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Stock futures point to a higher opening (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 7 Oct 2009 | 4:36 am Versace pulls out of JapanItalian designer label Versace is pulling out of Japan after nearly 30 years in the country – highlighting the depth of the slump in the world’s largest luxury marketsSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 7 Oct 2009 | 4:29 am Gold spike gives Asian consumers pause, not fever (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 7 Oct 2009 | 4:21 am British Airways strike looms after union snubA potential Christmas strike is looming at British Airways after the group intensified its row with unions by announcing plans to push through changes on long-haul flights without their agreement. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Oct 2009 | 4:19 am What’s That Bar Code Doing On The Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) HomepageThe Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) logo has been replaced with a bar code today. The company many be the only large corporation in the world which is willing to take the risk of altering or even replacing its brand name. That is part of the Google mystique. The bar code received its first patent fifty-seven years ago. The [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 7 Oct 2009 | 4:01 am Upgrades buoy IntercontinentalLondon shares trod water in early trading today after yesterday's strong performance with falling oil stocks offsetting rising miners. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Oct 2009 | 4:00 am deVere and Partners Sponsors Geneva Children in Need Charity BalldeVere and Partners, the world's largest independent international financial consultancy is pleased to sponsor Geneva appeal for Children in Need's Inaugural Charity Masquerade Ball inSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Oct 2009 | 4:00 am 100 years. 100 million copies. The Napoleon Hill Foundation and Sterling Publishing Announce the Next 'Think and Grow Rich.'THREE FEET FROM GOLD: Turn Your Obstacles into Opportunities! By bestselling authors Sharon Lechter and Greg S. Reid NEW YORK, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- A century ago, during...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Oct 2009 | 4:00 am Winner of 'Ugly Car Contest' to Win $5,000 From Alliance Credit Union at Wilmington EventSAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Who 'Ugly Car Contest' Winner - with His Car Emily Condon, Senior Vice President, Marketing and...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Oct 2009 | 4:00 am Bills splitting role of chairman and CEO shiftingAs Congress takes steps to empower shareholders, lawmakers are beginning to consider controversial bills to separate the position of corporate chairmen and CEOs while ensuring that investors have a greater say in how directors are elected to company boards.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 Oct 2009 | 4:00 am UPDATE 2-Japan fines Panasonic,Samsung units on CRT pricesTOKYO/SEOUL, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Japan's antitrust watchdog said it has fined and issued a cease-and-desist order to Samsung SDI Co and Panasonic Corp unit MT Picture Display for fixing prices of displays...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:58 am Sydney, Hong Kong spurred by commodity stocksMost Asian markets are higher Wednesday, with resource stocks rallying on the back of strong commodity prices as gold hovers near its record.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:58 am Hope For Retail: Costco (NASDAQ:COST) Beats The StreetCostco (NASDAQ:COST) announced earnings that beat Wall St. expectations. Net sales for the fiscal 2009 fourth quarter ended August 30, 2009 were $21.89 billion, a drop from $22.63 billion in the same period a year ago. Net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2009 was $374 million, or $.85 per share, compared to $398 million, [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:55 am Indications: U.S. stock futures point to third rise in a rowU.S. stock futures point to a third straight rise on the dawn of third-quarter earnings season, as traders continue to exit the greenback and buy securities from gold to stocks.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:48 am Gold's record price rise finds tepid responseSYDNEY (Reuters) - Gold received a lukewarm reception a day after racing to a record high, with consumers in Asia more likely to be cashing in than panic buying.Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:45 am Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI) Management’s Big Stock SalesThere are two ways to look at management’s sales of millions of shares in Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI). One is that the executives saved the company from an almost certain bankruptcy and deserve a pay day for that. The other is that the people running Sirius believe that the stock has peaked. According to a report in [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:42 am Partners of Misys Converge on Dubai to Take Part in First Middle East and Africa Partner Advisory CouncilLONDON and DUBAI, October 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Misys plc (LSE: MSY), the global application software and services company, has just held its first Partner AdvisorySource: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:40 am Amazon's Kindle just got cheaperAmazon is cutting the price of its Kindle e-book reader in the U.S. by $40 to $259, the company said Wednesday.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:39 am Plastic card fraud falls by 23%The amount of fraud being committed on plastic cards fell in the first half of the year, according to industry figures.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:38 am Stocks seen opening higherU.S. stocks were set to extend gains Wednesday, as investors remained upbeat about the global economic recovery and braced for the start of earnings season.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:34 am Raising the state pension age is not the answerThe UK pension system is by far the most complex in the world and a proper radical overhaul is long overdue writes Ros Altmann.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:33 am UPDATE 2-Indonesia's PT Smelting sees '09 copper output upJAKARTA, Oct 7 (Reuters) - PT Smelting, Indonesia's only copper smelter, said on Wednesday it expects to produce nearly 8 percent more copper cathode this year as it completes a capacity expansion and...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:33 am Michael Page faces surprise £40m tax billMichael Page International, the FTSE 250 recruitment consultancy, is facing an unexpected £40 million tax bill, it emerged today, as it unveiled a sharp drop in quarterly profits. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:31 am Award-Winning Author Susanne Gervay Reacts to Son's Bullying With Novel for KidsCHAPPAQUA, N.Y., Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Child development specialist Susanne Gervay knows bullying is scary, traumatic, and hard to combat. So when she discovered that her son...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:30 am Metals Stocks: Gold futures soar to new record highGold futures soar to a new record high just below $1,050 an ounce on Wednesday, as the dollar falls against the yen.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:30 am Santander books $2.1 bln gain after Brazilian IPOSpanish banking giant Santander said Wednesday that it will book a capital gain of 1.43 billion euros ($2.1 billion) after listing its Brazilian arm in the biggest initial public offering of the year so far.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:29 am Santander raises $8bn in BrazilThe Brazilian unit of banking giant Santander raises 14.1bn reais ($8.1bn) in the world's biggest share offering since March 2008.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:20 am Today's Young Married Women Are More Money-Savvy, Says New FindLaw.com SurveyYounger women know more, do more, fight less about money EAGAN, Minn., Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- When it comes to money and marriage, young women are more likely to know about...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:20 am New Product Gets Boost from New Focus on Keeping Surfaces SanitarySpray and Dry(TM) introduced by Green Bay Converting, Inc. GREEN BAY, Wis., Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Think about this: A restaurant worker cleans a table with the same clothSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:20 am Brother(R) Business Machine and Mobile Systems Divisions Adds Oxford Communications to Agency RosterN.J. Marketing Communications Agency Adds Global Consumer Product Brand to Client Roster LAMBERTVILLE, N.J., Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Oxford Communications, the...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:20 am Citigroup (NYSE:C) Tries To Dump Its $100 Million ManAndrew Hall, the head of Citigroup’s (NYSE:C) Philbro commodities trading unit, has been a thorn in the side of the bank since it was disclosed that he made as much as $100 million. Congress, the Administration, and the public were up in arms over how a bank that was getting tens of billions of dollars [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:10 am Europe Markets: European shares gain as gold hits fresh highEuropean shares gain as gold hits a fresh high.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:08 am France set to relax betting rulesOverseas betting firms will be allowed to operate in France if a bill going before the French Parliament later is passed.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Oct 2009 | 3:00 am Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Slashes Kindle Price, Goes GlobalForrester Research recently completed a survey of 5,000 Americans in which it asked about the amount people would pay for e-book readers. Most respondents said they would not spend more than $100. That was bad news for Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) which has hoped to make its Kindle a mass market product. The Kindle sells for $299. The [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:55 am Amazon brings the Kindle to BritainAmazon is bringing its popular Kindle wireless electronic reader to Britain as it expands into more than 100 countries.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:52 am Stock futures signal firmer start for Wall St (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:45 am Stock futures signal firmer start for Wall St(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open for Wall Street on Wednesday, extending the previous session's sharp gains and ahead of the start of third-quarter earnings season, with aluminum group Alcoa the first in line.Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:45 am Stock futures signal firmer start for Wall St (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:45 am Asia stocks up amid faith in recovery; Europe flat (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:42 am London Markets: Miners, Kingfisher gain in steady FTSE 100Losses for medical device maker Smith & Nephew and supermarket group J Sainsbury pressure the top British share index on Wednesday, counterbalancing gains for miners and retailer Kingfisher.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:42 am House prices: no return to the boom economists predictHouse prices have jumped by nearly 6pc since April but experts are divided over how long the recovery will last.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:37 am Sales growth slows at SainsburyJ Sainsbury, Britain's third-biggest supermarket chain, on Wednesday said that its quarterly like-for-like sales growth had slowed as food price inflation eased coming into the autumn.Yet Justin King,...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:36 am Aer Lingus underlines woes facing airlines with 600 job cutsIreland's flag carrier underlined the financial pain still facing the airline industry by announcing plans to cut more than 600 jobs.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:35 am Jack Welch leaves hospitalAfter 92 days in the hospital battling discitis -- a spinal infection so serious that the doctors were worried he might not make it and newspapers began preparing his obituary -- former GE CEO Jack Welch, 73, has finally left the hospital.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:35 am Costco profit beats market view(Reuters) - Costco Wholesale Corp beat analyst expectations after posting a lower-than-expected fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, suggesting an improvement in the weak U.S. retail environment.Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:26 am Costco profit beats market view (Reuters)Reuters - Costco Wholesale Corp beat analyst expectations after posting a lower-than-expected fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, suggesting an improvement in the weak U.S. retail environment.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:26 am The government's fuzzy small biz mathIn August the Small Business Administration released its annual scorecard tallying federal dollars awarded to small business contractors last year.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:25 am FTC: Bloggers beware!The Federal Trade Commission is going after bloggers, celebrities and tall tales in the first revision of its rules for endorsements and product reviews in nearly 30 years.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:19 am 5 (free!) ways to cut work stressDear Annie: I found your column "6 Ways to Be Happier at Work" very helpful, but what I could really use is some advice on how to help the people under me be happier (and more productive). Our department was cut drastically, back in February, so everyone has been working crazy hours since then. On top of that, we just heard our pay has been frozen, and bonuses this year will be far smaller than in the past.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:18 am Santander raises £5bn in Brazil floatIn a further sign of a return to confidence in global stock markets, Banco Santander’s Brazilian business raised more than it expected — 14.1 billion reals (£5.06 billion) in a dual flotation in New York and São Paulo. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:17 am Julius Baer to buy ING Swiss private bank (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:15 am Julius Baer to buy ING Swiss private bankSINGAPORE/GENEVA (Reuters) - Julius Baer will buy ING's Swiss private banking assets for 520 million Swiss francs ($507 million), the European wealth management industry's biggest deal since the crisis began.Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:15 am Julius Baer to buy ING's Swiss banking unitJulius Baer agrees to acquire the Swiss private banking business of ING Group in a deal worth 520 million Swiss francs ($506 million).
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:15 am 'Encouraging news' for job marketThe number of job appointments increased for the second month in a row, but the job market is still "very fragile", a report says.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:14 am For GM, bankruptcy was the easy partFor General Motors, the road out of bankruptcy isn't proving to be as smooth as its quick trip through it.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:12 am Beware the gold bubbleSigns of gold fever are everywhere. TV commercials scream, "Sell your baubles, prices are reaching the sky!" Investors have poured more than $12 billion this year into SPDR Gold Trust, the big exchange-traded fund.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:05 am Mandelson says IMF can't be a 'hospital'Governments around the world have no choice but to go on priming their economies with colossal stimulus efforts if the global recovery is to continue, Britain’s business minister Peter Mandelson warned today. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Oct 2009 | 2:00 am Media Digest 10/7/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, BloombergReuters: Wealth management firms are starting to target the not-so wealthy. Reuters: Gold’s record price drew a muted response. Reuters: Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Palm (NASDAQ:PALM) are heating up the smartphone software race. Reuters: US banks are slow to assume commercial property losses. Reuters: The SEC is investigating hospital giant HCA over fraudulent billing charges. Reuters: A slump in [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:56 am FDIC sells assets of failed Chicago lenderSource: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:54 am Aer Lingus joins British Airways with job cutsAer Lingus joins British Airways in announcing job cuts as traffic data from European airlines shows an industry recovering from the worst put still grappling with reduced demand.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:53 am Aer Lingus calls on staff to take pay cutsAer Lingus, the embattled Irish airline fighting for its survival, has asked staff earning more than €35,000 (£32,400) a year to take pay cuts as it unveiled plans to axe almost 700 jobs in a last-ditch rescue plan. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:50 am Emergency meeting for BA unionsUnions are planning an emergency meeting after British Airways said it would cut 1,700 jobs and freeze pay.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:42 am British consumer optimism at 18month high says NationwideConsumer confidence jumped to an 18month high during September following reports that the worst of the recession may be over research showed.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:41 am Miners keep FTSE 100 steady as insurers take tollLondon equities held steady on Wednesday, with insurance stocks under pressure as talk of deals in the sector continued to fade. The FTSE 100 inched 0.2 per cent higher to 5,148.53, a rise of 22 points...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:38 am Aer Lingus to cut almost 800 jobsIrish airline Aer Lingus says it will cut almost 800 jobs as part of a 97m-euro ($143m; £90m) cost-cutting plan.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:36 am AIG's tone-deaf CEOSince being named AIG's chief executive in August, Robert Benmosche's brashness has unnerved board members and raised the ire of Congress.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:35 am Sainsbury suffers sales growth slowdownJ Sainsbury, the supermarket group chasing the heels of market leader Tesco, revealed today that growth in key like-for-like sales had slowed from 7 per cent in the first quarter to 4.6 per cent in the second and that the slowdown would continue in the coming months. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:27 am Sainsbury sees sales growth slowingUK's thirdbiggest supermarket chain has seen a slight slowdown in quarterly sales growth.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:25 am Asia Markets And Europe Open 10/7/2009Markets in Asia were higher. The Nikkei rose 1.1% to 9,800. The Hang Seng was up up 2.5% t0 21,325. Shanghai was closed for a holiday. At the open in Europe, the FTSE was down .5% to 5,112. BP (NYSE:BP) and Barclay (NYSE:BCS) both fell. The Dax dropped .5% to 5,627. The CAC 40 dropped .5% to 3,753. Data from [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:22 am Santander Brazil raises $8bn in IPOSantander, the eurozone’s biggest bank by market capitalisation, has raised just over $8bn from the listing of its Brazilian subsidiary in the world’s largest initial public offering this yearSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:16 am Santander Brazil raises $8bn in IPOSantander of Spain, the eurozone's biggest bank by market capitalisation, has raised just over $8bn from the listing of its Brazilian subsidiary in the world's largest initial public offering this year...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:16 am Fed's Hoenig: too soon to pull support as U.S. recoversDENVER (Reuters) - A Federal Reserve official said on Tuesday that while the U.S. economy is clearly rebounding, it is too soon to begin to withdraw the Federal Reserve's massive support.Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:15 am Fed's Hoenig: too soon to pull support as U.S. recovers (Reuters)Reuters - A Federal Reserve official said on Tuesday that while the U.S. economy is clearly rebounding, it is too soon to begin to withdraw the Federal Reserve's massive support.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:15 am Aussie market closes over 2pc upPERTH - The Australian share market closed strongly in the black, driven by gold stocks after precious metal's price surged to a record high overnight, and as investors viewed Tuesday's interest rate rise as a positive sign for the...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:14 am U.S. banks slow to absorb commercial property losses: report(Reuters) - A U.S. Federal Reserve report found that banks in the country are slow to take losses on their commercial real estate loans that have been hit by slumping property values and rental payments, the Wall Street Journal said.Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:10 am Sainsbury's warns growth to slowSupermarket chain Sainsbury's warns sales growth will slow in the coming months as it reports 4.6% sales growth for the 16 weeks to 3 October.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:08 am Amazon’s Kindle to go internationalAmazon says it is to start selling a version of its popular e-reader that will work in more than 100 countries around the globe on October 19Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:01 am Amazon's Kindle to go internationalAmazon said it would begin selling an international version of its popular e-reader that will work in more than 100 countries on October 19.The world's largest online retailer also said it was lowering...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:01 am CBS executive Nancy Tellem may soon take a smaller roleThe television chief is said to be talking with CEO Les Moonves about assuming a less hands-on position.At CBS, breaking up is hard to do. But not impossible.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Wireless carriers to widen accessAT&T; will let iPhone users make Internet calls over its network. Verizon teams up with Google to use its open-source Android software. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Stocks surge after Australian rate hike; gold hits a record as dollar slipsOptimism on the global economy boosts equity investors' confidence, but the weakened dollar propels gold futures to $1,038.60. The Dow gains 131.50 points.Investors worldwide cast more bets Tuesday for an economic recovery, driving stocks and commodity prices higher after a surprise interest rate hike in Australia.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am IPhone data roaming switch is problematicCheck your smart phone's settings before traveling abroad to avoid possible sky-high charges. Santa Monica resident...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Business BriefingDelphi nears exit from Chapter 11
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Business BriefingDelphi nears exit from Chapter 11Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Wireless carriers to widen accessAT&T will let iPhone users make Internet calls over its network. Verizon teams up with Google to use its open-source Android software.Capping a day of dueling announcements from rival cellphone service providers, AT&T said Tuesday that it would allow users of Apple Inc.'s popular iPhone to make Internet telephone calls over its wireless network.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Patient sues Anthem Blue Cross over liver transplantFearing for his life, Ephram Nehme paid for his own surgery in Indiana, where wait times for organ transplants are far shorter than in California. Anthem says it did nothing wrong. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am IPhone data roaming switch is problematicCheck your smart phone's settings before traveling abroad to avoid possible sky-high charges.Santa Monica resident Nathan Oventhal had heard the horror stories about people getting slammed with hundreds or thousands of dollars in roaming charges after traveling abroad with a smart phone. He was determined not to let it happen to him.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Boeing delays 747-8 againThe company expects to take a $1-billion charge against third-quarter earnings because of production problems with the revamped jumbo jet.Airplane production woes continue to bedevil Boeing Co., which on Tuesday announced another delay to the 747-8 program as well as a $1-billion pretax charge against third-quarter earnings.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Stocks surge after Australian rate hike; gold hits a record as dollar slipsOptimism on the global economy boosts equity investors' confidence, but the weakened dollar propels gold futures to $1,038.60. The Dow gains 131.50 points. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Hotel defaults, foreclosures rise in CaliforniaIn the state, defaults and foreclosures are up fivefold since Jan. 1.More California hotels are being pushed into foreclosure as tourists and businesses alike scale back their travel plans and owners are unable to pay their mortgages.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Firms put 3-D TVs on display in JapanCompanies offer a glimpse at the devices, which can show high-definition movies and video games in 3-D, at an electronics show. Sony and Panasonic plan to bring their TVs to market next year. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Patient sues Anthem Blue Cross over liver transplantFearing for his life, Ephram Nehme paid for his own surgery in Indiana, where wait times for organ transplants are far shorter than in California. Anthem says it did nothing wrong.Ephram Nehme was gravely ill when Anthem Blue Cross of California agreed to pay for a liver transplant his physician said he needed to survive. Then, his condition went downhill fast.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Church Commissioners back hedge funds in fight against EU reformsThe Church Commissioners the Church of England's investment arm has come out in surprise support of hedge funds an industry branded "bank robbers" by a church leader.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 Oct 2009 | 12:42 am NZ market weakens as others riseDeclines in the price of both Fletcher Building and Telecom weighed on the New Zealand sharemarket today.So while the Australian market was up more than 2 per cent the New Zealand's benchmark NZSX-50 index finished its day down...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 7 Oct 2009 | 12:23 am Amazon.com takes Kindle globalCUPERTINO, Calif./LONDON (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc is introducing Kindle, its wireless electronic reader, for over 100 countries, including China and most of Europe, intensifying a battle for the burgeoning digital book market.Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Oct 2009 | 12:12 am Dollar firm after last night's highThe New Zealand dollar held near highs it reached in offshore trading on Tuesday night today with the help of a weak US dollar.The NZ dollar was US73.40c at 5pm from US73.24c at 8am and US73.35c at 5pm yesterday. It rose to US73.80c...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 6 Oct 2009 | 11:38 pm Online banking fraud rises by 55pc according to Financial Fraud Action UKCriminals are employing more sophisticated methods.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 6 Oct 2009 | 11:27 pm HSBC boss says banks owe apologyThe entire banking industry "owes the real world an apology" and needs to change its culture, HSBC's chairman tells the BBC.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 6 Oct 2009 | 11:12 pm Fannie, Freddie plan to aid mortgage banks: report(Reuters) - U.S. government-controlled mortgage finance companies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are working on a program to help independent mortgage banks get access to short-term credit needed to make home loans, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.Source: Reuters: Business News | 6 Oct 2009 | 11:05 pm Fannie, Freddie plan to aid mortgage banks: report (Reuters)Reuters - U.S. government-controlled mortgage finance companies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are working on a program to help independent mortgage banks get access to short-term credit needed to make home loans, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 6 Oct 2009 | 11:05 pm British Airways Christmas strike looms after airline cuts 1700 staffA Christmas strike by British Airways' cabin crew has edged closer after the UK flagcarrier infuriated staff by cutting 1700 jobs.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 6 Oct 2009 | 10:44 pm September retail sales improve but still weak (AP)AP - U.S. retail sales figures from a key data service show signs of a rebound in September from last year's deep plunge.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 6 Oct 2009 | 10:01 pm Todd Harrison's Memoirs of a Minyan: Last chapter: A plethora of sayings to live byIn the 18th, and final, chapter of his memoirs, Todd Harrison reflects on how he got to where he is, and lists the helpful sayings and slogans that helped him along his journey.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 6 Oct 2009 | 10:01 pm Bold tax reform needed, says Treasury headBold tax reforms and changes to the mix of monetary and fiscal policy are needed if New Zealand is to rebalance its economy and close the gap with Australia, according to the Treasury's head.New Zealand needs to overhaul its tax...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 6 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm SEC Says Frankâs Derivatives Plan May Leave âRegulatory Gapsâ (Bloomberg)Bloomberg - Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Representative Barney Frankâs proposed overhaul of derivatives regulation may leave gaps in oversight and weaken the Securities and Exchange Commissionâs power to police fraud and manipulation, an SEC official said.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 6 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm When the Feds Pick Goliath Over DavidPicture a muscled bully snatching candy from a skinny kid. That, according to aggrieved entrepreneurs at the American Small Business League, is what’s going on in federal government contracting—where big conglomerates are grabbing almost $60 billion a year that’s supposed to be going to small businesses. The U.S. government is the world’s largest buyer of businesses’ services—it spent $515 billion on such contracts last year—and a 1997 law states that 23 percent of those contracts should go to small businesses. That’s a goal, not a hard-and-fast rule. But while the government says it usually gets within a whisker of that target, some critics disagree. One of their biggest complaints: Multibillion-dollar giants like Lockheed Martin, Textron and Fluor are regularly counted by the feds as small businesses—often because they handle their contracting work through smaller companies that they’ve bought. Those megacorporations tend to have advantages in experience, contacts and sheer size that make it easier to elbow the little guys aside. Michael Somers, of Elite Elevator in Philadelphia, says that when he bid for a five-year elevator-maintenance contract at a federal courthouse, he went up against Amtech Elevator Services—which happened to be owned by global leader Otis Elevator. Somers says Elite had plenty of relevant expertise, but Amtech was able to beat his price by $36,000 a year. “Very disappointing,” says Somers. (Otis declined to comment.) Lloyd Chapman, the founder of the business league, has made this issue his personal and professional crusade. He has instigated more than a dozen government investigations and six lawsuits, suing NASA and the Department of Defense as well as the Small Business Administration. And he has had some success—in one case he forced the SBA to remove 600 of the largest companies from its database of “small” businesses. In the government’s opinion, Chapman says, “I’m a complete lunatic. I’ve seen men in pinstripes going through my trash.” The SBA wouldn’t comment directly on Chapman’s accusations, but it does say the U.S. is hitting its quota. Still, Karen Gordon Mills, the new chief of the agency, believes there’s room for improvement and appears to be more committed than some of her predecessors to insisting that federal agencies meet their small-business commitment. “We want to make sure large companies aren’t masquerading as small,” Mills says, adding that she’s training government procurement staff to do better on this front. The advocacy and lobbying raises a larger question: Is the 23 percent set-aside a good idea in the first place? Haven’t many businesses risen in the food chain without a government hand? What happened to the “what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger” ethos? Last but not least, with deficit spending at sickening levels, if Otis can underbid Michael Somers, shouldn’t we go with Otis? That said, big competition should never keep a small business from jumping on the government bandwagon. Even if Chapman’s right, small businesses still snag more than $50 billion a year in contracts—the kind of money that can whisk a start-up to the top floor. YourBiz.gov?Obtaining government contracts means navigating through an acronym soup. Here are a few key Web sites for entrepreneurs.
Federal Business Opportunities
CCR.gov and ORCA.bpn.gov
SUB-net
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Source: SmartMoney.com | 6 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm 3 Stocks With Rising Profit Estimates (Screens)Earnings season is fast approaching. Last week, I listed some stocks for which analysts are in close agreement in their earnings forecasts. Listed below are companies with another promising sign: forecasts that have recently risen. One upward revision in a company’s earnings estimate is more likely than not to be followed by another, and by excellent stock performance, studies suggest. That’s because analysts and investors are slow to fully adjust their expectations for good news when they see it. Seagate TechnologyNext Earnings Report: Later this month Hard-drive maker Seagate (STX) said on Sept. 22 that sales for its September quarter would be at or slightly above the top end of its previous guidance range of $2.4 billion to $2.6 billion. Wall Street had forecasted $2.55 billion. Two analysts have since sweetened on the stock, recommending a purchase. Personal computer demand is improving, the hard-drive industry has shrunk and Seagate is recapturing a “technology leadership we believe it lost to Western Digital (WDC)” in 2007, Doug Reid of Thomas Weisel Partners said in a Sept. 22 upgrade note. The stock price has tripled this year but still seems low at eight times forward earnings. Sara LeeNext Earnings Report: Nov. 5 “Always Seems Like SLE Is Turning a Corner,” read the title of a mid-September report by BMO Capital Markets analyst Kenneth Zaslow. The skepticism is warranted. Ten-year holders of Sara Lee (SLE) shares have lost more than half their money, vs. a 22% decline for the S&P 500 index, not counting dividends for either. Management hosted a mid-September meeting with analysts in which it called its earnings guidance “very, very achievable” and backed its dividend for at least four more quarters, wrote Zaslow, adding, “we would not be surprised if this was simply postponing the inevitable dividend cut.” Shares yield 4.1%. The dividend stands at 44 cents per share each year, versus a fiscal 2010 earnings estimate of 90 cents a share. In late September, Sara Lee said it will sell some personal-care brands to Unilever (UN) for about $1.9 billion. These include Sanex deodorant, sold mostly in Europe, and Radox “mood-changing shower gels and creams,” which may or may not mean soap. Sara Lee management also authorized the repurchase of $1 billion of its shares, and said it has received “significant interest” in other brands, like Kiwi shoe polish and Ambi Pur air purifiers. The company plans to narrow its focus to its food brands, like Sara Lee cakes and Hillshire Farms meats. AutolivNext Earnings Report: Oct. 20 Sweden’s Autoliv (ALV), the world’s largest maker of car-safety systems including airbags and seatbelts, is having a rough year. Sales are expected to plunge 26% on dismal new-car demand. In the U.S., August car sales suggested a yearly pace of 14.1 million vehicles, but after a generous government perk for buyers ran out, September’s sales pointed to a yearly pace of just 9.2 million vehicles. For most of the past decade, Americans could be counted on to buy more than 16 million cars a year. Autoliv has aggressively cut costs, and posted a far better financial performance than Wall Street expected in its past two quarters. Shares at $33 dollars seem pricey relative to a 2009 earnings forecast of just 22 cents a share, but cheap relative to the $4 to $5 a share the company was earning before the downturn. Expect Autoliv’s profits to rebound quickly, albeit not quite to their peak levels, on even a modest economic recovery. 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 | 6 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm A Flu-Season Remedy for InvestorsHAND SANITIZERS HAVE BEEN FLYING OFF shelves amid fears of the swine-flu pandemic. Bidding in shares of Steris has been almost as feverish lately. The Mentor, Ohio, company is a leading supplier of sterilization and disinfectant equipment and services to hospitals and clinics. Its stock has rallied 54% since early March, to 29.63. Even if the H1N1 virus and other flu threats subside, Steris could keep going. Its shares (STE) could rise another 20% to 30% as growth resumes in hospital spending and as demand for sterilization products accelerates. Longer term, profit could rise 15% a year. Steris makes and markets infection-prevention products, from sterilant solutions to scrub stations and operating tables. Its main customers are hospitals, drug companies and research centers. Its largest unit, Healthcare, chips in more than 70% of sales and operating profit, while the smaller Life Sciences division and Isomedix, which houses the company's nascent but promising defense and food businesses, contribute the rest. About 24% of total revenue comes from overseas. Several trends favor Steris' business. Aging baby boomers and their health problems are likely to spur demand for surgical procedures and hospital services in coming years. And, even if the Obama administration's push to reform health care doesn't succeed, hospitals face pressure to improve the quality of care. Already, 25 states require hospitals to report infection rates. "We are in a good space," says Steris CEO Walter Rosebrough, 55 years old, who predicts "demand for health-care goods and services will be strong for the next 10 to 20 years." Cantel Medical (CMN), in Little Falls, N.J., offers a small-cap play on swine-flu prevention, while Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is benefiting from increased sales of the hand sanitizer Purell. But Steris, with a market capitalization of $1.7 billion, is one of the largest pure plays in the field, with a 15% share of the $5.5 billion global medical-sterilization market, according to analysts. It trails only Sweden's Getinge (GETIB.Sweden). "Steris provides one-stop shopping for all facets of sterilization, and is the only company to combine capital equipment, related consumables and servicing/education for its customers," says Elliott Schlang, an analyst at Soleil who rates the stock Buy. Restructuring charges and weak hospital spending have hurt Steris in recent years, but it seems to have found its footing under Rosebrough, a health-care veteran named president and CEO in 2007. He continued a restructuring begun in 2006 that included job cuts, office closings and moving a Pennsylvania plant to Monterrey, Mexico. The company plans to cut $20 million in costs this year, atop $45 million through 2009. Steris also is counting on new products to boost margins and profits. So far, these moves are working. Steris earned a record $114.5 million, or $1.92 a share, on revenue of $1.3 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, up from subpar earnings of $1.20 for fiscal 2008. Analysts expect earnings to be flat this year at $1.89, and rise modestly to $2.01 for the fiscal year ending March 2011. Steris earned 43 cents a share, above consensus estimates, for the quarter ended June 30, as gross margins expanded to 44% from the prior quarter's 41.9%. Revenue dropped 9%. The order backlog in the company's Healthcare division grew to $132.4 million from $119.8 million in the March quarter. "We have seen more activity out of our customers," Rosebrough told Barron's. STERIS BOASTS A STRONG BALANCE sheet, with $176 million of cash and $210 million of debt, equal to 22% of total capitalization as of June 30. The company pays a quarterly dividend of 11 cents per share, for a yield of 1.5%. Steris sells for 15 times fiscal '11 estimates. Jason Ronovech, co-manager of Paradigm Value Fund, owner of 700,000 shares, thinks the stock could reach 40 in a year, "assuming some recovery in the capital-equipment business." In addition to sluggish hospital spending, Steris has been hurt by some regulatory issues. In 2008 it received a warning letter from the Food & Drug Administration alleging it made changes to one of its sterile processors without regulatory approval. The company submitted a new system to the FDA in January to address the concerns, but could lose about $10 million in revenue until the new product is approved and commercialized. Skeptics like Natixis Bleichroeder analyst Joshua Zable see few catalysts for a near-term pick-up in Steris' sales; he has a Hold rating and a price target of 28. But flu season can't hurt, while Steris' leaner operations, an aging population and more hospital spending can only help. For clean hands, reach for the Purell. But for healthy returns, stock up on Steris.
The Bottom Line
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Source: SmartMoney.com | 6 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm When Will Dow Hit 10K? Readers Weigh In (On the Street)It’s been 369 days since the Dow slid below 10,000. How many more until the benchmark index climbs back over the line? Last week, we asked more than three dozen economic and investing professionals to predict the exact date and time the Dow would next hit 10,000. The average of their predictions: Dec. 7, when the market opens. Our readers were less optimistic. In a poll asking for readers’ predictions, only 39% of several hundred respondents said they believed the Dow would hit 10,000 before Dec. 7. Among the pros who offered a precise guess, just more than half (51%) picked a date before Dec. 7. The majority of our pros who offered guesses after Dec. 7 put the crossover date in December or January (only one guess fell after the first half of next year). Readers seemed to feel we’d have longer to wait: 23% said we’d cross the 10,000 barrier “MUCH later than Dec. 7.” Why the disparity? Maybe our poll was dominated by pessimistic respondents, or perhaps readers were simply as gun-shy as brokerage founder Muriel Siebert, who said she’d “rather predict the weather.” Or perhaps this is a case in which insiders are more optimistic than observers. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says the recession is "very likely over," but the Consumer Confidence Index fell slightly in September to a reading of 53.1, according to the Conference Board, and only 8.7% of consumers responding to that survey described business conditions as “good.” Meanwhile, the Institute for Supply Management’s surveys of purchasing managers in the manufacturing and services sectors were in positive territory in September, which suggests respondents believe business is expanding. Of course, skepticism can be healthy. As one commenter on our reader poll pointed out, “the real question” investors are likely wondering about is not when the Dow will merely jump above 10,000, but when it will take root there. But that’s another poll. 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 | 6 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm Winmill on Gold, Silver; Selvaraju on Biotech Stocks: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 6 Oct 2009 | 9:50 pm SEC investigating hospital operator HCA: report (Reuters)Reuters - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether HCA Inc, the biggest U.S. hospital chain, violated securities law by manipulating its books and records, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 6 Oct 2009 | 9:32 pm Job cuts loom at Kawerau millThe Norske Skog Tasman pulp and paper mill in Bay of Plenty is planning "significant downtime" next year in the face of falling demand.A statement from general manager Ernie Hacker referred to continuing market uncertainty for...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 6 Oct 2009 | 8:30 pm Sun-Times bid blocked, private equity manager saysNEW YORK (Reuters) - A private equity manager who wanted to buy the Sun-Times Media Group said on Tuesday that his attempt to bid on the bankrupt newspaper publisher was blocked, and that he wants the court to reopen the sale process.Source: Reuters: Business News | 6 Oct 2009 | 7:08 pm 'Baby Boomer' credit defaults soarBaby Boomer lifestyles "are coming home to roost" as defaults on credit payments rise,says credit information provider Veda Advantage. Boomer credit defaults rose by almost 20 per cent in September from the same month a year...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 6 Oct 2009 | 7:00 pm Greenback tumbles on reports of its demiseThe price of gold is surging on world markets amid fears that the old economic order, based on the supremacy of the US dollar, could be breaking down.A new spike has sent the cost of the precious metal to a level not seen before....Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 6 Oct 2009 | 6:30 pm Tories cut to the chase as George Osborne heralds age of austerityThe Conservative leadership took a massive electoral gamble yesterday by offering years of pain to voters in the hope of being rewarded for honestly in facing up to the nation’s plight. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 6 Oct 2009 | 6:01 pm American law firm plans to put City’s traditional business model on trialOne of America’s biggest law firms is defying the turmoil in the commercial legal market with plans to build a London office of more than 200 lawyers within three years. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 6 Oct 2009 | 6:01 pm Regent tries to call time on its pricey pub rentsRegent Inns, the embattled operator of the Walkabout bar and Jongleurs comedy club chains, is threatening to restructure the group through a pre-pack administration unless the landlords of a small number of lossmaking outlets agree to reduce rents. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 6 Oct 2009 | 6:01 pm AT&T makes iPhone U-turnBowing to pressure from regulators and consumers, AT&T said that it would allow inexpensive internet phone calls to be placed through its networks from Apple’s iPhonesSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 6 Oct 2009 | 5:21 pm Bank Of America (NYSE:BAC) Knuckles Under On Credit Card RatesBank of America (NYSE:BAC) sent a letter to one of its harshest critics, Senator Christopher Dodd, head of the Senate Banking Committee, saying that it will not raise the rates that it charges on credit cards between now and February when a new law restricting rate and fee increases on cards takes effect. The bank wrote, “In light [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 6 Oct 2009 | 5:20 pm Dunelm founder sells 8pc stake in retailerThe founder and life president of Dunelm the homewares and textile retailer is to sell a 7.8pc stake in the company which at Tuesday's share price close would raise £49.1m.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 6 Oct 2009 | 5:14 pm Baby Boomers, $10 Trillion In Hand, Could Kill The Stock MarketBaby boomers control $10 trillion in assets. A great deal if not most of that money has been invested in the stock market as this part of the population attempted in increase the size of their retirement nest-eggs by riding the great bull market as the DJIA rose from 2,000 after the 1987 crash to [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 6 Oct 2009 | 5:03 pm Getting smartHow smartphones are changing our digital livesSource: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 6 Oct 2009 | 5:01 pm Citi eyes commodities unit sell-offCitigroup is working on a sale of its controversial commodities unit in a move that could raise hundreds of millions of dollars and deflect political anger over a potential $100m pay-out for its star trader Andrew HallSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 6 Oct 2009 | 5:00 pm Fonterra prices lift in internet auctionBidding in Fonterra's latest monthly online auction of whole milkpowder early today lifted the average price paid by 5.7 per cent to US$3022/tonne ($4186/tonne).The price paid at the Globaldairytrade auction had previously jumped...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 6 Oct 2009 | 5:00 pm Write-Offs: 10.06.09$$$ BofA's Best Execs Already Call the Shots [The Big Money] $$$ Penson Tells SEC It's The Victim Of A Hoax [BI] $$$ Why Fortune Loves Charlie Rose [The Deal] $$$ Bear Hedge Fund Case Prosecutors Seek 'Consciousness Of Guilt' Evidence [FINalternatives] 
 Sponsored Topics: Hedge fund - Bank of America - Business - U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission - Investing Source: Dealbreaker | 6 Oct 2009 | 4:48 pm Presented By:Source: Dealbreaker | 6 Oct 2009 | 4:48 pm Bing Takes Another Hit (NASDAQ:MSFT)The use of Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Bing search engine may have peaked. Several studies over the last week showed that the surge of Bing use that came after it was launched may have slowed. It now appears that Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is taking back share from Bing along with traffic to Yahoo!’s (NASDAQ:YHOO) search engine. New data from [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 6 Oct 2009 | 4:45 pm European companies fear OTC curbsEurope’s biggest industrial companies face the prospect of having to raise tens of billions of euros because of a proposed regulatory crackdown on ‘over-the-counter’ derivativesSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 6 Oct 2009 | 4:36 pm NZ shares edge up earlyThe New Zealand sharemarket only managed to edge up in early trade, despite strong gains in stocks in the United States.Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 3.48 points to 3155.03, having gained 12.8 points yesterday.Stocks...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 6 Oct 2009 | 4:34 pm Crisis Forces Private Banks Into Humiliating StandardsThe financial crisis has taken its toll on a lot of people. Fortunes have been erased, companies lost, and careers ruined. The world of private banking has certainly not been immune to the phenomenon. With some of the ultra-rich taking enough of a hit to make them wonder if they're still considered ultra, private banks are reaching out to the new normal's definition of rich for clients. Once upon you needed at least $1 million in assets to walk in the door of a place like Julius Baer. But times have changed and changed dramatically.
Source: Dealbreaker | 6 Oct 2009 | 4:32 pm Charlie Gasparino Knows If Lloyd Blankfein Were Ever Mad At Him It Must've Been For A Good Reason
Sponsored Topics: Lloyd Blankfein - Goldman Sachs - Andrew Ross Sorkin - Charlie Gasparino - CNBC Source: Dealbreaker | 6 Oct 2009 | 4:22 pm OpenGate, Zuckerman drop BusinessWeek bid: sourcesNEW YORK (Reuters) - Private equity firm OpenGate Capital and New York Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman have dropped out of the bidding for McGraw-Hill Cos Inc's BusinessWeek magazine, people familiar with the matter said, leaving Bloomberg LP and ZelnickMedia to vie for the money-losing asset.Source: Reuters: Business News | 6 Oct 2009 | 4:17 pm Coke in US family doctors allianceThe soft drinks company has formed an alliance with the leading US family doctors group to support efforts to fight obesitySource: Financial Times - US homepage | 6 Oct 2009 | 4:12 pm How the major stock indexes fared on Tuesday (AP)AP - Stocks jumped Tuesday as Australia became the first major country to raise interest rates since the onset of the financial crisis last year. The move signals that policymakers see the country's economy as strong enough to withstand higher borrowing costs. That touched off hopes that other economies might also be growing.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 6 Oct 2009 | 4:06 pm Developer brought down by $100m debtInfluential property developer Jamie Peters is bankrupt.The ex- NBR Rich List Aucklander, who is related to Winston Peters and says he has bought and sold real estate worth more than $1 billion, was declared bankrupt in the Auckland...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 6 Oct 2009 | 4:00 pm TSX pushes higher with surging gold price (Reuters)Reuters - Toronto's main stock index jumped on Tuesday as economic recovery hopes got an unexpected shot in the arm and record high gold prices boosted shares of Barrick Gold and other gold miners.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 6 Oct 2009 | 3:57 pm Game planNBA basketball looks to jump at new opportunitiesSource: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 6 Oct 2009 | 3:51 pm Vikram Pandit Let Lloyd Blankfein Down Easy
Sponsored Topics: Goldman Sachs - Wall Street - Financial services - Chief executive officer - Business Source: Dealbreaker | 6 Oct 2009 | 3:28 pm Goldman Sachs Takes An Active Role In The Distressed Market
Sponsored Topics: St. Louis Rams - Georgia Frontiere - Rush Limbaugh - St. Louis Blues - Goldman Sachs Source: Dealbreaker | 6 Oct 2009 | 3:01 pm A dollar meltdown? Not today
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 6 Oct 2009 | 2:46 pm Bank of America pledges halt on card rate hikes (Reuters)Reuters - Bank of America said it will not raise rates or change terms on consumer credit card accounts ahead of reform legislation slated to go into effect early next year, according to a letter released by a lawmaker on Tuesday.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 6 Oct 2009 | 2:27 pm Caption Contest Tuesday
Sponsored Topics: Contest - Arts - Programming - ACM - Music Source: Dealbreaker | 6 Oct 2009 | 2:26 pm Burger King revamp aims at higher-priced kinCHICAGO -- Burger King Corp. plans to swap its generic fast-food feel and bland tiles and tabletops for a vibe that's more sit-down than drive-through.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 6 Oct 2009 | 2:20 pm Hollywood shuffle reflects new strategyUniversal Pictures and Disney have replaced the movie makers running their film studios with executives adept at marketing. Cynthia Littleton of Daily Variety tells Kai Ryssdal how the changes point to the studios' changing business model.Source: Marketplace | 6 Oct 2009 | 2:13 pm Cheat at golf, cheat at workBehavioral economist Dan Ariely tells Kai Ryssdal about a survey of golfers that exposed how their approach to the game correlated to the way they worked.Source: Marketplace | 6 Oct 2009 | 2:13 pm Gates plays pivotal role in Afghan debateRobert Gates, US defence secretary, is increasingly playing the key role in the US debate on the future strategy for Afghanistan, which pits supporters of General Stanley McChrystal, the US commander, against Joe Biden, US vice-presidentSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 6 Oct 2009 | 2:06 pm The Canadians Are Coming
Sponsored Topics: Canada - Wall Street - RBC Funds - RBC - US Source: Dealbreaker | 6 Oct 2009 | 1:56 pm ETF Gold-Backed Assets Rise 55% in 2009: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 6 Oct 2009 | 1:55 pm Pactiv Raised to `Buy’ at Goldman Sachs: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 6 Oct 2009 | 1:52 pm RBC's Cassidy Likes Keycorp, Bank Stocks: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 6 Oct 2009 | 1:50 pm Security Global's Bronzo Likes Semiconductor Stocks: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 6 Oct 2009 | 1:42 pm Standard Chartered's Smith Sees Gold Rising to $1,050: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 6 Oct 2009 | 1:41 pm Who Told Tim Geithner To Go F*ck Himself?Was it: A. Hank Paulson ("You think you can do what I do? You can't do shit!") B. His realtor ("Good luck selling this hole without me") C. Phil Goldstein (He'll tell anyone to fuck off) D. Jamie Dimon (The maestro of tongue lashings; "I could have your job with one phone call.") E. Jimmy Cayne (TG screwed him in a game of bridge) F. The Hooters Girl waiting on his party this morning (The Treasury Secretary was getting a bit too pawsy for her liking). G. Charlie Gasparino (what he actually said was 'va fungol!') H. The CEO of Turbo Tax ("You lying, denying, tax evading piece of shit. Don't put your criminal activities on us.") I. Vikram Pandit ("Get your filthy hands off me-- what does this look like, a tickle booth?") J. The elderly woman in the Buick this morning (you can't cut people off like that and think there won't be consequences) K. His wife ("Learn how to make a cup of coffee, bitch") L. All of the above. M. None of the above.
Sponsored Topics: Jamie Dimon - United States Secretary of the Treasury - Henry Paulson - Buick - James Cayne Source: Dealbreaker | 6 Oct 2009 | 1:35 pm An oil-trading world without the dollar?A U.K. newspaper report says Persian Gulf countries want to stop selling oil for dollars. What's the chance of that happening? Jeremy Hobson reports.Source: Marketplace | 6 Oct 2009 | 1:18 pm Sen. Conrad's Office: Why Health Care Co-ops Can WorkBy Chana Joffe-Walt Senator Kent Conrad's office was not pleased with our piece on health care cooperatives last week. Health care cooperatives are private, nonprofit insurance companies whose members vote on the board of directors. The health care overhaul bill by Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) would create cooperatives across the country to compete with private insurers. In the radio segment, health reporter Keith Seinfeld and I struggled to understand how cooperatives could gain market share and contain health care costs. Senator Conrad (D-ND), the main cheerleader behind health care cooperatives, felt we missed the point by looking at cooperatives in today's health care environment. His office writes that, coupled with other changes to the insurance market from the Baucus bill, cooperatives would stand a good chance: The insurance market reforms included in the underlying bill will do a few things that make it more likely that co-ops will be able to start up: first, the individual mandate requiring all individuals to get insurance means that the risk profile of the market will be changed in a way that will help new firms enter the market. Currently, in the individual market in particular, it would be an incredibly highly risky undertaking for any firm to enter the marketplace, since generally the people who get insurance in the individual market today do so because they are sicker or older (and therefore need insurance). Younger, healthier uninsured individuals generally have stayed out of the market. The individual mandate will bring them in, making the pool less risky. Second, the bill would ban the use of health status rating and pre-existing condition exclusions -- two tools that are actually pretty expensive administratively from an insurers' perspective. Alleviating firms of the need to hire the expertise and then compete effectively (as is currently the case in today's market) in selecting out risk will lower the operating costs of potential new entrants. One expert that we have worked with projects that in this new market, co-ops will operate more efficiently than commercial insurers because they will have lower overhead. This means the co-ops' premiums could be 8-10% lower than other health plans.
Third, the underlying bill would put in place an extensive risk management system in the individual and small group markets, including risk adjustments and reinsurance. These mechanisms will even out the "winners" and "losers" in the marketplace and ensure that co-ops have back-up mechanisms in place in case their brand name (i.e., particularly if any well-known health systems choose to start co-ops up) attracts riskier patients or in case they simply have trouble pricing their premiums accurately. The Baucus bill sets aside $6 billion to create cooperatives in all 50 states. For some Republicans and moderate Democrats, the plan could be more palatable than the "public option" for federal health insurance. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 6 Oct 2009 | 12:56 pm Just don't call it another stimulus planDemocrats are talking about what else they could do to get the economy moving. One idea: taking more action against unemployment by extending safety net programs and introducing tax incentives. Steve Henn reports.Source: Marketplace | 6 Oct 2009 | 12:54 pm Letters: tire tariffs, Kenya, combat payListeners chimed in on our coverage of the Obama administration's trade policies, the drought in Kenya and whether we should take liberties with the definition of "combat pay."Source: Marketplace | 6 Oct 2009 | 12:53 pm Tatler: 300 years and still strongTatler Magazine has had its thumb on the pulse of upper-class society in London for three centuries. And while many iconic print publications are struggling to stay alive, Tatler's doing just fine. Stephen Beard reports.Source: Marketplace | 6 Oct 2009 | 12:51 pm Insurers Test Web Fix For Medical BillingBy Caitlin Kenney On Monday's podcast, we tried to help you sort through some of the vague and confusing parts of medical billing, like why does insurance pay only $400 when the charge says $1,200? Now a new pilot program by Blue Cross Blue Shield and America's Insurance Health Plans will test a fix for the messy billing process. Working with state insurance providers, the national groups are launching websites in New Jersey and Ohio next month that promise a more streamlined system. The sites give doctors a single place to find all of a patient's insurance information. Columbus Business First spoke to Mark Jarvis, senior director of practice economics at the Ohio State Medical Association, about the plan: Jarvis estimated doctors spend more than three hours a week each on office administration while their staffs spend more than 58 hours on a practice's operation. The administrative cost of the typical way of following eligibility and claims -- through fax transmissions and phone calls -- can add up to $8 per claim but the portal would slash the cost to $1 for a provider. "If a patient comes in and presents an insurance card now, [doctors] have to go to (various) Web sites or get on the phone. ... This provides one interface for all of those," Jarvis said Monday. The sites also allow consumers to check the cost of procedure prior to having it. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that administrative costs for private health insurers were $90 billion in 2006, about 12 percent of private insurance premiums. This figure doesn't include the labor costs of the hundreds of hours doctors and hospitals spend dealing with different insurance providers and policies. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 6 Oct 2009 | 12:40 pm If John Mack Had Gotten His Way, He And Blankfein Would've Told Jimmy Chanos And His Friends Where They Could Go On National TV
Where is that little shit, David Einhorn, huh? When I find that pipqueak I'm gonna rip his urethra out through his throat. They can't do this to us! While Mack was beginning to believe that the hedge funds were conspiring against the firm--"This is what they did to Dick [Fuld, of Lehman Brothers]!" he roared, referring to the Monday implosion of Lehman--there was fresh evidence that some of them actually did need the cash. Funds that had accounts at Lehman's London office couldn't get at them and came begging to Morgan Stanley and Goldman. Can't we make citizen's arrest or something?!? "It's outrageous what's going on here," Mack almost shouted, arguing that the raid on Morgan Stanley's stock was "immoral if not illegal."
Sponsored Topics: Morgan Stanley - Lloyd Blankfein - Lehman Brothers - Business - John Mack Source: Dealbreaker | 6 Oct 2009 | 12:37 pm How the GI Bill changed the economyThe new GI Bill gives vets money for tuition, housing and books. But paying for GIs' educations is nothing new. Stephen Smith of American Radioworks explores how the first GI Bill's push to education helped shape the U.S. economy.Source: Marketplace | 6 Oct 2009 | 11:46 am At The 'Recession Resources Fair' In Lorain, Ohio
Lorain, Ohio, where recession has become a way of life. (Cheri Campbell / Flickr) Cheri Campbell writes from the Rust Belt: I work as a reference librarian at a public library in Lorain, Ohio, located about 30 minutes due west from Cleveland. Lorain is a smaller version of the Rust Belt cities you've all heard about: Cleveland, Youngstown, Buffalo, Toledo, Detroit. Lorain once made ships -- George Steinbrenner of Yankees fame (or infamy) owned the local shipyard -- cars (Fords), and the steel that went into them. Lorain no longer makes cars or ships things. One of the two steel mills is on "warm idle" (mill lingo for the cooling of the blast furnace used for making bar steel), which means that about two-thirds of its 1,000 employees are on indefinite layoff. The recession of the early 1980s hit here hard and really never went away. The official county unemployment rate hovers around 10 percent and foreclosures are a huge problem as elsewhere in Ohio. Last Thursday, my library held a "recession resources fair" to help people find out how they could perhaps better "survive" in the current economy. 
The sign for a dealers school dates back to an abandoned plan by a Native American tribe to open a casino. (Cheri Campbell / Flickr) At about 1:15 that afternoon -- 45 minutes before the event -- I walked out of the locked meeting room where representatives from various social service agencies were setting up their display tables about budget meals and veterans benefits. A librarian working at the desk told me that some people had already arrived to attend the fair. I looked up and saw a nicely dressed couple in their mid-30s, along with a teenage boy, browsing through our Spanish-language DVDs. At 2:00, I opened the door leading to the recession resources fair. The family I had seen waiting came in. Maybe 10 minutes later, a man who appeared to be about 40, also well-dressed, walked into the room. He paused for a moment, taking the measure of the room. The librarian at the front desk greeted him. I could overhear him telling her that his wife had called him and told him to come down to the library to check out what was available at the fair. He circled the room, picked up handouts and the free CD-ROMs about resumes and interview skills from the employment services table, and quickly left. Other people soon followed, alone or in groups of two or three or even more. Some picked up handouts from every table, while others, more focused, headed straight for a particular table. If someone approached my table, I greeted them and explained what the library could offer -- books on all aspects of the career search and job hunting process, computer access. I gave them handouts on resume help and offered my business card. If they seemed interested in that assistance, I then walked that person to the state employment agency table and introduced them to the counselor at that table, where they would then be told about what that agency could do for them -- job training, classes on interview skills and resume writing, referrals to GED and English language classes and more computers for job searching. It was a concentrated version of what librarians do every day -- tell people about what we have and where else they might go for more help. But this time, the additional sources of help weren't a phone call away, but were maybe waiting for them inside a public library meeting room. I will likely never find out if anyone in that room received information or assistance that will make any kind of real difference in their lives. All any of us there could do was to try and help. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 6 Oct 2009 | 11:43 am A look at economic developments around the globe (AP)AP - A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Tuesday:Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 6 Oct 2009 | 10:48 am A look at economic developments around the globe (AP)AP - A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Tuesday:Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 6 Oct 2009 | 10:48 am China eyes N Korea’s mineral wealthWen Jiabao, China’s premier, can hail his visit to North Korea as a bit of a diplomatic coup. Now the question is whether there is an economic dividend tooSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 6 Oct 2009 | 10:33 am FTSE bounces back as gold reaches all-time high (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 6 Oct 2009 | 10:24 am 'Sign Of The Times': Fewer Crayons
Red Robin cuts back to red and blue. (dalechumbley/Flickr Creative Commons) Robert Ackerman of Kirkland, Wash. writes: Yesterday, we went to eat at Red Robin, my son's fave restaurant, where he always has the Clucks and Fries (chicken tenders and french fries). Red Robin is a Seattle chain, with a large part of its business marketed for kids. It welcomes birthday parties, where the waiters sing its unique birthday song, and it has the Red Robin in costume -- who, just like Chuckie Cheese, scares the bejesus out of the little kids. My youngest daughter, who these days is sometimes a kid and sometimes an adult when it comes to menus, got a kid's menu. You know, with word puzzles, tic-tac-toe layouts, mazes, and figures to color in. It used to come with a pack of 4 crayons -- red, blue, yellow and green. Yesterday it had a pack of two -- red and blue. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 6 Oct 2009 | 10:13 am Exxon takes $4bn stake in Ghana oil fieldThe US oil major is acquiring a stake in Ghana’s Jubilee field for about $4bn, a deal that generates a five-fold return for Blackstone and Warburg Pincus, the private equity groups that own the holdingSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 6 Oct 2009 | 9:56 am 9 Free Business Tools You Should Know AboutThis is a guest post by ResourceNation’s Merrin Muxlow. There’s been a lot of conversation lately about how “free” is the future of business. Companies across all industries are figuring out ways to make a profit without actually charging for a product. For start-up company owners and new entrepreneurs, this is great news. Who doesn’t like free stuff? Here’s a quick list of some free tools for business owners. Fileguru
This site is a one-stop shop for free software downloads. Need POS software, an inventory management program, accounting, or scheduling systems? Fileguru probably has it. The site is easy to browse. Each program has a quick summary on what it should be used for, and downloading is simple and fast for most simple software offerings. Most programs are designed open-source style, so free upgrades are available, too. SnapPages
A simple website builder that allows even the most technologically oblivious entrepreneurs to build a flashy, functional website. The user interface is similar to that on a Mac computer–think drop-and-drag features, intuitive functionality, and simple, clean lines. The basic service, which allows you to build a simple site, is free, a paid, upgraded version is also available. Firefox
Okay, so this one you’ve probably already heard of. If you haven’t switched to this free, downloadable browser, you’re missing out: add-ons allow you to do everything from shortening URLs to speeding up browsing to managing alerts and news feeds. Still need convincing? Programs like Xmarks allow you to access bookmarks, unread sites, and other “marked” pages from any mobile device. OpenOffice
Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) is still the gold standard for most big companies, and is the one program that nearly everyone on the planet knows how to use. Licenses (which typically allow for non-simultaneous use on up to three machines) can run into the hundreds of dollars- a price that might be out of reach for many startups. OpenOffice provides an easy, flexible alternative to programs like Google Docs (which earns an honorable mention as a great free product in its own right). Google Analytics
Google is the king of free offerings, and Analytics is often cited as one of the most valuable free tools there is. Using this program, you can track activity on your website (traffic, conversions, visitor behavior) easily and in real-time. The best part is that the information is presented in an easy-to-understand format (think simple graphs and visual aids). You can also use it to track e-commerce website sales, marketing campaign efficacy (even if you don’t use a Google advertising program, like AdWords) and just about any other valuable statistic. Resource Nation
Finding an accounting service, a phone system, a background check service, or any other highly specialized business service vendor can be tough. For example, asking Google for the “top payroll processing providers” can return literally thousands of results to sift through. Resource Nation screens these vendors for you, and returns results based on your specifications (local companies, those that serve smaller businesses, etc.). While you’re looking for a vendor, check out the free guides on everything from setting up a payroll company account to forming a business entity.
This is a great tool for hosting and sharing large files. It’s easy to use, doesn’t require a lengthy signup or registration, and allows you to manage (send, save, catalog) files easily. Dimdim
Web conferencing for up to 20 people that works seamlessly-for free? That’s what you’ll get using this free service. Dimdim also offers paid versions that are more advanced (Enterprise and Webinar features) in addition to the cost-free service offering. FreshBooks
This invoicing, time-tracking and expense-monitoring program is available for smaller businesses (those with three or fewer clients) for free, offering an upgraded version for companies with lengthier client lists or more advanced billing requirements. FreshBooks software allows you to manage client billing easily without an accountant or bookkeeper, and send professional-looking invoices to clients. The program can also be integrated with PayPal, Microsoft and Mac time tracker programs, and other commonly used programs. So there you have it… a few tools that are easy to use and easy on your wallet. Any I missed? Please let me know in the comments section, or contact me. A good bargain always deserves to be shared!
Merrin Muxlow is a writer, yoga teacher, and law student based in San Diego, California. Merrin writes extensively for Resource Nation, an online resource that provides expert advice on purchasing and outsourcing decisions for small business owners and entrepreneurs. She frequently contributes to several sites and programs that offer tools for business owners, including Dell, BizEquity, StartUpNation, and bMighty.
Source: Business Pundit | 6 Oct 2009 | 9:54 am A Refresher Course in Active Trading (U.S. News & World Report)U.S. News & World Report - The third quarter featured the best gains in the Dow Jones industrial average since 1998, but the first few days of October haven't been as promising. U.S. News spoke with Randy Frederick of Charles Schwab, who offers a quick refresher course for investors on how to navigate this uncertain market. Is it time for a pullback, or does the market still present attractive opportunities? Frederick says it's too soon to tell but that there are certain investing basics that every active investor should keep in mind. Excerpts:Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 6 Oct 2009 | 9:47 am Dudack Says U.S. Stocks Are `Overbought': AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 6 Oct 2009 | 9:46 am Rush Limbaugh Wants to Buy the St. Louis Rams
It’s unclear whether Limbaugh and Checketts will buy the team outright or purchase a majority or minority stake in the franchise. Georgia Frontiere’s children own a 60% stake in the team, and billionaire Stan Kroenke owns a 40% stake. Hopefully, Limbaugh’s latest foray into the pro football will go a little more smoothly than when he worked briefly as an NFL commentator for ESPN in 2003. Limbaugh resigned after saying Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was overrated because the media wanted to see a black quarterback do well in the NFL. Last year, Forbes listed the Rams, which moved from Los Angeles in 1994, as worth $929 million (23rd highest in the NFL). Eamonn Brennan thinks Limbaugh’s bid can’t bode well for the NFL: …this is a bad thing for NFL fans whether you like Rush Limbaugh or not. Why? Because the NFL isn’t supposed to be about what some crazy right- or left-wing talk show host said today. It’s not supposed to revolve in the same 24-hour insanity cycle that governs talk radio and cable news. Limbaugh’s ownership threatens that. Our house has clean white carpets; we don’t need that mess. But somehow we don’t see Limbaugh taking his shoes off at the door. One thing is certain: If Limbaugh does indeed buy the Rams, he’ll be the recipient of the NFL’s rather liberal — borderline, well, socialist — profit-sharing structure. Small market team that they are, the Rams might not be able to make a profit without the NFL’s tax on larger, more affluent teams. What will Rush think of that? If the sale ends up going through — and the Rams might not sell at all — you can count on finding out. (An official) statement said Limbaugh would not discuss the bid further because of a confidentiality agreement with Goldman Sachs, which was hired by the family of former Rams owner Georgia Frontiere to review her estate. Rush might be worth enough money to buy in as part of a group, but does he really stand a chance? What do you think?
Source: Business Pundit | 6 Oct 2009 | 9:30 am Photosketch Lets You Realize Your Wildest PhotographsPhotosketch, a new software program designed in China, allows users to turn simple sketches into customized photographs. Gizmodo has more: According to authors, their software can take any rough sketch, with the shape of each element labeled with its name, find images corresponding to each drawn element, judge which are a better match to the shapes, and then seamlessly merge it all into one single image. PhotoSketch’s blending algorithm analyzes each of these images, compares them with each other, and decides which are better for the blending process. It automatically traces and places them into a single photograph, matching the scene, and adding shadows. Of course, the results are less than perfect, but they are good enough.
The program heralds supreme possibilities for fun, like sticking celebrity heads where they don’t belong, and compiling photos from bits of copyrighted images. I can see a storm of copyright issues riding Photosketch’s tailcoats if the program gets widespread use.
Source: Business Pundit | 6 Oct 2009 | 9:24 am Emerson Electric Buys Avocent for $1.2 billion
Emerson Electric, which makes industrial equipment, will buy IT products and infrastructure company Avocent Corp. for $1.2 billion cash. The Wall Street Journal has more: Emerson — a maker of industrial-automation equipment, power systems and heating and cooling gear — wants to apply the company’s infrastructure management technology to its network of power systems, energy management and precision cooling services. “Combining Avocent’s technologies, relationships and installed base with Emerson’s power and cooling presence allows us to offer a more compelling solution to our data center customers’ most pressing challenge — energy efficiency,” said Emerson Chairman and Chief Executive David N. Farr. Avocent holders will get $25 a share, a 22% premium to Monday’s close. The deal, which was unanimously recommended by the Avocent board of directors, is expected to be complete around year-end if it gets approval from regulators and a majority of Avocent shareholders. The stock was last at $25 in August 2008. Half of Avocent’s sales, which totaled $647 million in 2008, were made outside the U.S. that year. The company blends hardware, software and embedded technologies into one system that data-center operators to monitor, manage and fix problems with their operations.
Source: Business Pundit | 6 Oct 2009 | 9:09 am SG's Popper Sees Fed Rates on Hold for Next Six Months: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 6 Oct 2009 | 8:36 am Recession Gives Planet (Brief) Break On Climate ChangeBy Laura Conaway Good morning. We're reading a lot about climate change today. The global recession will lead to a three percent drop in greenhouse gas emissions this year, the International Energy Agency says, giving the citizens of Planet Earth a rare chance to get ahead of climate change. The IEA says the world will need to spend $10 trillion on renewable energy and carbon abatement over the next 20 years (WSJ, subs. requ'd). Meanwhile, a group of economists says that with enough technological advances, the price of radically cutting greenhouse gases could fall to one to three percent of the global economy. President Obama is considering ways to coax companies into hiring again. Finally, the New York Times runs a check on prepaid debit cards, whose face value can get gobbled up by fees for every purchase and withdrawal. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 6 Oct 2009 | 6:43 am Sometimes, You Just Have to Let Them Go…
Source: Business Pundit | 6 Oct 2009 | 5:30 am A Metro Map of Google Acquisitions
Find a larger image at Meet the Boss.
Source: Business Pundit | 6 Oct 2009 | 5:27 am
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