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PartyGaming hit by founder's stake saleShares in PartyGaming fell more than 13 per cent today after it emerged that one of the online gaming group’s co-founders and its second-largest shareholder was selling a large chunk of his stake. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 20 Oct 2009 | 5:27 am Housing recovery reflected in lending figuresHomebuyers borrowed about £12.5 billion from banks and other lenders last month, a 2 per cent rise on the previous month but still more than a quarter down on this time last year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:54 am Ahead of the Bell: Housing Starts (AP)AP - Construction of new homes likely posted a modest gain in September although the recovery for the troubled housing sector remains bumpy.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:34 am Adecco boosts professional staffing in $1.3 billion buy (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:32 am DuPont earnings widely beat Wall Street view (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:31 am Pearson raises forecast on education growthPearson, the publisher of the Financial Times and Penguin Books, today raised its full-year guidance after a strong performance in its education business helped it to ride out the recession and offset tumbling sales in its flagship newspaper division. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:27 am Apple (AAPL) iPhone To Launch In China With 1,000 StoresApple (NASDAQ:AAPL) will launch the iPhone in China with China Unicom (NYSE:CHU) on October 30 with “1,000 points of sale,” according to a transcription of the company’s earnings call done by Seeking Alpha. Apple commented on China Unicom’s plans “They’ve announced the plans and prices that they’ll have for the device and for the service. There’s a [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:26 am Sri Lanka shares continue fallingSri Lankan shares falls sharply after the fallout from the arrest of Raj Rajaratnam continues to shake investor confidence.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:21 am Oil retreats below $80 on supply caution (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:19 am Oil retreats below $80 on supply caution (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:19 am UK government borrowing hits record £77bnPublic borrowing in Britain ballooned to a record £77.3bn in first six months of the financial year the highest halfyearly figure since the end of the Second World War.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:16 am Currencies: Euro sets another 14-month high vs. dollarEuro sets fresh high against U.S. dollar.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:16 am Qatar's Barclays stake sale stokes Sainsbury talkLONDON (Reuters) - Qatar is selling a 1.3 billion pound ($2.1 billion) stake in British bank Barclays , stoking talk it will use a big profit to make a move on UK food retailer J. Sainsbury .Source: Reuters: Business News | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:15 am Qatar's Barclays stake sale stokes Sainsbury talk (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:15 am Record in public sector borrowingThe UK's public sector net borrowing totalled £14.8bn last month, a record for September, official figures show.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:11 am Video Game Sales Recover, Sony (SNE) Takes First PlacePrice cuts work. In September, Sony’s (NYSE:SNE) PS3 outsold the Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii for the first time in recent memory. Industry research firm NPD said that the video game industry which includes both consoles and games, had sales of $1.28 billion in September, up 1% from a year ago. Sony shipped 491,800 PS3 units in [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:09 am What's in the box?A tour through Windows 7 looking at its characteristicsSource: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:01 am FACTBOX-The MPS Group - What did Adecco buy?Oct 20 (Reuters) - Adecco , the world's largest staffing company, has bought American rival MPS Group for $1.3 billion, boosting its position in the high-margin professional staffing business. [ID:nBNG199799]...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:52 am British deficit surges in September: dataBritain recorded a public deficit of 19.4 billion pounds (21.2 billion euros, 31.8 billion dollars) in September as the economy buckled under the weight of recession, official data showed...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:51 am Asia markets cheer U.S. quarterly resultsMajor stock markets in Asia rally Tuesday, with technology shares among the winners after strong earnings from the sector’s counterparts in the U.S.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:47 am Adecco boosts professional staffing in $1.3 billion buyZURICH (Reuters) - Adecco , the world's largest staffing company, is buying American rival MPS Group for $1.3 billion, boosting its high-margin and more recession-resilient professional staffing business.Source: Reuters: Business News | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:46 am Indications: U.S. stock futures edge up as Apple trouncesU.S. stock futures edge above one-year peaks as Apple became the latest company to top analyst earnings estimates.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:46 am New home buyers push up mortgage lendingStrong demand from people buying a new home helped mortgage lending to edge up by 2pc during September.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:45 am As Germany Opens Opel Funding, GM Could Keep The UnitThe German government got in trouble with EU regulators because it only offered $6.7 billion in aid to one of the bidders for GM’s Opel unit. That bidder was Canadian car parts company Magna (NYSE:MGA) which has backing from Russian financial interests. Germany has decided that the best way to avoid a collision with the EU is [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:44 am UPDATE 3-Adecco boosts professional staffing in $1.3 bln buy* Launches 900 mln Sfr mandatory convertible bonds offeringSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:44 am Public borrowing soars to worst level on recordPublic borrowing more than doubled in the first half of this year to a record high of £77.3 billion, renewing fears that the Government will be forced to raise its forecast towards £200 billion. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:44 am Summer lift in mortgage lendingMortgage lending has shown a late summer lift compared with earlier in the year, says the Council of Mortgage Lenders.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:43 am Trend Micro vs. NortonWhich new security suite best protects your business PCs?Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:42 am Turning a lifetime of savings into incomeQuestion: The 4% rule seems to have become the conventional wisdom for drawing money from your savings in retirement. But I believe the rule is flawed. I think it might make more sense to choose a percentage of your savings that you will withdraw annually and then just apply that percentage to your savings balance at the beginning of each year so you would have more money to spend in years when investment returns are good and less to spend in years when returns are bad. What do you think? --E. W., East Lansing, MichiganSource: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:34 am UPDATE 2-Vodacom sees H1 profit down due to impairment chargeJOHANNESBURG, Oct 20 (Reuters) - South Africa's biggest mobile operator Vodacom expects to post a drop in first-half profit, mainly due to a 3.2 billion rand ($438 million) impairment charge arising from...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:30 am Crucial post strike talks resumeTalks aimed at averting strike action by Royal Mail workers resume, as union sources suggest a deal is not close.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:27 am Japan ready to borrow more to beat crisis: ministerJapan's government is ready to add to the country's already sky-high public debt in the face of slumping tax revenues, Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said Tuesday. Japan faces a...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:27 am iPhone competition: Moto DroidSource: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:24 am Adecco to buy MPS Group for $1.3 billion cashSwiss human-resources giant Adecco Group will acquire U.S. staffing firm MPS Group Inc. for approximately $1.3 billion cash.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:24 am Japan ready to borrow more to beat crisis: minister (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:23 am Apple smashes forecasts, stock hits record (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:22 am Apple smashes forecasts, stock hits recordSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc's profits and sales streaked past Wall Street forecasts as iPhone and Mac sales hit quarterly records, sending its shares rocketing to all-time highs on Monday.Source: Reuters: Business News | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:22 am Stock futures signal gains as Apple, TI please (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:17 am Stock futures signal gains as Apple, TI please(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Tuesday, after strong quarterly results from bellwethers Apple and Texas Instruments pleased investors.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:17 am Stock futures signal gains as Apple, TI please(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Tuesday, after strong quarterly results from bellwethers Apple and Texas Instruments pleased investors.Source: Reuters: Business News | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:17 am Stock futures signal gains as Apple, TI please (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:17 am Apple earnings for '09 set recordSource: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:15 am FTSE 100 rises in opening trade (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:15 am Mild open seen for stocksU.S. stock futures edged higher Tuesday, supported by solid results from Apple and Texas Instruments, although gains were limited as investors expressed caution ahead of another slew of earnings.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:15 am UPDATE 2-GM, Opel Trust signal Magna on track to win Opel* Opel Trust chairman sees no need to restart sale processSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:12 am Barclays shares slump on £1.4bn Qatari saleSpeculation that Qatar's sovereign wealth fund was raising cash to bid for the J. Sainsbury supermarket group intensified this morning after Qatar Holding said it was partially exiting its investment in Barclays. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:10 am The Economy’s 90/10 RuleEconomists spend nearly all of their time now trying to figure out whether the recovery will stay on course and if GDP in the US will recover at 4% or 5% rate next year. They reason that if things go that well then business activity will provide employment for those without jobs and that rising [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:07 am Oil price rise driven by fundamentals - BP CEOLONDON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - BP Group Chief Executive Tony Hayward said on Tuesday the oil price rise was being driven by the fundamentals of supply and demand.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:04 am UPDATE 1-Deals of the day -- mergers and acquisitionsOct 20 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals involving European, U.S. and Asian companies were reported by 0900 GMT on Tuesday.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:04 am UPDATE 1-Deals of the day -- mergers and acquisitionsOct 20 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals involving European, U.S. and Asian companies were reported by 0900 GMT on Tuesday.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:04 am Dow Back To 14,000 By May (AAPL)(GOOG)(GS)(JPM)(GE)It has taken the DJIA a little over 32 weeks to move from 6,547 to just over 10,000, a move up of 53%. The index will be back over 14,000 by the end of May next year if it continues its rise at this rate for the next 32 weeks. Each week most market experts say [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:57 am Europe Markets: European shares back away from annual highEuropean shares give back some ground on Tuesday, backing off an annual high hit in the previous session.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:55 am Qatar sale hits Barclays sharesShares in Barclays fall almost 5% after Qatar announces plans to sell 379 million shares in the UK bank worth more than £1.3bn.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:52 am London Markets: Qatari moves drive London marketQatar’s sovereign-wealth fund drives London’s market on Tuesday, with Barclays sliding after the group sold down its stake.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:49 am Asian stocks up after US earns; Europe shares down (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:48 am Karzai to accept he fell short of victoryThe Afghan president is expected to accept that he fell short of the votes needed to win an outright victory in the country’s flawed elections, a move that could set the stage for a possible power-sharing deal with his main rivalSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:45 am Asia Markets: Outlook strong for Japan firms marketing to ChinaA group of analysts recommends Japanese companies with exposure to China’s consumer market, especially those marketing to the lucrative '80 Hou' generation.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:32 am Qatar Holding sells shares in BarclaysQatar Holding the biggest shareholder in Barclays is to sell shares worth around £1.4bn in the British bank.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:29 am Apple gets big iPhone boostApple Inc. said record sales of Macintosh computers and iPhones lifted its quarterly profit and revenue, which trounced Wall Street's forecasts.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:29 am 3 reasons not to ditch Dodge & Cox IntlLast fall Dodge & Cox International made big bets in the emerging markets and in economically sensitive stocks it considered undervalued, such as financials. By the end of 2008 the portfolio had sunk 47%, making it one of the worst-performing foreign large-value funds last year.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:21 am PartyGaming founder reduces stakeThe billionaire co-founder of PartyGaming, Anurag Dikshit, is to sell two-thirds of his stake in the online gambling firm.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:19 am Morgan sells Van Kampen fund unitSource: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:17 am The tech catastrophe you're ignoringSometimes, it may shock you to learn, journalists misjudge the scale of threats.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:10 am Posco E&C scraps listing plansSouth Korea's Posco Engineering & Construction said on Tuesday it had decided to scrap its planned initial public offering due to lower-than-expected pricing, a move which is likely to damp the country's...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:04 am The head of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme a job worth havingThe quango tasked with bailing out punters who lose out when their bank goes bust is hiring a new chief executive.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:03 am Media Digest (10/20/2009) Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, BloombergReuters: Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) beat earnings forecasts. Reuters: The IRS is probing some homebuyers’ tax credit gains. Reuters: The US is ready to bring more insider trading cases. Reuters: More US companies are cutting bonuses. Reuters: Icahn offered to underwrite a $6 billion loan to CIT (NYSE:CIT). Reuters: Retailers like Saks (NYSE:SKS) Macy’s (NYSE:M), and Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) cut inventories so much [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:02 am Long way down for home pricesIf you thought home prices were bottoming out, you may be wrong. They're expected to get a lot more affordable.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:57 am Banks weigh on FTSE after Barclays stake saleBanks were in focus on London's equities markets on Tuesday, with Barclays under pressure after leading shareholder Qatar Holdings announced plans to sell 379m shares in the company. The share sale was...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:56 am Swedbank eyes Baltic stability after third lossSwedbank reoprts its third straight quarterly loss but says it’s seeing signs that credit quality in the Baltic region is beginning to stabilize.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:51 am Opec blames speculators for rising oil priceOpec, the oil producers' cartel, suggested speculators were to blame for a recent spike in oil prices to more than $80 a barrel, which was not justified by fundamentals.$ Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:48 am Coal production boosts XstrataMining group Xstrata says its performance in the third quarter was boosted by a rise in coal production.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:41 am Oil moves past $80-a-barrel markThe price of oil breaches $80 a barrel in early trading, a new high for the year, boosted by strong US company results.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:40 am Qataris sell £1.3bn stake in BarclaysShares in Barclays fell 5% after Qatar Holding, its biggest shareholder, said it would sell selling 379m shares acquired as part of a £5.8bn fundraising by the UK bank last yearSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:35 am Qataris sell 1.3bn stake in BarclaysSource: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:35 am Aussie stocks close up over 1pcPERTH - The Australian share market closed firmly in positive territory after strong commodities prices drove gains among resource stocks.The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 53.4 points, or 1.11 per cent, at 4,846.2 points,...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:34 am Qatar to sell partial stake in BarclaysQatar Holding on Tuesday says it’s selling some of its stake in Barclays to lock in a 750 million pound ($1.23 billion) gain.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:27 am Nissan to sell used electric car batteriesNissan Motor on Tuesday announced plans to market used lithium-ion batteries from its soon-to-launch Leaf electric car to solar-power generators and other secondary customers, the first major scheme of...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:25 am Asia Markets And Europe Open (10/20/2009)Markets in Asia were higher. The Nikkei rose 1% to 10,337. The Hang Seng was up 1% to 22,531. PetroChina (NYSE:PTR) rose. The Shanghai Composite was up by 1.5% to 3,084. At the open in Europe, the FTSE was down .1% to 5,277. A large investor will sell a stake in Barclays (NYSE:BCS). The Dax was up .2% to [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:21 am Morgan Stanley to sell fund armUS bank Morgan Stanley is to sell its retail asset management business to investment manager Invesco for $1.5bn.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:14 am Adecco to buy staffing group MPS for 782mAdecco on Tuesday announced its long-awaited big push into professional staffing as the world's biggest temporary employment group said it would buy US-based MPS Group for 782m ($1.2bn). The acquisition...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:02 am Apple's profit climbs 47% in its 'most profitable quarter ever'Its earnings of $1.67 billion far exceed analysts' expectations. The increase is fueled by brisk back-to-school sales of the company's MacBook computers and the continued popularity of its iPhone.Apple Inc.'s fiscal fourth-quarter profit soared 47%, surprising Wall Street and providing perhaps the strongest signal yet that technology companies may be leading the economy out of the doldrums.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Oil soars despite fundamentals; gasoline prices might followCalifornia gas prices fall below $3 a gallon, but oil is at its highest in more than a year -- even though supplies are plentiful, demand is weak and refiners have slashed production. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Staples affixes name to Staples Center permanentlyDeal with AEG extends the office supply chain's rights at the Los Angeles sports and entertainment venue 'in perpetuity.' ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am International Lease Finance Corp. gets a $2-billion lifelineThe Century City-based aircraft leasing company gets another infusion of federal money from its parent, AIG, to pay off debt.Since its near-collapse, American International Group Inc. has been selling all kinds of assets -- but it apparently doesn't want to part with its Century City-based aircraft leasing company.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Oil soars despite fundamentals; gasoline prices might followCalifornia gas prices fall below $3 a gallon, but oil is at its highest in more than a year -- even though supplies are plentiful, demand is weak and refiners have slashed production.Until Monday, pump price expert Fred Rozell figured that California gasoline was headed down to $2.85 a gallon or lower. But that was before crude oil futures rose $1.08, or 1.3%, to settle at $79.61 -- their highest close in more than a year.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Stocks rise as earnings reports top expectationsResults raise hopes that economy is doing better than expected. The stock market rallied Monday, setting one-year...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Shopping-center kiosks are a way to try retail ownershipIt's a $12-billion industry in the U.S., and it costs relatively little to get started. But hours can be long and profit isn't certain. These days some operators lease space for as little as a month.Silvia Spross took a baby step into small-business ownership when she opened a jewelry kiosk on Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Staples affixes name to Staples Center permanentlyDeal with AEG extends the office supply chain's rights at the Los Angeles sports and entertainment venue 'in perpetuity.'The 10-year relationship between Staples Inc. and AEG, which brought us Staples Center of sports and entertainment fame, is moving to the next level: forever and ever.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Fed chairman urges Americans to save, Asians to spendBen S. Bernanke warns imbalances such as the trade gap with China could cause another financial meltdown.The chairman of the Federal Reserve, delving into the sensitive area of global economic imbalances, warned that the U.S. and Asian nations must do more to avert the kind of uneven trade patterns underlying the recent financial crisis.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Search starts for MPAA chief Dan Glickman's replacementHollywood's top lobbyist announces that he will step down next September, opening up one of Washington's most high-profile and coveted posts.For all the rumblings in Hollywood that Dan Glickman was miscast as the industry's top Washington lobbyist, the next head of the Motion Picture Assn. of America could well be closer to his technocrat mold than to the suave celebrity of the man who made the job famous: Jack Valenti.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Apple's profit climbs 47% in its 'most profitable quarter ever'Its earnings of $1.67 billion far exceed analysts' expectations. The increase is fueled by brisk back-to-school sales of the company's MacBook computers and the continued popularity of its iPhone. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Chernin, Liguori advising Comcast on NBC dealThe former Fox executives are quietly lending expertise to the cable TV company as it negotiates with General Electric for control of NBC Universal, sources say. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am The Beatles: Rock Band has a solid debutThe Viacom video game's first-month sales topped those for Rock Band and Rock Band 2 but fell far short of some analysts' estimates.It wasn't the equivalent of selling out Shea Stadium, but the Beatles had a decent debut in the video game world.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Billionaire Raj Rajaratnam says he's 'entirely innocent' of insider tradingBritisheducated hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam arrested for alleged insider trading tells investors and employees he is 'entirely innocent'.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 20 Oct 2009 | 12:54 am Fletcher Building, Telecom lead market higherStrength in leading shares helped propel the New Zealand sharemarket higher today after the United States market hit fresh one-year highs.A surge in the New Zealand dollar to US75.75c was a negative for exporters and was seen...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 20 Oct 2009 | 12:29 am Oil rises above 80 a barrel to new year highThe oil price has risen above 80 a barrel for the first time this year boosted by betterthanexpected US corporate earnings and a weak dollar.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 20 Oct 2009 | 12:12 am Oil up for 9th day, hits 1-year high on weak dollarSINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures rallied to a one-year high above $80 a barrel on Tuesday, lifted by a slump in the dollar to a 14-month low and a rally in U.S. stock markets to their highest in 12 months.Source: Reuters: Business News | 19 Oct 2009 | 11:55 pm NZ dollar soars as US dollar declinesNew Zealand dollar soared to a new 15 month high of US75.75c today as the US dollar fell to a new 14 month low.The Australian dollar rose above US93c for the first time in 14 months after minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 19 Oct 2009 | 11:42 pm A tearful ending to our love affair with credit cardsThe FSA's lending restrictions are sensible but that won't stop them hurting says Tracy Corrigan.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 19 Oct 2009 | 11:40 pm Chernin, Liguori advising Comcast on NBC dealThe former Fox executives are quietly lending expertise to the cable TV company as it negotiates with General Electric for control of NBC Universal, sources say.Call it the Comcast Friends and Advisors plan.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 19 Oct 2009 | 11:40 pm Times leaps in Hong Kong trade after Lotte dealShares of Chinese supermarket group Times trade sharply higher in resumed Hong Kong trade after the company agrees to be acquired by South Korea’s Lotte Shopping.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 19 Oct 2009 | 11:22 pm 'Tweets' hit NZ streets on billboardsThe social networking phenomenon Twitter has taken to the streets with New Zealand's first billboards displaying live "tweets".The billboards use the same technology as sports scoreboards and digital road signs to display "tweets"...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 19 Oct 2009 | 10:44 pm Vetting the Fridge: Is Your Appliance Lying to You? (Deal of the Day)Are your appliances fibbing to you about how much energy they're using? It's possible. A recent Department of Energy audit found flaws in the Energy Star program. And that is causing some concern among consumers that electrical appliances like washing machines, air conditioners and refrigerators may not be as efficient as they’re supposed to be. The Energy Department said in a statement that a renewed partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency “will improve product testing and enforcement” for the Energy Star program. (Energy Star is a joint program of the Energy Department and the EPA.) In the meantime, consumers hawkish about their energy consumption face a hurdle. Average consumers can’t assess the energy efficiency of their home appliances by themselves. (In most cases, sophisticated laboratory equipment and controlled environments are necessary to measure efficiency, or the percentage of total energy input to a machine that's consumed in useful work and not wasted.) “That’s not the kind of test a consumer can do at home,” says John Wilson, buildings program director at the Energy Foundation, a grant-making nonprofit based in San Francisco. However, consumers worried about their appliances can take other measurements to assess whether they’re up to speed. Here are a few steps you can take to figure out how your appliance – Energy Star or not – is operating as it should:
1. Check how much energy your device should use when you buy it.
The label will give you two important pieces of information about your appliance: An estimate of how much electricity the appliance uses in a year based on typical use, and an estimated yearly operating cost based on the national average cost of electricity. The electricty estimate will be more useful in checking up on your appliance. That's because the yearly operating cost figure is only an average -- and true costs can vary widely based on where you live and where your power comes from. Say your refrigerator’s Energy Guide label says its yearly operating cost, based on a range of similar models, is $67. That doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll pay – or should be paying – that amount per year. This figure is just an estimate, based on a national average price for electricity. Your specific rate depends on where you live and how much you use the refrigerator, says Cliff Majersik, executive director of the Institute for Market Transformation, a nonprofit environmental organization.
2. Find out how much you pay for energy to run the device.
Say the Energy Guide label indicates an estimated yearly electricity usage of 630 killowatt hours; this is an estimate of how much electricity the refrigerator consumes in a year based on typical use. You can multiply that number by your local electricity rate to get a more accurate estimate of what your cost might be each month. Also keep in mind that “typical” might not describe your usage, says Steven Nadel, executive director of the nonprofit American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. If you have a large family with several children, they’re likely opening and closing the refrigerator door frequently, and consume more energy. Also, the Energy Guide label from your washer or air conditioner might be a few years old. The national average price of electricity and the cost estimate for a given device are updated every five years. Although this helps manufacturers base their estimated costs on the same electricity rate and usage patterns, it means that the rate used for Energy Guide labels won’t always reflect electricity prices at the time. If your air conditioner is a few years old, chances are the Energy Guide’s yearly cost estimate is based on lower electricity prices than you’re paying now, says Majersik.
3. Find out how much electricity the device is actually consuming.
There are a handful of products on the market; some measure individual devices and others measure the entire home's consumption. The Kill A Watt EZ, made by P3 International, measures the energy uptake of a single device. Plug an appliance into the monitor and the display screen shows its operating cost. It can count consumption by kilowatt hour, just like your utility company. It can also forecast expenses for the day, month or year. Black & Decker has a similar device, called the Power Monitor, which also shows current energy usage in dollars and estimated monthly bills based on your local electricity rates. 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 | 19 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm 3 Stocks With Fast 'Organic' Sales Growth (Screens)Good news, sort of: Third-quarter financial reports, now trickling in, are expected to show that earnings per share for U.S. companies fell 6% from a year earlier. That will mark a sharp improvement from the second quarter’s 18% decline, the first quarter’s 39% plunge and the fourth quarter of 2008, when U.S. companies as a group produced no earnings. The bad news: Sales for U.S. companies are believed to have fallen 14% in the third quarter. That suggests the improvement (or rather, the slower pace of worsening) is owed to cost-cutting and not growth. For the uninitiated, a company’s profit-and-loss statement begins with sales (the “top line”) and ends with profits (the “bottom line”), subtracting for various costs in between. The two basic ways to create a larger bottom line are to take out fewer costs and to increase the top line. Both outcomes are usually welcome, but top-line growth is more sustainable than spending cuts because overly frugal companies risk becoming underfunded, just as overzealous dieters can become underfed. I recently searched for companies that have grown both their sales and profits lately, favoring those with organic sales growth. By “organic,” I do not mean that sales increases can from hemp socks and soy milk. I mean that they came by adding new customers or charging higher prices, rather than buying their competitors. Bucyrus InternationalMilwaukee-based Bucyrus (BUCY) makes mining equipment. As with Joy Global (JOYG), a mining machine maker mentioned here last week in a round-up of stocks that are up big but that still look cheap, Bucyrus’s order backlog is slow-moving. That means it’s posting healthy sales today based on long-standing orders, but also that sales are expected to decline next year to reflect the past year’s downturn. They might not fall as sharply as expected though. The company has produced above-estimate financial results over the past two quarters, and strong demand for coal and precious metals is sparking new interest in machines. Shares trade below 12 times forecast 2009 earnings. AeropostaleTeen clothier Aeropostale (ARO) is easily outperforming its mall peers of late. The company’s sales are expected to climb 17% this year, while Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) and American Eagle (AEO) are forecast to post a significant decline and a small one, respectively. Analysts credit Aeropostale’s “on-trend” merchandising and lower prices overall, and say teen clothing could be in for a decent holiday season for two reasons. Demand is pent up, with parents having spent relatively little on family clothing over the past year and teens demanding a more frequent fashion refresh than their parents. And with major videogame consoles now several years old, few must-have electronic items are competing with clothes for teen spending this year. Shares of Aeropostale fetch 13 times 2009 earnings. Rino InternationalShares of Rino International (RINO) have climbed 38%, vs. 9% for the S&P 500, since I highlighted them here in an early August look at companies with fast-multiplying share prices. Based an hour from Beijing by plane, the company makes equipment that Chinese iron and steel makers use to remove pollutants from wastewater and exhaust gas. China’s government is using incentives and fines to induce companies to install such equipment. The run-up in Rino’s price suggests caution, but sales are growing quickly and shares look modestly priced relative to most U.S. stocks. They sell for less than 13 times forecast 2009 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 | 19 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm It's Time to Raise Rates, BenIT'S TIME FOR the Federal Reserve to stop talking about an "exit strategy" and to start implementing one. There's no need for short-term rates to remain near zero now that the economy is recovering. The call to action is clear: Gold, oil and other commodities are rising, the dollar is falling and the stock market is surging. The move in the Dow Jones industrial average above 10,000 last week underscores the renewed health of the markets. Super-low short rates are fueling financial speculation, angering our economic partners and foreign creditors, and potentially stoking inflation. The Fed doesn't seem to be distinguishing between normal accommodative monetary policy and crisis accommodative policy. There's a huge difference. With the crisis clearly past, the Fed ought to boost short-term rates to a more normal 2% — still low by historical standards — to send a signal to the markets that the U.S. is serious about supporting its beleaguered currency and that the worst is over for the global economy. Years of low short rates helped create the housing bubble, and the Fed risks fostering another financial bubble with its current policies. The Fed also ought to consider scaling back its massive bond purchases, which have totaled more than $1 trillion this year and have artificially depressed mortgage and Treasury interest rates. The Fed has virtually cornered the mortgage-backed market, buying about 75% of newly created government-backed securities this year, and that has forced the usual institutional buyers of mortgage securities into other markets, like corporate and municipal bonds. This has contributed to the sharp rally in munis and corporates. Better to stop the Fed's bond-buying program sooner rather than later, and end artificially low, sub-5% mortgage rates. The more securities the Fed purchases, the greater the ultimate losses on its holdings when rates do rise. Banks also have bulked up on low-yielding Treasuries, buying over $200 billion in the past year. It's also time for the Fed to consider the plight of the country's savers, who now are getting less than 1% yields on money market funds and who are being forced to take substantial interest-rate or credit risk if they want higher yields. "The Fed is punishing prudent people and rewarding profligate people," one veteran investor tells Barron's. Many unemployed and underemployed Americans may be deserving of some mortgage relief, but there also are millions of Americans — most of them elderly — who diligently saved and now have little income to show for a lifetime of effort. While savers are suffering and Main Street is hurting from still-tight bank lending policies, Wall Street is having one of its best years ever — and rock-bottom short-term rates are a key reason. Goldman Sachs (GS) and JPMorgan (JPM) last week reported strong third-quarter profits, stemming in large part from trading activities. A flush Goldman is on course to pay $20 billion to its employees in 2009 — or nearly $700,000 per person — just a year after the wobbling firm got a critical government financial safety net. Goldman generated over 80% of its revenues from trading in the third quarter. A quick move up to 2% — or even 1% — in the key Federal funds rate, now at just 0.15%, might shock global markets, where big investors have come to see the dollar, commodities and stocks as one-way bets. Major global equity indexes probably would fall, while commodities likely would fall and the dollar would rally. Ultimately, higher short-term rates could help by suppressing incipient inflation while doing little to dampen a mending U.S. economy. Real GDP growth could top 3% in the second half of this year. Our view unquestionably is an outlier. With unemployment near 10%, few see a need for higher rates. And Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, while acknowledging that the Fed will need to pursue an "exit strategy" and tighten monetary policy, clearly wants to act later rather than sooner. "My colleagues at the Federal Reserve and I believe that accommodative policies will likely be warranted for an extended period," he said recently. Financial markets expect the pace of Fed tightening to be very slow, with short-term rates not hitting 1% until October of 2010. But some central-bank officials, such as St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, have been warning about inflation. And they have a point: Inflation is back, with prices rising 0.2% in September after increasing 0.4% in August. The CPI index could be up 2% in the next year, versus a 1.3% decline in the 12 months through September. The stock market has become a weak-dollar constituency because a declining greenback boosts profits of multinational companies like Coca-Cola (KO) and Intel (INTC). Overall, companies in the S&P 500 get 30% of their revenues from abroad. But maintaining the status quo could be short-sighted, since overseas investors are likely critical to the long-term health of the U.S. stock market. They've been burned by U.S. stocks in the past decade; the market's decline and a weaker dollar have meant 50% losses for European holders. If the U.S. wants to continue to attract overseas capital, it's going to need to support its currency. Speculators, meanwhile, have been borrowing in dollars to buy a range of financial assets because of near-zero borrowing costs and the prospect of repaying those loans with a depreciated currency. Low U.S. interest rates aren't the only problem for the dollar. Many foreign investors have been spooked by the record budget deficit and a perception that the Obama administration wants a lower dollar to boost exports and the economy. The chances of the Fed moving away soon from a crisis-accommodative stance and near-zero short-term rates probably are small, because doves like Bernanke have the upper hand. There isn't apt to be any political pressure to raise rates. That's a shame. The Fed and the administration are playing a dangerous financial and fiscal game because ours is a debtor nation that depends on the confidence of overseas creditors. If a resilient U.S. economy can't tolerate 1% or 2% short rates, this country really is in bad shape. 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 | 19 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm U.S. poised to bring more insider trading casesBOSTON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fresh from laying charges in the largest hedge fund insider trading case in history, U.S. federal investigators are poised to bring further "significant" cases.Source: Reuters: Business News | 19 Oct 2009 | 8:38 pm NZ dollar rockets above US75cThe New Zealand dollar has leapt through a critical benchmark this morning.The kiwi climbed above US75c for the first time in 15 months, rocketing up more than 1c to near US75.5c.This high level will be alarming to exporters.By...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 19 Oct 2009 | 8:00 pm Loaded Hog Wellington shuts downOne of Wellington's most prominent waterfront bars has shut down.The Loaded Hog restaurant and bar closed last week putting at risk dozens of jobs.However, Pack Investments has bought the business and plans to reopen the Loaded...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 19 Oct 2009 | 7:45 pm Listing for Cue EnergyCue Energy, an oil and gas exploration company with interests in the new Maari oil field off Taranaki, is listing on the New Zealand stock exchange tomorrow.The field began production in February and further finds since then amount...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 19 Oct 2009 | 7:25 pm Boston Scientific cuts profit outlook, shares slideCHICAGO (Reuters) - Boston Scientific Corp on Monday reported a quarterly net profit, compared with a year-ago loss, but cut its full-year earnings outlook, citing weakness in the market for implantable heart defibrillators.Source: Reuters: Business News | 19 Oct 2009 | 7:02 pm Podcast: The Paradox Of Oil
Gregory Schiedeler buys gum on the street in Angola from this teenager named Minguito.(Gregory Schiedeler) On today's Planet Money: Two people who work down the block from each other, who have often wondered about each other, but never spoken. Gregory Schiedler works for a foreign oil company in Angola's capital Luanda. He lives in a gated community, gets driven to work every day and is responsible for spending one billion dollars in the next year. Gregory has very little interaction with Angolans except for one, the teenager who sells him chewing gum. Minguito works on the streets of Angola selling cigarettes, shoe shines and gum to foreigners like Gregory and anyone else who wants to buy them. He's tired of working on the street and running from the police, but he says he feels like he has no choice. Retired U.S. diplomat Herman Cohen explains why billions of dollars of oil money flowing into Angola have done little to help the people who live there. Bonus: After the jump, another side of competition in health care. Download the podcast; or subscribe. Intro music: The Submarine's "You, Me & the Bourgeoisie." Find us: Twitter/ Facebook/ Flickr. Ronald A. writes: I recently had a conversation with my primary care doctor that reveals another side of "competition" in health care pricing. "Dr. Bill, when I visit your office, I pay you a $15 co-pay, and my insurer pays you $15; so you get a total of $30. But you have to pay a biller/coder to code and submit the claim, and you have to wait 45 days to get paid. What if I just paid you cash for the visit? Wouldn't it be cheaper for you to charge me, say $25? for a cash visit?" "Oh no," he said, "It doesn't work that way. My 'List' price is $135.00 for an office visit. The insurer made me sign an agreement wherein I agree to give them an enormous discount from my 'List' price AND I must charge everyone else the 'List' price." My list price has to be high enough that I can pay my bills after the negotiated discount." "What?!?" I said, "You mean if I DIDN'T have any insurance, you'd charge me $135 for this visit? "Yes," Dr. Bill said, "If I didn't charge you $135, the insurer would banish me from their 'network of providers' list. Their contract with me states that I can't give anybody else as good a deal as with them. I have to show that I made every attempt to collect the full fee from other patients, including submitting the bill to a collection agency if you couldn't pay....I can't just 'write it off', and I can't charge you less for paying with cash." » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 19 Oct 2009 | 6:33 pm Brazil sets 2% tax on capital inflowsBrazil has imposed a 2 per cent tax effective from Tuesday on money entering the country to invest in equities and fixed income instruments. Direct investment in the productive economy will not be affected.Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 19 Oct 2009 | 6:28 pm Advertisers welcome Yahoo! and Microsoft ventureGlobal advertising groups have backed a plan by Microsoft and Yahoo! to work together to challenge the dominance of Google in internet search. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 19 Oct 2009 | 6:09 pm Four look forward to flotation bonusThe four senior executives of Delta Lloyd, the Dutch insurer being floated by Aviva, stand to share almost €1.8 million (£1.6 million) in one-off bonuses if the listing is a success. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 19 Oct 2009 | 6:01 pm White House struggles to walk the talk on paySeven months after President Obama vowed to use “every single legal avenue” to prevent the payment of bonuses at AIG, the insurance giant, a new White House approach to Wall Street bonuses has emerged along with the early signs of recovery — indignation, but no compulsion. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 19 Oct 2009 | 6:01 pm Want a mortgage? Better stop drinking, going out, and spending moneyApplicants for a home loan may have to divulge how much they drink and even any trips to the theatre under proposals to improve the regulation of the mortgage market. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 19 Oct 2009 | 6:01 pm Shipley, Withers take senior SOE rolesDame Jenny Shipley and Joan Withers are two notable names among the list of new State Owned Enterprises board appointments announced by SOE Minister Simon Power today.In all, there are 24 new appointments, reappointments and positional...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 19 Oct 2009 | 6:00 pm IBM veteran exec put on leave after insider arrestNEW YORK (Reuters) - IBM placed senior executive Robert Moffat on leave of absence after he was arrested in the largest ever hedge fund insider-trading scheme.Source: Reuters: Business News | 19 Oct 2009 | 5:48 pm Write-Offs: 10.19.09$$$ Asked about the Galleon Group insider trading case, in which the fund's principal Raj Rajaratnam and others have been accused of making up to $20 million in illegal profits, Julian Robertson said he was "delighted" about the arrests. "I think the crooks should be weeded out," he told Reuters. [Reuters] $$$ David Einhorn's treasure trove [FT] $$$ Barclays promised not to be "pigs" about the Lehman deal [WSJ] $$$ At IBM, Robert Moffat's Identity Has Been Erased [Local Tech Wire] 
 Sponsored Topics: RajRajaratnam - GalleonGroup - IBM - InsiderTrading - David Einhorn Source: Dealbreaker | 19 Oct 2009 | 5:43 pm Apple leaps ahead with 47% profits surgeApple profits jumped 47% on surging iPhone and Macintosh computer sales in the latest quarter, capping a remarkable boom year for a company whose rivals were lucky to tread waterSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 19 Oct 2009 | 5:31 pm Five work stoppages in June quarterThe five work stoppages recorded in the June quarter involved 497 employees, 607 lost work days and an estimated $126,000 in wages and salaries.For the year to June, 18 stoppages were recorded, involving 1551 workers, with the...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 19 Oct 2009 | 5:30 pm Bank of America tried to lower offer for Merrill Lynch ahead of takeoverBank of America BoA tried to lower its offer for Merrill Lynch ahead of its takeover of the beleaguered investment bank on January 1 new documents have revealed.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 19 Oct 2009 | 5:00 pm Concession raises hopes for climate dealRich countries are preparing to relent on their demand that developing countries agree to long-term cuts in greenhouse gas emissions ahead of Copenhagen summitSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 19 Oct 2009 | 4:51 pm Icahn offers to underwrite $6 billion loan to CITNEW YORK/PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Carl Icahn, the famed corporate raider, accused finance company CIT Group Inc of trying to win support for its reorganization by overpaying for a new loan from some existing lenders.Source: Reuters: Business News | 19 Oct 2009 | 4:49 pm Navistar, SEC settle restatement probe (AP)AP - Truck and engine maker Navistar International Corp. said Monday its chief executive will return part of a 2004 bonus in connection with a settlement of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into the company's restatement of several years of previous financial results.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 19 Oct 2009 | 4:37 pm Sharemarket flat earlyThe New Zealand sharemarket was flat early after stocks in the United States hit fresh one-year highs but with the New Zealand dollar pushing ominously higher.The kiwi climbed through the night and then pushed higher after the...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 19 Oct 2009 | 4:35 pm Apple shares hit alltime high as profits rise 47pcTechnology firm profits jump 47pc to 1.67bn helped by big rises in sales of the iPod iPhone and Mac computers.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 19 Oct 2009 | 4:33 pm The Nicolas Cage Liquidation Sale Is On
Sponsored Topics: Nicolas Cage - Tax - Internal Revenue Service - Real estate - Actor Source: Dealbreaker | 19 Oct 2009 | 4:30 pm Bernanke calls for action on global imbalancesSANTA BARBARA, California (Reuters) - U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned on Monday that Asian export-promotion policies and large U.S. budget deficits could refuel global economic imbalances and put efforts to achieve more durable growth at risk if not curbed.Source: Reuters: Business News | 19 Oct 2009 | 4:28 pm PwC fees mount to £154m in Lehman wind-upThe winding-up of Lehman Brothers in Europe, one part of the largest-ever global bankruptcy, is heading into record territory for accountancy and legal fees in the regionSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 19 Oct 2009 | 4:20 pm Stocks rise as earnings reports top expectations (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:56 pm SEC pursuing "significant" insider cases: source (Reuters)Reuters - U.S. financial regulators and federal prosecutors unveiled their biggest-ever insider case involving a hedge fund last week and similar cases may be announced in coming months, sources said on Monday.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:44 pm SEC pursuing "significant" insider cases: source (Reuters)Reuters - U.S. financial regulators and federal prosecutors unveiled their biggest-ever insider case involving a hedge fund last week and similar cases may be announced in coming months, sources said on Monday.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:44 pm Acampora on Commodities, Levas on Insider Trading: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:44 pm Dick Bove Tries To Limit His Competition
But Dick Bove has made a career out of recommendations, not complaints. So if he had to do it all over again, where might DB recommend going to work today?
Sponsored Topics: Great Britain - Business - Deutsche Bahn - career - Promotion Source: Dealbreaker | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:39 pm How the major stock indexes fared on Monday (AP)AP - Investors are seeing the kind of earnings numbers that make them feel confident about stocks. The market stepped to new highs for the year Monday after a handful of earnings reports bolstered hopes that the economy is coming back sooner than many analysts had thought. That is helping some investors move past a bout of nerves about whether expectations for the economy are stretched too far.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:34 pm FSA chief continues to speak outLord Turner chairman of the Financial Services Authority is continuing to take his message on the financial crisis to the people and is due to appear on the panel of a public debate on regulation freedom and human welfare at St Paul's Cathedral today.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:30 pm What Else Did Colleagues "Do" To Raj Rajaratnam?First off, we weren't even going to mention obscenities that appeared on the front page of the Journal today. Obviously, I'm talking about this:
Why? Because we're an upstanding financial publication with standards, unlike the smut factory Rupert Murdoch is running. But then a few things happened. 1) You people would not stop e-mailing us about it. 2) I started to realize that this wasn't just some accidental slip of the tongue on the headline writer's part but a calculated course of action to send us a serious coded message about what's been a' poppin' over at the Galleon Group (The scribes brought it on home by beginning the third paragraph thusly: "Parts of that network appear to have turned on the billionaire investor"). 3) I found myself with time on my hands, given that Raj is yet to call us back to talk shop (tried him at the office twice and a few times at home; his assistant seemed flustered and in chatting with the wife, I'm prettay prettay prettay sure I detected some growing irritation on her part, though she claimed she'd pass on the message we'd called). So, I did what anyone in my position might do, and uncovered some of the rejected headlines the Journal originally wanted to go with but were sadly prohibited from using. I don't have them all so if you caught wind of any, let us know below. * Colleagues Finger Bang Billionaire * Colleagues Fist Billionaire
Sponsored Topics: GalleonGroup - RajRajaratnam - Rupert Murdoch - Journal - Insider trading Source: Dealbreaker | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:28 pm TV donates some time to volunteerismMore than 100 TV shows will be airing public service announcements and weaving volunteering themes into their plots this week. It's part of an industry-wide effort to encourage volunteerism. Stacey Vanek-Smith reports.Source: Marketplace | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:05 pm Gumshoe finds who's got sticky fingersNashville private eye (and reporter) Thomas H. Humphreys does some snooping to find out how the recession is affecting petty crime -- specifically shoplifting. He uncovers some surprising details.Source: Marketplace | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:05 pm He plans a new way to rate investmentsJules Kroll made a fortune creating a firm that did in-depth research for huge Wall Street deals. Now he has plans to start a new kind of credit-rating agency that would help avoid the bubbles that lead to financial crises. Steve Henn reports.Source: Marketplace | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:05 pm Is this crisis different? Not reallyWhy didn't more people see the current financial crisis coming? It's not like it's the first financial meltdown the world has seen. Harvard economist Ken Rogoff has a new book that addresses that question. He talks with Kai Ryssdal.Source: Marketplace | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:05 pm High-end denim holds up to recessionYou might think luxury products that people could conceivably live without would be hit hard by the recession. But that logic doesn't seem to apply to top-shelf jeans. Jeff Tyler reports.Source: Marketplace | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:05 pm U.S.'s piece of Banamex in questionOne of Mexico's biggest banks is owned by Citigroup, which in large part is owned by Washington. That situation has the makings of a test case for a Mexican law barring foreign governments from owning domestic banks. Alisa Roth reports.Source: Marketplace | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:05 pm When does trading go outside the lines?The Justice Department says it has busted the biggest-ever insider trading ring involving hedge funds. But how will it prove its case? There's a gray area between legitimate investing and illegal trading. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports.Source: Marketplace | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:05 pm Microsoft-Yahoo tie-up garners ad chief supportThe heads of the four largest advertising agencies came out in support of the proposed search engine alliance between Microsoft and YahooSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:56 pm Apple (AAPL) Beats Street Forecasts !!! Mac StarsWall St.’s forecasts for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) were much, much too low. EPS for the September quarter was $1.82. Most analysts had the number pegged closer to $1.74. In the same quarter last year, EPS was $1.26. Apple’s share rose over 7% after hours to $203.50. Apple had revenue of $9.87 billion in the most recent quarter, up [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:51 pm Greenlight Turns On The Warning Light
This certainly sounds reasonable. Greenlight investors should rest a bit easier knowing the guy at the top has done some critical analysis, positioned accordingly, and hopes to see the fruits of his labor in the future.
Sponsored Topics: Japan - David Einhorn - Gross domestic product - Deficit - Asia Source: Dealbreaker | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:45 pm Texas Instruments (TXN)Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) just reported its quarterly earnings. On a non-GAAP basis, the chip giant’s earnings were $0.42 EPS and revenues were down 15% at $2.88 billion. Thomson Reuters estimates were $0.39 EPS and $2.82 billion in revenues. Orders were down 4% to $3.11 billion, but that is actually up 11% sequentially. For next quarter’s [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:34 pm Listener: Hospital Offers 30 Percent OffErik Filkorn, a town selectman in Vermont who appeared on a Planet Money podcast in February, writes: I had an interesting experience with a hospital recently. I got a bill for $8,000 for some surgeries for my son. I waited a month to see if Blue Cross would take a bite out of it. They didn't. Then my wife lost her job and waiting another month seemed prudent or necessary anyway. Finally, I called them and asked if I could divide the payments over two months and they said, "Yes, but if you can pay today, I can take 30% off." Needless to say, I went for it. Next day, I decided to see if the anesthesiologists would be similarly sympathetic. No such luck. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:31 pm GM still confident of Opel-Magna dealFritz Henderson says holding onto European carmaker still a fallback option, but main thrust is on selling to Canadian-Russian consortiumSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:17 pm 52-Week High ClubCF Industries Holdings Inc (NYSE: CF) rallied over 4% to a yearly high of $95.06 after Agrium Inc. announced that it had extened its offer to acquire CF Industries holding for $40 in cash and a share of Agrium per share of CF Industries Holdings. Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI) hit a yearly high of $14.02 [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:17 pm Government unveils new mortgage help for states (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:11 pm Investors Pulling Money From Galleon Tech Fund, Galleon Risk Management Head: "We Could Be Closed By Friday"The Galleon Group said Friday that it "continues to operate and is highly liquid" but one of firm's top lieutenants is admitting he doesn't think the shop will last long.
Sponsored Topics: Galleon Group - Risk management - Business - Hedge fund - Insider trading Source: Dealbreaker | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:05 pm ‘Unusual activity’ in Hilton shares led to Rajaratnam chargesUnusual trading in shares of Hilton Hotels detected by the New York Stock Exchange in 2007 contributed to the investigation that led to billionaire investor Raj Rajaratnam and five other individuals being charged with insider trading last weekSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:03 pm Chandler Sees Fed Raising Rates in Second-Half of 2010: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 19 Oct 2009 | 1:38 pm Gayle Likes Emerging Market Exposure Via ETFs: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 19 Oct 2009 | 1:37 pm Nestle Raised to `Buy’ at UBS: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 19 Oct 2009 | 1:36 pm Fed & Treasury Really Need To Keep Their Eye On The Ball
Sponsored Topics: Federal Reserve System - Federal Reserve Chairman - United States Secretary of the Treasury - Government - Finance Source: Dealbreaker | 19 Oct 2009 | 1:09 pm Presented By:Source: Dealbreaker | 19 Oct 2009 | 1:09 pm Jimmy Cayne's Desk Drawer Of Fun
Second, Bear Stearns would not have soared to the heights it did (pre-crashing to the ground a burning fiery explosion) if it weren't for the fact that Cayne regularly brought deals home by offering people some of his stash, which he claimed was the best on the Street and no one could resist, not even "a Jew." From The Sell-Out:
Sponsored Topics: Bear Stearns - James Cayne - Charlie Gasparino - United States - Good Times Source: Dealbreaker | 19 Oct 2009 | 1:00 pm Bernanke warns on imbalance risksFed chairman Ben Bernanke warned that Asian export policies could lead to a re-emergence of trade and capital flows imbalances, which some believe helped fuel the US housing bubbleSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 19 Oct 2009 | 12:36 pm A look at economic developments around the globe (AP)AP - A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Monday:Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 19 Oct 2009 | 11:46 am Cross Sees IPhone Deal in China Within Next Few Quarters: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 19 Oct 2009 | 11:17 am Veru Sees Consolidation in U.S. Health-Care Industry: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 19 Oct 2009 | 11:14 am Konotey-Ahulu Sees `Huge' Underfunding of Pensions: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 19 Oct 2009 | 11:12 am Ernst Sees Strong Quarter for Apple Earnings: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 19 Oct 2009 | 11:11 am Russia Pins Recovery Hopes On Ability To Make It Stop Snowing
Sponsored Topics: Russian Air Force - Moscow - Russia - Snow - Price of petroleum Source: Dealbreaker | 19 Oct 2009 | 11:07 am kaChing Makes it Easy to Ride Successful Investors’ Coattails
kaChing, an investing website started under the name FSX in 2008, has automated the process of imitating successful investors (something Warren Buffett calls “riding coattails”). Simply select the portfolio of one of kaChing’s certified “investing geniuses,” then set your own portfolio to mimic it. kaChing’s website describes how they select geniuses: Leveraging its “Radical Transparency,” kaChing developed Investing IQ, the first objective and data-driven metric that separates the lucky from the good. Investing IQ is based on the same three factors used by Ivy League Endowment managers, the world’s premier evaluators of investment talent, to rate investment managers: * Risk Adjusted Returns- based on an investor’s Information Ratio An investor on kaChing who earns an Investing IQ score of 140 or greater is dubbed a “Genius.” kaChing customers can then automatically invest like the Genius by mirroring the Genius’s virtual portfolio trades in their own brokerage accounts. Investors who qualify as Geniuses on kaChing range from talented amateurs to investment management firms that have $400 million under management. kaChing offers followers the option to receive emails whenever their geniuses execute a trade. They also offer linked accounts with Interactive Brokers that give you an automated way to replicate that investor’s trades, so you don’t have to lift a finger. Mirroring an investor also cuts out the need to have a fund manager, which is precisely what kaChing is going for. BloggingStocks has more on kaChing’s strategy: (Cofounder/CEO Andy) Rachleff’s new venture is a for-pay website that will provide advice to investors that don’t really trust Wall Street any more. kaChing is a registered financial adviser that’s using an angle consisting of lower fees, transparency, and easy-to-use technology to attract users. Since many financial professionals are starting to come under attack because of the fees they’re charging, kaChing thinks there’s room to win by coming in cheap and overdelivering information. According to Rachleff, in Reuters, “This is a $10 trillion industry with no innovation in 25 years,” continuing, “there are a lot of consumers that are upset and frustrated with their mutual funds. But how do you decide if your mutual fund manager is doing a good job? No one is quite sure.” Unlike most of what we saw before the financial crisis, in which the big gun clients are the hottest turf, kaChing is going after investors with net worths below $1 million. This group has invested an aggregate $3.7 trillion in mutual funds, so a company that can get some traction has plenty of upside. To expand its reach and make it easier to grow rapidly in a large community of smaller investors, kaChing’s capabilities are being extended to the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone, Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) websites, and Facebook. The financial industry certainly needs more transparency. These guys could be onto something. Warren Buffett has cautioned investors against riding coattails (or “mirroring,” as kaChing calls it), but then again, people have been scoring wins by riding his for decades. There’s no reason that harnessing technology to help investors do something they do anyway won’t succeed, either.
Source: Business Pundit | 19 Oct 2009 | 10:49 am Chart: Earnings Fall For U.S. Workers
Falling hours help lead to falling earnings. Click to enlarge. (Bureau of Labor Statistics) By Laura Conaway It makes sense: People are working fewer hours -- between layoffs, furloughs and the shrinking of overtime -- and they're making less money. Today the Bureau of Labor Statistics charts the situation of smaller paychecks, with real average earnings declining by 0.4 percent from August to September. Urban and clerical workers managed earnings growth of 0.2 percent. Weekly earnings peaked in December 2008 -- and they've fallen by 1.9 percent since then. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 19 Oct 2009 | 10:13 am After Criticizing CIT, Carl Icahn Offers $6bn Loan
After criticizing finance company CIT’s reorganization as an attempt to purchase votes, Carl Icahn is offering $6bn of his own money as a replacement loan. Bloomberg has more: Icahn said his plan would save the company as much as $150 million in fees, providing a better alternative than “shamelessly offering certain large unsecured bondholders the opportunity to purchase $6 billion in secured loans in the company at well below fair market value.” CIT is seeking to reduce debt by at least $5.7 billion after being locked out of the unsecured debt markets it relies on for funding and posting nine quarters of losses totaling more than $5 billion. At the same time CIT pursues the out-of-court debt swap, it’s also asking bondholders to vote on a prepackaged bankruptcy plan. Icahn is CIT’s biggest creditor. Incidentally, Icahn’s firm is also currently entangled with Goldman Sachs. GS is suing Icahn’s company for shorting Delphi’s bank debt, then not paying up after the market price of Delphi’s bank debt subsequently increased. Forbes has that story.
Source: Business Pundit | 19 Oct 2009 | 10:09 am Icahn offers CIT Group $6 billion loanNEW YORK -- Billionaire investor Carl Icahn offered a $6 billion lifeline to struggling lender CIT Group Inc.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 19 Oct 2009 | 9:46 am Bloomberg's Przybyla on Elections; Health Care Comments: VideoSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 19 Oct 2009 | 9:38 am Coronado Says U.S. Labor Market Is Economic `Wild Card’: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 19 Oct 2009 | 9:28 am Planning for Retirement? Living to 100 Might Give You a Long View
Whether you’re close enough to retirement to make the 62 vs. 65 debate, or you’re just initiating a 401K, Dr. Thomas Perls’ Living to 100 life expectancy calculator might throw you for a loop. The calculator, associated with a New England-based study on the characteristics of centenarians, estimates your mortal years based on stress levels, health factors, diet, and lifestyle. When the calculator spat out an estimated dying age of 97 for me–I had myself slated for 80, tops–I took a closer look at current aging trends. The old mid-70s life expectancies for men and women might be a thing of the past. According to a recent study (as reported in the Seattle Times): Life expectancy has been increasing steadily in developed countries such as the United States, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan. If this pace continues, reaching the age of 100 will become ordinary for most people in those countries, according to a report published earlier this month in The Lancet. The number of people age 100 or over in the United States has doubled since 1990 and is 16 times the number of centenarians in 1950. According to the U.S. Census, there were an estimated 96,548 centenarians in the United States as of November 2009. The New England study (on which the Living to 100 life calculator is based) found that most centenarians share these characteristics: emotional resilience (ability to adapt to life’s events), self-sufficiency, intellectual activity, a good sense of humor (including about themselves), religious beliefs, strong connections with other people, low blood pressure, appreciation of simple pleasures, a zest for life, don’t currently smoke or drink heavily, may play musical instruments and follow an anti-inflammatory diet (like the Mediterranean diet) that has been linked to longevity. About 80 percent of all Americans over the age of 100 are women and most of them gave birth to children after age 40. If wages continue to stagnate, developed countries might see a much older workforce than in the past. Imagine retiring at 85, then enjoying your golden years until you’re more than 100 years old. The idea gives new meaning to “planning for retirement.”
Source: Business Pundit | 19 Oct 2009 | 9:24 am Oil Prices Hit A New High For 2009By Laura Conaway Good morning, and welcome to the Monday reading list. The White House is considering ways to create more jobs, including a possible second round of stimulus spending. Oil prices have hit a new high for 2009, $79.05 a barrel, as "market optimism" overrides the effect of a "massive surplus" of petroleum products. Another factor in pushing up the price of oil is the U.S. dollar's decline. For American manufacturers, the weaker dollar is good news since it makes their wares cheaper for overseas buyers. Sure enough, domestic producers are reporting stronger exports. U.S. airline companies are sending repair work overseas as a way to save money. And from the Department of Unusual Commodities, a lock of Elvis Presley's hair has sold at auction for $15,000. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 19 Oct 2009 | 7:51 am Six States Sue Treasury Dept. for Unclaimed Bonds
Six state attorney generals are suing the federal government for ownership of unclaimed bonds. The AP has more: Most American families bought at least one bond (during the national World War II bond fundraising effort) and many never cashed them in — thanks in part to a 40-year maturity in the bonds. And those same “Series E” war bonds continued to be sold by the federal government until 1980. More than $16 billion worth of the bonds are unclaimed, either lost or forgotten about with the death of the original purchasers. The state attorneys general suing the Treasury Department charge that the federal government made no effort to find those people. They want the money given to the states, who have a legal system in place for finding the owners of unclaimed funds. It’s not like the states will get the money free of obligation, about $55 million in the case of Montana. The states would be obligated to pay bondholders no matter if it takes them decades — or longer — to show up. In the meantime, though, states usually earmark the interest earned on such unclaimed money for schools or other purposes. States involved include New Jersey, North Carolina, Montana, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Missouri, according to the article. The Treasury Department claims it does try to find bond owners, and offers this website to help them find the bonds themselves, writes the AP. The department argues that most people are aware of their bonds. Some don’t cash them in for tax reasons, or out of patriotism, said a Bureau of the Public Debt spokeswoman in the article. Final arguments will be based on perceived constitutional contracts between the federal government and states.
Source: Business Pundit | 19 Oct 2009 | 7:50 am Why Wording Counts
Source: Business Pundit | 19 Oct 2009 | 5:50 am
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