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Strong rise in mortgage approvalsThe number of mortgages approved for house purchase, but not yet lent, rose another 3,000 in September to 56,000.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 29 Oct 2009 | 4:32 am Stock futures signal rebound on Wall Street (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 29 Oct 2009 | 4:25 am Stock futures signal rebound on Wall Street (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 29 Oct 2009 | 4:25 am TABLE-India's Bharat Petroleum Q2 net loss narrows(versus the same period a year earlier, in billion rupees unless stated)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 29 Oct 2009 | 4:19 am UK mortgage approvals up 6 pct in September (AP)AP - Mortgage approvals in the U.K. rose 6 percent in September as the country's battered housing market improved, but cautious consumers paid off debt faster than they borrowed, the Bank of England said Thursday.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 29 Oct 2009 | 4:18 am U.S. economy likely grew in latest quarter (Reuters)Reuters - The U.S. economy resumed growing in the third quarter after a year of decline as consumers spent more and investment in home-building bounced back to end the worst recession in 70 years, a Reuters survey of economists predicts.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 29 Oct 2009 | 4:16 am What If Galleon Had Gotten Its Tips For Free?More thrilling news about the Galleon insider trading case come out every day. The latest is that several media outlets are reporting that the hedge fund paid out $250 million to its banks last year. It is not clear how much of that money may have been in exchange for information, but it is broadly assumed [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 29 Oct 2009 | 4:15 am Deep Flaws In Stimulus Package Report: The Tale Of 30,000 Missing JobsThe $787 billion economic stimulus package is meant to save or create 3.5 million jobs. That goal may be much less important than it was when the package was first approved by Congress. Unemployment will go over 10% later this year and could average that though 2010. The stimulus package cannot come even close to plugging [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 29 Oct 2009 | 4:00 am Yell extends restructuring plan deadlineYell, the troubled publisher of directories, is extending for a third time a deadline for its lenders to approve a restructuring proposal that would extend the repayment terms on some £800 million of borrowings. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:58 am UPDATE 1-CIC invests $700mln in Hopu-backed mining firm* Iron Mining backed by Hopu, Temasek, Credit Suisse (Adds details, background)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:57 am Riversdale stops SAfrica anthracite ops after blastJOHANNESBURG, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Riversdale Mining Ltd. suspended all of the operations at its Zululand Anthracite Colliery in South Africa after an underground methane explosion at the mine, a senior...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:48 am Nintendo In TroubleIt looks like Nintendo may finally be pulled of its perch as the No.1 video game console company in the world. It announced April to September 2009 earnings and part of the data the firm gave out is that it only sold 5.75 million units of its flagship Wii product. That compares with 10 million in the [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:46 am Nintendo slashes full-year forecastNintendo on Thursday warned that full-year profits would be far below its previous forecast and unveiled a new version of its bestselling handheld videogames console in an attempt to recapture consumer...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:39 am Union warns of more post strikesThe Communication Workers Union raises the prospects of more strike action as three days of postal strikes get under way.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:33 am UPDATE 1-Smith International Q3 profit fallsOct 29 (Reuters) - Oilfield services company Smith International Inc posted a lower quarterly profit on Thursday as U.S. natural gas drilling remained subdued due to weak demand and prices.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:31 am Shell cuts 5,000 jobs as profits tumble (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:26 am Shell cuts 5,000 jobs as profits tumbleLONDON (Reuters) - Oil majors Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Eni warned of a slow recovery, highlighting weak energy demand and operational challenges, as their profits slumped.Source: Reuters: Business News | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:26 am US economy set to report growthOfficial data later is expected to indicate the US has started to grow, but any recovery may be slow.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:26 am UPDATE 2-National Express ends merger talks with Stagecoach(Adds analyst's comment, share price, further details)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:26 am Abu Dhabi goes HollywoodThis weekend, Abu Dhabi plays host to its first Formula 1 Grand Prix, and in typical fashion, the capital of the United Arab Emirates is pulling out all the stops, with a brand new racecourse estimated to have cost $1 billion and festivities including performances from Beyonce and Aerosmith.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:25 am Volkswagen quarterly net profit drops 86%German carmaker Volkswagen says Thursday that its third-quarter net profit fell 86% but tops analyst forecasts, and the company says it expects to gain market share.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:21 am Stocks set for gainsU.S. stocks looked set for a positive open Thursday, although sentiment could change after the reading on gross domestic product growth due out later in the morning.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:19 am Once Again, Buffett Is The World’s Greatest InvestorBloomberg does a poll of its terminal subscribers from time to time. The most recent was done among 1,452 people from October 23 to October 27. The question and answer that will probably get the most media attention is “who is the best assessor of financial markets?” Warren Buffett took a quarter of the votes followed by [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:15 am UPDATE 2-Record customer spend boosts Virgin MediaLONDON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - British cable operator Virgin Media Inc added 8,100 net users in the third quarter and pushed its customer's average spend to a record high, boosting its operating cash flow...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:14 am France Telecom profit slips 8%France Telecom on Thursday reports an 8% drop in operating earnings for the third quarter as the group also reaffirms its cash flow target for the year.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:11 am CNOOC pegs losses from damage at Huizhou at 2.34 mln BOEHONG KONG, Oct 29 (Reuters) - CNOOC , China's top offshore oil and gas producer, said on Thursday that net production losses due to damage at its Huizhou oilfield earlier this year totalled 2.34 million...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:09 am Asia markets drop, risk aversion hits metal sharesAsian markets end with deep losses Thursday after large declines on Wall Street sapped investors' risk appetite. Commodity and shipping stocks were hit the worst as investors sold down cyclical sectors, while NEC Electronics led a slump in Tokyo after a downbeat earnings report.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:09 am ABB income up 12%, but outlook 'remains uncertain'Zurich-based power and automation-technology giant ABB's net income rises, as its cost-cutting program makes faster progress than expected.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:08 am UPDATE 1-Deals of the day -- mergers and acquisitionsOct 29 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals involving European, U.S. and Asian companies were reported by 0900 GMT on Thursday.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:07 am Global stocks hit three-week low on recovery jittersDUBAI (Reuters) - World stocks hit a three-week low on Thursday, following a sharp fall on Wall Street, as disappointing European corporate results and weak U.S. data fanned concerns about the strength of the economic recovery.Source: Reuters: Business News | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:07 am Indications: Stock futures mixed ahead of GDP dataStock futures are mixed Thursday after the previous session’s sell-off, but some signs of optimism emerge ahead of the release of U.S. gross domestic product data for the third quarter.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:04 am QinetiQ chief makes way for De La Rue bossGraham Love, the chief executive of QinetiQ, the former government defence research arm that was controversially sold in 2003, is to step down, it was announced this morning. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:03 am Costco (COST) Takes Food StampsCostco (NASDAQ:COST) is supposed to be the big-box retailer that caters to affluent shoppers and business. The recession may have got the better of the company. It will start taking Food Stamps. A number of chains and stores that draw a large part of their customers from among the poor and lower middle classes have taken Food [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:02 am UPDATE 1-CNOOC Q3 rev down 23 pct, says projects on track* Shares end down 4.5 pct before results, up 8.4 pct in Q3Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:02 am Asian stocks slide on gloomy US news (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:02 am Yahoo's real estate plans show large ambitionsYahoo Inc. has ambitious plans for future growth, according to plans on file for a new corporate headquarters campus in Silicon Valley.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:00 am Chemspec International Limited to Report Third Quarter Financial Results on November 6, 2009SHANGHAI, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Chemspec International Limited (NYSE: CPC; "Chemspec" or the "Company"), a leading China-based ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 29 Oct 2009 | 3:00 am Nintendo profits plunge as Wii sales tumbleNintendo reported a plunge in profits and slashed its forecasts as sales of its blockbuster Wii console tumbled in the absence of new hit games.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 29 Oct 2009 | 2:55 am London Markets: Royal Dutch Shell shares weigh in lower LondonRoyal Dutch Shell reports third-quarter earnings, with the results weighing on the broader market.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 29 Oct 2009 | 2:52 am Discount Death: Wal-Mart Sells Caskets OnlineThe price of being dead just dropped. It is a good thing, given the troubles in the economy. Wal-Mart is beginning to sell caskets and urns at walmart.com. Some of the caskets are prices as low as $999 and ship within 48-hours. It is a shame when a family won’t pay the full $1,00o when a loved [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 29 Oct 2009 | 2:48 am London falls ahead of US GDP dataLondon equities continued to fall on Thursday, as hopes for a swift and sustained global economic rebound faced a stern test from important economic data from the US. Investors were awaiting to the preliminary...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 29 Oct 2009 | 2:43 am How much should I save for retirement?Question: I'm 36 and have saved only about $20,000 for retirement. How much per year should I try to save for the next 30 years to assure I'll have a reasonable retirement? --Beth, Grove City, OhioSource: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 29 Oct 2009 | 2:36 am Japan Airlines seeking state aidLoss-making carrier Japan Airlines (JAL) confirms it is to apply for financial assistance from a state-backed agency.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 29 Oct 2009 | 2:35 am Earnings Watch: Updates, advisories and surprisesA roundup of the latest corporate earnings reports and what companies are saying about future quarters.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 29 Oct 2009 | 2:31 am Yell shares drop sharply as debt deal deadline is extended for third timeYell shares opened down sharply after the troubled Yellow Pages publisher was forced to give lenders yet more time to back its £3.8bn refinancing.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 29 Oct 2009 | 2:29 am CIT lands $4.5 billion more in financingSource: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 29 Oct 2009 | 2:28 am 'Shouting is good'Mediators share their secrets for resolving disputesSource: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 29 Oct 2009 | 2:28 am Investment banking boosts D Bank profitsDeutsche Bank's best-ever third quarter for its most valuable investment banking activities underpinned pre-tax profits of 1.3bn for the three months to the end of September, Germany's largest bank reported...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 29 Oct 2009 | 2:18 am Get Ivy League smarts - for freeLast autumn I took time off to go back to school. The timing turned out to be just right: My American economic history course at the University of California at Berkeley got to the Great Depression in early October, around the time everyone became convinced we were about to have another one.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 29 Oct 2009 | 2:18 am Shell shake-up to shed 5,000 jobsRoyal Dutch Shell said on Thursday that a total of 5,000 staff would be leaving the Anglo-Dutch oil and gas group as part of a restructuring begun earlier this year.It gave the update on job losses as...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 29 Oct 2009 | 2:15 am Oil steadies above $77, eyes U.S. GDP dataPERTH (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied at above $77 a barrel on Thursday, pausing from the previous session's decline of 2.6 percent, as investors waited for more economic data to gauge the pace of economic recovery in the United States.Source: Reuters: Business News | 29 Oct 2009 | 2:12 am Shell sees no 'quick recovery' as energy company cuts 5000 jobsEurope's biggest energy company cuts staff as profits tumble 73pc on lower oil and gas prices.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:59 am Deutsche Bank trading unit drives revenue growthDeutsche Bank says sales and trading revenue hit a record for the third quarter as the group confirms its profit for the period more than tripled thanks to a tax gain.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:59 am Are things really getting better?The economy is forecast to have grown by the largest amount since summer 2007, but there are signs that things are still getting worse.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:58 am Media Digest 10/29/2009 Reuters, WSJ. NYTimes, FT, BloombergReuters: House Democrats unveiled their healthcare bill. Reuters: Senators may extend home purchase credits until April. Reuters: China will launch a case against The Big Three auto companies. Reuters: Galleon paid Wall St. bankers millions to give data that would allow a trading “edge.” Reuters: The SEC is looking for ways to follow fast trading. Reuters: CIT (NYSE:CIT) was able [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:56 am 15 stressful jobs that pay badlyHere are 15 of the most overworked and underpaid professions out there according to those surveyed by PayScale.com.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:55 am Europe Markets: Oil majors offset financials amid earnings delugeEuropean shares trade in a tight range on Thursday, as oil and gas firms offset gains from the financial sector.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:54 am Shell to axe 5,000 jobs amid 73% profit fallRoyal Dutch Shell suffered a 73 per cent collapse in its profits during the third quarter on weak volumes and falling oil prices and detailed plans to cut 5,000 of its staff. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:46 am Shell profits show sharp declineAnglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell reports its quarterly profit fell by 73%, and warns the outlook remains 'very uncertain'.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:37 am Growth fears hit Asian equitiesHONG KONG, Oct 29 - Asian shares fell sharply on Thursday after weak US economic data rekindled investor worries about growth, while hedge funds sold risky assets, lifting the yen and supporting the dollar...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:36 am How to find bank account you can bank onThe way we pay for overdrafts is changing - the courts are about to have their say and Halifax has already shaken up its system. If you are thinking of switching here are some of the best accounts to consider.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:36 am Best deals: 10 bargain voucher codesGet a cheap pizza or book a cheap hotel room with this selection of exclusive vouchers special deals and coupons.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:24 am Asia Markets (10/29/2009) Nikkei Below 10,000; Shanghai Below 3,000Markets in Asia fell sharply. The Nikkei fell 1.8% to 9.891, Mitsubishi UFJ (NYSE:MTU) rose. The Hang Seng fell 2.7% to 21,173. HSBC (NYSE:HBC) and PetroChina (NYSE:PTR) fell. The Shanghai Composite dropped 2.3% to 2,850. Data from Reuters. Douglas A. McIntyre Posted in International Markets Tagged: HBC, MTU, PTR[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:17 am Aussie market closes sharply lowerPERTH - The Australian share market closed sharply lower on Thursday in the fourth straight day of sell-offs, following negative offshore leads amid concerns that the global economic recovery has stagnated.The benchmark S&P/ASX200...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:07 am CB Richard Ellis cuts its way to profitThe largest commercial brokerage pares costs as the office market slump continues. Third-quarter net income misses forecasts, but the firm sees upbeat signs in Asia.The long-running torment of the commercial real estate industry dragged on in the third quarter, but the world's largest brokerage of office buildings, warehouses and other business properties managed to eke out a small profit.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Senators agree to extend $8,000 housing tax credit for first-time buyersThe lawmakers also OK offering a tax credit of up to $6,500 to repeat buyers who have owned their current homes at least five years. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Michael Jackson's 'This Is It' is yet to prove a blockbusterThe big test for the documentary on the late singer is expected to come Friday. Plenty of Michael Jackson fans...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am U.S. stocks suffer biggest drop in nearly a month, triggering global pullbackInvestors flee on downbeat home-sales and GDP news. In the U.S., broad market indexes suffer their sixth decline in the last seven sessions. Many foreign markets fall more sharply than Wall Street.Fresh doubts about the economic recovery Wednesday drove U.S. stock prices to their biggest drop in nearly a month and triggered a further pullback in risk-taking worldwide.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Google may call the tune with its new music search featureThe Internet giant won't be selling records, but it could help iTunes' competitors by steering buyers to them.Google Inc. started out 13 years ago as a simple search engine, but it has grown into a behemoth that has shaken up dozens of industries, including computers and cellphones.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am U.S. stocks suffer biggest drop in nearly a month, triggering global pullbackInvestors flee on downbeat home-sales and GDP news. In the U.S., broad market indexes suffer their sixth decline in the last seven sessions. Many foreign markets fall more sharply than Wall Street. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Government report is expected to mark end to recessionForecasters say the report is likely to show the economy resumed growth in the third quarter after four straight quarters of contraction. But positive GDP numbers are unlikely to spur hiring.Struggling business owners and millions of unemployed Americans may not believe it, but the government is expected to report today that the U.S. economy turned a corner and resumed growth in the third quarter in what would mark the end to the worst recession since World War II.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am GPS system puts Droid phone on the mapWith Google in its corner, Verizon capitalizes on the search giant's navigation tools.When it comes to GPS car navigation, the new Droid phone from Verizon Wireless could change everything.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Disney plans to build major production facility near Santa ClaritaBucking a trend toward 'runaway production,' the company proposes creating a 56-acre complex that would include soundstages and other facilities for film and TV projects.The Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday that it would build a 56-acre production facility in northern Los Angeles County, casting a ray of light on an otherwise gloomy film economy that has hemorrhaged thousands of jobs in the last decade.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Pay czar: Don't give me more powerKenneth Feinberg, the Obama administration's special master for executive compensation, says his authority should extend only to the seven largest recipients of government bailout funds.The Obama administration's "pay czar" doesn't want his domain expanded beyond the seven major recipients of government bailout money.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Google may call the tune with its new music search featureThe Internet giant won't be selling records, but it could help iTunes' competitors by steering buyers to them. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am GMAC seeks more aid from Treasury DepartmentThe lender is in talks with the federal agency for a third infusion of bailout money. It was ordered to raise $11.5 billion in capital after a 'stress test' but is unable to get it from investors. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Michael Jackson's 'This Is It' is yet to prove a blockbusterThe big test for the documentary on the late singer is expected to come Friday.Plenty of Michael Jackson fans turned out for "This Is It" on Wednesday, but Sony Pictures may have to wait until Friday to find out whether the movie is a "Thriller" or "Bad" at the box office.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 29 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Which is the best credit card for you?Are you Mrs Savvy Spender or Miss Occasional Splurger? We identify five types of credit card user and their most suitable cards.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 29 Oct 2009 | 12:58 am Wealth workout: interest rates start to fall as best deals disappearWealth workout: The average rate on a oneyear fixedrate bond peaked at 3.23pc at the start of this month but has fallen to 3.17pc today.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 29 Oct 2009 | 12:53 am NZ market out performs othersThe New Zealand sharemarket outperformed markets in Asia for a second day, mostly due to strength in leading stocks.The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed down 7.16 points, or 0.224 per cent, at 3195.60, having recovered from a drop...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 29 Oct 2009 | 12:48 am Fame & Fortune: Robert LindsayRobert Lindsay 59 stars in BBC One's 'My Family'. He lives near Denham with his wife Rosemarie and their children Samuel nine and James six.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 29 Oct 2009 | 12:48 am National Express ends bid talksNational Express says all talks of a merger with rival Stagecoach have now ceased, ending months of bid speculation.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 29 Oct 2009 | 12:41 am National Express rejection of £1.65bn offer angers StagecoachA row has broken out between Britain's biggest transport groups after National Express formally rejected a £1.65bn merger proposal from Stagecoach.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 29 Oct 2009 | 12:25 am U.S. labor agency mulls new airline union proposal: report(Reuters) - National Mediation Board, a U.S. federal labor-management relations agency, is considering a proposal to allow airline workers to form unions with the majority approval of those voting, Bloomberg news agency said, citing people familiar with the matter.Source: Reuters: Business News | 29 Oct 2009 | 12:19 am Four charged over Thai king health rumours: PM (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 29 Oct 2009 | 12:07 am Dollar falls after OCR decisionThe New Zealand dollar fell sharply today following the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's (RBNZ's) calming statements over the official cash rate and traders' decreased risk appetite."There's a sour taste in the market, really. Risk...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 28 Oct 2009 | 11:32 pm Cheap Art From the Halls of Lehman Brothers (Deal of the Day)For $1,200 and up, works by Calder and others go on sale Sunday.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 28 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm 3 Stocks for Contrarian Investors (Screens)Investors who defy the crowd with these trades might profit handsomely.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 28 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm Annuities: Should You Resist?They might have issues, but annuities remain hot sellers. How to assess.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 28 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm 10 Tech Stocks to Drool OverTargets to consider as the tech-sector feeding frenzy shifts into high gear.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 28 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm Deducting Losses From an LLC: New Wrinkles (The Tax Guy)Recent court decisions make it easier to qualify for write-offs.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 28 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm 80 Years Ago: Black Tuesday's Big Movers (On the Street)Oct. 29, 1929, sparked the Great Depression. What they were trading.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 28 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm Tough decisions needed to avoid crisis -TreasuryTreasury says tough decisions about prisons, education, pensions and tax need to be made if New Zealand is to avoid a looming Government debt crisis.Shorter prison terms for non-violent offenders, larger school class sizes, reduced...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 28 Oct 2009 | 9:49 pm Galleon paid Wall Street banks millions for "edge": report (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 28 Oct 2009 | 9:10 pm Galleon paid Wall Street banks millions for "edge": reportBOSTON (Reuters) - Hedge fund firm Galleon Group, whose founder has been charged with insider trading, paid $250 million to its Wall Street banks last year and in return received market information that other investors did not get, the Financial Times reported.Source: Reuters: Business News | 28 Oct 2009 | 9:10 pm ANZ National profits plunge 80pc to $194mProfits have fallen dramatically at New Zealand's largest bank, ANZ National. ANZ National chief executive Jenny Fagg said the result reflected the New Zealand economic downturn, which was "more protracted and pronounced than...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 28 Oct 2009 | 8:30 pm Globe Pub Company on brink of receivershipvershipThe Globe Pub Company is on the brink of being placed into administrative receivership, according to a company source. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 28 Oct 2009 | 8:21 pm CIT secures $4.5 billion credit facilityNEW YORK (Reuters) - Commercial lender CIT Group Inc , teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, said on Wednesday it has secured $4.5 billion of additional financing.Source: Reuters: Business News | 28 Oct 2009 | 8:12 pm My biggest mistake: Not signing Alicia KeysThe folks on Fortune's 40 under 40 list may be rising stars, but they're not perfect. Here are the decisions they most regret in their careers.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 28 Oct 2009 | 8:05 pm Akl Airport confirms earnings guidanceAuckland International Airport, the country's major gateway to the world, has kept its earnings guidance amid small gains in total passenger volumes in the last quarter.The airport kept its forecast for full-year profit between...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 28 Oct 2009 | 8:00 pm China to investigate US car subsidiesBeijing is preparing to launch a trade probe into whether US carmakers are being unfairly subsidised, a move that comes at a time of heightened trade tensions between the two countriesSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 28 Oct 2009 | 7:57 pm $8,000 home credit still in playConfused about whether lawmakers will extend the $8,000 first-time homebuyer credit and what it would look like?Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 28 Oct 2009 | 7:19 pm National Express rejects £1.65bn merger bid by StagecoachNational Express the bus and rail operator has rebuffed a £1.65bn allshare merger approach from rival Stagecoach in favour of pushing ahead with a proposed £400m rights issue.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news stocks and shares from the UK and world | 28 Oct 2009 | 7:10 pm Yahoo begins "journey back to respect": CEOSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc vowed to triple its operating profit margin in the next three years as the Internet company seeks to reignite its growth and regain investor confidence.Source: Reuters: Business News | 28 Oct 2009 | 7:06 pm McKinsey, Akamai open probes in Galleon scandalLOS ANGELES (Reuters) - McKinsey & Co and Akamai Technologies Inc launched investigations on Wednesday into accusations by the U.S. government that some of their employees were linked to the Galleon Group insider-trading scandal.Source: Reuters: Business News | 28 Oct 2009 | 7:00 pm US Air cuts 1,000 jobs, reduces routesUS Airways will cut 1,000 jobs and scale back its flying routes as part of a restructuring plan to turn the struggling airline profitable again, the company announced Wednesday.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 28 Oct 2009 | 6:58 pm Pyne Gould's Torchlight comes to Sth Canterbury's aidTorchlight Credit Fund, part of Pyne Gould's Perpetual Asset Management unit, has come to the aid of South Canterbury Finance by pulling together a group of investors to provide a $75 million funding line.The funds have been drawn...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 28 Oct 2009 | 6:30 pm Write-Offs: 10.28.09$$$ Matt Goldstein: Galleon Shows Need For Hedge Fund Disclosure [Reuters] $$$ InBev buy of Anheuser-Busch exposes boys club? [The Deal] $$$ Paul Tudor Jones Goes For Gold [DB] $$$ Madoff losses totaled so far at $21.2 billion; $530 million paid back [WaPo] 
 Sponsored Topics: Anheuser-Busch - InBev - Paul Tudor Jones - Hedge fund - Deal Source: Dealbreaker | 28 Oct 2009 | 6:17 pm National Express walks away from Stagecoach dealNational Express, the struggling transport group, has walked away from a last-gasp merger with rival Stagecoach over concerns that competition regulators could derail a deal. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 28 Oct 2009 | 6:06 pm What recovery?Many Americans are still feeling the recession's painSource: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 28 Oct 2009 | 6:03 pm Trading blowsThe battle over Venezuela and its free trade partnersSource: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 28 Oct 2009 | 6:03 pm Economists expect Bank of England to pump another £25bn into the economyThe Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is likely to vote to pump at least an additional £25 billion into the economy, economists said yesterday. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 28 Oct 2009 | 6:01 pm House price mini-boom slows as Christmas loomsThe unexpected “mini-boom” in house prices continued in September, according to the latest official figures, but analysts have said that a slowdown in the pace of the recent rebound has begun. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 28 Oct 2009 | 6:01 pm From garish glamour to cold reality — impoverished Versace will shed 350 jobsVersace, the Italian fashion house whose fans include celebrities ranging from Sir Elton John to Lady Gaga, is to cut its workforce by a quarter in the latest sign that the recession is hitting the world’s wealthy. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 28 Oct 2009 | 6:01 pm Slaughter may lose its legal stranglehold on bankingSlaughter and May could lose its crown as the Government’s preferred legal adviser on the banking crisis. In the biggest legal shake-up since the bank bailouts started two years ago, the Treasury is asking other firms to tender for the business. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 28 Oct 2009 | 6:01 pm FSA fines Swinton for mis-selling payment protection plansSwinton Group was fined £770,000 by the Financial Services Authority yesterday for mis-selling payment protection insurance (PPI). Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 28 Oct 2009 | 6:01 pm Trade deficit shrinks to six-year low on weak importsNew Zealand's annual trade deficit shank to a six-year low last month, on weaker-than-expected imports, suggesting companies aren't rushing to re-stock in anticipation of economic recovery.The deficit narrowed to $1.53 billion...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 28 Oct 2009 | 6:00 pm SEC search for ways to peer into fast trades (Reuters)Reuters - U.S. regulators are searching for ways to peer into the activities of high-frequency trading, which has blossomed in recent years and now accounts for at least 50 percent of all equity trading in the United States.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 28 Oct 2009 | 5:45 pm SEC search for ways to peer into fast tradesWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators are searching for ways to peer into the activities of high-frequency trading, which has blossomed in recent years and now accounts for at least 50 percent of all equity trading in the United States.Source: Reuters: Business News | 28 Oct 2009 | 5:45 pm SEC search for ways to peer into fast trades (Reuters)Reuters - U.S. regulators are searching for ways to peer into the activities of high-frequency trading, which has blossomed in recent years and now accounts for at least 50 percent of all equity trading in the United States.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 28 Oct 2009 | 5:45 pm Brian Fallow: Bollard tells markets 'not so fast'"Not so fast" is Alan Bollard's message to the financial markets today.As widely expected the Reserve Bank governor has flagged an earlier start to thSource: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 28 Oct 2009 | 5:30 pm Galleon paid banks millions for ‘edge’The Galleon hedge fund at the centre of an insider trading scandal paid hundreds of millions of dollars a year to its Wall Street banks and in return regularly received market information that would not have been disclosed to most investors, executives familiar with the matter saySource: Financial Times - US homepage | 28 Oct 2009 | 5:00 pm Freightways earnings fall, but profits up in Sept quarterNZX-listed delivery and transport company Freightways made $7 million profit for the September quarter, despite a fall in revenue of 5 per cent.The company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA)...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 28 Oct 2009 | 5:00 pm Pakistan vows to resist TalibanPakistan vowed not to buckle in the face of almost daily terror attacks by Taliban militants even as the worst attack in two years greeted the arrival of Hillary Clinton, US secretary of stateSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 28 Oct 2009 | 4:55 pm "Cash on sidelines" less than investors anticipate: GoldmanNEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors could be disappointed if they anticipate tons of money waiting to get back into the stock market, since "cash on the sidelines" is much less than estimated, Goldman Sachs analysts said.Source: Reuters: Business News | 28 Oct 2009 | 4:48 pm CIC head warns of asset price bubbleChina’s sovereign wealth fund has invested about half its $110bn in available capital in overseas stocks, mining, energy and real estate and has earned decent returns so far, according to the head of the fundSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 28 Oct 2009 | 4:36 pm Half of workers changing jobs cash out 401k (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 28 Oct 2009 | 4:16 pm Stocks slide as new home sales fall (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 28 Oct 2009 | 4:05 pm Jamie Dimon: THE HIGH SCHOOL YEARS
There are more.
Sponsored Topics: Jamie Dimon - Browning School - United States - JPMorgan Chase - Investment Banks Source: Dealbreaker | 28 Oct 2009 | 4:02 pm Yahoo! and Microsoft Extend Negotiation Period (YHOO, MSFT)Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) issued an SEC filing noting that it and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) have extended the negotiating time on the previously announced search pact. Without getting to participate in the drawing room for the negotiations it is impossible to know if there were real snags other than the usual gossip that comes [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 28 Oct 2009 | 3:57 pm How the major stock indexes fared on Wednesday (AP)AP - Signs of a weaker housing market and a gloomier outlook on the economy gave investors more reasons to dump stocks. Major market indexes fell by the largest amount in about a month Wednesday after the Commerce Department said new home sales dropped for the first time in five months. Sales slid 3.6 percent in September to 402,000. Analysts had expected an increase.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 28 Oct 2009 | 3:49 pm Disney plans new soundstage and production facility in Santa Clarita Valley
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 28 Oct 2009 | 3:19 pm Keay Says Airlines `Walking Very Tight Line’ in Pricing: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 28 Oct 2009 | 3:16 pm How the Pros Defend Their Brand Reputations: An Interview with Levick’s Dallas Lawrence
I hate the Example Company. Their product killed my dog. Their customer service gave me road rage, which in turn made me wreck my car. They bilked me out of a $5,000 insurance payment. They are a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity. Oh, wait. That was Matt Taibbi’s description of Goldman Sachs. But you get my point. Example Company is the devil. Goldman Sachs is a vampire squid. Both companies are being hammered by public perception. (The first company is fictional.) If you’re a member of the reading public, you may be shocked by the claims above. But if you’re affiliated with either company, those same claims, under the right distribution conditions, will push your internal panic button. Levick Strategic Communications, a DC-based crisis and litigation communications firm, might call your experience a bad day in the Court of Public Opinion. They specialize in techniques to help you survive perceptual whippings like the ones above–and prevent repeats. They’re very good at it. Either Levick or its current employees have, at some point in time, worked to manage the brand or reputation of: -AIG, during the financial crisis When a high-profile company or person makes a visible misstep, or is subject to a prominent attack, Levick steps in. Their highly cultivated media and public affairs techniques have earned them international acclaim. I talked more about some of those techniques, brand equity, and online crisis management with Levick VP Dallas Lawrence, who heads their digital media team. Lawrence specializes in brand advocacy and defense using social media, the blogosphere, and Internet communications. You can find more of his work at Levick’s BulletProof blog, or through his Twitter feed: @DallasLawrence. BP: What are the biggest online threats to a brand? DL: Inaction is one of the greatest single threats today in a crisis. Years ago, you had a couple of days to pull together your crisis team, you could have meetings, you could talk to a reporter, you could get back to them in a day or two with the information. Today, crisis moves on a 14/48 news cycle, or a cycle measured in minutes. They don’t give you a week to get back. That fundamental shift is not understood in many boardrooms and many corporate communication rooms. It can be a lethal mistake to think you can wait out a crisis in the digital age. Big does not mean savvy. Domino’s Pizza was the textbook poster child for this earlier this year. I’m sure you’ll recall the malfeasant kids who put up a graphic video (see YouTube clip above). Domino’s first corporate response to the media within the first 24 hours was, I believe, “we’re not going to comment on this.” Because it wasn’t the CBS nightly news calling, or the New York Times, they didn’t think it was wise to engage. Meanwhile, millions of people saw that YouTube video, the blogs picked it up, and within 36 hours, every network had it. CNN, Fox were showing the video. And then they finally responded. Imagine if they had had, within their corporate DNA, the reflex to know immediately that “this is going out on YouTine, we need to have a video out on this within an hour putting this to rest, and storm that video to our fans.” Millions of people order Domino’s pizza. They would reach out to those folks and mention that this was an isolated incident. Instead, they were silent, for almost 36 hours, which was just lethal in that environment. They were setting up their Twitter account in the middle of the controversy. This is a consumer-focused brand that sells their product to consumers across America, and never mind that they weren’t proactively sending out tweets, they didn’t even have a profile set up so that they could be monitoring all those tweets. I’m sure they learned their lesson, and the next time in a crisis, they’ll be much better prepared. In the 48 hours that followed (after the first 48 hours), they finally got it right. DL: Nine times of out ten, the solution is to rip that band-aid off yourself and set the narrative. It’s better for you as the brand that has made the mistake (or is so accused) to be the one that establishes the narrative, be the first one to the mic, and really get established at being open, transparent, and accountable. Those are the 3 key terms in 21st century crisis communications. You must be seen as open. You must be accountable, and everything you do has to be transparent. The broad key theme is to have a company that’s prepared to run to the light, it’s prepared to not duck and cover and hope it passes, and it’s prepared to engage in a sustained dialogue that protects and proves its brand, encourages its investors, and reaches out to its consumers.
BP: As a company, what is one way to convince dubious people that you’re being transparent and telling the truth? DL: I’ll give you an example of something a great company has done. Six Flags, a major theme park, is in the middle of a financial restructuring. They can say and do the press releases until they’re blue in the face. The CEO of the company, Mark Shapiro, decided to go out and reach out to bloggers personally. Not through a corporate communications director or a press release, but to sit down and have a conference call with 25 or 30 of the most influential bloggers covering his industry. These are roller coaster enthusiasts, these are mommy bloggers, investor bloggers concerned with the financial health of the company. He threw it open to questions. They talked for more than an hour about their questions. And he said to them, “I don’t want this to be the last time we have this call. At the end of this season, let’s get together and chat again.” He followed through on that. This week, he did a follow-up call with a couple dozen bloggers, sitting down with them and recapping what they talked about before, how the season went. I think you can see by how open and honest his answers were, that he was telling it works and all. Bloggers are just as smart as all of the journalists. They know when they’re being spun, and they can’t stand it. They want someone to be honest with them. BP: Some of Levick’s clients operate in potentially volatile reputation industries. Tobacco and drug companies come to mind. What kinds of strategies do you encourage them to take in order to build their reputations during peacetime? How does that help when a media firestorm hits? DL: The first thing is that we encourage all of our clients to use their peacetime wisely. You don’t want the first time you’re telling your story to be in the middle of a crisis. You don’t want something to explode in the middle of a crisis that someone else has already defined the narrative for. During that peacetime, our company builds our database of third-party ambassadors to reach out to potential people we use as message echoing chambers when crisis hits. We build those relationships now. We reach out to them before we need them. The people we reach out to—industry bloggers, social networking connectors—it’s not the first time they’ve heard of us, when we need a favor. DL: They run the gamut. It depends on the crisis. An ambassador could be a university professor, a scientist, a think tank director, or a foreign policy expert. It could be mommy bloggers or fans of your brand on Facebook. The potential universe of brand ambassadors is only limited by the potential number of products & brands. DL: Quite honestly, one of the greatest tools for that is the social and digital media space. If your company or brand has the ability to listen to the comments and dialogue that are going on around their brand now, they’re in a far better position to nip potential crises in the bud before they emerge on the front page of the New York Times. It’s important that companies and brands stay active in that space. For example, a firm that might be trolling for victims of a class-action lawsuit might be setting up a Facebook page now, asking users whether they were affected by a certain product, and to join their class action. You can even go one step further. An example that I love is Marriott Hotel. They’ve got a fantastic system in place for social media monitoring. If you have a bad experience at a Marriott hotel, and you send out a tweet before you check out, they want to catch that and correct your user experience before you leave the property, so that you leave a happy customer. You don’t leave a customer who’s then going to tell fifty of your friends and post a negative review and inflict long-term damage.
You have 118 million bloggers out there who are all policing and looking for the next corporation that’s taking the easy route. So this is not something we do for our clients. Does it happen? Absolutely. I know that it happens. What we might try to do is take the Barack Obama playbook. Chris Hughes and their team wrote the playbook for how you organize your supporters to be your voice and response. So when Barack Obama was being pilloried in a local Chicago news channel for the Reverend Wright issue during the campaign, the campaign didn’t engage. Instead, they reached out to all their supporters and said “bombard this news site with what you know to be the truth!” And that’s what happened. We encourage people to use their peacetime wisely, because you can’t unleash your hundreds or thousands of third-party ambassadors during a crisis if you didn’t take the time to connect to and make those relationships. If someone is posting a negative comment or negative review, you can reach out to your reporters and say hey, we’d sure love it if you could share what you know to be your experience with the brand, and turn them loose. BP: Speaking of spin, one thing that occurred to me is that it could be said that you guys are manipulating peoples’ opinions of evil companies, or something like that, because you do defend tobacco companies and other organizations that are controversial. How would you respond to that? DL: I would say that everyone deserves their day in the court of public opinion. That’s what we offer our clients. We represent a broad swath of clients, from Fortune 500 companies to small individuals to environmental companies doing good. For example, we have a great relationship with a client that has saved school districts more that $1 billion in electric fees. They just won the EPA partner of the year award for what they do to help the environment. I think that you can look within the client roster and think of one or two examples…but I think that every single one of our clients falls into the category of deserving a day in the court of public opinion. We show up every day to give them that strong representation that they deserve. BP: How do you determine when a controversy gets safe for a company? How do you determine that it’s a little flare-up that you don’t have to pay attention to? DL: One of the worst things that can happen is that a company can overreact in a non-crisis situation and actually create the crisis. One of the questions you have to ask, even if it’s a horribly negative story, is: “Is this really a crisis?” Do you really want to put the CEO of the company out there? Or is this just an issue that requires the response from a corporate communications executive who can just address a couple of quick questions? That is probably one of the first steps that you have to take in any kind of crisis. You have to put the decisionmakers around the table and ask the right questions. Obviously, if 60 Minutes is knocking on your door and you know that something’s gone terribly wrong, you probably have a crisis. But if a lone blogger who’s sitting in the basement of his parents’ house and coming down from his Red Bull high has just hit your company with a snarky blog post, do you need to respond? No, probably not, because that’s exactly what that particular person hopes you do, is engage them. Read the situation and calibrate your initial response and everything after that.
We were involved with the pet food recall, the toy recall, the spinach recall, the financial crisis this year, a number of global litigation issues, the baseball star Roger Clemens. All these folks have an enormous amount of public interest around them. Our clients had as many as 15-20,000 blog posts and tweets posted about them in a single week. Every single one of the those has potential to be a serious brand threat. So, it really depends on the size of the company and the scope of the crisis.
BP: One of your clients is a major financial services firm. Because of the financial crisis, the only thing that comes to my mind about defending its reputation is waiting until the negative media cycle blows out. Do you guys have a more active strategy than that? DL: In every crisis, there are a couple moments during the before/during/after arc of a crisis. You reach a point in the “during” part where consumer anxiety and tension reaches its xenith. Just after that tipping point, where consumer anxiety begins to relax, you have an immediate opportunity, a teachable moment to build equity. The world’s attention is still focused on you, but they’ve just exhaled. They now know what the concern is. For example, during the pet food crisis a few years ago, once they identified that melanine was the issue, Americans relaxed. They realized “oh, now they found it and we can know what the crisis is.” There was an immediate teachable moment after that. The pet food industry rushed into that moment, to educated consumers, that really calmed anxiety and returned sales right back to where they were. Every crisis has kind of the same phases. There are opportunities to limit and mitigate the damage impact upon the brand during each of those. There are also opportunities to grab the spotlight during when the world is watching you. What you do next really does matter. You can show a proactive, transparent, and accountable strategy. You can actually win over a lot of critics during a crisis. *
Source: Business Pundit | 28 Oct 2009 | 3:14 pm Podcast: GMAC's Hail Mary Pass
This time it's GMAC looking for a helping hand. (Williemaq/Flickr) On today's Planet Money: GMAC is on the way to achieving the special distinction of three federal bailouts. The financial institution (and parent company of Planet Money sponsor Ally Bank) has already received $12.5 billion in assistance, for which the government has taken a stake of nearly 35 percent in the company. Columbia economist Charles Calomiris says the GMAC case is textbook example of the dangers that come with taxpayer bailouts. Calomiris says the government ends up giving money to keep a foundering bank afloat. The bank takes what's known as "resurrection risk," the economic equivalent of football's Hail Mary pass. There's more. Paul Merski, senior vice president of the Independent Community Bankers of America, says that with government backing in place, GMAC is getting an unfair competitive advantage. Bonus: After the jump, the Ally Bank ads that made them mad. Download the podcast; or subscribe. Music: Julian Casablanca's "11th Dimension"." Find us: Twitter/ Facebook/ Flickr. Ally Bank spokesperson Gina Proia says depositors get higher rates there because of its online model. Ally carries less overhead than a traditional brick-and-mortar bank, she says. In its recent ad campaign, the GMAC subsidiary has poked fun at traditional banks, which has not made the traditional banks any too happy. A couple of samples: » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 28 Oct 2009 | 3:12 pm TSX tumbles to 2-month low, oil shares rattled (Reuters)Reuters - Toronto's main stock index skidded to its lowest close in nearly two months on Wednesday as a drop in oil prices shook EnCana Corp and other energy companies and as surprisingly bleak U.S. home sales data raised doubts about economic recovery.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 28 Oct 2009 | 3:09 pm Meyer on Executive Compensation, Boyle on the Market: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 28 Oct 2009 | 3:05 pm Alan Grayson Has His Own Term Of Endearment For One Of The Beard's Advisers
What a huge breath of fresh air. We finally have a politician who can admit he was wrong and refuses to hide behind some completely ridiculous explanation to get him off the hook.
Sponsored Topics: Alan Grayson - Ben Bernanke - Federal Reserve System - Government - Linda Robertson Source: Dealbreaker | 28 Oct 2009 | 3:04 pm K1 founder faces fraud inquiryGerman prosecutors are investigating possible fraud and breach of fiduciary duty by the founder of the hedge fund groupSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 28 Oct 2009 | 2:51 pm First Solar Earnings Get Valuation Check (FSLR, TAN, KWT, ENER)We have long said that this Q3 period was likely to separate the men from the boys in the solar sector. Unfortunately, none of the men looked stronger than the boys. Tonight’s earnings report out of First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) only reiterates the notion that solar power companies are in many ways just leveraged [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 28 Oct 2009 | 2:42 pm Saudis drop WTI oil contractSaudi Arabia decided to drop the West Texas Intermediate oil contract as the benchmark for pricing its oil, dealing a blow to the New York Mercantile ExchangeSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 28 Oct 2009 | 2:27 pm Crisis reveals worry about retirement fundsAmerican savers watched in horror this year and last as the balances on their retirement accounts evaporated with the meltdown in the financial markets.Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 28 Oct 2009 | 2:25 pm Sharp falls for European sharesEuropean stock markets are hit by disappointing company results and economic data in the US.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 28 Oct 2009 | 2:10 pm Bloomberg Will No Longer Provide Your Daily Ego Boost
Sponsored Topics: Bloomberg L.P. - Business - Deutsche Bank - Bloomberg - United States Source: Dealbreaker | 28 Oct 2009 | 2:05 pm Wal-Mart starts selling caskets, urns online (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 28 Oct 2009 | 2:03 pm High-def TV a home run for bat makerNo matter who wins the World Series, bat maker Jack Marucci will make a profit, thanks to viewers seeing his logo when they watch the game on high definition television. Sally Herships reports.Source: Marketplace | 28 Oct 2009 | 1:56 pm Picard says $21.2bn lost in Madoff schemeThe trustee in charge of recovering assets from Bernard Madoff’s fraudulent investment operations said $21.2bn had been lost through his Ponzi scheme, an amount far higher than was thought as recently as JuneSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 28 Oct 2009 | 1:51 pm Future of Lazard remains uncertainLazard faced questions over its future after the recent death of Bruce Wasserstein, its high-profile chief, as the investment bank reported better-than-expected third-quarter resultsSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 28 Oct 2009 | 1:31 pm Antoine Walker Reaches The Elite Level Again
Sponsored Topics: Jamie Dimon - American Express - JPMorgan Chase - United States - Wachovia Source: Dealbreaker | 28 Oct 2009 | 1:22 pm Wolff Discusses Flap Between White House and Fox News: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 28 Oct 2009 | 1:05 pm Who Are The Hottest Ladies In Business Television?
Personally, the bones we have to pick are a) that this isn't a ranking but just general love-fest. Those things have their place but not here. This is a serious cutthroat competition. Line 'em up, top to bottom. b) Some entries on the list seem to be the result of the authors have created the thing from the inside of a time machine and c) The lack of Bloomberg representation, especially from someone who is working overtime on the job and had the business sense to take a page from the Amanda Drury playabook. And speaking of the Druries, they're present and accounted for after the jump. Let's show a little teamwork and make this thing something to be proud of. Add, subtract and annotate at this time.
Sponsored Topics: Business - Bloomberg L.P. - Bloomberg - United States - BusinessWeek Source: Dealbreaker | 28 Oct 2009 | 12:26 pm Why should we care about GDP?The government's expected to announce that U.S. Gross Domestic Product grew more than 3 percent in the third quarter. If those estimates hold up, economists say the recession has technically ended. But does GDP really matter? Rico Gagliano reports.Source: Marketplace | 28 Oct 2009 | 12:15 pm Did tax credit cause home decline?Sales of new homes dropped unexpectedly last month, the first decline since March. Some experts say the impending expiration of the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit is the reason for the surprise decline. John Dimsdale reports.Source: Marketplace | 28 Oct 2009 | 12:11 pm Watch the commodity trend linesOil, gold and the dollar all fell today. But commentator David Frum says when you're thinking about commodities, it's more important to watch the trend lines than to worry about the spot price.Source: Marketplace | 28 Oct 2009 | 12:09 pm Hoffman Says Motorola’s Droid Is Verizon’s `Hero Product’:AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 28 Oct 2009 | 11:55 am Sector Snap: For-profit education providers sink (AP)AP - Shares of for-profit education companies tumbled Wednesday a day after Apollo Group Inc., one of the largest and oldest of the companies, said the Securities and Exchange Commission had launched an "informal inquiry" into its revenue accounting practices, its second SEC probe this year.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 28 Oct 2009 | 11:55 am Sector Snap: For-profit education providers sink (AP)AP - Shares of for-profit education companies tumbled Wednesday a day after Apollo Group Inc., one of the largest and oldest of the companies, said the Securities and Exchange Commission had launched an "informal inquiry" into its revenue accounting practices, its second SEC probe this year.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 28 Oct 2009 | 11:55 am Analysts weigh in on GMACCritics want to know why the government won't just let GMAC fail. But some analysts worry a failure now could still have grave consequences. Bob Moon reports.Source: Marketplace | 28 Oct 2009 | 11:54 am Youngberg Discusses Crude Oil, Gas Inventories, Demand: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 28 Oct 2009 | 11:54 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 Wednesday:Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 28 Oct 2009 | 11:39 am Future in betting on march of swine fluA futures market at the University of Iowa aims to build a practitioner-level prediction of how the H1N1 virus would spread, its severity and durationSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 28 Oct 2009 | 11:36 am House Panel Moves to Tighten Regulation of Credit Rating Agencies (CQPolitics.com)CQPolitics.com - Legislation that would require the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to beef up regulation of credit rating firms, which are under fire for their role in last year's implosion of the financial markets, was approved Wednesday by a House committee.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 28 Oct 2009 | 11:31 am Antigua Not Amused By Stanford Victims
Sponsored Topics: AllenStanford - Caribbean - Antigua - Government - Antigua and Barbuda Source: Dealbreaker | 28 Oct 2009 | 11:30 am Rivals Mad At Ally Bank, GovernmentBy Laura Conaway While GMAC seeks a few billion dollars more in federal assistance (its third round of bailout money), its Internet incarnation is drawing fire for "needling" traditional bankers in ads like the one above -- and for offering markedly higher interest rates to depositors. GMAC's Ally Bank, a Planet Money sponsor, has boasted the top rate in the nation for 12-month certificates of deposit. The national average has been 1.7 percent. At Ally, you can get 2 percent. The recent ads and rosy rates have drawn $2.9 billion in new deposits. Critics say much of that is "hot" money, meaning customers aren't planning to stick around for the long haul. They just want the highest interest rate, no matter who's offering it. Bloomberg reports: "GMAC's insolvent, it has been, and I don't know that we can inject enough money into it to fix it," said Christopher Whalen, managing director of Institutional Risk Analytics, a Torrance, California, firm that evaluates banks for investors. "The company, frankly, needs to be restructured and liquidated." Whalen estimates that as much of a 1/4 of Ally's deposits are "hot" money. Last year, GMAC won government approval to become a bank so it could qualify for TARP assistance. Currently the government owns nearly 35 percent of GMAC under the terms of a $13.5 billion bailout of the Detroit-based company. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 28 Oct 2009 | 11:19 am Who benefits when you buy an iPhone?Apple will officially introduce the iPhone in China on Friday, tapping into a potential market of half a billion people. Why has it taken so long for the iPhone to be sold in the country where it's produced? Scott Tong rips open one to find out.Source: Marketplace | 28 Oct 2009 | 11:15 am Fabian Sees Up to $3 Billion of Muni Bond Defaults (Correct)Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 28 Oct 2009 | 10:52 am Presented By:Source: Dealbreaker | 28 Oct 2009 | 10:45 am Danielle Chiesi, Sugar Momma?
From: [redacted]
Sponsored Topics: Hedge fund - RajRajaratnam - Newcastle - Advanced Micro Devices - InsiderTrading Source: Dealbreaker | 28 Oct 2009 | 10:45 am Volvo Raised to `Hold’ at Deutsche Bank: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 28 Oct 2009 | 10:29 am Levitt Sees Victory for FDIC's Bair on Legislation: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 28 Oct 2009 | 10:27 am New Name Floated In Geithner Replacement Talks
"Any businessman who wants a piece of the future should learn for me. Obama is great. If he wants me as his financial adviser that would be cool." If you were thinking the CNBC contributor didn't have the qualifications for the job, think again.
Sponsored Topics: United States Secretary of the Treasury - Jamie Dimon - Lawrence Summers - Barack Obama - 50 Cent Source: Dealbreaker | 28 Oct 2009 | 9:42 am Soleil’s Farrell Likes Technology Stocks: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 28 Oct 2009 | 9:32 am Wren Sees More U.S. Bank Failures: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 28 Oct 2009 | 9:28 am Schwarzenegger Offers CA Legislature Cryptic F-You
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office sent this veto letter to San Francisco assemblyman Tom Ammiano. Read horizontally, it looks innocent enough. But when you read vertically, it says “I Fuck You.” According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Schwarzenegger’s press secretary, Aaron McLear, insisted Tuesday it was simply a “weird coincidence.” He sent us veto messages the governor sent out in the past with linguistic lineups such as “soap” and “poet,” which he said were also unintended. “Something like this was bound to happen,” McLear said. Maybe. But the veto message came after Ammiano called the governor a liar and shouted from the audience to “kiss my gay ass” when Schwarzenegger unexpectedly showed up at a Democratic Party dinner in San Francisco on Oct. 7. Looks like the Governator still has a few tricks up his sleeve. Impressive.
Source: Business Pundit | 28 Oct 2009 | 8:52 am Success Depends on Your Response to Failure
The Harvard Business Review’s David Silverman is documenting peoples’ recovery curves after they face unexpected career hardship. As part of his project, he has been interviewing CEOs’ experiences with failure. Here’s an excerpt from his recent blog post on the subject: I’ve met people who’ve seen their hopes dashed when they were passed over for promotion, others whose vast fortunes were erased by accounting scandals, those who’ve had their comfortable lives upended when their parents lost their savings, and even people who’ve simply and terrifyingly slipped and fell, putting them out of work and nearly into paralysis. In all these stories, the common thread has been that while the failure was, theoretically, avoidable, since the cause always came from an unexpected direction it wasn’t really preventable. One man, walking to a doctor’s appointment while worrying about overseas competition for his manufacturing business and political intrigue involving investors, was hit by a car. He literally did not see it coming. I can empathize with these managers. I once mismanaged my own company into ruin. I had an (initially unknown to me) alcoholic business partner and my trust and faith in him brought us both down. In my case, “only” 200 people lost their jobs and I ended deeply in debt. More difficult to cope with, both my business partner and father died during the crash of the company. At one point I found myself standing on a Manhattan street, totally motionless, my body unwilling to move forward or backward. Wracked with doubt about every decision I’d ever made, I must have stood there for a half hour. And here’s where the CEOs I’ve talked with are different than me. Faced with failure, they stayed in motion. They quit the bad job, they separated from investors they conflicted with, they got up off the sidewalk and went back to work.
Source: Business Pundit | 28 Oct 2009 | 8:50 am Motorala/Verizon Launch Droid Phone Today
…the Droid is a large, slim (0.5-inch thick) phone with a 3.7-inch, 854-by-480 capacitive touch screen and a sliding keyboard. It has a built-in 5-megapixel camera, DVD-quality video recording, and Wi-Fi, and it makes calls on the Verizon Wireless network. The Droid is also the first phone to come with Google Maps Navigation Beta, which offers free, spoken turn-by-turn driving directions based on the Google Maps engine. As an Android 2.0 phone, the Droid automatically syncs with Microsoft Exchange and has an improved Web browser compared to other Android phones. The browser supports HTML5 and double-tapping to zoom. PC Magazine has a detailed Droid feature rundown here. The CS Monitor follows rumors stating that Verizon could release three Droid phones this year: Verizon is currently saturating airwaves with commercials for the Droid, which will hit shelves by the end of October. The iDroid commercial campaign takes direct aim at the Apple iPhone – in the TV spots, the Droid is lauded for having a sleeker interface, a full QWERTY keyboard, and more versatility than the iPhone. “iDon’t have a real keyboard. iDon’t run simultaneous apps. iDon’t take night shots. iDon’t allow open development,” reads the ad copy. “iDon’t customize. iDon’t run widgets. iDon’t have interchangeable batteries. Everything iDon’t, Droid does.” Wonder how many consumers will say “iWant one”?
Source: Business Pundit | 28 Oct 2009 | 8:39 am Durable Goods Grow, Slightly. Plus: GMAC Seeks Third Round Of HelpBy Laura Conaway Good morning. Here's what we're reading on a rainy Wednesday in New York: Orders for durable goods ticked up by 1 percent in September, the Commerce Department reports. The fourth increase in six months is a sign that consumers may be ready to at least consider buying big items like washing machines again. Government bailouts of banks would be paid for by surviving rivals -- and the management of failing banks would get the boot -- under a plan pushed by the Obama administration and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.). Shareholders at foundering firms would lose out, as would unsecured creditors. GMAC Financial Services may get as much as $5.6 billion more in aid from the U.S. Treasury as it seeks to pile up enough dollars to meet the capital cushion mandated after government stress tests this year. The government would likely take more stock in the Detroit-based company -- it already owns 35 percent of GMAC, which would become the only firm to get a third round of assistance. Calculated Risk says there's talk that Congress will extend and expand a tax break for home buyers. Baseline Scenario argues that's a bad idea. Bill and Melinda Gates tell NPR about their thinking on the economics of global health aid. Treasury pay czar Kenneth Feinberg cut total compensation in half for the seven bailed-out firms he oversees, but he raised salaries by an average of 14 percent, says the Wall Street Journal (subs. req'd.). Meanwhile, the European Union has approved a deal to split the nationalized Northern Rock into a "good" bank and a "bad" one. The plan is to sell the good one and let the bad one wind down operations. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 28 Oct 2009 | 8:07 am Durable goods orders rise 1% in SeptemberWASHINGTON -- Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods rose in September as the biggest jump in demand for machinery in 18 months offset weakness in commercial aircraft and autos.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 28 Oct 2009 | 7:35 am Why One Wife Now Chooses to Shop Alone
Source: Business Pundit | 28 Oct 2009 | 6:00 am
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