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UK producer prices up in DecemberThe prices of goods leaving UK factories rose at a faster pace than expected in December, figures show.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 8 Jan 2010 | 3:30 am Traders cautious ahead of US jobs dataGlobal markets overview: European stocks joined Wall Street at fresh 15-month highs, though trading was cautious ahead of the important non-farm payrolls reportSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 8 Jan 2010 | 3:24 am London Markets: Asset managment in U.K. in focus before jobs dataAberdeen Asset Management reaches a long-awaited deal to buy a unit from the Royal Bank of Scotland and Morgan Stanley say it prefers Schroders to Man Group.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 8 Jan 2010 | 3:23 am Foxtons taken over by banksPrivate Equity firm BC Partners loses control of London estate agent, less than three years after buying it for £390m.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 8 Jan 2010 | 3:16 am German exports beat expectationsGermany's exports rose by more than expected in November, figures show, the third monthly increase in succession.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 8 Jan 2010 | 3:11 am The Return Of Massive Bonuses At Bank Of AmericaBank of America (NYSE:BAC) CEO Ken Lewis is gone now, but the culture of big pay packages established on his watch is not. The bank will pay large bonuses for 2009 to many of its top traders and investment bankers. Many of them are people who came to B of A with the buyout of Merrill Lynch. [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 8 Jan 2010 | 3:09 am Asian markets edge higher, Nikkei gains 1.1%Japanese exporters are helped by the yen's recent weakness, while Hutchison Telecommunications' shares surge in Hong Kong on an offer to take the company private.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 8 Jan 2010 | 3:03 am BT appoints Jeff Kelly as new head of Global ServicesBT Group has appointed Jeff Kelly as the new chief executive of Global Services, making him the third boss of the troubled IT services division in two years.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 8 Jan 2010 | 3:01 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 | 8 Jan 2010 | 3:01 am CanAlaska Uranium executes drill contract for 2010 explorationSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 8 Jan 2010 | 3:00 am Elk Creek Vineyards Introduces Kentucky Blue Box WinesSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 8 Jan 2010 | 3:00 am The Vilification Of SAC’s Steve CohenBloomberg News editor-in-chief Matthew Winkler recently gave a talk to his reports and writers and warned them about the use of anonymous sourcing. Sources without names or identification as to their authenticity undermine good journalism and hurt a reader’s belief in the accuracy of reporting. Steve Cohen, the head of huge hedge fund SAC, may beat his [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:54 am How much should I save?Julia Labaton has spent 10 years building her own business, a PR agency serving the beauty industry, and it has prospered through two recessions.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:49 am RBS raises £85m in asset management saleRoyal Bank of Scotland (RBS), the troubled state-controlled bank, continued its disposal programme this morning with the sale of almost half of its asset management business to Aberdeen Asset Management for £84.7 million. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:47 am Spyker submits fresh offer for GM's Saab unitDutch sports-car maker Spyker submits a fresh offer to buy General Motors’ Saab division ahead of a board meeting later Friday that could decide the unit’s fate.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:46 am A holiday job leaves a lasting giftIn the season of returns and exchanges, there's one holiday gift that Steve Brannigan will be holding on to: his new job. What began as a temporary survival strategy has turned into a 40-hour work week for the former auto worker.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:44 am AIG bail-out attracts further scrutinyThe government bail-out of AIG’s counterparties was placed under fresh scrutiny with the publication of e-mails showing the Federal Reserve Bank of New York pushing the insurance group to keep details of the deal privateSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:43 am 7 million lost jobs: Gone forever?A two-year string of job losses appears to be near an end, if it hasn't ended already.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:39 am Stock futures signal gains ahead of payrolls (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:35 am Stock futures signal gains ahead of payrolls(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wall Street on Friday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.1 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.1 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.04 percent at 4.10 a.m. EST.Source: Reuters: Business News | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:35 am Stock futures signal gains ahead of payrolls(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wall Street on Friday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.1 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.1 percent and NasdaqSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:35 am Stock futures signal gains ahead of payrolls (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:35 am Beware the return of $3 gasBaby, it's cold outside! And that's bad news for anybody who's been to the gas station lately.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:34 am Asia Markets: Asian names could benefit from 3D, LED trendsThe Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas puts the spotlight on both three-dimensional and LED television, and analysts say some Asian names are especially likely to benefit from coming trends.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:34 am A Chance To Gamble Away The National DebtPennsylvania will now allow poker, blackjack, and a number of other games of luck and skill to be played at its 14 slot machine casinos. Politicians in the state say that they are against gambling. It is at best a way for drunks to waste hard-earned money and at worst a sin which requires a [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:33 am Japan goes into damage control on yenThe new finance minister backed off from his call for a weaker yen after an apparent rebuke by the prime minister, saying currency levels should be set by marketsSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:31 am Stocks brace for jobs reportInvestors were on edge Friday as they awaited a key reading of the nation's economy, the December employment report.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:30 am RPT-UPDATE 1-Cimpor shares down after rejects CSN takeover bid(Repeating to additional subscriber services with no changes to text)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:28 am Traders cautious ahead of US jobs data08:55 GMT. European stocks joined Wall Street at fresh 15-month highs, though trading was cautious ahead of the eagerly anticipated US labour data out later on Friday. A Reuters poll of analysts...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:27 am Bernie Ecclestone in bid for SaabFormula One boss Bernie Ecclestone is part of a bid to buy struggling Swedish carmaker Saab from General Motors.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:25 am Upgrade for Barclays lifts London's banksLondon equities made gains in opening trade on Friday, with banks in demand after analysts at UBS upgraded their rating on Barclays. The broker issued a note to clients lifting its stance on the...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:21 am Stocks rise, dollar dips ahead of U.S. jobs (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:19 am Currencies: Dollar edges down ahead of payrolls reportInvestors square positions in the dollar ahead of key U.S. jobs data later in the session.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:15 am Bond investors wary of end to quantitative easingIn the US and UK, bond investors are watching anxiously as central banks prepare to end their purchase policies known as quantitative easing. The nervousness centres on one big question: just how...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:08 am Europe Markets: Europe stocks rise before jobs dataEurope stocks advance Friday ahead of the release of key employment data on both sides of the Atlantic as investors bet that the economic recovery will continue.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:08 am World markets rise ahead of US jobs report (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:07 am BT Global Services appoints third boss in two yearsHanif Lalani, the chief executive of BT's struggling Global Services division, is to step down after just over one year in the job. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:05 am Media Digest 1/8/2010 Reuters, WSJ, NY Times FT, BloombergReuters: Oil is at $82 and will move based on US jobs data. Reuters: Reliance upped its offer for Lyondell to $13.5 billion. Reuters: An former SAC employee was caught in a probe of Blackstone (NYSE:BX). Reuters: The NY Fed tried to limit information on AIG’s (NYSE:AIG) financial issues. Reuters: Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) will pay bonuses close to 2007 levels. Reuters: [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:02 am Bankruptcy fears hit Japan Air as government mulls aidTOKYO (Reuters) - Growing concerns that Japan Airlines Corp will file for bankruptcy as part of a state bailout sent shares in the ailing carrier tumbling a further 10 percent on Friday amid uncertain signals from the government.Source: Reuters: Business News | 8 Jan 2010 | 2:02 am REFILE-Q+A-Japan Airlines flirts with bankruptcy, seeks aid(Corrects punctuation in third paragraph of third question to separate Maehara from comment on JAL's CEO)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:59 am Fed warned on interest ratesTom Hoenig, president of the Kansas City Fed, on Thursday warned against keeping rates too low for too long. "Experience both in the US and internationally tells us that maintaining large amounts...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:43 am Fed warned on interest ratesTom Hoenig, president of the Kansas City Fed, on Thursday warned against keeping rates too low for too longSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:43 am Big freeze: Salt miner's profits gain traction on icy roadsFreezing weather may be costing British business billions but it is bringing a warm glow to the earnings of some companies.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:43 am McKinsey consultant pleads guilty to fraudA former director at McKinsey & Co, the management consultancy group, has pleaded guilty to fraud charges, as part of a co-operation deal that authorities hope will stengthen the insider trading case against Raj Rajaratnam, the founder of the Galleon hedge fund. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:35 am Asia Markets And Europe Open (1/8/2010)Markets in Asia were modestly higher The Nikkei rose 1.1% to 10,756. The Hang Seng rose .1% to 22,297. China Mobile (NYSE:CHL) rose. The Shanghai Composite was up .1% to 3,196. At the open in Europe, the FTSE was up .3% to 5,545. Barclays (NYSE:BCS) rose on an upgrade. The Dax was up .4% to 6.004. Data from MarketWatch and [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:30 am Virgin buys regional bank Church House TrustVirgin Money has stepped up its plans for a UK banking business with the £12.8m acquisition of Church House Trust.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:29 am Crisis inquiry commission set to quiz top bankersTwo blocks from the Treasury, where the government not long ago scrambled to save a collapsing financial system, a team of investigators armed with subpoena powers is preparing the officialSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:27 am FACTBOX-China becomes the world's No.1 auto marketBEIJING, Jan 8 (Reuters) - China's auto market, which overtook the United States as the world's largest earlier this year thanks to a raft of policy incentives, has been a major bright spot amid a global...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:25 am DEALTALK-Geely's next challenge: selling a made-in-China Volvo* A challenge to re-position Volvo brand (For more Reuters DEALTALKS, click [DEALTALK/])Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:24 am DEALTALK-Geely's next challenge: selling a made-in-China Volvo* A challenge to re-position Volvo brand (For more Reuters DEALTALKS, click [DEALTALK/])Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:24 am Virgin deal paves way for UK bankVirgin Money says it now has a means of developing a UK retail bank after buying regional bank Church House Trust.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:21 am Virgin Money buys minnow for retail bank launchVirgin Money, which tried to buy Northern Rock before its nationalisation two years ago, today gained a foothold in retail banking through the acquisition of Church House Trust in a deal valuing the regional bank at £12.3 million. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:19 am Aberdeen Asset Management pays £85m for Royal Bank of Scotland fund assetsAberdeen Asset Management has paid £84.7m for certain fund management asset and contracts from Royal Bank of Scotland, a further step in the restructuring of the bailed-out bank.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:08 am Aust dollar closes lowerSYDNEY - The Australian dollar closed lower after Japan signalled it would weaken its currency, boosting the US dollar ahead of key American employment data.At 1700 AEDT, the Australian dollar was trading at US$0.9134/37, down...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:03 am Formula 1 boss Ecclestone joins bid for Saab: reportLONDON (Reuters) - Formula One motor racing boss Bernie Ecclestone is part of a bid to buy General Motors' struggling Swedish carmaker Saab, the BBC reported on Friday.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:01 am Formula 1 boss Ecclestone joins bid for Saab: reportLONDON (Reuters) - Formula One motor racing boss Bernie Ecclestone is part of a bid to buy General Motors' struggling Swedish carmaker Saab, the BBC reported on Friday.Source: Reuters: Business News | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:01 am Financial crisis panel set to question Wall Street execsThe CEOs of Goldman and JPMorgan Chase will be among the first to face a special commission's questions on the causes of the financial meltdown. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:00 am Healthcare overhaul could save money and boost jobs, researchers sayIn a report to be released today, Harvard and USC economists say legislation being considered would slow cost increases and free up money for companies to raise wages and hire more workers. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:00 am Leno may be returning to 'The Tonight Show'He reportedly is in talks to replace Conan O'Brien, who is trailing David Letterman's show on CBS. Leno's prime-time show has struggled in the ratings.Jay Leno, the former king of late-night television who was pushed out as host of NBC's "The Tonight Show" last year and then struggled in his new prime-time slot, is in talks to return to 11:30 p.m. Conan O'Brien, who succeeded Leno, would either go back to following Leno or leave the network.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:00 am Retailers get their holiday wish with modest rise in December salesLast-minute shoppers help retailers post a 2.9% sales increase compared with the same month in 2008, easily beating expectations for a 2% gain, according to Thomson Reuters' tally of 30 major chains. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:00 am Financial crisis panel set to question Wall Street execsThe CEOs of Goldman and JPMorgan Chase will be among the first to face a special commission's questions on the causes of the financial meltdown.The special commission set up by Congress to investigate the causes of the financial crisis will hold its first public hearings next week and is starting at the top in its search for answers -- Wall Street titans.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:00 am Prosecutors seek to dismiss drug charges against Broadcom's Henry T. Nicholas IIIFederal prosecutors ask a judge to drop narcotics trafficking charges, wiping out the last piece of a criminal case that had tarnished the Irvine chip designer for nearly two years.Federal prosecutors asked a judge Thursday to dismiss narcotics trafficking charges against Henry T. Nicholas III, wiping out the last criminal charges against the co-founder of Irvine chip maker Broadcom Corp.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:00 am France considers taxing Google and other Internet portalsOfficials say the levy would level the playing field between online firms that offer free music and films and the publishers that lose revenue as a result.The French government is mulling a so-called Google tax that it said would help level the playing field between Internet portals that offer free content and the music, film and publishing industries that lost revenue partly because of it.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:00 am Healthcare overhaul could save money and boost jobs, researchers sayIn a report to be released today, Harvard and USC economists say legislation being considered would slow cost increases and free up money for companies to raise wages and hire more workers.National healthcare legislation in Congress could slow the growth of medical costs, allowing employers to create 250,000 to 400,000 new jobs a year over the next decade, economists from Harvard University and USC are predicting.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:00 am Shari Redstone buys Russian theaters from her family firmThe daughter of billionaire Sumner Redstone teams with a private equity firm to buy the six-theater, 74-screen circuit in Moscow and St. Petersburg that she helped launch in 2002.Shari Redstone, taking control of a pet project, has joined with a private equity firm to acquire a Russian movie theater chain from her family-owned National Amusements Inc. Terms were not disclosed.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:00 am GMC Terrain: No bark, no bite, but plenty of fleasThe SUV, peculiar styling and all, is a disappointment, even by GM standards.The word "terrain" comes from the Latin "terranum," meaning "of the Earth." It's the same root for the word "terrier," which is a kind of dog. And that brings us to the GMC Terrain.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:00 am TCW sues former bond investment chief Jeffrey GundlachThe money management giant alleges that Gundlach stole confidential data and used it to start his new firm. It also says it found pot and porn in his offices. Gundlach's firm plans to countersue.The bitter split between Los Angeles money management giant TCW Group and former executive Jeffrey Gundlach turned nastier Thursday, as TCW sued Gundlach, alleging that he stole confidential information and used it to launch a rival firm.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:00 am Ambassador College parcel purchased by City Ventures for town housesA long-delayed real estate development on the site of the former Ambassador College in Pasadena has been revived by the sale of a 10-acre portion of the campus to a builder that plans to start construction...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:00 am Los Angeles Times to add a section and close Orange County printing operationsThe paper will begin publishing a new section called LATExtra for late-breaking news.The Los Angeles Times is closing its printing operations in Orange County to cut costs and will begin publishing a new section devoted to late-breaking news, the paper announced Thursday.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:00 am Lennar posts first quarterly profit since early 2007The home builder had net income of $35.6 million in the period ended Nov. 30 but only because of a $320-million tax gain. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:00 am Retailers get their holiday wish with modest rise in December salesLast-minute shoppers help retailers post a 2.9% sales increase compared with the same month in 2008, easily beating expectations for a 2% gain, according to Thomson Reuters' tally of 30 major chains.A Christmas that was better than expected helped the nation's retailers turn the corner, boding well for a budding economic recovery that will depend heavily on a revival in consumer spending.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:00 am Leno may be returning to 'The Tonight Show'He reportedly is in talks to replace Conan O'Brien, who is trailing David Letterman's show on CBS. Leno's prime-time show has struggled in the ratings. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 8 Jan 2010 | 1:00 am Enterprise is key to UK economic growth, says Gordon BrownPrime Minister Gordon Brown pledged on Thursday to "unleash" Britain's entrepreneurial talents in a bid to promote prosperity.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 8 Jan 2010 | 12:51 am Trafigura wants new £6m lawsuit details sealedTrafigura, the oil trader, is trying to get High Court documents removed from public view just weeks after attempting to stop the media from reporting a parliamentary question about its toxic waste.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 8 Jan 2010 | 12:48 am Bernie Ecclestone makes joint bid for SaabBernie Ecclestone, the Forumla One tycoon, is making a joint bid to take control of Saab, the Swedish carmaker owned by America's General Motors (GM) Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 8 Jan 2010 | 12:42 am F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone drives ahead with joint bid for Swedish car maker SaabFormula One chief Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed that he is planning to make a bid for Saab, the Swedish car maker being wound down by GM.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 8 Jan 2010 | 12:30 am Big bus groups lash out at OFT competition referralBritain's biggest transport groups have warned that investment may be cut and new laws undermined by the Office of Fair Trading's decision to refer the £3.6bn bus market to the Competition Commission.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 8 Jan 2010 | 12:21 am Reliance ups offer for Lyondell, valuing it at $13.5 billionNEW YORK/MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's Reliance Industries Ltd has sweetened its offer to buy a controlling stake in LyondellBasell Industries thatSource: Reuters: Business News | 8 Jan 2010 | 12:15 am Reliance ups offer for Lyondell, valuing it at $13.5 billion (Reuters)Reuters - India's Reliance Industries Ltd has sweetened its offer to buy a controlling stake in LyondellBasell Industries thatSource: Yahoo! News: Business | 8 Jan 2010 | 12:15 am UK monetary policy likely to shift gear from next monthMonetary policy will become testy and unpredictable again next month, economists said - after the Bank of England left interest rates and quantitative easing (QE) unchanged for a second successive month.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 8 Jan 2010 | 12:09 am Hong Kong considers rail project amid protestsHong Kong lawmakers are slated to vote Friday whether to approve funding for a controversial $8.6 billion high-speed rail link to China.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 8 Jan 2010 | 12:05 am Big increase in sales at UniqloBudget clothing chain Uniqlo continues to attract customers as profits rise again at its parent group Fast Retailing.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Jan 2010 | 11:55 pm Aust stocks at 15-month highPERTH - Banks and cosumer staples stocks pushed the Australian share market to a 15-month high as profit taking drove mining stocks lower.The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 12.7 points, or 0.26 per cent, at 4,912.1 points,...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 7 Jan 2010 | 11:53 pm Sharemarket begins year on a highMichael Hill International shares rose 10.6 per cent to 73 today after the jewellery retailer reported a 4.4 per cent lift in same store sales for the half year to the end of December.Brokers said the positive trading statement...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 7 Jan 2010 | 11:51 pm Peter Brimelow: 2009 top performer sees V-shaped recoveryThe (arguably) top-performing letter for 2009 is very bullish on the economy -- merely hopeful about stocks, writes Peter Brimelow.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 Jan 2010 | 11:43 pm U.S. job purge likely halted, jobless rate seen upWASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. government report on Friday is expected to show the economy stopped shedding jobs last month for the first time since it fell into recession two years ago, easing a political weight on President Barack Obama.Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Jan 2010 | 10:39 pm U.S. job purge likely halted, jobless rate seen up (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 7 Jan 2010 | 10:35 pm Kiwi dollar quietThe New Zealand dollar consolidated today ahead of the release of US non-farm payroll data in the United States.The NZ dollar rose above US74c yesterday and the Australian dollar rose above US92.60c when strong Australian retail...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 7 Jan 2010 | 10:23 pm Jon Friedman's Media Web: Redemption in 2010? Times, BizWeek, AOLPlenty of media institutions are viewing 2010 as a shot at redemption. Let's assess the prospects for three of them: the New York Times, Business Week and AOL.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 Jan 2010 | 10:01 pm The Week's Business Tweets: In Recovery? (Twitter Beat)The run-up on Citi stock, Henry Blodget on General Motors and more.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 7 Jan 2010 | 10:00 pm 3 Gadgets to Boost Your Cellphone Signal (Deal of the Day)Can you hear me now? Boosters can improve service, reduce dropped calls.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 7 Jan 2010 | 10:00 pm Argentine bank chief steps downArgentina's central bank chief steps down after the president signs a decree sacking him in a row over foreign debt.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Jan 2010 | 9:55 pm NY Fed sought to limit AIG bank disclosuresWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The New York Federal Reserve Bank under Timothy Geithner urged insurer AIG in late 2008 to limit disclosures about its payments to banks after getting a $180 billion government bailout, emails released on Thursday showed.Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Jan 2010 | 7:49 pm Bank of America to pay bonuses close to '07 levels: reportNEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp will pay its investment bankers bonuses close to the levels of 2007, as it tries to reduce defections following its takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co., the Wall Street Journal said late Thursday.Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Jan 2010 | 7:43 pm Ex-McKinsey exec: Rajaratnam paid $1.75 million for tips (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 7 Jan 2010 | 7:30 pm Ex-McKinsey exec: Rajaratnam paid $1.75 million for tipsNEW YORK (Reuters) - A former director of McKinsey & Co told a court on Thursday that Galleon hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam paid him $1.75 million in exchange for tips on clients of the consulting firm, giving prosecutors potentially more ammunition in the insider-trading case.Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Jan 2010 | 7:30 pm Bank of America to pay bonuses close to '07 levels: report (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 7 Jan 2010 | 7:25 pm Obama outlines steps on terror failuresThe US president lays out measures to improve co-ordination among the 16 intelligence agencies and focus on improving the analysis of data, which he identified as the core problemSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 7 Jan 2010 | 6:35 pm Intel re-enters market with smartphonePaul Otellini, chief executive, shows off at the Consumer Electronics Show a smartphone made by Korea’s LG which uses a new generation of lower-power Atom processorsSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 7 Jan 2010 | 6:02 pm Giant fraud case director guiltyAnil Kumar, a former director of McKinsey, the global management consulting firm, has pleaded guilty to fraud charges.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Jan 2010 | 5:55 pm India off scootersThe humble two- wheeler makes way for the cheap car.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Jan 2010 | 5:14 pm Project Natal is about making gaming more intuitive and simpleDo you really want to see the end of the game controller? Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Jan 2010 | 5:01 pm No more joypads: simply wave at the screenLiving rooms may never be the same again. In future, people will play video games not with their joypads but by standing in front of their screen, karate-chopping the air, rocking out on a virtual guitar and kicking an imaginary ball into the net. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Jan 2010 | 5:01 pm Wary investors drive profits in arts and antiquesInvestors seeking a hedge against economic uncertainty have given a boost to the arts and antiques market, with prices pushing up in the final months of last year, according to valuers. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Jan 2010 | 5:01 pm Gas supply rationed as temperature drops to -21CThe gas was turned off for nearly 100 businesses yesterday to protect domestic power supplies after unprecedented demand brought on by the cold weather. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Jan 2010 | 5:01 pm National Express launches bond issue on journey back to financial stabilityNational Express, the troubled bus and train operator, launched a £350 million corporate bond issue yesterday. The group said that it would use the money to repay €270 million (£242 million) of bond debt, which was fast approaching maturity. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Jan 2010 | 5:01 pm Green Business: Raglan resort grows on eco-tourism surgeThe rising popularity of eco-tourism has forced one of New Zealand's eco-resorts to expand to meet the additional demand.Raglan eco-resort ' Solscape ' is growing fast to accommodate a big rise inSource: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 7 Jan 2010 | 5:00 pm Green Business: Patch from Scratch vege gardensIndentifying a growing gap in the market prompted Sarah Davies to set up a business installing organic vegetable gardens in people's backyards.That was in 2007, and since then the business - Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 7 Jan 2010 | 5:00 pmCramer’s Technology Tsunami Picks for 2010 (GOOG, AAPL, AMT, CCI, SBAC, SWKS, ALTR, CY, XLNX, AMZN, CSCO, ERTS, QCOM, INTC)Tonight on CNBC’s MAD MONEY, Jim Cramer continued with his stock picks for 2010 based on investment themes. We have already seen energy shortage picks, counter-terrorism and homeland security picks, and international ADR picks; and tonight Cramer gave his high-hope technology picks in the “tech tsunami” theme for 2010. First, Cramer denies that a war [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 7 Jan 2010 | 4:49 pm SPX Raised to `Overweight' at JPMorgan: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 7 Jan 2010 | 4:46 pm Scoville Sees Corn Prices Higher in 2010: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 7 Jan 2010 | 4:43 pm Corruption probe into sale of Ghana oil blockUS and Ghanaian authorities are investigating allegations about a Texas company and local partner that helped it gain control of one of Africa’s biggest recent discoveriesSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 7 Jan 2010 | 4:40 pm Gaming, Airlines, Options, Barnett Shale: Taking Stock PodcastSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 7 Jan 2010 | 4:39 pm U.S. Commodity Funds to License New Index (Correct)Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 7 Jan 2010 | 4:35 pm Former McKinsey tipster netted $2.6mAnil Kumar agreed to forfeit $2.6m prosecutors said he received for passing tips to Galleon hedge fund founder accused of masterminding an insider trading schemeSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 7 Jan 2010 | 4:23 pm Goldman sued by pension fund over bonus plansNEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc was sued on Thursday by an Illinois pension fund seeking to recover billions of dollars of bonuses and other compensation being awarded for 2009, saying the payouts harm shareholders.Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Jan 2010 | 4:19 pm How the major stock indexes fared on Thursday (AP)AP - Cautious optimism about the job market gave stocks a modest lift Thursday, one day before the government's report on December employment. Stocks closed mostly higher after many retailers issued upbeat holiday sales figures and the Labor Department reported a leveling of the number of newly laid-off workers applying for unemployment benefits.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 7 Jan 2010 | 4:18 pm Deutch departure to aid Citi revampCitigroup is to take another step in the revamp of its much-criticised board with the departure of John Deutch, a former head of the Central Intelligence Agency who is one of the US bank’s longest-serving directorsSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 7 Jan 2010 | 4:10 pm AIG's US Life loses Calif. workers' comp appeal (AP)AP - An appeals court has upheld an arbitration award requiring American International Group's U.S. Life Insurance Co. unit to pay more than $517 million in reinsurance to certain California workers' compensation insurers in liquidation.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 7 Jan 2010 | 4:07 pm Fannie Mae relaxes Florida condo standards (AP)AP - Fannie Mae is seeking to prop up Florida's ravaged real estate market by reviewing hundreds of condo projects in the state that currently don't qualify for its loans.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 7 Jan 2010 | 4:06 pm Fed officials see inflation risksKANSAS CITY (Reuters) - Senior U.S. Federal Reserve officials placed different emphasis on inflation risks on Thursday, with one warning failure to withdraw support policies soon enough could trigger inflation while another played down such risks.Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 Jan 2010 | 4:02 pm Write-Offs: 01.07.10$$$ Stanford's daughter Randi argued in court papers that she is entitled to stay in the 2,800 square foot condo because it was a gift from her father, who is accused of leading a $7 billion Ponzi scheme. Randi Stanford said the condo is not part of the allegedly tainted assets seized by the government and accused the receiver in control of her dad's businesses of "Gestapo-like tactics." [ABC] $$$ Hedge Fund Returns Mirror Broader Markets In '09 [FINalternatives] $$$ Take the eFinancialCareers Bonus and Compensation survey [eF] $$$ Paulson & Co. returned 14% to 34% in 2009, depending on the strategy, according to a recent update the firm sent to investors [MarketWatch] 
 Source: Dealbreaker | 7 Jan 2010 | 4:00 pm Stocks notch modest gains ahead of employment data (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 7 Jan 2010 | 3:58 pm Ex-McKinsey director pleads guilty in insider case (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 7 Jan 2010 | 3:56 pm NZ sharemarket rises earlyFletcher Building shares continued their two-week rise in early trading today, adding 6c to move to a new nine-week high of 817.Also rising early were shares in Michael Hill International, gaining 4c, or 6 per cent, to 70 after...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 7 Jan 2010 | 3:41 pm Spain aims to bring EU states into lineZapatero seeks powers for Commission to police compliance with ‘2020 strategy’Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 7 Jan 2010 | 3:23 pm Bank of America, Lennar, Boeing are movers (AP)AP - The following stocks were among those that moved substantially or traded heavily Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market:Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 7 Jan 2010 | 3:14 pm The AIG fiasco keeps getting worseThe AIG bailout isn't going away, much as Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner might like it to.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Jan 2010 | 3:12 pm Earnings to test Wall St's bet on recovery (Reuters)Reuters - Wall Street's confidence in the nascent U.S. economic recovery is about to be tested as fourth-quarter earnings season gets under way next week.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 7 Jan 2010 | 2:50 pm Earnings to test Wall St's bet on recovery (Reuters)Reuters - Wall Street's confidence in the nascent U.S. economic recovery is about to be tested as fourth-quarter earnings season gets under way next week.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 7 Jan 2010 | 2:50 pm Ex-Blackwater men's murder chargeTwo former Blackwater guards are charged with murder over the shooting of two Afghans in 2009.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Jan 2010 | 2:48 pm NZ dollar falls against greenbackThe New Zealand dollar fell away against the greenback overnight from a seven-week high reached on the back of strong Australian retail sales data yesterday afternoon.Around 8am today, the kiwi was at US73.23c, well down from...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 7 Jan 2010 | 2:43 pm Ex-McKinsey exec says Rajaratnam paid $1.75 mln (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 7 Jan 2010 | 2:38 pm Former SAC Analyst Jonathan Hollander May Have Played Role In Blackstone Insider Trading Case
A year ago, federal regulators accused a former Blackstone Group investment banker, Ramesh Chakrapani, of tipping off a friend -- referred to as "tippee 1" in a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint -- about the 2006 buyout of the Albertsons supermarket chain.
Source: Dealbreaker | 7 Jan 2010 | 2:31 pm TCW Group Sues Former CIO Jeffrey Gundlach For Having Drugs, Pornos And 12 "Sexual Devices" In OfficeThe firm had some other issues with Gundlach, who was fired on December 4, as well (he's being accused of conspiracy, unfair competition and theft of proprietary TCW information) but we figured this should discussed ASAP, as some of you may have some things you need to dispose of from your desk, in the event that your employer also frowns up this sort of thing. No word on a rebuttal from JG or his representation, but presumably he'll have good reason for the Backdoor Sluts 9 DVD, the "videocassettes" (they're vintage) and an itemized list of said "devices." We need to know what does and doesn't fly (vibrators, yes, ball gags, no, spreader and truss bar debatable?).
Source: Dealbreaker | 7 Jan 2010 | 2:10 pm Super Bowl ads are going, going ...Buy your Super Bowl ads while you still can, because spots are filling fast.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Jan 2010 | 1:20 pm Anil Kumar Pleads Guilty In Galleon CaseThe former McKinsey director pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud in Federal District Court in Manhattan. Mr. Kumar told the court that he had leaked to Mr. Rajaratnam that Advanced Micro Devices was planning to acquire ATI Techonologies. The leak occurred in March 2006 before news reports about the deal had surfaced. He said that Mr. Rajaratnam told him, "Anil, you are a hero." Kumar, visibly crying, also apologized to his colleagues "for the shame they have suffered," but did not specify if he was talking about shame as it related to insider trading, or for the rap AK wrote and recorded while at the firm.
Source: Dealbreaker | 7 Jan 2010 | 1:10 pm Could Dodd's Retirement Kill Financial Reform?By Daniel Costello Yesterday, Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, announced he won't seek reelection after poll numbers showed he would likely lose his reelection bid. A big question: does Dodd's retirement effectively kill pending financial reform? Regulatory reform is a key part of the agenda that could be important for Democrats in 2010 and 2012. As the ruling party, voters are likely to view whatever Democrats pass as their response to the central question of how to make sure Wall Street excesses don't threaten the entire economy again. At his daily briefing today, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was asked about this issue and said reform is still on track: "I think Senator Dodd has been a passionate advocate for ensuring that we have rules in place so that what happened on Wall Street doesn't happen again, that we have strong consumer financial protections, and I think Senator Dodd will continue to work on that with his committee throughout this process," Gibbs said When asked, more directly, if Dodd will become something of a lame duck, Gibbs said: "No, look, knowing Senator Dodd and the passionate advocate that he is, I think he will continue to work hard and want to get this done by the end of the year, as the president does too." A story on Politico says that "people close to Dodd" say he will still aggressively push financial reform. People close to Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd say he will forge ahead on financial reform despite forgoing his reelection bid -- even though some financial insiders believe that the negotiations on the major bill will change. "Knowing him the way I know him, I think that he would fight as hard for this legislation whether he were running for reelection or looking upon it as a legacy item," said a Senate Democratic aide who discussed the issue with Dodd Tuesday night. Daniel Indiviglio, a blogger and staff editor for the Atlantic Business Channel, writes that reform isn't likely to happen no matter how hard Dodd tries. Dodd will be a sort-of lame duck. As a result, his bargaining power will be diminished. I agree with Indiviglio. It seems to me that Dodd's lame duck status does seriously restrict his negotiating power, especially with an issue as complex and with so many rich and powerful opponents as financial reform. I don't see how the White House can get anything close to real reform, with some actual teeth in it, without a strong chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. What do you all think? » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 7 Jan 2010 | 12:59 pm AOL Looking At Mashable Purchase: Price Tag $18 MillionThere are rumors in the media press that AOL (NYSE:AOL) will buy tech blog Mashable. What is the company worth? According to the 24/7 Wall St “Twenty-Five Most Valuable Blogs In America”, Mashable would sell for a little less than $18 million. From the analysis: “This is the top blog in the country that concentrates on social [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 7 Jan 2010 | 12:53 pm Goldman Sachs Sued By Shareholder Over Bonuses, Again
The so-called derivative suit, brought on behalf of a Goldman Sachs shareholder Ken Brown, an Illinois resident, was filed in state court in New York on Jan. 5, alleging breach of duty and loyalty. The suit seeks unspecified damages and lawyer fees and asks the court to direct the defendants, including Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein and company directors, to account for "all profits and special benefits they have obtained," Brown says, "including all salaries, bonuses, fee stock awards, options and stock sales."
Source: Dealbreaker | 7 Jan 2010 | 12:52 pm How to Improve Your Business Website in 20102009 has come and gone, and the year promised and delivered to a lot of smart business website owners that utilized the best online wisdom to their fullest advantage. While 2009 was favorable and money spinning to business websites that cleverly integrated all the features that the internet offered by way of technology and tricks, a few still remained unhappy and dejected that their websites did not reek in the traffic or the money to justify their investment in online marketing. Most losers out there in the internet marketing arena will complain about the inefficiency of the system and often blame their in-house SEO staff or the SEO company that they outsourced their online marketing strategies to, for the debacle. The fact remains that there is nothing wrong with the system or with their employees. The reason for the non-performance of their websites is due solely to the fact that they overlooked most aspects that make for a successful website. While visibility is singularly the most important factor behind driving traffic to websites, tracking rankings, facts, figures, engaging social media, and fast and user-friendly websites are all vital as well–not just to increase visibility, but also to turn that visibility to conversions and to sustain the visibility, long term. If you are one of the have-nots of 2009 and want to turn 2010 into a highly successful year for your online business, here are 5 things that you can do to turn around your website to lure more traffic, make more conversions and business, and also make 2010 a year you’ll never forget. 1. Make your website error free and more search-friendly by registering with Google Webmaster Tools, Yahoo Site Explorer, and Microsoft Webmaster Center Everyone knows that in order to gain maximum visibility and thereby more traffic and revenue, your website has to be as friendly as possible to search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing. While everyone knows that fact to be true, most people that complain of below par traffic do not take advantage of the free tools the search companies themselves offer for you to determine whether your website is acknowledged by the search engines as friendly and useful to them and the people that use them. In order to see for yourself whether your website is actually being indexed by the search engines as relevant and useful to a particular search, you need to have something that can tell you whether your website and the pages in it are being seen by the search engines and indexed by them, so your target customers can get to your website through an organic search. Google offers the Google Webmaster Tools, Yahoo offers the Yahoo Site Explorer, and Microsoft/Bing offers the Microsoft/Bing Webmaster Center to website owners to check if their website and its pages are error free and also helps in tracking changes made to the pages. The best thing about these tools is that they are free, and all you need to do is create a free account and submit your website to the relevant search engines. For example, with Google Webmaster Tools, you can submit your site to know where your pages stand, in relation to Google organic searches, and how many pages in your website have been indexed by Google. You can find out whether Google crawls your website often and if Google encountered any problems while crawling your site. Upload site maps to find out whether your website is user friendly and whether Google can crawl through your pages easily. You can also make your website geo-specific by targeting customers based on geographical preferences. Google Webmaster Tools also help you determine specific content keywords that are affecting your rankings and also help you know the number of incoming and outgoing links to and from your website. Yahoo Site Explorer and Microsoft Webmaster Center pretty much helps you with the same things that the Google Webmaster Tools does with a few extras here and there. For example, Bing offers you a facility to view scores for each of your website pages. Since it’s important for a successful website to be friendly towards all the search engines out there, it’s vital that you invest time to set up all the three tools on your website. The result: you’ll not only be tuning up and monetizing your website, you’ll be actually seeing your website climb up the rankings by actively stimulating its climb up the search ladder. And when you are not required to invest anything except your time to make your website more search-friendly, error-free, and visible, ignoring these free tools can be the most costly mistake you’ll ever make in 2010. 2. Run Analytics on Your Website Just having a well-designed website and sitting back and letting some SEO company do the job for you will not work. If the SEO company knows how to maintain and keep track of the changes in your website, and if it knows by heart how well-tuned your website is in regards to organic searches, then there’s nothing to worry about. But the fact remains, without a valid analysis done on your website, you’ll never know where you are going wrong and what your strong points are, and a SEO campaign without effective analytical tools is doomed to fail from day one. So, invest your time in a free analytical tool such as Google Analytics, or you can invest some money in a Web Analytics tool such as Omniture Site Catalyst to keep abreast of your SEO campaigns. Successful SEO companies know the importance of tools such as these, and if you are lucky to have such a company do your SEO, then you don’t have to read the rest of this article because there’s nothing here that the best SEO companies don’t know. By using Google Analytics, you can actually see your actual visitors by time frame, geographical location, and source. You’ll be able to see where your visitors are coming from within specified time frames, see their numbers, and also determine whether they arrive there through search engines or if they were linked to your website from some other website. You’ll also be able to see the bounce rates of your website. You’ll be able to keep track of the time the visitors spend on your website, find out the pages they stayed longer, and determine the pages that had the highest bounce rates thereby helping you to improve the content on those pages to make your visitors stay longer. By this, you’ll be able to figure out ways to improve your exit pages (pages that bounced your visitors off) and help you to tune up the website to prolong visitor interest. Google Analytics also helps you to gather information of your visitors’ browser details, their internet connection speeds, and whether they have their Java Script support turned on or off. With this, you’ll be able to tweak your content better to attract your target customers by helping you look at your own website from a customer/visitor perspective. The most important advantage Google Analytics offers is the ability to tune up and optimize your keywords based on inputs on data, such as keywords most used by your target audience to reach your website, and find out the pages that are performing well and tweak the weak ones to perform as well as your better pages. To put it simply, you will get to know the exact advantages, disadvantages, numbers, figures, facts and the strengths of your website in relation to the traffic it generates. You can also coordinate Google Analytics with Google AdSense and Google AdWords, and what you’ll arrive at is a well rounded SEO strategy that can only help you with monetizing your website better. Google Analytics is free, so you won’t have to put in anything except time to make it work for you. Omniture’s Site Catalyst is an analytical tool that can help you the same way as Google Analytics with a few extras thrown in. Site Catalyst offers real time data, external data imports, and creation of custom variables, paths and funnels. Though these can be done with the help of Google Analytics also, it would require an experienced analyst to tweak Google Analytics to deliver the same features. Irrespective of whether you use the free Google Analytics or the paid Omniture Site catalyst, you will definitely have to run an analytics tool if you want your website to rake in the revenues by bringing in more ‘good’ traffic. 3. Start a Twitter Account If you think that making your website tuned to increase its visibility in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) is enough to monetize your website traffic, then you are ignoring a significant 30% of the search engine market. 2009 has revealed that social media is one area you can’t ignore if you want to increase traffic and monetize it and also to build company reputation and brand image. If you are not playing in social media, you are losing out to your competitors that have had the better sense to utilize the benefits of social media sites like Facebook, MySpace, Digg and some others and also micro blogging sites such as Twitter. The last one, for example, holds tremendous possibilities for increasing good traffic to your website. Every single day, around ten thousand people join Twitter, which means that every single day you have more target customers that are becoming Twitter followers. Although Twitter adopts a ‘no follow’ policy in link rules and also advises Google and Yahoo to ignore links, most people will follow links to pages that they think will give them the information or product they are looking for. Ask.com does not follow the “no follow” policy of Twitter, and it has already captured 2.5% of the search market. Although this figure might pale in comparison to that of Google, it is still a huge volume that you cannot afford to ignore. Additionally, Twitter helps you to do off-site promotion for your website, and if you can provide fellow Twitters with useful information all the time, you’ll not only be bringing in more traffic through the short links you provide, you’ll be enhancing your brand image online as well. This way, Twitter can also help with the Alexa rankings by bringing in more visitors to your website. What Twitter does is that it helps you provide a constant stream of communication with your potential customers, peers, and even your competitors. Done smartly and ethically, Twitter can be ‘The’ social media platform you were looking for to build brand image, enhance company reputation, and increase/monetize traffic. 4. Start a Facebook Fanpage Another social media site that you cannot ignore is Facebook if you want to get the maximum leverage out of all the available tools on the internet to increase your website’s ‘good’ visibility. There are over 300 million users of Facebook and over 350,000 applications on Facebook, which means that there is a buzz on Facebook all the time. Tap into this Buzz or create one by starting a Facebook fan page for your website. A Facebook fan page is the best way to interact with your clients and to expand your socio-business network. Although Facebook is login based, which prevents search engine indexing, some pages are not behind login curtains, so they are visible to search engines and can be indexed by them. Since you can place links on your fan page, the chances of traffic through those links are high. Your socio-business network will constantly keep growing, and you can keep in touch with all your business contacts and potential customers by updating them all the time. Use the update feature to keep your potential customers informed about new products/services. A Facebook fan page can be very viral as new entrants are announced through news feeds and most of all; a Facebook fan page is easy to set up and absolutely free. 5. Speed Up Your Website Luring your potential customers and increasing your website’s inbound traffic is only half the job done towards monetizing your website. If you don’t retain customer/visitor interest, your pages are going to bounce off visitors regularly. There is no way you can rake in the profits if you aren’t able to hold customer/visitor attention for a prolonged period. One of the main culprits in high bounce rates is the slow speed of your website. Your website has to be user friendly as much as it is search friendly. If your pages take a long time to load, most often than not, your visitors are going to look for products/information/services from the faster websites of your competitors. Optimizing your website for search traffic does not only mean placing good content on it, but you should also be able to deliver the content to your visitor before he or she loses interest. One way of speeding up your website is to use a free tool like Google’s Page Speed. Page Speed is a free Firefox add on, which you can use to evaluate your website and find ways to optimize it by improving its load speed. Page Speed performs a set of tests on a site’s web server configuration and front end codes and generates scores for each page based on which improvements can be made to speed up the site. Using Page Speed will definitely speed up your site and make visitors linger longer thereby increasing the chance of conversions for your website. There is another great tool, which promises to increase the load speeds of website pages, called Memcached. Whether you are running Google’s Page Speed or Memcached on your website, you are only going to make your visitors happy when they visit your website and browse through your pages, and soon you’ll get to see more conversions from the traffic that comes to your website. Great content works, no doubt, but try to make the content workable by speeding up your website instead of wasting your visitors’ time with slow loading pages. If you missed out on being a smart business website owner in 2009, there’s no better time than 2010 to start employing smart tactics to add bite to your SEO. When there are tools available for free, why not make use of them to improve the performance of your website and make your SEO really work for you? It’s great to be on the top of the rankings in the SERPs, but the ranking alone will not monetize your website. Be the smart website owner in 2010 and make your business website do what it is supposed to do, which is deliver more profits for you!
Source: Business Pundit | 7 Jan 2010 | 12:41 pm RBS's Stanley Says Inflation to Accelerate in 2010: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 7 Jan 2010 | 12:24 pm Retailers beat December sales forecasts (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 7 Jan 2010 | 12:23 pm Second Curve's Brown Sees Bull Market for Bank Stocks: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 7 Jan 2010 | 12:22 pm NY Governor Paterson Defends Ethics Push: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 7 Jan 2010 | 12:21 pm Rochdale's Bove Sees `Huge Increase' in Bank Earnings: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 7 Jan 2010 | 12:20 pm More Money: Travel bargainsSource: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Jan 2010 | 12:16 pm Eichengreen Says Economic Power Is Shifting Toward Asia: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 7 Jan 2010 | 11:58 am UK gas usage set for new recordUK's severe weather causes record demand for gas and the National Grid issues its second gas supply alert in three days.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Jan 2010 | 11:53 am Good for Business: The Rise of the Conscious Corporation. A Book Review
We live in a free market. If a corporation wants to stay competitive, it needs to move its operations to a place where costs, taxes, and regulations are negligible. As long as consumers keep buying a company’s goods, it can operate any way it wants. That is so 1990s. Businesses no longer operate as islands, according to the authors of Good for Business: The Rise of the Conscious Corporation. In an Internet-savvy, skeptical, and tumultuous 21st century, societal goodwill becomes more than a luxury. It becomes a business imperative. “Those corporations (who) have taken the humanization of business into their brand DNA…will have the greatest influence with policymakers (of the future) and the best chance of engaging talent, consumers, and investors alike,” say the authors (p. 185). Many things have changed for corporations during the past decade. Public scrutiny has become a norm, thanks to open Internet channels. To stay competitive in today’s busy, hypercompetitive markets, companies need to refine their brand images. In an age where a reputation can burn in seconds, soft assets like trust and emotional connection are more important than ever. Tomorrow’s leaders (today’s millennial generation) require a different kind of workplace than their forebears. How do you stay successful in a changed environment? Good for Business covers how these changes came about, what they mean, and what to do about them in a three-part book. The first part offers an overview of how the role of the corporation has changed in today’s (post-crisis, millennial) era. It illustrates how consumers have become more aware of who they’re buying from, more networked into opinion groups, and more powerful overall. It explains what that all means for corporate brands. It also introduces the four cornerstones of tomorrow’s successful, conscious corporation: A purpose beyond profit, a people-centered culture, a sustainable approach to business, and respect for consumers’ power. The second part of the book describes why corporate brands have become so important, and how companies can empower effective brand messengers. It also covers what it means to be a leader in tomorrow’s successful corporation (Leader of Tomorrow). In addition, it explains how to create a culture that engages millennials (the Talent of Tomorrow). The third part of the book talks about building a useful statement of direction for your conscious corporation, then embedding and sustaining it within your company. This chapter is almost like a workbook, detailing exactly what you need to do and why. The book concludes with examples of corporations that have good consumer perception of their brand and company. The appendix offers a couple of global marketing study results on the way people consume products and perceive companies. Examples and context strengthen the book One of Good for Business’s biggest strengths is the way it puts the current business era into context. You close the book understanding not only that things have changed, but why they have changed. By offering easy-to-understand background information on its claims, the book facilitates a deeper understanding of today’s business conditions. Thanks to case studies, survey and research results, and informal examples, the book also makes those business conditions feel familiar. The authors integrate such supporting material throughout the book. Examples cover medium-to-large companies, including Zappos, Whole Foods, Google, and Tesco. Some examples are rather superficial—nobody’s going beneath the surface here, especially when it comes to employee sentiment about companies—but they work within the context of the book. Good for Business covers good topics, but its mission seems unclear Chapter-by-chapter, Good for Business is full of useful information and tips. The authors (four of them) know what they’re talking about. They offer good examples, solid points, and a clear overview of how to get from yesterday’s corporate standard to tomorrow’s conscious corporation. But beyond that, the purpose of the book baffles me. I finished the book feeling like I had a good general background on what it meant to run a “conscious” business, but many questions remained in my mind. Perhaps the book tackles too many potentially deep topics. For example, one chapter on millennials will hardly suffice for a company serious about managing them right. It read as though written by someone analyzing Gen-Y from the outside—hardly satisfying. On the other hand, Part III, on building a statement of purpose, was an incredibly clear, useful how-to. You could read the chapters in that section and come out with your own strong statement of purpose. The chapters on corporate brand also facilitated a crystal-clear understanding. But other chapters don’t offer you that kind of walk-through. Instead, you get background and/or general guidelines. Overall, the topics are good, but I can’t tell if the book is supposed to be a reference, description of what a conscious corporation is and how it works, or a how-to for building your own conscious corporation. Summations of the key points at the end of each chapter would have done a lot for this patchwork book. Conclusion The most memorable part of Good for Business was that it increased intimacy with what modern business conditions are, how they came about, and how they work. I wasn’t clear, however, on how to do everything I needed to do to get my company from Point A to Point B (except with regards to writing a statement of purpose). Was I supposed to know that, or was that not the book’s intention? Either way, I was left wanting more. Overall, I do recommend this book in certain circumstances. If you want a general overview with how the business environment has changed from a brand and marketing perspective, read this book. If you are unfamiliar with why business is different today, read this book. But if you want a complete reference or a how-to, look elsewhere. Disclosure: We received a free copy of this book.
Source: Business Pundit | 7 Jan 2010 | 11:50 am Signs Of The Apocalypse: Fed Should Raise Rates To 4%The Fed released the minutes from the latest FOMC meeting held on December 15th and 16th showed that some tension had developed among the members including the participating presidents of the regional federal reserve banks. Several attendees were concerned that the Fed has been too aggressive in its support of the mortgage-backed securities markets and in its purchases for [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 7 Jan 2010 | 11:40 am Handsome handout for homebuildersTalk about cash for clunkers.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Jan 2010 | 11:39 am Interview With Wall St. Cheat Sheet’s Damien Hoffman
Damien Hoffman is Editor-in-Chief of Wall St. Cheat Sheet, a complete financial website and subscription newsletter. He covers the gamut of financial information, from news to investing to expert interviews. Damien has had a diverse career that includes entrepreneurship, trading, investment banking, law–and producing innovative websites. I caught up with Damien to ask him more about his career, Wall St. Cheat Sheet, and the financial world in general. Drea: It looks like you went to law school, but don’t practice law. How does being a lawyer help you as a full-time trader and Editor-in-Chief? My legal training has helped me as Editor-in-Chief because I need to write persuasively, do good research, and ask good questions. Again, these are all part of basic legal training. Drea: You and your brother both trade full-time. It sounds like you’re quite successful at it. What were a couple of your most successful picks this year? Damien: We both traded full-time. Now I run our publishing operation more than full-time, and my brother manages our business. So, our trading has transitioned from intraday to more swing trading. One of our most successful picks this year was Intuitive Surgical (ISRG). We recommended our Premium subscribers buy on a break above $152, and we’ve been riding since. Of course, we’ve take profits along the way and added more too. We had a great 2009 picking stocks. We only recommended 6 trades. Lucky for us, the market was in a major trend most of the year so we benefitted. Drea: What is Wall St. Cheat Sheet’s most valuable resource (eg. market reports, your premium newsletter, interviews, etc.)? Damien: The Premium Newsletter is most valuable because we give you trade setups and you can make much more money than the cost of the subscription. However, our interviews have been one of our most popular resources on our website. I think people enjoy learning from those who have been successful. Moreover, we all need role models and inspiration. Drea: What aspect of the current sad economic state angers or saddens you most? What aspect are you most hopeful about? Damien: I am most angry that our government has allowed our economy to turn into a corrupt, wild-west gambling pit. As the culprits for the financial scams have yet to be punished, hard working people are struggling to keep work and survive. It’s a total embarrassment to genuine capitalism. I am most hopeful about the entrepreneurial spirit. Even if we need another decade or longer to deal with certain economic hurdles, at some point they’ll burn off and we will have another long creative cycle. Damien: Always trade with an exit plan. This means stop losses and taking profits along the way. If you don’t have an exit plan, you are gambling. If you don’t have an exit plan, the odds are the house will take your money. Other than that, 2010 is simply an extension of 2009. Find out more about Damien and Wall St. Cheat Sheet here.
Source: Business Pundit | 7 Jan 2010 | 11:39 am Peter Orszag Has A "Secret" Love Child, Is A Brute, Some People Would Like Us To Believe
Source: Dealbreaker | 7 Jan 2010 | 11:05 am Schwab (SCHW) Drop Trading FeesBy Paul Ausick of 24/7 Wall St. Charles Schwab Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHW) has announced that it will drop its online equity trade commissions for retail investors from $12.95/trade to $8.95/trade beginning January 19, 2010. Some other prices were also lowered, and Schwab now charges all retail clients the same fees regardless of whether the account is larger [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 7 Jan 2010 | 10:51 am Citi still nursing itself back to healthCitigroup's turnaround just keeps on turning.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 Jan 2010 | 10:50 am TSX pulled lower as oil, gold prices retreat (Reuters)Reuters - Toronto's main stock index fell on Thursday as a drop in oil, gold and other commodity prices knocked resource issues lower, ending a five-session stretch of gains for the market.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 7 Jan 2010 | 10:39 am Emails Show NY Fed Tried To Keep AIG Quiet On SwapsBy Caitlin Kenney Bloomberg is reporting that while the New York Fed was led by Timothy Geithner, it asked AIG to withhold documents and delay disclosures about how much it paid banks for credit default swaps. Hugh Son reports: AIG said in a draft of a regulatory filing that the insurer paid banks, which included Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Societe Generale SA, 100 cents on the dollar for credit-default swaps they bought from the firm. The New York Fed crossed out the reference, according to the e-mails, and AIG excluded the language when the filing was made public on Dec. 24, 2008. The e-mails were obtained by Representative Darrell Issa, ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. AIG's Dec. 24, 2008, filing was challenged privately by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which polices the adequacy of disclosures by publicly traded firms. The agency said in a letter to then-CEO Edward Liddy six days later that AIG should provide a Schedule A, which lists collateral postings for the swaps and names the bank counterparties that purchased them from the company. The Schedule A was disclosed about five months later in a filing. "Our position has always been that if AIG's securities lawyers determine that AIG is legally obligated to make a particular filing or disclosure, then that is what AIG must do," Thomas Baxter, general counsel for the New York Fed, said in a statement. He said it was appropriate for the New York Fed, as party to deals outlined in the filings, "to provide comments on a number of issues, including disclosures, with the understanding that the final decision rested with AIG's securities counsel." The New York Fed took over negotiations between AIG and the banks in November 2008, just weeks after the giant insurer was bailed out by taxpayers. BONUS: Felix Salmon on "The Fed's Culture of Secrecy." » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 7 Jan 2010 | 10:35 am A push for Latinos to pursue educationLatinos are the fastest-growing part of the U.S. population. But Latino students are the least likely to get college degrees, so they're getting special attention. Emily Hanford reports.Source: Marketplace | 7 Jan 2010 | 10:31 am What's hot at the electronics show?The annual Consumer Electronics Show is underway in Las Vegas. Kevin Pereira from G4's "Attack of the Show" talks with Kai Ryssdal about what's getting the biggest buzz at the CES.Source: Marketplace | 7 Jan 2010 | 10:31 am Chicago School of economics post-crisisWriter John Cassidy talks with Kai Ryssdal about the article he wrote for The New Yorker, which discusses the decline and fall of the Chicago School of economics after the financial crisis.Source: Marketplace | 7 Jan 2010 | 10:31 am Why is everyone so sweet on chocolate?Various companies have been trying to buy candy maker Cadbury. Now, Cadbury board members are reportedly in talks with Hershey. Why so much fuss over chocolate? Jeremy Hobson reports.Source: Marketplace | 7 Jan 2010 | 10:31 am Why apartment vacancies are risingApartment vacancies in the U.S. rose to 8% last quarter. But with so many people losing their homes, you'd assume folks would be moving into apartments. Where's the disconnect? Jeff Tyler reports.Source: Marketplace | 7 Jan 2010 | 10:30 am EPA proposes stronger smog standardsThe EPA is proposing tougher limits for the nation's most persistent air pollutant -- smog. And it's no longer just the urban corridors that will have to clean up. Sam Eaton reports.Source: Marketplace | 7 Jan 2010 | 10:29 am Signs of economy improving in retail?Big retail chains have been reporting how their stores did in December, and the overall numbers have been better than expected. Does that mean the overall economy is improving? Mitchell Hartman reports.Source: Marketplace | 7 Jan 2010 | 10:29 am Manhattan H&M, Wal-Mart Destroy New Clothes Before Trashing Them
H&M and Wal-Mart stores shred or punch holes in unsold clothes before throwing them in the trash, according to a New York Times investigative report. The stores are preventing charities and poor or homeless people from wearing the new clothes, rendering them useless. H&M has since promised to change its practice: The clothing retailer H & M promised on Wednesday to stop destroying new, unworn clothing that it cannot sell at its store in Herald Square, and would instead donate the garments to charities. The practice was discovered by Cynthia Magnus, a graduate student at the City University of New York, who found bags of unworn but mutilated clothing that had been thrown away by H & M on West 35th Street. She also found bags of new Wal-Mart garments with holes punched through them. After Ms. Magnus wrote to H & M’s headquarters in Sweden and got no response, she contacted The New York Times. More slashed clothing was found Monday night on 35th Street and reported in the About New York column on Wednesday. “It will not happen again,” said Nicole Christie, a spokeswoman for H & M in New York. “We are committed 100 percent to make sure this practice is not happening anywhere else, as it is not our standard practice.” Ms. Christie said it was H & M’s policy to donate unworn clothing to charitable groups. She said that she did not know why the store on 34th Street was slashing the clothes, and that the company was checking to make sure that none of its other stores were doing so. A Wal-Mart spokeswoman, Melissa Hill, said she had been unable to learn why new clothing with the store’s tags had been destroyed, but added that the company typically donated or recycled such items. In a city where 1/3 of inhabitants are poor, shredding unworn clothes, especially in the middle of winter, reflects a blatant disregard for the community. This could have been a PR nightmare for H&M. Good thing they stopped before the publicity fire grew.
Source: Business Pundit | 7 Jan 2010 | 10:23 am Citi IT Guy Wants His Money
Source: Dealbreaker | 7 Jan 2010 | 9:53 am Letter: 'Good Pizza Is Priceless'
"The Major" at Satchel's Pizza. (Satchel Raye) Satchel writes: I have listened to every episode of Planet Money since its inception. I love Chana and her voice and style but today she shocked me. I have a pizzeria in Gainesville, Florida and I have $30 pizzas.They are awesome and business is booming. You see, we pool tips and pay good wages (a dishwasher might start at $14 an hour, some veteran employees make as much as $25 an hour or more.) We have IRA's for employees, profit sharing bonuses twice a year, massages for employees and even a health savings account where we reimburse employees for medical expenses. I feel that if I'm going to run a business I need to be able to pay people good wages, offer benefits so they would rather work for me than someone else and make the best damn pies in America! So, yes, our deep dish with 6 toppings is $30, but it feeds 4 people, that's $7.50 per person. How many people does Chana's $30 pizza feed? Not just Chana? I believe that America has been dumbed down to get crappy pizza for cheap. Cheap cheese, frozen dough, frozen toppings. If someone does it right, making everything fresh, paying employees well, offering good jobs and benefits, then the pizza should cost about... $30. A mile away is my competition with the medium $6.99 special. They are dead and we are slammed. Why? Because we have great pies and customers know that our employees are treated well. My labor is almost 50 percent of gross. This is ridiculous for most restaurants but our formula is working fine. The restaurant is busy, the employees are making money and buying houses and settling in, and in 2009 we paid out over $800,000 in wages. For a local pizza shop only open 5 days a week, I think that's awesome. I get so frustrated reading reviews that say we are too expensive and obviously Chana would be one of my reviewers complaining about price. Why not complain about a $30 steak or a $100 bottle of wine? Good pizza is priceless. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 7 Jan 2010 | 9:46 am Adultery Website Gains Thousands of New Members After Heavy Snow
We all behave differently when snowed in. Some of us watch movies. Some play video games or read books. Some choose to finally visit that adultery site they’ve been wanting to check out. At least that’s what happened in Britain (Reuters): IllicitEncounters.com, which provides a platform for married people to conduct affairs, said on Wednesday it has seen an unexpected increase in visitors over the past 24 hours, and received a record number of new profiles on Wednesday morning. The website said most new members are registering from areas worst hit by this week’s extreme weather, including Hampshire, Berkshire, and the West Country, and the site has taken on several temporary staff members to cope with the rush. “In light of these figures, I’d be interested to see how much work those ‘working from home’ have actually done,” IlicitEncounters.com spokeswoman Sara Hartley said in a statement. “Perhaps these wives and husbands have just been waiting for a time when they could join, away from the eyes of their work colleagues and, most importantly, their partners…” The website said it has gained 2,567 new members in the last six days, suggesting that January will be its busiest month ever. Did those people sign up out of sheer boredom? Or have they always wanted an affair, but have been too busy to pursue one? Time will tell.
Source: Business Pundit | 7 Jan 2010 | 9:39 am How To Make Meetings Less Boring, Super-Soakers Included
Dixon Schwabl Advertising Inc., in Rochester, N.Y., tries to lower the inhibitions of its 82 employees by arming them with water guns, which workers are instructed to bring to all meetings. Anyone who passes a negative comment at the meeting is bound to get wet.
Source: Dealbreaker | 7 Jan 2010 | 9:08 am Foundations laid for grand designThe Capital Markets Development Taskforce's final report last year called for sweeping changes to the regulatory environment to rebuild investor confidence.NZX chief executive and taskforce member Mark Weldon is clearly relishing...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 7 Jan 2010 | 9:00 am GM confirms Kiwi in running to head car firmDETROIT - New Zealander Chris Liddell, General Motors' new chief financial officer, is a candidate for the top job at the carmaker, GM says.Chairman and interim chief executive Ed Whitacre said he would consider Liddell, who was...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 7 Jan 2010 | 9:00 am Lampert’s Surprise For Sears Holders (SHLD)Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) has been a significant winner lately even though it has been a very poor retailer for most of its recent history. But Eddie Lampert’s surprises was that he not only proved to meet our call of “retail stocks to double” from early 2008 double, but it is now a triple [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 7 Jan 2010 | 8:44 am Ken Feinberg Upset About The Fact That He Has No Real PowerOver the companies out of his jurisdiction, though he's closing his eyes and hoping for the best, i.e. that banks which don't have to do what he says will decide on their own to take an ax to executive pay. "The biggest disappointment, I think, is that under the statute my jurisdiction is so narrow, and so circumscribed, that I have no real direct mandatory power over other Wall Street or other national companies," Feinberg said today in an interview with Bloomberg special contributor Judy Woodruff. "I have my fingers crossed that we have developed some guidelines, some compensation prescriptions that will be emulated," Feinberg said. Feinberg Says Lack of Pay Authority Is Disappointment [Bloomberg]
Source: Dealbreaker | 7 Jan 2010 | 8:25 am Presented By:Source: Dealbreaker | 7 Jan 2010 | 8:25 am Hellmeyer on Economy, Chandler on Currencies: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 7 Jan 2010 | 8:02 am Vacancies Keep Rising, Rents Keep FallingBy Daniel Costello Apartment vacancies hit a 30-year high in the fourth quarter, and rents fell, as landlords struggled to keep existing tenants and attract new ones. The vacancy rate ended the year at 8 percent, the highest level since 1980, according to Reis Inc., a New York research firm that tracks vacancies and rents in the top 79 U.S. markets. Of the 79 U.S. markets that Reis follows, Tucson, Arizona experienced the biggest vacancy rise, up 3.1 percentage points in 2009 to 10.5 percent. Meanwhile, vacancies in the small market of Chattanooga, Tennessee fell 2.2 percentage to 6.4 percent. Jacksonville, Florida ended the year with the highest vacancy rate at 14.4 percent. In New York City, the largest U.S. apartment market, vacancies fell 0.10 percentage points to 2.9 percent. However, factoring in months of free rent and other perks, effective rent fell 0.7 percent to $2,646 per month. Higher priced rental properties in Manhattan drove the vacancy decline, while apartment buildings in more middle-class boroughs such as the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens haven't been able to dodge the bullet. On average, close to 60 percent of all rental buildings across the New York metropolitan area lowered their rents from the third quarter. Year-over-year, effective rents in New York fell by 5.6 percent, making 2009 the worst year for landlords by this measure. This was even worse than the 3.8 decline in 2002, when New York reeled from the after-effects of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 7 Jan 2010 | 7:19 am Morning Report: China Signals Possible Rate Hike; GM's Bold PredictionBy Daniel Costello China's central bank unexpectedly raised a key interbank market interest rate Thursday for the first time in nearly five months, a move that could lay the groundwork for an eventual rate hike. The People's Bank of China offered 60 billion yuan ($8.8 billion) of bills at a yield of 1.3684 percent, four basis points higher than at last week's sale, according to a statement. The tightening move came less than a day after the People's Bank of China hinted its priorities had shifted toward managing inflation expectations and away from single-mindedly supporting economic growth. The prospect of a tougher policy stance from Beijing sent Chinese shares tumbling and hit a range of commodities, with oil slipping below $83 a barrel on concerns about demand from China. In the U.S., the number of people claiming unemployment benefits was essentially flat last week, after two weeks of sharp drops, a sign that jobs are still hard to come by even as layoffs slow. The Labor Department says initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 434,000 last week. That's lower than the 447,000 a consensus of analysts expected. The number of continuing claims dropped 179,000 to 4.8 million. The figure doesn't include an additional 5.4 million people receiving unemployment under federal emergency programs, as of the week ending Dec. 19, the latest data available. The Labor Department will issue a more comprehensive snapshot of the job market on Friday, when it releases the monthly jobs report for December. And what a difference a year makes. In a wide-ranging interview with journalists, General Motors Co. interim chief executive, Edward Whitacre Jr., said he expects the government-owned automaker to be profitable in 2010 and that the company could have a public stock offering before the end of the year. "My prediction is we will be" profitable in 2010, Whitacre said. "Do we have obstacles in the way? Yes. But we have a good management team and a good plan in place." » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 7 Jan 2010 | 6:56 am Eerie Cake to Celebrate a New Baby
London cake designer Michelle Wibowo makes amazing artistic cakes. But this one is a little too lifelike–do you really want to eat a newborn?
Source: Business Pundit | 7 Jan 2010 | 4:17 am
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