009 | 11:53 am

FASB Takes A Trip Down Memory Lane

Lehman Building Sep 15.jpgAfter going through a crisis described as 'once in a lifetime', it would make some sense for regulators to take a close look at what the world looked like during a six-sigma event on the off-chance lightning strikes twice. But the folks at FASB would rather focus on the now alternate universe where such thoughts as 'what would happen if two major investment banks, the entire auto industry, and one of the largest insurance companies went literally or effectively bankrupt' are met with genuine laughter. The accounting overlords have a proposal in the works which would require companies to utilize alternative methodologies to provide valuations for their Level 3 assets based on "reasonably possible" scenarios. If you want to know what they're worth when those unreasonably possible scenarios hit, you're on your own.

FASB eyes more disclosure on illiquid assets [Reuters]



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Sponsored Topics: Insurance - Investment banking - Financial Accounting Standards Board - Business - Reuters
Source: Dealbreaker | 31 Aug 2009 | 11:20 am

What your financial adviser's not saying

Does your financial adviser put your interests first? Some brokers are allowed to sell you products they have a personal interest in pushing. Amy Scott reports.
Source: Marketplace | 31 Aug 2009 | 11:17 am

Are bailout investments paying off?

Douglas Elliott of the Brookings Institution talks with Kai Ryssdal about how the Treasury has made close to $4 billion from its bank bailout, and whether it's actual profit.
Source: Marketplace | 31 Aug 2009 | 11:17 am

Can producers meet ethanol demand?

The government wants to boost the amount of ethanol in the U.S. gas supply. But will corn ethanol makers be able to meet the target? Adam Allington reports.
Source: Marketplace | 31 Aug 2009 | 11:05 am

Why digital is good for music

Greg Kot, music critic for the Chicago Tribune, talks with Kai Ryssdal about how the wired generation has revolutionized music through the digital platform.
Source: Marketplace | 31 Aug 2009 | 11:05 am

New college majors for changing needs

The Chronicle of Higher Education says colleges are now offering new disciplines for students, including a major in the science behind customer service. Steve Henn reports.
Source: Marketplace | 31 Aug 2009 | 11:04 am

Fires put California budget in hot spot

A wildfire in the mountains north of Los Angeles is burning through California's emergency firefighting fund, and putting the heat on the state's growing budget deficit. Bob Moon reports.
Source: Marketplace | 31 Aug 2009 | 11:01 am

Marvel deal gives Disney man power

Disney is acquiring Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion, which will give the Mouse House access to superheroes like Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. Jeremy Hobson reports on how each company benefits.
Source: Marketplace | 31 Aug 2009 | 11:01 am

Business concern over DPJ policies

The Japanese election winners say they remain committed to working with partners in the much smaller Social Democratic party and People’s New party
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 31 Aug 2009 | 10:43 am

Roach Says U.S. Economic `Relapse' Is Possible in 2010: Audio


Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 31 Aug 2009 | 10:09 am

Pond Says Bond Investors Doubtful About U.S. Rebound: Audio


Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 31 Aug 2009 | 10:06 am

From Underwear To Haircuts: Make It Do Or Do Without

Home haircut.

'It looked okay to me until my wife came home and said the back didn't look too great.' (Dan Morelle / Flickr / Creative Commons)

By Laura Conaway

"Use it up. Wear it out. Make it do, or do without." People have been living by those words since long before the Great Recession -- I first heard them in Maine, probably about the time we were driving a century-old spile into a freshly tapped maple tree. Sugar's free, if you've got time to make it yourself.

From the world today, two new looks at doing more with less:

First, more people are cutting their own hair or getting a family member to do it for them (count me in), which is great until someone goes a little wild with the clippers and lands in the Wall Street Journal.

Second, when times get tough, tough guys stop buying new underwear. The Washington Post reports that the men's underwear index, or MUI, has been falling but lately at a much slower rate. The idea is that since underwear don't show, men who are worried about money will wear a pair until they're in tatters. A spokeswoman for Target says sales have picked up recently, especially sales of multi-pair packs. No less an eminence than Alan Greenspan himself has used the men's underwear index as way to gauge the economy.

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Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 31 Aug 2009 | 9:34 am

Disney Buys Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion

iron-man-hit

Hannah Montana meets Iron Man? You bet. The Walt Disney Co. today announced it is purchasing Marvel Entertainment–and its 5,000 characters–for $4bn in stock and cash. The AP has more:

Analyst David Joyce of Miller Tabak & Co. said the acquisition will help Disney appeal to young men who have flocked to theatres to see Marvel’s superhero fare in recent years. That contrasts with Disney’s recent successes among young women with such fare as “Hannah Montana” and the Jonas Brothers.

“It helps Disney add exposure to a young male demographic it had sort of lost some balance with,” Mr. Joyce said, noting the $4-billion offer was at “full price.”

Disney said Marvel shareholders will receive $30 per share in cash, plus 0.745 Disney shares for every Marvel share they own. That values each Marvel share at $50 based on Friday’s closing stock prices.

Marvel shares jumped $10.17, or 26 per cent, to $48.82 shortly after the market opened. Disney shares fell 47 cents, or 1.8 per cent, to $26.37.

For the full list of Marvel characters that are now going Disney, click here.



Source: Business Pundit | 31 Aug 2009 | 9:00 am

Baker Hughes Buys Rival BJ Services for $5.5bn

zzzbhughes

Baker Hughes Inc., the third-biggest oilfield services provider in the world, bought rival BJ Services Co. an oil shale company, for $5.5 billion today. Bloomberg has more:

The price represents a 16 percent premium to BJ Services’ stock price on Aug. 28 and will leave BJ stockholders owning about 27.5 percent of Baker Hughes’s outstanding shares, Houston-based Baker Hughes said in a statement today. BJ Services shareholders will receive 0.40035 share of Baker Hughes’s stock and a cash payment of $2.69 a share.

BJ Services is the third-largest provider of so-called pressure-pumping services, whereby slurry, often sand and water, is injected into a well to stimulate production. Pressure pumping is used in unconventional gas plays such as shale formations to break up rock. The method is expected to account for about 20 percent of the combined company’s revenue, compared with less than 1 percent for Baker Hughes last year.

The Financial Times adds:

The purchase of BJ Services will significantly boost Houston-based Baker Hughes’ ability to perform pressure pumping services, which are in increasingly high demand around the world as oil fields age and require stimulation to keep producing.

Baker Hughes’ pressure pumping business will jump from less than 1 per cent of its revenue to more than 20 per cent when the deal is completed. That is still less, on a percentage basis, than the amount of revenue larger rivals Schlumberger and Halliburton derive from pressure pumping.

Daily Finance says this is the third biggest mergers & acquisitions deal of the year, behind Pfizer-Wyeth and Merck-Schering Plough.



Source: Business Pundit | 31 Aug 2009 | 8:43 am

You Bought Banks, Made Profits. Plus: Japan's Fresh Start

By Laura Conaway

Good morning and welcome to the last week of summer.

The U.S. taxpayer is turning a profit on some of the bank bailouts. Eight of the biggest banks have paid off their TARP loans, with a $4 billion and average 15 percent annualized return. American Express and Goldman Sachs top the list of bigs with big returns for the common person. Citigroup and Bank of America top the list for bigs that haven't paid back a cent.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal (subs. requ'd.) notes that the FDIC has backed most of the risk on $80 billion as it tries to get solvent banks to buy up the assets of failing ones.

Japan has voted its Liberal Democratic Party out of office after 54 years of being in charge. Chalk the defeat up to two decades of economic stagnation.

Eurozone prices fell again in August, for the third straight month of negative inflation. The fall was at least slower than it has been, likely because oil prices are falling at much slower clip.

The Chinese got more bounce from their stimulus spending, are racing ahead on solar panels and now plan to sell an electric car in the U.S. in 2010.

Conversations worth joining, after the jump.

The American economy is developing two clear tracks, and it's just fat cats vs. the rest of us, the Wall Street Journal has been reporting. It's also the big banks that can still get credit and the little ones squeezed out of the market. Baseline Scenario runs the forecast -- it's kinda gloomy.

And in other debates you might want to join, the Economist has taken its turn on whether private schools are charities. This one started with Matt Yglesias, followed by a big push from Planet Money pal Felix Salmon.

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Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 31 Aug 2009 | 8:01 am

Honeybear Has a Dark Side

bgjgr



Source: Business Pundit | 31 Aug 2009 | 5:45 am