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New China Mobile Strategy Bows to CooperationA strategic document obtained by Caixin describes China Mobile’s plans for multilevel cooperation on the wireless media frontier. By Zhai Hejuan (Caixin Online) Expanding markets for mobile television, handset reading material and Internet services are key elements of China Mobile’s evolving business model for conquering the new frontier of wireless media. The latest model is built on a [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 2 Apr 2010 | 4:20 am The US Fixes The Car Industry And Plans To Break It AgainGM and Chrysler will have paid the government back their tens of billion of dollar in loans by 2016 or will have gone bust in the attempt. That is the year that the The White House wants car companies to have their fleets’ fuel efficiencies at 35.5 millions per gallon. The Administration says this will cut [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 2 Apr 2010 | 4:05 am Asia shares higher; weak yen lifts Tokyo exportersAsian shares end higher Friday as a weaker yen lifts Tokyo, while Chinese shares continued their upward trend after this week’s strong manufacturing data.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 2 Apr 2010 | 4:03 am Free credit reports: Not so freeFor years, catchy advertisements have convinced viewers that if they don't log on to a Web site offering a free credit report, they could end up living in their parents' basement or working at a seafood restaurant.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 2 Apr 2010 | 4:02 am Japan loses out to Chinese cartoon piratesJapan’s cartoon industry, one of the mainstays of the country’s bid to revive the economy through “soft” exports, is losing $2.4 billion ($£1.57 billion) every year to Chinese piracy. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 2 Apr 2010 | 4:01 am Pound leaps on good factory data and ‘Conservatives to win’ pollSterling jumped after better than expected manufacturing data, while a poll indicating that the Conservatives could win a clear election victory also augmented investor appetite. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 2 Apr 2010 | 4:01 am Appetite for lamb lifts Waitrose salesShoppers braved the return of the bad weather last week to stock up on Easter meals, buying almost six times as many legs of lamb at Waitrose as they did this time last year. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 2 Apr 2010 | 3:57 am AIG’s Benmosche Forgets To Under-promise and Over-deliverFlamboiyant and loquacious AIG (AIG) CEO Robert Benmosche forgot the old business rule that it is best to under-promise and over-deliver. He told Reuters that he believes his company will pay back taxpayers before 2013 when its Fed credit line expires. Benmosche points to the sale of AIA division to Prudential UK and the sales of AIG’s American [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 2 Apr 2010 | 3:29 am End to job losses may finally be nearThe long nightmare of job losses appears to be just about over.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 2 Apr 2010 | 3:21 am 3 ways to get noticed by a headhunterIt's a wonderful thought: that someone might just call you up and end your job-search woes forever.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 2 Apr 2010 | 3:18 am Obama heads to North Carolina to talk jobs (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 2 Apr 2010 | 3:07 am Job creation expected in March as recovery builds (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 2 Apr 2010 | 3:06 am China central bank sees risks of global asset bubble, inflationBEIJING (Reuters) - China's central bank said on Friday that it saw growing risks of global asset bubbles and inflation and warned that huge, hidden bank bad loans in the West could pose a threat to the global economy.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 2 Apr 2010 | 3:03 am Toyota Finds Forgiveness In China And JapanToyota (TM) found some measure of redemption in the US last month. Its sales rose 43% over March 2009. It unit sales were nearly the same as those of GM and Ford (F) and its market share rocketed up to 17.5%. It was as if the 8.8 million recalls of its vehicles had never happened. But, [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 2 Apr 2010 | 3:03 am Investors have new tools to oust directors in 2010'Just vote no' campaigns to remove directors are expected to hold more sway.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 2 Apr 2010 | 3:00 am Capitol Report: More anger expected to color annual meeting seasonEmerging standard calls for directors ro win backing of a majority of investors.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 2 Apr 2010 | 3:00 am Sharp shows 3-D displays for mobile devices (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 2 Apr 2010 | 2:58 am China steelmakers meet, mull iron ore price shiftA state-affiliated industry group vowed Friday to tighten control over iron ore trading as Chinese steelmakers discussed strategy for contentious price talks with global miners _ the...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 2 Apr 2010 | 2:56 am Home sales rebound in pricey ManhattanHomebuyers have flocked back to Manhattan after sitting on the sidelines for much of last year, according to three reports issued Friday. The demand has helped stabilize prices in the nation's most expensive large market.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 2 Apr 2010 | 2:47 am Is Drilling Offshore Alaska Worth It?President Obama’s proposal to lift the exploration and drilling ban along the US Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) could result in the ultimate recovery of billions of barrel of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas. Over half of the estimated undiscovered, recoverable resources are located in the Gulf of Mexico. Another 30% of the [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 2 Apr 2010 | 2:35 am The ultimate iPad buyer's guideThe Apple device finally hits stores Saturday, April 3 after years of anticipation. But do you really want one? Here's what the much-hyped device can do -- and what it can't.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 2 Apr 2010 | 2:32 am Asian markets rise amid signs US poised for growth (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 2 Apr 2010 | 2:28 am Asian markets rise amid signs US poised for growth (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 2 Apr 2010 | 2:28 am Verizon cuts Palm Pre, Pixi Plus pricesVerizon Wireless is cutting the prices for Palm's Pre Plus and Pixi Plus smart phones and offering free access to a Wi-Fi service that lets the phones deliver Internet access to other kindsSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 2 Apr 2010 | 2:27 am Asian shares rise on upbeat U.S. data, autos gainTOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares rose on Friday, with South Korean stocks hitting a 21-month high, as upbeat U.S. manufacturing data and jobless claims boosted hopes for a sustainable economic recovery.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 2 Apr 2010 | 2:26 am Quiz: Are you smarter than a Census worker?Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 2 Apr 2010 | 2:07 am Census hiring to lift March payrollsWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. non-farm payrolls, a key measure of the economy's health, probably rose in March for only the second time since recession struck in late 2007 as hiring for the 2010 U.S. Census added jobs.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 2 Apr 2010 | 2:03 am Higher taxes threaten stock rallyBetween the new Medicare tax on investment income and a rise in capital gains and dividend taxes, investors will face higher costs. But the overall effect on stock returns is not as cut and dry.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:58 am Homes: What a million bucks buysSource: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:57 am Obama heads to North Carolina to talk jobsPresident Barack Obama is pushing his administration's plans to create jobs, a crucial campaign issue for Democrats as they look toward November's midterm elections. Obama planned...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:50 am Media Digest 4/2/2010 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, BloombergReuters: US Census hiring will life payrolls. Reuters: The US will impose new airport security measures. Reuters: The head of China will visit the US and issue of the yuan may be resolved. Reuters: Discounts drove auto sales higher. Reuters: AIG said it is on track to repay the US by 2013. Reuters: A Fed official said it was too [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:35 am Obama heads to NC to talk jobsPresident Barack Obama is pushing his administration's plans to create jobs, a crucial campaign issue for Democrats as they look toward November's midterm elections. Obama planned...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:13 am Obama to appear in NC to talk about jobs programsPresident Barack Obama is pushing his administration's plans to create jobs, a crucial campaign issue for Democrats as they look toward November's midterm elections. Obama planned...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:12 am Israel mounts Gaza Strip missile attacksIsraeli warplanes have attacked at least four sites in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, capping weeks of escalating tensions and violence between Israel and Palestinian militants based in the coastal territorySource: Financial Times - US homepage | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:12 am 3-D 'Clash of the Titans' to dominate the box officeThe remake, starring 'Avatar's' Sam Worthington, is up against Miley Cyrus' tear-jerker 'The Last Song' and Tyler Perry's ensemble comedy 'Why Did I Get Married Too?'Miley Cyrus and Tyler Perry will try to crash the box office this weekend, but they should be no match for a hero of Greek mythology.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am CalPERS and Blackstone Group battle over proposed ban on contingency fees paid to intermediariesThe giant public pension fund and some California state officials say the fee system invites corruption. But Blackstone and other firms contend that so-called placement agents play a useful role. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am American Apparel suffers growing painsThe L.A. urban-chic clothing maker and retailer posted a drop in fourth-quarter sales and profit as cheaper rivals are reviving. But its outspoken CEO insists the company is flourishing. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Sales rev up big time for Ford, Toyota, GMA price war and pent-up demand fuel a 24% rise industrywide.A price war sparked by Toyota Motor Corp.'s effort to regain sales lost to its recall and reliability woes sent auto sales surging in March.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am 3-D 'Clash of the Titans' to dominate the box officeThe remake, starring 'Avatar's' Sam Worthington, is up against Miley Cyrus' tear-jerker 'The Last Song' and Tyler Perry's ensemble comedy 'Why Did I Get Married Too?' ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am CalPERS and Blackstone Group battle over proposed ban on contingency fees paid to intermediariesThe giant public pension fund and some California state officials say the fee system invites corruption. But Blackstone and other firms contend that so-called placement agents play a useful role.Legislation to ban commissions paid to intermediaries for steering California's public pension money to investment houses has spurred a lobbying war led by Wall Street's powerful Blackstone Group, allied with such major banking firms as Wells Fargo & Co.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am American Apparel suffers growing painsThe L.A. urban-chic clothing maker and retailer posted a drop in fourth-quarter sales and profit as cheaper rivals are reviving. But its outspoken CEO insists the company is flourishing.American Apparel Inc., the Los Angeles clothing maker and retailer known for its colorful fashions, racy advertising and outspoken chief executive, is fraying at the edges.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Rock & Republic files for bankruptcy protectionThe Culver City designer of pricey denim and other apparel says reorganization will 'alleviate balance sheet burdens.' ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Average rate for 30-year mortgages back above 5%The increase to 5.08% this week puts the average at its highest level since the first week of the year. The average...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Sales rev up big time for Ford, Toyota, GMA price war and pent-up demand fuel a 24% rise industrywide. A price war sparked by Toyota Motor Corp.'s effort...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am California's sole auto plant shuts downThe NUMMI plant in Fremont puts out its last car, a Toyota Corolla. It was established in 1984 and employed 4,700 workers. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am California's sole auto plant shuts downThe NUMMI plant in Fremont puts out its last car, a Toyota Corolla. It was established in 1984 and employed 4,700 workers.California's sole auto plant shut down Thursday in Fremont as the last car rolled off the assembly line and thousands of now unemployed workers walked out the doors, some crying.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Website that rates people triggers controversyOn Unvarnished, anyone can post anonymous reviews about anyone else. Its co-founder says it will be more honest than similar sites and self-regulating. Critics foresee reputations held hostage. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Rock & Republic files for bankruptcy protectionThe Culver City designer of pricey denim and other apparel says reorganization will 'alleviate balance sheet burdens.'Rock & Republic, the fashion brand known for its pricey designer denim and other apparel, said Thursday that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am John Malkovich seeks $2.3 million from Bernard Madoff accountThe trustee liquidating Madoff's firm in the wake of the biggest U.S. Ponzi scheme had approved a claim for $670,000. He said Malkovich wasn't entitled to more than what the actor had deposited.Actor John Malkovich is seeking to recover $2.3 million from an account he had with the securities firm of Bernard Madoff, who conducted the biggest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Jobs, manufacturing reports boost stock marketStronger reports on jobs and manufacturing boosted stocks Thursday ahead of the government's employment report for March.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Prices of several iPad apps to soarSome are expected to cost as much as 500% more than they do on the iPhone. But others will remain free. Prepare...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Website that rates people triggers controversyOn Unvarnished, anyone can post anonymous reviews about anyone else. Its co-founder says it will be more honest than similar sites and self-regulating. Critics foresee reputations held hostage.Peter Kazanjy, a little-known San Francisco entrepreneur, has launched a controversial website that overnight has turned him into a very public and not very popular figure.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Online services march into Yellow Pages' turfA wave of start-ups, and giants like Google and Yahoo, are trying to tap the multibillion-dollar potential of using the Internet to connect consumers with nearby providers of goods and services. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Calif. bill would expand pesticide safety programCalifornia's 700,000 farmworkers may soon receive greater protection under a proposed expansion of the state's nationally renowned pesticide safety program. A bill moving through the...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:58 am Currencies: Dollar gains on major rivals in Asian tradingThe dollar gains against major rivals amid thin holiday volume, as investors position for the key U.S. jobs report due later in the session.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:53 am Hu to attend Obama nuclear summitChina announces its president will attend a summit on nuclear security in Washington later this month, a goodwill gesture to the US after weeks of tension over a range of issuesSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:40 am US Companies Optimism Tempered with Regulatory ConcernsSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:30 am Peter Brimelow: Another gold bug likes stocks, for nowThe Dines Letter joins the Aden sisters in going with the stock market flow short-term, but reserving its right to be apocalyptic about the long term.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:21 am TaxWatch: As April 15 nears, don't forget these tax tasksHave you filed your taxes yet? The top five procrastinating U.S. cities last year were Houston, Chicago, New York, Austin and San Francisco, according to TurboTax.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:14 am Caixin Online: Iron-steel trading indicted at Rio Tinto trialThe bribery and commercial espionage trial of four former Rio Tinto executives reveals the dark side of trade between the major iron-ore suppliers and Chinese steel mills, Caixin Online reports.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:04 am AEGON Completes Sale of Dutch Funeral Insurance BusinessSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am Asia Markets: Japan auto industry gears up for China growthShares of Toyota outpace the broader market after the company posts strong sales data for last month, while analysts say it and others in Japan's auto and auto-parts sectors are poised for more growth, thanks to their exposure to China.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 1 Apr 2010 | 11:05 pm US companies criticize Chinese market obstacles (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 1 Apr 2010 | 10:57 pm Essilor Acquires Signet Armorlite, Exclusive Manufacturer of KODAK LensesSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 1 Apr 2010 | 10:57 pm Cyber Agent -2009/10 group forecastCONSOLIDATED EARNINGS ESTIMATES (in billions of yen unless specified)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 1 Apr 2010 | 10:56 pm Outside the Box: Bell begins to toll for bondsPoor Treasury auctions and subsequent dumping of bonds have set off all kinds of alarms, and while the worst may not be coming, bond prices are very likely headed lower, writes Howard Gold.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 1 Apr 2010 | 10:32 pm Japan Kan says he won't push China on yuan policyJapan’s finance minister says he won't pressure China over its foreign-exchange policy when he visits Beijing over the weekend.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 1 Apr 2010 | 10:19 pm Home prices down in Manhattan in 1Q; sales higher (AP)AP - Home prices in Manhattan dipped in the first quarter of the year, but sales activity rocketed from last year's low levels.Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 1 Apr 2010 | 10:03 pm Broker Talk: The Unemployment Story (Broker Talk)With key data at hand, two market gurus disagree about the state of the jobs recovery.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm No Insurance Stocks Until After Hurricane SeasonInvestors in insurance stocks shouldn't be overconfident.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm Another Election for Investors to Watch (Global Recovery Watch)The U.K.'s upcoming vote could influence its recovery and your portfolio.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm Disabilities Are Restricting More Retirees (The New Retirement)Keating: Seniors should beware of these underdiagnosed disabilities.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm Obama Wants You to Count Your Calories (Money and Your Mind)Fast-food restaurants will soon have to list calorie counts. Will it matter?
Source: SmartMoney.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm This Week in Business Tweets: Apple Love (Twitter Beat)Steve Case plugs the iPad, while Harbinger dumps NYT shares.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm Magic Words for Better Deals (Deal of the Day)Say "birthday" or "honeymoon" and the deals come rushing in.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm GM says China sales up 68 percent in March (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 1 Apr 2010 | 9:58 pm Calif county reaches deal on tax refund to Chevron (AP)AP - Contra Costa County officials have reached a tentative agreement on a repayment plan for an $18 million tax refund the county owes Chevron Corp.Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 1 Apr 2010 | 9:55 pm Few SEC bounties for whistleblowers (AP)AP - The Securities and Exchange Commission has had a bounty program for two decades to reward outside whistleblowers. But it has made few payments and must be improved, the agency's watchdog says.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 1 Apr 2010 | 9:46 pm Census project adds to the job picture when it countsAbout 700,000 are getting temp work. Critics say that's a drop in the bucket.When March employment figures are released Friday by the Department of Labor, analysts are expecting to see the biggest U.S. job gains in more than two years.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 1 Apr 2010 | 8:34 pm Discounts drive auto sales rise, Toyota surgeDETROIT (Reuters) - U.S. auto sales jumped to a seven-month high in March led by a 41 percent surge at Toyota Motor Corp after the Japanese automaker offered the steepest discounts in its history to win back sales lost during its recent safety crisis.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 1 Apr 2010 | 7:49 pm Samsung Electronics shares hit record highSEOUL (Reuters) - Shares in Samsung Electronics hit a record high on Friday fueled by foreign buying amid current strong memory chip momentum and a robust earnings outlook for the first half.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 1 Apr 2010 | 7:41 pm FDIC sells $491 million in home loans (AP)AP - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has sold $490.7 million in troubled mortgage loans from 19 banks that failed between August 2008 and March 2009 as it works through an inventory of assets from the institutions it has taken over.Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 1 Apr 2010 | 7:01 pm Toyota to extend sales incentivesDETROIT (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp will extend U.S. sales incentives in April as it recovers from a two-month sales dip linked to recalls and suspended sales.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 1 Apr 2010 | 6:19 pm Bonus critic awarded 60pc pay riseA fund manager who has been a fierce critic of excessive bank bonuses was himself awarded a pay rise of almost 60pc last year.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 1 Apr 2010 | 6:09 pm MGM mulls standalone plan, suitor grows restlessLOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's steering committee met with creditors on Thursday to present a stand-alone plan for the studio, as Access Industries threatened to drop its bid unless it gets a response soon, sources familiar with the matter said.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 1 Apr 2010 | 6:07 pm Dell says several former staff may face SEC actionSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Dell Inc said on Thursday several of its former employees had been told they may face some sort of action by financial regulators related to a long-running probe of the PC maker's accounting.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 1 Apr 2010 | 6:06 pm Dell says several former staff may face SEC action (Reuters)Reuters - Dell Inc said on Thursday several of its former employees had been told they may face some sort of action by financial regulators related to a long-running probe of the PC maker's accounting.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 1 Apr 2010 | 6:06 pm Relief for passengers and a reprieve for Brown as judge halts national rail strikeA High Court judge rescued the travel plans of millions of Easter holidaymakers and commuters returning to work next week by granting an emergency injunction against a national rail strike that threatened to halt 80 per cent of trains. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm Business groups open fire on LabourBusiness turned its guns on the Government yesterday in a dispute over national insurance that threatened to tarnish new Labour’s love affair with corporate Britain. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm Chrysalis picks up pop classics in £11m dealBritain’s largest independent music publisher has bought rights to 45,000 songs including the Sheryl Crow catalogue and the Jefferson Airplane classic Somebody to Love. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm Free handsets under threat as cut in mobile charges angers operatorsThe era of the free handset was under threat last night after the biggest regulatory shake-up of the mobile phone sector in a decade. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm It looks like recovery — would you credit it?Has the long-awaited manufacturing recovery finally arrived? The latest reading from a closely watched indicator suggests it is here and it is strong. The purchasing managers’ index compiled by CIPS/Markit, which measures overall manufacturing activity, jumped to 57.2 in March, up from 56.5 in February, its highest level since October 1994. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm Web-savvy housewives sabotage efforts to save Japan’s economy from stagnationJapan’s desperate fight with deflation — the policy battle that could decide the fate of the world’s second-largest economy — is being undermined by a mobile phone application and an army of penny-pinching housewives. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm Ryanair raises profit forecast for third time as rivals wait for a tail windRyanair indicated yesterday that the worst recession to hit the global aviation industry may be easing as the budget carrier increased its profit forecast for a third time. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm Reaction mixed to idea of East Coast drilling (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 1 Apr 2010 | 5:45 pm The Law School Where Every Student's GPA Just IncreasedBy Jacob Goldstein Loyola Law School in Los Angeles is retroactively increasing all of its current students' grades. That C+ from last year is now a B-. Everybody's GPA just went up by 0.333. Magic! The school says that it's been grading on a harder curve than almost all the other law schools in California, so its students have been at an unfair advantage. The shift is a reminder of an economic idea called "signaling." It holds that education is important not only because of whatever facts students learn, but also because educational credentials are a way for candidates to signal to potential employers that they are likely to be productive workers. An economist named Michael Spence won a Nobel in part for showing that signaling would work even if education itself did not make people more productive workers. Anyway. I asked the communications office at Loyola for a copy of the dean's letter that went out last month explaining the grade hikes. Here it is: Last week the faculty approved a proposal to modify the grading system. The change will boost by one step the letter grades assigned at each level of our mandatory curve. For example, what previously was a B- would be a B, what previously was a B would be a B+, and so forth. All other academic standards based on grades, such as the probation and disqualification thresholds, are also adjusted upwards by the same magnitude. For reasons that will be explained below, these changes are retroactive to include all grades that have been earned under the current grading system since it was adopted. This means that all grades already earned by current students will be changed. It also means that all grades going forward will be governed by the new curve. The effect of making the change retroactive will be to increase the GPA of all students by .333. The change will not alter relative class rank since the GPA of all students will be moved up by the same amount. Reasons for Change I asked the faculty to make this change for two reasons. First, grades provide information about our students and our academic program. Employers and external sources of scholarship dollars pay very careful attention to this information. The information conveyed by the old grading curve did not accurately convey the high quality of our students. Over the last several years our students have improved significantly as measured by all the usual standards of academic accomplishment. In 1999, the undergraduate GPA for the 25th/75th percentiles of our first year class was 3.00-3.50 and the LSAT was 154/160. In 2009 the GPA was 3.17-3.61 and the LSAT was 158-163. Just 70% of our 1999 graduates passed the July bar exam on the first attempt. Over 85% of our 2009 graduates passed on the first try. Second, many other schools already have moved their curves higher than ours to give their students an advantage in this difficult job market. In fact, before this change, only one other accredited California law school had a mean grade for first year classes as low as ours. Without adjusting our curve, we send an inaccurate message to employers about the comparative quality of our students and put them at an unfair competitive disadvantage. Since we are adjusting our curve well after many other schools in our region already moved their curves higher, our faculty decided it was important to make this adjustment retroactive. How Our Grading System Works To understand the change, it is important first to understand how our grading system works and why we have such a system. In short, our system imposes in almost all classes a mandatory mean grade. It also imposes a mandatory standard deviation that controls the distribution of grades both above and below the mean. These mandatory standards limit professor discretion but provide a measure of uniformity between courses and professors. Mandatory means and standard deviations. Once a faculty member determines the raw scores achieved by students in a class, those scores must be "normalized." In almost all cases this is done by converting those raw scores to a range between 55 and 100 and then imposing a mandatory mean and standard deviation on that range. All first year courses have a mandatory mean of 81 and a mandatory standard deviation of 6, with the exception of Legal Research and writing, which may use a standard deviation of between 4 and 6. The vast majority of our advanced courses have the mandatory means and mandatory standard deviations reflected in the chart below.
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Conversion of number scores to letter grades . Once raw scores are "normalized" they are converted to letter grades. The minimum passing grade is 70, with some exceptions. Grades between 55 and 69 are considered failing grades for which unit credit is not earned. While unit credit is not earned for a failing grade, point value is assigned for a D for purposes of computing grade point averages. Here is the grading curve as it stood at the beginning of this year.
Student cumulative GPA is calculated based on the GPA value assigned to letter grades in this chart. Rank is determined by cumulative GPA, not by the average of a student's numerical scores. For purposes of considering the change we have made to the curve, it is important to keep in mind this relationship between rank and cumulative GPA. This relationship means that, to raise the curve retroactively without changing anyone's rank, all letter grade steps in the curve must be raised and all must be raised by essentially the same GPA value.
The New Curve
As the chart below indicates, each step in the letter grade scale has been moved up one level (with the exception that the C- designation has simply been eliminated). For example, a B- under the old system becomes a B under the new system, a B becomes a B+, and so forth. The "normalization" rules that take raw scores and force them into a 55-100 range with a mandatory mean and standard deviation, thereby producing the Numerical Score, remain unchanged.
Note that the highest grade in the new curve is still called A+, as is the second to the highest grade. This is because there is no commonly accepted symbol for a grade above that level. While most grades of A+ will receive 4.333 grade points, those A+ grades that earn 4.667 grade points will be accompanied by an asterisk. The asterisk will lead the reader to an explanation on the transcript making clear that, as a result of the change in the curve we have now implemented, there are two possible grade point values for an A+. By way of comparison, USC Law School employs a system that allows for several different grade point values above 4.0.
Implementation of Changes
Grades appearing on student transcripts will be changed to reflect the new curve. The Dean's office is working with the Office of the Registrar and the Information Technology Department to implement these changes on transcripts as soon as possible. We will send out another notice once we have confirmed the implementation date.
Hat tip: Above the Law via Economix
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AP - Stronger reports on jobs and manufacturing boosted stocks Thursday ahead of the government's March employment report.
But it’s after 5 the night before a 3-day and if I can speak freely? I need to get out of here and can’t wade through this story just now. Also, while I’m sure there’s many a gem to be found within, based on an intimate knowledge of the firm, plus the article’s dek (“When it comes to its role in the financial crisis, Goldman Sachs has a message for the world”), there’s no need. If I know my Masters of the Universe– and I think I do!– the message is this: “blow us.” Or variants thereof. Prove me wrong.
Reuters - The Dow and the S&P 500 rose on Thursday, thanks to upbeat economic data, but the Nasdaq was stagnant as investors pummeled shares of Research In Motion following downbeat results.
By Jacob Goldstein
State officials in Massachusetts just rejected the vast majority of health insurance companies' requests to raise premiums for people covered in small-business plans.
This is the latest in the whole higher-health-costs-meet-higher-premiums-meet-politics story.
Insurers filed 274 requests to increase premiums; the state rejected 235 of them. The requests were rejected because insurers wanted increases that were much larger than the rate of medical inflation. And the insurers failed to show that they had renegotiated reimbursement rates with doctors and hospitals, the state said.
Carriers had proposed rate hikes from 8% to 32%, the Boston Globe says. Some of the state's largest insurance companies posted losses last year, according to the Globe.
Massachusetts put a universal coverage plan in place a few years back, and the state has been struggling with rising health costs. The Governor, Deval Patrick, put emergency regulations in place in February to allow the state to block premium increases. Deval is up for re-election; his Republican opponent -- Charlie Baker, a former health-care exec -- opposes the rate restrictions.
A spokesman for the state's health insurance industry group told the Globe that "if we're not going to be allowed to have our prices cover our costs, that will be a problem for the whole industry."
The fight over the rate increases in Massachusetts is reminiscent of the howling in February when a WellPoint subsidiary in California wanted to raise rates for certain individual policies by 39%.
WellPoint argued that adverse selection was at work: In a bad economy, healthy people were choosing to go without insurance, or to buy bare-bones policies. The people holding on to solid, individual insurance policies were the ones with the highest health costs. That was driving up costs for the insurer, which were reflected in higher premiums.
The Obama Administration didn't buy that argument, and used the rate increase to push its health reform plan.
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Unlike his younger co-star, who has the stomach and the skills to withstand the highs and lows of trading, Michael Douglas is out.
The Hollywood actor – who made the motto famous as trader Gordon Gekko in 1987 film Wall Street – says he chased the big bucks for years. The movie veteran said: “I played. Years ago, through the tech booms, I definitely did it.” Then it all came tumbling down. The actor, 65, said: “I lost 35 to 40 per cent of my net worth on the 2008 crash.” Despite prices starting to recover, he was shocked into ending his profiteering – and pulled most of his cash from stocks. He revealed: “At the end of last year, I took a whole bunch out.”
It’s Wall Street Over For Douglas [The Sun via Daily Intel]
No TV show exemplifies the cubicle world quite like The Office. In honor of April Fool’s Day–and pranks in general–we’ve compiled ten of the best pranks from The Office. Jim and Dwight, of course, play central roles in each of these fantastic pranks.
Stapler in Jell-O
Dwight finds out that Jim put his stapler and other supplies inside a Jell-O mold.
Dwight Times Two
Jim comes to work dressed up as Dwight, then starts acting like him.
Vending Machine
Jim puts Dwight’s office supplies into the vending machine.
Dwight’s Phone
Jim pairs his headset with Dwight’s cell phone. Dwight gets even more angry when he finds out Jim has forwarded Dwight’s calls to his own office phone.
The Salesman of the Year Speech
When Dwight wins the Salesman of the Year award, Jim gives him a copy of a Mussolini speech to read. Much to Jim’s surprise, the speech is a hit.
Dwight’s Merry Christmas
Jim gift wraps Dwight’s desk, chair, and other office supplies, just in time for the holidays.
The Gaydar
Jim orders a Gaydar for Dwight, who wants to find out who in the office is gay. Dwight, however, is not happy when he scans himself.
The Future Dwight
Jim starts faxing letters to Dwight from “The Future Dwight.” Dwight really thinks they’re coming from the future–and some of his coworkers suffer as a result.
Pavlov’s Dwight
Jim brainwashes Dwight into wanting an Altoid every time he hears the computer log in sound.
Jim the Vampire
Dwight thinks Jim was bitten by a bat trapped in the office…and is now turning into a vampire.
Lady Gaga? Paul Volcker? Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi? Michael Lewis? Tim Geithner? Zach Galifianakis? Elizabeth Warren? Kanye? Warren Buffett? James Cameron? Larry Summers? Ben Bernanke? Jenny McCarthy? Lloyd Blankfein? And who should come first? Last? And everywhere in between?
It’s hard to say, they’re all so special in their own right. Jenny was once on Singled Out and is now fighting the good fight against vaccination. Paul Volcker has his proposals. Snooki is tan. Geithner recently joined a book club. I don’t really care much who influential persons 2-100 are but number one would be nice to have some say in. To that end, my thoughts are this: you know whose day it would really make to be dubbed the most influential person in the universe? Big Lar’s. As you know he’s been having a tough go of it lately and supposedly might quit out of bitterness that Bernanke got the Fed job again, instead of him. So dethroning “that bearded fruit,” with his smug grin and his Jos A Bank suits, as Time’s special princess would probably mean the world to LS. Bonus: while I personally believe Lloyd Blankfein and his nuclear power-balled should win this thing, if we give it to Summers we can expect a Kanye-inspired interruption by Lucas vP during the acceptance speech. Which will be so worth it. Think about it.
The 2010 Time 100 Poll [TIME]
By Jacob Goldstein
Planet Money is a penny-ante player in the toxic-asset game. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is the big money.
The New York Fed spent roughly $80 billion to buy toxic assets from Bear Stearns and AIG during the financial crisis. It has been reporting on the status of its investments -- how much income they've generated, what their current estimated market value is, that sort of thing. But the Fed hasn't actually listed which assets it bought.
That just changed.
Late yesterday, the New York Fed told the world which assets it had purchased. The assets the Fed bought from Bear Stearns, which are held by a specially created company named Maiden Lane, are listed here. The assets it bought in the AIG bailout, which are held by special companies named Maiden Lane II and Maiden Lane III, are listed here and here. (Maiden Lane is a street adjacent to the New York Fed's office.)
The NY Fed put out a statement that said it "recognizes the importance of transparency ... ."
The statement didn't mention that the Fed initially refused to disclose what the assets were, and only did so after Bloomberg News won a lawsuit that forced the Fed to pull back the curtain. (The NY Fed argued that disclosing which assets it owned would make it harder to sell them for competitive prices in the future, the WSJ says.)
So what's in there? There are some bread-and-butter toxic assets: Securities backed by mortgages that were given to borrowers who provided little documentation to get the loans, Bloomberg notes. There are also loans for Hilton hotels in New Jersey, Hawaii and Malaysia, and for a Radisson in Florida. And there are bets against credit of bond insurers, such as MBIA.
There's lots more. We'll be digging around in there to see what else we find. And if you find anything interesting, let us know.
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First prize is a Cadillac Eldorado and being forced to sit for this illustration.
Absolute Return has published its annual list of the top hedge fund earners of the year and while you might’ve thought differently at the time, it turns out keeping a pair of brass testicles on your desk and rubbing them at various intervals throughout the day for good luck isn’t so silly or homoerotic afterall. (Kidding, of course it still is, but doing so might score you a $4 billion take-home so, perhaps its worth it.) Other takeaways: Paul Tudor Jones is gonna make it hailstorm chicken and someone just stuck an extra pin in the voo-doo doll shaped like her ex-husband.
25. Alan Howard, Brevan Howard, $350 million
24. James Dinan, York Capital, $350 million
23. Brian J. Higgins, King Street Capital, $375 million
22. O. Francis Biondi Jr., King Street Capital, $375 million
21. Bruce Kovner, Caxton Associates, $375 million
20. Daniel Och, Och-Ziff Capital, $390 million
19. Ray Dalio, Brigewater Associates, $400 million
18. Michael Hintze, CQS Management, $420 million
17. Stanley Druckenmiller, Duquense Capital Management, $450 million
16. Andreas Halvorsen, Viking Global, $450 million
15. Louis Bacon, Moore Capital, $450 million
14. Israel Englander, Millenium Management, $475 million
13. David Shaw, DE Shaw, $500 million
12. Marc Lasry, Avenue Capital, $500 million
11. Paul Tudor Jones II, Tudor Jones Investment Corp, $750 million
10. Phil Falcone, Harbinger Capital, $825 million
9. John Arnold, Centaurus Advisors, $900 million
8. Ken Griffin, Citadel, $900 million
7. Eddie Lampert, ESL Investments, $1.3 billion
6. Carl Icahn, Icahn Capital, $1.3 billion
5. Steve Cohen, SAC Capital, $1.4 billion
4. John Paulson, Paulson&Co, $2.3 billion
3. James Simons, Renaissance Technologies, $2.5 billion
2. George Soros, Soros Fund Management, $3.3 billion
1. David Tepper, Appalossa Management
Related: 2008’s Highest Earning Hedge Fund Managers
2008’s Top Losers (Lampert, Please Report To Clean Up In Aisle 8, Clean Up In Aisle 8 Please)
After yesterday’s $320 million IPO, Primerica, Inc.–formerly part of Citi–released about 21 million shares of common stock onto the NYSE. The shares were priced at $15 at opening today, and have since gone up.
Outside of speculating on Primerica’s stock values, why should you be interested in Primerica? Because it’s a multilevel marketing scheme. Business Insider took an in-depth look at what–and who–Primerica actually is:
Primerica employs, according to their prospectus, over 100,000 representatives who go out and sell financial products like term life insurance, mutual funds, life insurance, and annuities. Almost all the products offered by Primerica are from Citigroup, its corporate parent. All the mutual funds and annuities are sold through Primerica’s licensed broker/dealer subsidiary, PFS Investments.
The goal is for the rep to push these products in a “warm market,” which includes your family and friends who you’d be more comfortable selling to. The rep receives a commission for these sales and his recruiter, recruiter’s recruiter and so on all receive a portion of the sale. Reps are encouraged to recruit more people to continue bringing in sales and revenue.
According to Primerica, these 100,000 reps make on average, $5,156 a year. Hardly enough to do anything with let alone live on. Higher ups who run district sales offices are called RVPs or regional vice presidents. They make significantly more money. Know why? Primerica employs an 11-tier upside system in which you get a kickback of commissions from your recruits, your recruit’s recruits, and so on up until the 11th level. (This information can be found on page 112 of the prospectus.)
Local Primerica offices are actually located in peoples’ homes, according to the article. Of Primerica’s $168 million in income last year, an estimated $30 million came from its own reps, who pay enrollment fees and monthly fees.
That’s no reason not to invest. Avon, another MLM, has done quite well during its lifetime as a public company. It is, however, worth knowing what Primerica is.
Kate Hudson is apparently “dating” an “big-time” “hedge fund manager” “based in LA.” Who is it? I don’t know, because it was only mentioned as a blind item. But! I’m sure we can take two to figure it out. Assuming we’re supposed to be using the loosest definition of the identifiers, here are some early guesses:
a) Mitchell Julis (Canyon)
b) Peter Thiel (Clarium)
c) Bill Gross
d) Shia LaBeouf
e) JEFFREY GUNDLACH (***Please let this be it***)
f) you tell us
March performance info.
Google is now Topeka–at least according to Google’s April Fool’s joke, an annual tradition the company has upheld for more than a decade. When you navigate to Google.com, the Google logo has been changed to Topeka. Google explains why on its blog:
*
Early last month the mayor of Topeka, Kansas stunned the world by announcing that his city was changing its name to Google. We’ve been wondering ever since how best to honor that moving gesture. Today we are pleased to announce that as of 1AM (Central Daylight Time) April 1st, Google has officially changed our name to Topeka.
We didn’t reach this decision lightly; after all, we had a fair amount of brand equity tied up in our old name. But the more we surfed around (the former) Topeka’s municipal website, the more kinship we felt with this fine city at the edge of the Great Plains.
A change this dramatic won’t happen without consequences, perhaps even some disruptions. Here are a few of the thorny issues that we hope everyone in the broader Topeka community will bear in mind as we begin one of the most important transitions in our company’s history:
* Correspondence to both our corporate headquarters and offices around the world should now be addressed to Topeka Inc., but otherwise can be addressed normally.
* Google employees once known as “Googlers” should now be referred to as either “Topekers” or “Topekans,” depending on the result of a board meeting that’s ongoing at this hour. Whatever the outcome, the conclusion is clear: we aren’t in Google anymore.
* Our new product names will take some getting used to. For instance, we’ll have to assure users of Topeka News and Topeka Maps that these services will continue to offer news and local information from across the globe. Topeka Talk, similarly, is an instant messaging product, not, say, a folksy midwestern morning show. And Project Virgle, our co-venture with Richard Branson and Virgin to launch the first permanent human colony on Mars, will henceforth be known as Project Vireka.
* We don’t really know what to tell Oliver Google Kai’s parents, except that, if you ask us, Oliver Topeka Kai would be a charming name for their little boy.
* As our lawyers remind us, branded product names can achieve such popularity as to risk losing their trademark status (see cellophane, zippers, trampolines, et al). So we hope all of you will do your best to remember our new name’s proper usage.
*
Nice work, Google. I hope that some people fell for it and sent shocked emails to the company. That would be priceless.
Not sure if any of you have learned this lesson yet but let it be known, there is no justice in the world of parking your damn car wherever you want. Richard Grubman learned this the hard way Tuesday night, when he attempted to leave his vehicle, a 2007 BMW X5 SUV, in a lot at the Ritz reserved only for residents. After being informed by a valet that the mom-mobile would have to be moved, the Highfields Capital manager chose to do what anyone in his position probably would, which was to throw an obscenities-laced “curbside fit.” Not feeling his message was sufficiently being communicated, Grubs then threw his keys in the valet’s face, “striking him in the upper lip area.” It was at that moment, while the blood gushed from the worker’s face that Rich asked himself a serious question– “What can I do to top this? People are going to talk about the incident and when they do I want them to focus so not much on the fact that I’m a self-important prick but the total fucking lunatic aspect.” And that’s when it came to him.
Accuse the guy you just attacked of stealing your keys.
“He was excited and arguing with everybody,” valet manager Ephrem Temesgen told the Herald yesterday. “He accused us of keeping his keys. I said, ‘Sir, we don’t have your keys.’ ”
Hotel security reported they found Grubman’s keys under a Range Rover.
Grubman said he “did throw his car keys on the hood of the car but denied hitting” the valet, according to the police report.
Honcho’s Ritz access KO’d after alleged hissy fit [Boston Herald via Gawker]
By Jacob Goldstein
A couple data dumps out this morning are hard to resist: a survey of CEO pay from the WSJ, and a list of top-earning hedge-fund managers out from the trade pub AR (and summarized in the NYT).
You can't quite do an apples-to-apples comparison between the lists -- the WSJ numbers are based on U.S. CEOs' direct compensation for 2009, while the AR numbers combine the hedge fund bosses' management fees with the increase in value of their personal investments in their funds last year.
Nevertheless, the vast gap between what top CEOs make and what top hedge fund managers make is pretty stunning. The CEOs make tens of millions. The hedge fund managers make 100 times as much.
Here are the top five earners in each group:
CEOs:
Hedge fund managers:
Tepper made money in part by investing in banks and other financial institutions during late '08 and early '09, when many investors worried that more big financial institutions were about to go bust. The government stepped in around the same time to back big banks.
Tepper's flagship fund rose more than 130% last year, the Times notes. That was a huge swing from the previous year, when Tepper lost money and his fund was down 27%.
The hedge fund managers who finished in the second, third and fourth spots all managed to make money in both 2008, when the market plummeted, and 2009, when it came roaring back. That's a reminder of the original selling point of hedge funds: They're supposed to profit no matter what the market's doing.
Paulson made money in 2008 by betting against the banks. In 2009, he bet on the banks' comeback and profited again, the NYT says.
Meanwhile, CEOs saw their pay fall slightly last year, to a median of $6.95 million. That was down 0.9% from the year before. It was the second year in a row that the WSJ's survey showed a decline -- and only the third time CEO pay fell since 1989, when the WSJ started tracking the bosses' pay.
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