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Obama advertises tax breaks ahead of Tax Day (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 10 Apr 2010 | 4:08 am China's $7.24B March trade deficit 1st in 6 years (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 10 Apr 2010 | 4:02 am Polish president feared dead in crashLech Kacyznski, Poland’s president, was feared dead when the airliner carrying him and a large delegation crashed near the Russian city of Smolensk; Russia’s ministry of extraordinary situations said that there were no survivorsSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 10 Apr 2010 | 2:41 am Judge Jed Rakoff taps into nation's outrage over economic crisisThe outspoken federal jurist has condemned not only big banks for their financial misdeeds but also their regulators.The economic crisis has brought out the populist in many politicians and others. Among the more unlikely ones may be a silver-bearded federal judge who has wasted no chance to tell the country's biggest banks what he thinks about how they operate.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 10 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Jury begins deliberations in trial of former KB Home CEO Bruce KaratzKaratz, who faces 20 felony charges, is accused of making millions of dollars by backdating stock options and then trying to hide the practice. He maintains he was open with accountants and lawyers.A jury began deliberations Friday in the monthlong stock option backdating trial of former KB Home Chief Executive Bruce Karatz.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 10 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Stocks climb early as Greek debt concerns easeNEW YORK -- Stocks rose in early trading Friday as concerns about Greek debt problems waned, and on signs the economy continues its slow, steady recovery.Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 10 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am NAACP drops suit after Wells Fargo agrees to develop fair loan programs for minoritiesThe bank was accused of steering African American borrowers into more costly mortgages. The NAACP said it had...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 10 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Jury begins deliberations in trial of former KB Home CEO Bruce KaratzKaratz, who faces 20 felony charges, is accused of making millions of dollars by backdating stock options and then trying to hide the practice. He maintains he was open with accountants and lawyers. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 10 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Taking a hint from retailers, hotels offer their own 'blue light specials'Limited-time bargains, private sales and even a 1-cent sale are among the deals the industry is offering as it struggles to fill rooms during one of the worst slumps in nearly a decade.Free breakfasts don't cut it anymore.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 10 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Discount chains not finished with price cutsWal-Mart and Kmart, in rolling out a new wave of reductions, say their customers are still being pinched by the economy.Consumer spending is boosting the outlook for the nation's retailers, but some major discounters are still lowering prices to woo bargain-hungry shoppers.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 10 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Activision sues two fired developersCall of Duty designers Jason West and Vincent Zampella violated their contracts, the game publisher alleges in its countersuit.Activision Blizzard Inc. came out with guns blazing Friday in its legal battle with two former lead developers of Call of Duty, the video game publisher's multibillion-dollar franchise.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 10 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am U.S. weighs second penalty against ToyotaFederal safety regulators find that 'two separate defects' exist in sticking accelerator pedals, but that the ongoing recall may address only one.Federal safety regulators are weighing a second penalty against Toyota Motor Corp. for its handling of the recall of 2.3 million cars and trucks with accelerator pedals that can stick and cause sudden acceleration.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 10 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Activision sues two fired developersCall of Duty designers Jason West and Vincent Zampella violated their contracts, the game publisher alleges in its countersuit. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 10 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Discount chains not finished with price cutsWal-Mart and Kmart, in rolling out a new wave of reductions, say their customers are still being pinched by the economy. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 10 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Judge Jed Rakoff taps into nation's outrage over economic crisisThe outspoken federal jurist has condemned not only big banks for their financial misdeeds but also their regulators. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 10 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am NAACP drops suit after Wells Fargo agrees to develop fair loan programs for minoritiesThe bank was accused of steering African American borrowers into more costly mortgages.The NAACP said it had dropped a lawsuit that accused Wells Fargo & Co. of unfairly steering African American borrowers into costly subprime mortgages while providing loans with lower fees and interest rates to white borrowers in similar financial circumstances.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 10 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Fannie Mae portrayed as villain and victim at hearing on subprime crisisThe panel investigating the nation's financial crisis hears sharply divergent explanations for the failure of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.They were well-intentioned victims of a historic, unanticipated meltdown in the housing market -- or they were reckless, arrogant financial firms that plunged headfirst into the riskiest mortgages in a blind pursuit of profits.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 10 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am U.S. looking into brake failure possibility in 6 million older GM trucksComplaints prompt NHTSA to investigate whether corrosion caused by the use of salt in snowy and icy Northern states is damaging brake controls. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 10 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Taking a hint from retailers, hotels offer their own 'blue light specials'Limited-time bargains, private sales and even a 1-cent sale are among the deals the industry is offering as it struggles to fill rooms during one of the worst slumps in nearly a decade. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 10 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Lawsuits against Toyota are consolidatedMore than 150 cases claiming both economic damage and personal injury will be heard together in a federal courtroom in Santa Ana. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 10 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Jacobs Engineering Group shares soar 7.5% on takeover speculationThe Pasadena-based company is the country's second-largest publicly traded industrial engineering firm. Jacobs...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 10 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am UPDATE 1-China state planner positive on Geely's Volvo buy* "Attitude is positive" if Geely can address questions (Adds background)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 10 Apr 2010 | 12:06 am List of fatal US mine disasters in recent decadesHere is a list of some mine disasters in the U.S. in the past three decades. _ 2007: Six miners, three rescuers killed in collapses at the Crandall Canyon mine in Emery County, Utah,...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 9 Apr 2010 | 11:18 pm China state planner positive on nod for Geely's Volvo buyBOAO, China, April 10 (Reuters) - China's state planner said on Saturday it is leaning in favour of approving a landmark $1.8 billion deal for Zhejiang Geely, China's top private carmaker, to buy Ford's...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 9 Apr 2010 | 11:11 pm 4 missing W.Va. miners dead; final toll at 29Four missing miners found dead in West Virginia coal mine. Death toll at 29 in worst U.S. coal mine disaster since 1970.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:43 pm Ambulances arrive at W.Va. coal mineFive ambulances have arrived at a West Virginia coal mine where crews were underground looking for survivors of an explosion that killed at least 25. Officials said on Friday they are...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:06 pm Stocks to Watch: Stocks in focus for MondayAmong the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Monday's session are Alcoa Inc., Sunoco Inc. and Ambac Financial Group Inc.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:02 pm Market Snapshot: U.S. stock market to be steered by earningsThe U.S. stock market’s slow but steady rise could be vindicated and stoked further in the week ahead, as corporate heavyweights from Alcoa to Intel weigh in with first-quarter earnings results.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:01 pm China's $7.24B March trade deficit 1st in 6 yearsChina reported a $7.24 billion trade deficit in March, its first in almost six years, according to customs figures released Saturday. Officials say the trend will be short-lived. The...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 9 Apr 2010 | 9:59 pm Report: China had $7.24B trade deficit in MarchChina posted a $7.24 billion trade deficit in March, the first in almost six years. The deficit for March reported by the official Xinhua News Agency on Saturday was the first since the...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 9 Apr 2010 | 9:15 pm Badgers cut ties with Nike over labor concernsThe University of Wisconsin canceled its licensing agreement with Nike Inc. on Friday, becoming the first university to take that step over concerns about the company's treatment of workersSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 9 Apr 2010 | 8:42 pm Lawsuits against Toyota are consolidatedMore than 150 cases claiming both economic damage and personal injury will be heard together in a federal courtroom in Santa Ana.More than 150 lawsuits against Toyota Motor Corp. over alleged sudden-acceleration problems and related injuries have been consolidated before a single federal judge in Santa Ana, about 30 miles from the automaker's U.S. headquarters in Torrance.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 9 Apr 2010 | 8:36 pm Dept. of Justice probes tech companies' hiring practices: reportNEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether some of the biggest technology companies agreed not to recruit each others' employees, violating antitrust laws, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 9 Apr 2010 | 8:28 pm UPDATE 2-Mexico regulator slams Pemex Chicontepec plans* Schlumberger, Haliburton, Weatherford are contractors (Adds detail on contracts, costs)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 9 Apr 2010 | 8:00 pm Nick Godt's Market Medics: If stocks can glide through earnings, thank GreeceNEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- If you Google "Greek tragedy" nowadays, you won't be immediately directed to plays by Sophocles or Euripedes.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 9 Apr 2010 | 7:47 pm Economic recovery still fragile: BNZThe BNZ is sounding a cautious note on the state of the economy.In its latest review, the bank says there are still a large number of risks, despite signs of a recovery. It believes the expected expansion this year should be seen...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 9 Apr 2010 | 7:45 pm Halliburton agrees to buy Boots & CootsNEW YORK (Reuters) - Halliburton said on Friday it agreed to buy Boots & Coots , a company that provides pressure control services for oil and gas wells, in a stock and cash deal worthSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 9 Apr 2010 | 7:29 pm Halliburton agrees to buy Boots & CootsNEW YORK (Reuters) - Halliburton said on Friday it agreed to buy Boots & Coots , a company that provides pressure control services for oil and gas wells, in a stock and cash deal worth about $240 million.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 9 Apr 2010 | 7:29 pm A Show Tune About A Hedge Fund: 'Bet Against The American Dream'Planet Money, ProPublica and This American Life collaborated on a project that's airing this weekend on This American Life. It's a story about a hedge fund called Magnetar that made millions of dollars when the housing market collapsed. The show includes plenty of in-depth reporting. It also includes this song, which was written by Robert Lopez, one of the guys behind Avenue Q. For more on Magnetar, read the story at ProPublica. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 9 Apr 2010 | 7:22 pm EU leaders back Greece, markets bet on bailout (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 9 Apr 2010 | 7:15 pm NYSE Euronext Changes Pricing for Options: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 9 Apr 2010 | 6:31 pm JCPenny Raised to `Buy', Celgene Cut to `Hold': AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 9 Apr 2010 | 6:29 pm Mercer Raised to `Outperform', EMC Corp. Cut to `Hold': AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 9 Apr 2010 | 6:28 pm Tories to hit banks for marriage tax breaksGeorge Osborne unveils a tax break for married couples today, funded by a levy on banks that the Conservatives hope will “seal the deal” with the electorate. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 9 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm Aviva makes U-turn to follow rival into AsiaAviva, which had largely turned its back on Asia in 2005, is returning to the region. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 9 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm If Carlsberg did strikes . . . workers walk out over drinking banFor thirsty brewery workers, it was probably the worst ban in the world. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 9 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm Inflation at factory gate boosts sterlingSterling hit a seven-week high against the euro yesterday as robust British inflation figures buoyed investors’ appetite for the pound. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 9 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm Wall Street banks accused of window dressing debtLeading Wall Street investment banks have been accused of understating debt levels used to finance security trades by an average of 42 per cent at the end of each financial quarter for the past five quarters. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 9 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm Election lessons for stock-pickersIn the short term, it is said, the stock market behaves like a voting machine. So how will it vote when it is the country that goes to the polls? It’s a moot point, and one that the scrutiny of previous ballots does little to settle. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 9 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm We’re on a green road to hellDon’t give way to petrol pump rage this weekend. If you don’t like paying 120p for a litre of road fuel, get used to it. Get used to 130p per litre. It is now policy that you should be gouged. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 9 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm Britain's propeller industry takes off againThe Spitfire and the Hurricane would not have flown without them, the Second World War would have sounded very different without their distinctive rumble overhead, but victory and peace marked the beginning of the end of the golden age of the aircraft propeller. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 9 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm Greek credit downgrade pushes up price of EU rescueGreece suffered a further downgrade of its credit rating yesterday, leaving its debt one notch above junk status. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 9 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm Lenders quizzed about credit aftershock fearsThe City Minister has written to the heads of Britain’s five biggest banks asking them to explain how they are preparing for bad credit card debts, The Times has learnt. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 9 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm Labour to propose 'Cadbury's law'Labour's election manifesto will include plans to restrict takeovers of British firms, the BBC has learned.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 9 Apr 2010 | 5:35 pm Debt delayWhat is stopping the eurozone helping Greece?Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 9 Apr 2010 | 5:31 pm Taxing Times: Would you voluntarily pay higher taxes on wealth?Apparently one can’t assume all taxpayers would answer that question in the negative.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 9 Apr 2010 | 5:12 pm Yahoo sale of HotJobs gets closer scrutinySale of the HotJobs jobs-listings service to Monster Worldwide is getting a closer examination from antitrust regulators at the Federal Trade Commission, Monster discloses.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 9 Apr 2010 | 5:08 pm Defense blasts witness plea deal in KB Home case (AP)AP - Defense lawyers took aim Friday on the credibility of a witness who pleaded guilty to conspiracy in a deal with prosecutors then testified during the stock backdating trial of former KB Home chief Bruce Karatz.Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 9 Apr 2010 | 4:54 pm Weekend Investor: Five ways to play the China market nowInvestors are looking to China for policy moves that might slow the country's lopsided export-driven growth engine. But even if the government does raise the value of the yuan, its currency, an array of potential growth drivers should be on international investors' radar, market strategists say.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 9 Apr 2010 | 4:51 pm Auto Review: 2010 Audi S4: No coward on the roadThose who are looking for a premium sedan that's fun to drive should put the S4 on their “must be tested” list, especially if you see a BMW in most driveways around your house. Get the Imola Yellow and all the neighbors will know you’ve arrived!
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 9 Apr 2010 | 4:50 pm Emerging Markets Report: Manufacturing in emerging markets climb in quarterA rise in manufacturing activity fuels first-quarter growth in emerging-market economies, bringing expansion back to levels not seen since before the worldwide economic crisis.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 9 Apr 2010 | 4:48 pm Wall Street gains with energy sector, Dow touches 11,000NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Friday with the Dow surpassing 11,000 for the first time in a year-and-a-half after Chevron's upbeat outlook and wholesale inventories data reinforced bets on an improving economy.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 9 Apr 2010 | 4:47 pm EU agrees on Greek rescue terms, Fitch downgradesBRUSSELS/ATHENS (Reuters) - Euro zone officials agreed on Friday on the terms of a possible financial rescue for Greece as a ratings agency downgraded its debt by two notches citing a worsening economy and rising borrowing costs.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 9 Apr 2010 | 4:43 pm Stocks rise on more signs of growth; Dow tops 11K (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 9 Apr 2010 | 4:39 pm Stocks rise on more signs of growth; Dow tops 11K (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 9 Apr 2010 | 4:39 pm Latin American Markets: Mexican stocks end week with a record closeMexican equities reach another record high Friday, aided by a report indicating that economic recovery continues in the U.S., Mexico's key trading partner.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 9 Apr 2010 | 4:38 pm After Hours: Ambac, Palm shares active in late-session tradesShares of the bond insurer and the handset maker were active late Friday following their dayside climbs.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 9 Apr 2010 | 4:33 pm Coke increases stake in InnocentCoca-Cola takes a majority stake in the British fruit smoothie maker Innocent, but says the firm's founders will remain in charge.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 9 Apr 2010 | 4:32 pm Why a top TV network went darkAt 8:15 p.m. yesterday -- the start of primetime -- one of the most watched television networks in the country went dark, along with its website and radio properties. The 35-year-old president of this media empire took to the microphone to exhort viewers, listeners, and readers that "now is the time" to let their government hear their growing yet oft-ignored voices -- by filling out their census forms.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 9 Apr 2010 | 4:31 pm Kyrgyz interim leader asks for Moscow aidThe interim government in Kyrgyzstan strengthened its ties with Moscow, appealing to the Kremlin for humanitarian aid and saying it might ask Russian troops to act as peacekeepers if the security situation worsensSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 9 Apr 2010 | 4:29 pm The Dow's up but trades are scarce, worrying bulls (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 9 Apr 2010 | 4:18 pm Southern California court gets Toyota lawsuits (AP)AP - A federal judge in Southern California was chosen Friday to preside over more than 200 lawsuits filed against Toyota in the aftermath of the automaker's sudden acceleration problems, which could potentially mushroom into one of the nation's biggest product liability cases.Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 9 Apr 2010 | 4:14 pm Stocks finish strong; Dow touches 11,000Stocks gained Friday, with the Dow briefly topping 11,000 and the broad market ending higher for the seventh of eight weeks, as economic optimism trumped concerns about Greek debt.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 9 Apr 2010 | 4:08 pm 'Young invincibles' imperil health reformOne of the biggest risks to the success of health reform, comes not from the sick but from the young and healthy, a former top official in charge of Medicare and Medicaid administration said Friday.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 9 Apr 2010 | 4:05 pm Microsoft's latest phone experimentSEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp will show off its latest mobile phones on Monday, but don't expect a direct rival to the iPhone.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 9 Apr 2010 | 4:04 pm Summary Box: Dow Jones average just grazes 11,000 (AP)AP - THE GOOD: The Commerce Department said February wholesale inventories rose 0.6 percent while sales gained 0.8 percent, both above expectations. Rising commodity prices also gave stocks a boost.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 9 Apr 2010 | 4:01 pm Euro rebounds on Greece deal hopeThe euro rebounds and stocks rise as reports suggest EU leaders have agreed details of a plan to rescue debt-ridden Greece.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 9 Apr 2010 | 3:59 pm How the major stock indexes fared on Friday (AP)AP - The stock market closed at a new 18-month high Friday, with the Dow Jones industrial average briefly touching 11,000 in the final minutes of trading.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 9 Apr 2010 | 3:54 pm Business Highlights (AP)AP - Ex-Fannie Mae execs try to defend track recordSource: Yahoo! News: Business News | 9 Apr 2010 | 3:54 pm Reliance to pay Atlas $1.7 billion for Marcellus stakeMUMBAI/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Indian energy giant Reliance Industries will pay $1.7 billion to form a joint venture at one of the most promising natural gas deposit regions in the U.S. with Atlas Energy, becoming the latest foreign company to invest in shale plays that are expected to be very lucrative.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 9 Apr 2010 | 3:50 pm No loans! Major colleges pledge aid without debtThe economic crisis may have pared school endowments and state aid to education, but many colleges say they remain committed to fully funding students' financial need.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 9 Apr 2010 | 3:48 pm The Friday Podcast: New York Fed Chief, Bubble Fighter William Dudley speaks. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) On today's Planet Money: We land a rare broadcast interview with William Dudley, the president of the New York Fed. The classic Fed stance has been that there's not much that regulators can do about the economic bubbles that grow and pop. Dudley disagrees -- at least, he says, fighting bubbles is worth a shot. ...what I am proposing is that we try -- try to identify bubbles in real time, try to develop tools to address those bubbles, try to use those tools when appropriate to limit the size of those bubbles and, therefore, try to limit the damage when those bubbles burst. For more, read a complete transcript of our interview with Dudley, and check out the speech on bubbles Dudley gave this week. Download the podcast, or subscribe. Music: Biffy Clyro's "Bubbles." Find us: Twitter/ Facebook/ Flickr. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 9 Apr 2010 | 3:40 pm Miners pull TSX higher; marks 4th rising week (Reuters)Reuters - The TSX finished a volatile week higher on Friday with broad gains backed by a rise in the price of key metals and optimism that Canada's economic recovery is on track.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 9 Apr 2010 | 3:38 pm Write-Offs: 04.09.10$$$ The Milken Institute is giving away 15 free passes to its annual conference (regular registration for the 3-day event is $4,295). Deadline to sign up is tomorrow! [Milken] $$$ The Debate Over Betting on Box Office Is Moving to Washington [NYO] $$$ UBS Whistleblower Rues His Tack, Not His Tune [WSJ] $$$ Former Merrill Lynch Executive Forced to Declare Bankruptcy, Relinquish Mansions [Daily Intel] 
Source: Dealbreaker | 9 Apr 2010 | 3:35 pm Mysterious U.S. Treasuries buyers may be banksNEW YORK (Reuters) - An analysis by a primary dealer in the U.S. Treasuries market shows that domestic banks could account for a large increase in direct bidders for government debt.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 9 Apr 2010 | 3:32 pm China and the yuan: What's at stakeChinese and U.S. officials are reportedly close to a deal on boosting the value of China's currency, the yuan -- the first step to making U.S.-made goods more competitive versus Chinese exports.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 9 Apr 2010 | 3:24 pm Lehman to court: Barclays received secret discountNEW YORK (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc told a U.S. bankruptcy judge on Friday that Barclays Plc should be forced to return certain assets it received in its 2008 acquisition of Lehman's core U.S. brokerage, because Barclays arranged a secret $5 billion discount.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 9 Apr 2010 | 3:20 pm Stocks rise on growth signs; Dow briefly tops 11KNEW YORK -- Fresh signs that the economy continues to recover sent the Dow Jones industrial average briefly above 11,000 Friday for the first time in 18 months.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 9 Apr 2010 | 3:17 pm Intel to kick off tech earnings with strong showingSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Strong earnings from Intel Corp next week should provide further proof of a recovery in electronics and PC demand, but analysts warn the company will have to handily surpass expectations to drive its high share price higher.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 9 Apr 2010 | 3:08 pm Intel to kick off tech earnings with strong showing (Reuters)Reuters - Strong earnings from Intel Corp next week should provide further proof of a recovery in electronics and PC demand, but analysts warn the company will have to handily surpass expectations to drive its high share price higher.Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 9 Apr 2010 | 3:08 pm Once Dead Refining Industry Experiences ResurrectionFrom the heady heights of the summer of 2008, US crude oil refiners have been suffering from a downturn that has alternated between a slide and a plunge. Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE:VLO) and Tesoro Corp. (NYSE:TSO), which refine and market petroleum products exclusively, have suffered the most. Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE:MRO), which has an E&P [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 9 Apr 2010 | 3:08 pm Palm shares soar on HTC takeover rumoursPalm’s shares gained more than 10 per cent, capping a volatile week in which the smartphone maker’s stock has moved sharply in response to a succession of takeover rumoursSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 9 Apr 2010 | 3:05 pm Republican firebrand Palin takes on Obama on energy (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 9 Apr 2010 | 3:02 pm The Secret Story Behind the Infamous Magnetar Trade
We won’t ruin it for you, but basically the giant Chicago hedge fund, started by former Citadel trader Alec Litowitz (left), helped create $40 billion worth of extremely toxic CDOs after housing prices began to slide in late 2006. With the help of nearly every bank of Wall Street those CDOs were sold to other investors. But, at the same time, Magnetar was betting the CDOs would default, and they ended up reaping a fortune.
As far as Magnetar is concerned, they did nothing wrong and their bets against the CDOs were mere hedges.
Source: Dealbreaker | 9 Apr 2010 | 2:56 pm US Supreme Court Justice Stevens to retireJohn Paul Stevens, the leader of the liberal wing of the US Supreme Court, confirmed he would retire this summer, opening up another front in the partisan war bedevilling WashingtonSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 9 Apr 2010 | 2:55 pm How One Hedge Fund Profited From The Housing CrashPlanet Money, ProPublica and This American Life collaborated on a project that's airing this weekend on This American Life. A text version of the story is up now on ProPublica's Web site. It's about a little-known hedge fund called Magnetar that "helped revive the Wall Street money machine" during the boom, then "earned outsized returns in the year the financial crisis began," the story says. Here's how the story begins: In late 2005, the booming U.S. housing market seemed to be slowing. The Federal Reserve had begun raising interest rates. Subprime mortgage company shares were falling. Investors began to balk at buying complex mortgage securities. The housing bubble, which had propelled a historic growth in home prices, seemed poised to deflate. And if it had, the great financial crisis of 2008, which produced the Great Recession of 2008-09, might have come sooner and been less severe. At just that moment, a few savvy financial engineers at a suburban Chicago hedge fund helped revive the Wall Street money machine, spawning billions of dollars of securities ultimately backed by home mortgages. When the crash came, nearly all of these securities became worthless, a loss of an estimated $40 billion paid by investors, the investment banks who helped bring them into the world, and, eventually, American taxpayers. Yet the hedge fund, named Magnetar for the super-magnetic field created by the last moments of a dying star, earned outsized returns in the year the financial crisis began. Read the complete story at ProPublica. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 9 Apr 2010 | 2:54 pm What college costs after aidAt least 50 schools are pledging to offer financial aid packages with few or no loans. Here what families will pay after need-based awards.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 9 Apr 2010 | 2:51 pm Next Greek tragedy?Greece is in danger of defaulting on its national debt as its bond market comes under increasing pressure, unless its European neighbors intervene.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 9 Apr 2010 | 2:42 pm Wall Street gains with energy sector, Dow touches 11,000 (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 9 Apr 2010 | 2:31 pm Syracuse University Students Under The Impression Jamie Dimon Is Not Good Enough For THEM (Update)
UPDATE: This is what preceded the email:
Source: Dealbreaker | 9 Apr 2010 | 2:27 pm Revival hopes beat sovereign debt fearsGlobal Markets Overview: Asian and European equities post solid gains as risk appetite returns, despite lingering fears over sovereign debt problemsSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 9 Apr 2010 | 2:27 pm Mortgages get more priceySource: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 9 Apr 2010 | 2:12 pm (AP)AP - The Dow Jones industrial average is back above 11,000.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 9 Apr 2010 | 1:55 pm Wachovia site back up after outageWachovia's Web site is back up and running, after a technical error made it so customers couldn't log in to the bank's Web site for nearly eight hours on Friday.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 9 Apr 2010 | 1:50 pm Presented By:Source: Dealbreaker | 9 Apr 2010 | 1:44 pm Joe Stiglitz: U.S. Root of World Financial ChaosDoes Joe want Bernanke’s job? “That is a real risk that U.S. monetary policy, flooding the world with liquidity, unfortunately very little of it translating into lending in America, is helping create bubbles all over the world, and creating instability in many other countries in the world. I think that has not been taken into account fully: the global cost of these policies.”
Source: Dealbreaker | 9 Apr 2010 | 1:44 pm New York Fed Chief: We Should 'Try To Identify Bubbles'By Jacob Goldstein Regulators should intervene to fight asset bubbles, the president of the New York Fed said in an interview this week. "My view is not so much that we are going to prevent all asset bubbles," William Dudley said. "But what we might be able to do is prevent the asset bubbles from being quite so big and maybe preventing the consequences of the asset bubbles from when they burst being quite so bad." Dudley was talking to Planet Money's Adam Davidson. It's pretty rare for a New York Fed president to give a broadcast interview, and Dudley is the main attraction on today's podcast, which we'll post later this afternoon. (Also, the complete transcript of the interview is included below.) While Dudley's comments may sound straightforward enough, they're actually a pretty radical departure for a Fed official. Just this week, Alan Greenspan testified that regulators "cannot successfully use the bully pulpit to manage asset prices and they cannot calibrate regulation and supervision in response to movements in asset prices." That's basically the opposite of what Dudley is saying. He told Davidson: ...what I am proposing is that we try -- try to identify bubbles in real time, try to develop tools to address those bubbles, try to use those tools when appropriate to limit the size of those bubbles and, therefore, try to limit the damage when those bubbles burst. The tools that might be used to do this would depend on the nature of the bubble, Dudley suggested. For example, putting more rules in place about what it took to qualify for a mortgage might have restrained the housing bubble, he said. For the more technical side of Dudley's ideas, check out the speech he gave this week to the Economic Club of New York City. And, if you just can't get enough, here's the complete transcript of Davidson's interview with Dudley: Q: The whole idea that the Fed should keep an eye on asset prices and worry about whether or not there is a bubble strikes me as the kind of thing that experts are really confounded by in its intense debate. But the average person, I would think, would say well, obviously, why in the world -- haven't you been doing that all along? What are you telling me? So I thought it would be helpful to start with some real Fed 101. You know, what the Fed's core job is and why up until now, it isn't looked at the possibility of there being bubbles in housing and stocks and the like. So there is actual -- the Fed doesn't just exist to do whatever it feels like. It has a very specific mandate to keep prices stable and to maximize employment. Am I getting that right? WILLIAM C. DUDLEY: Correct. The Fed has a dual mandate, which is full employment subject to price stability. So basically, we want to get the unemployment rate as low as possible, consistent with a very low inflation rate. Q: And just some quick history. We are going to get into this over the coming weeks and months. We are looking at the Fed a lot. But up until 1913, there was nothing like that. I mean, just money was created by private banks and it was a free-for-all or according to other people -- MR. DUDLEY: And there were periodic banking crises that were very destabilizing to economic activity. The banking crisis of 1907 was really the force that created the impetus for the Federal Reserve Act and the Federal Reserve System. Q: Okay, so the Fed's job is to keep prices stable because the view is an economy does better if consumers, investors, businesspeople can have a reasonable sense of what prices are going to be tomorrow, a year from now, 10 years from now. That is the issue, right? It is a public good to have stable prices. MR. DUDLEY: And the idea is that resources get allocated more efficiently in the economy. And so if you have better allocation of resources, you are going to have stronger productivity and so the economy will be able to grow faster over time. Q: Right, because if I am thinking of building a factory but I have no idea if 10 years from now the dollar will be half its value or three times its value, I don't know how much to invest and so I probably just won't build a factory. MR. DUDLEY: Yeah, and that uncertainty essentially introduces risk. And because of that risk, certain activities won't be undertaken. So if the Federal Reserve is doing its job well, the Federal Reserve can keep that risk level fairly low and give people some certainty with which to invest. Q: And we are going to get into this in a later podcast, but I just want to quickly mention because there is, you know, some people out there beating up on the Fed pretty hard these days and saying oh, you don't respond to how people are feeling on the street. But the whole idea of a central bank is that it not be subject to short-term political thinking. MR. DUDLEY: Well, we certainly are creatures of Congress, so the idea that the Fed is, like, wholly independent and we can do whatever we want, I think that is not true. But there has been some insulation in terms of monetary policy, the conduct of monetary policy, the idea being that you want monetary policy to be independent, for example, of the election cycle. You certainly don't want the politicians to pressure the central bank to keep interest rates low to generate a short-term spurt in economic activity that helps the politicians get reelected. That is not going to lead to a stable economy or a good monetary policy over time. So there is definitely the importance of independence on monetary policy with the idea being that the Federal Reserve can do a better job if it has a little bit of insulation from the political process. Q: And as we have seen the last couple years, not total insulation from the political process, but more than -- but needs a decent amount. You shouldn't wake up every morning thinking, is some politician going to have me fired because he wants a huge boost in growth or whatever. MR. DUDLEY: You know, but at the same time, I mean, we have to be accountable to Congress in terms of what we do. I mean, the chairman goes to Congress twice a year in the Humphrey-Hawkins testimony to explain why the Fed did what it did in terms of monetary policy. The Fed shares its views about the economy, about why it is doing what it is doing on monetary policy. So there does also have to be a sense of transparency so people understand why we are doing what we are doing. Q: So you as a key part of the Fed -- and you're not the entire Fed, but you have to keep an eye on price stability. So what does that mean? How do you keep an eye on price stability? Do you walk up and down the street and say, how much is a hot dog? How do you do that? MR. DUDLEY: Well, you know, the Bureau of Labor Statistics does that essentially for us by collecting lots of statistics on prices. They look at a basket of what, you know, the average household would purchase and tracks those prices over time. Q: They literally are like how much is bread this week? How much are socks this week? MR. DUDLEY: Yeah, so this is a very, very elaborate, involved process. And so we can actually make a statement with a fair amount of accuracy that prices for this basket of services today costs X, versus X minus 1 percent a year ago. And that helps us judge how much inflation there is in the overall economy. Q: And how do you personally get a sense of price stability? Do you go online like we do and look at the BLS report? Do you have economists who come in and give you a briefing? MR. DUDLEY: Well, we look at the official report, so there is a consumer price index report and there is also a report as part of personal income, which we look at what is called the personal consumptions expenditures, deflators. Those are two different measures of inflation. Not only do we look at the aggregate index, but we also look at subcomponents of the index because we want to throw out things that are very volatile that actually, you know, create noise in terms of what is going on. So a lot of times, economists will say let's focus on what we call core inflation. So that is typically inflation minus food and energy. And it is not -- we are not excluding food and energy because we don't care about those costs. But we tend to give them less weight because they tend to be very volatile and not very predictive of what inflation is going to be in the future. I mean, what we care about is how current inflation predicts future inflation because what our job is to do is to set monetary policy today so that it generates the right inflation outcome tomorrow. So we need to have a pretty good measure of what is really going on underneath the surface in terms of inflation pressures in the economy. Q: There is that great quote by Milton Friedman, and I don't remember it exactly, but it is, you know, monetary policy happens in unclear ways over an unclear period of time -- something to that effect -- that actually you don't know because it is unknowable what we do today exactly how it will affect the inflation and over what kind of period it will affect inflation. MR. DUDLEY: Yeah, the classic expression is long and variable lags for monetary policy. So what we do today doesn't affect the economy immediately but it takes some time for that to play out. So the policy that we set today is really going to influence how the economy evolves a year or two from now. Q: Okay. So now, we, you know, as reporters, we get that Bureau of Labor Statistic report. It is actually great. I always recommend it to just listeners if they want to check it out. It is, you know, tables and stuff that anybody can understand. Do you get special secret stuff because you are at the Fed? MR. DUDLEY: No, I think what is available is pretty available to all. I mean, what we do -- what we get is a lot of other ways of looking at that data. So for example, the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank has a trimmed mean measure of inflation. So they basically don't look at the overall index but they throw out the prices of goods and services that are rising most rapidly and those that are rising least rapidly and look at the, you know, 90 percent of the distribution that is in between to get a measure. So there is a lot of different ways of looking at the inflation data. And we also look at other things besides the actual inflation data. We also look at what drives inflation. So we are looking at, you know, how high is unemployment? We are looking at things like, you know, what's happening to wage cost? What's happening to unit labor cost, which is wage cost plus the productivity growth? So if we have very strong productivity growth, that actually drives down, you know, labor cost. It is hard to have a big inflation problem when unit labor costs are falling. So it is not just the prices themselves, but it is also all the factors that affect those prices and are likely to affect those prices in the future. Q: Okay, so now we are getting at exactly the issue that, for me, you are raising in this paper you wrote, which is -- okay, so sort of by law, you have to consider a basket of consumer goods. And I forget exactly what's in the basket. Are there durable goods? MR. DUDLEY: Oh, yeah. It is a broad-based basket. Q: So it's food and clothing like short-term consumables? MR. DUDLEY: It is goods and services. And, in fact, it's also housing services. So to the extent that you own your house, the consumer price index basically has an imputation for if you were to rent the house from yourself. And so it is really -- everything that people consume really is part of the inflation basket. Q: Okay, so I am thinking, like, I just had a sandwich, if I bought a car or a dishwasher or I went to the doctor, you know, hundreds and hundreds of different data points. And you look at wages. You look at how much people are making. But somehow, it's a -- you don't look at stock prices or housing prices. MR. DUDLEY: Well, I don't think that's quite right. I mean, we do look at stock prices and housing prices to the effect -- to the extent that they affect the economy's performance and our ability to achieve the dual mandate of full employment and price stability. So if the stock prices went up dramatically and that made consumers feel wealthier and then they responded by spending, we'd want to take that into consideration in terms of, you know, how fast that would cause the economy to grow and what consequences that would have for the unemployment rate. What we don't do -- I think at least historically, what we haven't done to any large degree is that we haven't taken asset prices into consideration above and beyond their impact on employment and inflation. So we haven't really taken asset prices onboard in terms of financial stability. In other words, what is the risk of a big rise in asset prices being a bubble and that bubble bursting and that bubble then destabilizing the financial system and the macro-economy? I don't think we've taken that onboard that much because we had this other mandate, which is full employment and price stability. Q: And that is what I want to get at. I don't understand the contradiction. I mean, I am assuming you don't want to get into whether former chairman Greenspan did the right thing or did the wrong thing. But this week is one more week when people really beat up on him and say you didn't see that this was a housing bubble. But the truth is he wasn't -- he was very clear at the time that it's not his job to decide if it is a housing bubble. MR. DUDLEY: Well, you know, I mean, I think that is why the debate is evolving. I mean, I think that we saw in the -- what we have seen in the last, I don't know, 15 or 20 years is that asset bubbles seem to be reoccurring. Q: Possibly more rapidly than in the past? MR. DUDLEY: Yeah, it is hard to say. But certainly we had a technology stock market bubble, which was very large in the late 1990s, followed by a housing and credit bubble over the last few years. And, you know, both those bubbles were large. And when they deflated, they actually had pretty significant effects for the macro-economy. So I think it is that experience is making us rethink the notion that we should, you know, basically put very little weight on the asset bubbles and just worry about cleaning up the bubbles after they burst. You know, this is all about cost and benefits. You know, identifying asset bubbles in real time is going to be very, very difficult. But what we have learned over the last few years is the consequences of not trying to identify asset bubbles and having a very passive approach also can be very -- you know, lead to very unfortunate consequences. Q: And I just want to reiterate. The stakes here really are, is it possible for the financial crisis we just lived through to be preventable? I mean, that's ultimately what we are talking about, right? MR. DUDLEY: Well, yeah. I think the way I would describe it is what we would like to do is restrain asset price movements when those asset price movements are unmoored from the fundamentals, so not appropriate given what is actually happening in the economy. Two, when the collapse of those asset price bubbles can destabilize the financial system and the macro-economy. And three, when we actually have tools that we think can work to prevent those bad outcomes. Q: So it's -- MR. DUDLEY: So what I am saying now is not so much that we necessarily will do a particular set of actions in response to a particular set of price movements, but that we should have a more proactive approach, a more willingness to consider all our available options rather than sit back with a view more that, now we can't really do anything about this; we can only respond after the fact. Q: And the reason I find this conversation exciting -- and I am hoping -- (chuckles) -- that some of our listeners do, too, because it is sort of rarified stuff, but the stakes are really, really high because we are talking about this question, which really is a question. No one knows for sure, could -- if the Fed were differently structured, could it have prevented this crisis and could it make it less likely that a crisis like this or some other horrible bubble-bursting crisis would happen in the future? MR. DUDLEY: I mean, my view is not so much that we are going to prevent all asset bubbles. I think that's unrealistic. But what we might be able to do is prevent the asset bubbles from being quite so big and maybe preventing the consequences of the asset bubbles from when they burst being quite so bad. So imagine in the last few years if, let's say, a much tougher approach had been taken to subprime underwriting. So we basically said, you can't have no-doc loans. You have to have restrictions on loan-to-value ratios. You have to make sure the subprime loans that the people actually can afford them once their teaser rates periods end. Q: Crazy ideas. Why would you want to do any of that? MR. DUDLEY: If you had done all those things -- if you had done all those things, I would speculate that -- if all those had been in place, there would have been less credit that had flowed into the housing sector, housing prices would have gone up less far and when the whole situation reversed, we'd see a less severe decline in housing prices, less stress on the financial system and therefore less stress on the macro-economy. So it seems to me that, you know, obviously, hindsight is 20-20. But it seems to me with the benefit of hindsight, it seems like things could have been done to restrain the asset price movements in a way that would have generated a more stable financial system and a more stable macro-economy. Q: What I think I am hearing is that the Fed could have done a lot more to make this not so bad and didn't do it. MR. DUDLEY: Well, I think that a lot of things we learn as we go through. You know, each business cycle is different. Some of this is about, you know, authority -- the authority in terms of what we can actually do, in terms of the actual macro-prudential tools that we have available. Like, for example, I don't think the Federal Reserve had the authority to say that loan-to-value ratios across all real estate mortgages in the United States have to be X percent. You might need someone to actually have the authority. I am not necessarily saying that the Fed is the entity that necessarily should have that authority. But it strikes me that certainly when you see asset price movements that are very pronounced and unmoored from the fundamentals, it would be useful to have someone to have the ability to use macro-prudential tools to take the other side of that bubble to try to limit its growth. Q: And I want to just jump in -- can macro-prudential tools -- MR. DUDLEY: Let me define what I mean by that. By macro-prudential tools, I mean things that are not firm-specific, that deal with the sector -- like housing -- that's the source of the prospective problem. So, for example, a macro-prudential tool with respect to housing would be limits on loan-to-value ratios or tougher appraisal standards or limits on how much debt people could take relative to their income. Those would be macro-prudential tools in the context of housing. Q: And the reason that's relevant after this crisis is we have a regulatory framework that is primarily focused on bank by bank. So is Bank of America good? Is Citibank good? Is your local-corner bank in good shape? But we don't have a -- there are not as many tools for regulators to say, well, wait a second, each of those banks might be sound, but there is a bigger problem that is affecting the whole economy. And it is a tough thing to do because if you then say to Bank of America or whoever, bank X, you can't do this thing that is profitable for you because of the overall economy, they'll say, what are you talking about? We are totally sound. You should leave us alone. MR. DUDLEY: Well, part of it, too, in the subprime mortgage case was that a lot of this occurred in a very, very lightly regulated part of the economy. I mean, you know, state licensed mortgage brokers who originated mortgages to securities firms who then securitized those mortgages to end investors. And the Federal Reserve had no authority over any of that. So you know, you're absolutely right that you have to have a comprehensive regulatory oversight for this to work. If you're only regulating part of the financial system and you try to, you know, put these prudential standards in place, all you'll do is push the business into the unregulated sector and you really won't actually address the problem that you are trying to fix. Q: So I just want to get from you very clearly, how much can we blame the Fed for not doing it? You said one of the things is they might not have had the authority from Congress, but that's one of the things. MR. DUDLEY: Well, I think that, you know, if you look at the crisis, there is lots of blame to go around for lots of different regulators including the Fed. You know, most of the large firms that got into this severe difficulty in the crisis, the Federal Reserve was not their, you know, primary regulator. But, you know, could we have done better in terms of raising the alarm bells on some of these issues? Probably. Could we have done better in supervising some of the largest banks to have better risk-management systems in place so that they didn't have the very large exposures that they turned out to have? Absolutely. Q: So here's what I thought you were going to say. I thought you were going to say, which is some version of what Alan Greenspan has said this week and other times, which is sure, it's easy now to look back and say that was a bubble. But a bubble is something that is only ever clear in hindsight. At the time you made reference to the book, "This Time is Different," and we've had Carmen Reinhart on to talk about that great book about 1200 years or 800 years or whatever of financial bubbles. And every time there's some reason why everyone thinks now everything is different, this isn't a bubble, this is a fundamental shift in the economy that means housing prices will always go up, stock prices will always go up, whatever it is. And so I thought you were going to say you can't do it, it's too hard in the middle of a bubble to know if it is a bubble, and even if you can do it, it is extremely risky. You know, if in 2004 or 2005, the Fed said whoa, whoa, whoa, housing prices are going up too fast, too many people are buying houses is what that means -- you know, supply is so big -- I can only imagine what the outpouring response would be: What are you saying? Poor people can't own houses now? You only want rich people to own houses? It would be really, really hard in 2005, even in 2006, to even make that claim. And so I thought I was going to come here and hear a spirited defense of Fed actions. But what you are saying is actually what some of the critics are saying, which is that we probably could do a better job of identifying asset bubbles and intervening in them in a way that works. MR. DUDLEY: At the same time, I would completely agree with you. This is not easy. I think you are absolutely right that every asset bubble is different. They are highly idiosyncratic in terms of, you know, the causes, duration. And I think that you are also right that it's, you know, very difficult to identify them in real time. So I am not saying at all that this is easy. All I'm arguing for is that taking a completely passive approach doesn't seem to me to be fully appropriate when we've seen in this crisis the consequences of that approach. I think that, you know, it would be hard to do this well, but I don't think that is an excuse to not try to act. I mean, the Federal Reserve conducts monetary policy all the time under conditions that are of high uncertainty. Trying to evaluate asset price movements is, you know, going to be highly uncertain. But, you know, as the prices go up higher and higher, the probability that it's probably not related to the fundamentals goes up more and more. I mean, at some point, there has got to be a shift where action then becomes appropriate. I think also when you see asset prices moving a lot, you sort of have to ask yourself the question, well, what is really going on? What is driving those asset price movements? And are those -- you know, my view of asset price bubbles is that it often starts with innovation that's real. And that innovation results in a change in value, which is appropriate. But then what happens is there are feedback loops that reinforce the idea that this innovation is extremely valuable. So for example, in the housing boom, subprime credit is introduced. That leads to much greater demand for housing. That pushes up home prices. And then the feedback loop starts taking place. Because home prices are going up, subprime lending doesn't look very risky. So that encourages more people to do subprime lending, which creates more credit for housing, which causes house prices to go up further, which, again, makes subprime mortgage lending look not very risky. But that can only go on as long as you can qualify more and more new buyers to buy houses, which is increasingly difficult because house prices are going up faster than incomes. So as you're thinking through that chain, you should see that this is going to end very badly. At some point, housing prices are not going to be able to go up faster than income. In fact, they're going to have to go up much more slowly than income. At that point in time, subprime mortgage lending is going to be a lot -- you are going to find out it is a lot riskier than you thought. And then when that happens, all the securities that were issued back by subprime mortgage assets are going to be a lot more risky. And so you sort of have to follow the thread through a little bit. And I think if you did that, you would probably take a little bit more cautionary approach. Q: All right, and this is something we are going to be following. I do want to say your speech that we are going to link to -- your speech that we are linking to on our Web site, npr.org/money, Caitlin (sp) and I were just talking about for a Fed policy analysis, it is really readable. It is really clear. I think the average person can read it and really understand it. There is not a lot of technical jargon. It's very clear. So I just want to -- so let me ask, are you -- what are you promising us? If this happens, will there be fewer bubbles? Will there be less severe bubbles? What can we expect? MR. DUDLEY: I would say that what I am proposing is that we try -- try to identify bubbles in real time, try to develop tools to address those bubbles, try to use those tools when appropriate to limit the size of those bubbles and therefore, try to limit the damage when those bubbles burst. Q: And you don't know if you can pull it off? MR. DUDLEY: No, I mean, but until you try -- you know, you are certainly not going to succeed if you don't try. So it seems to me that what has really changed is that we have seen the consequences of inaction. We've seen that pretty demonstrably in the worst recession in the post-World War II period. That suggests that we should reconsider whether we should make an effort to be more proactive, and that's essentially what I am proposing. I am proposing a framework of how to think about this, what tools you might be able to use to address the asset bubbles and under what conditions you might apply those tools to try to temper a bubble formation and demise for that matter. Q: So my feeling is that this is a pretty big deal that the president of the New York Fed saying this. I think people hear the Fed and they imagine it is sort of Ben Bernanke. But it's actually a very vibrant and sometimes argumentative -- not impolitely argumentative, but, you know, you have got a dozen Fed presidents around the country, you've got all these Fed governors. They are all really smart people who often disagree. Help me understand how big a deal this is you saying this. Like, how many other Fed big shots hate you now or disagree with you? MR. DUDLEY: (Chuckles.) Look, I think Chairman Bernanke's views are changing just as mine are. So I don't think there is any, you know, appreciable difference between where he is and where I am right now. I think that the views of all of us have been changing in response to what we've actually lived through. The consequences of this bubble bursting, I think, are very unacceptable in terms of the amount of people that have lost their jobs. You know, the fact that we have a 9.7 percent unemployment rate today is unacceptable to the Federal Reserve. And if you think about why that came about, it came about because we had a huge asset bubble in housing and credit that burst very violently and destabilized the financial system, therefore, constrained credit in a way that made it very, very difficult for our economy to function properly. Q: All right. Thank you very much. ... So you as the New York Fed president, you are now in the hotel and shopping mall business, as I understand it? I mean, part of your balance sheet includes a variety of assets that no Fed president has ever had on their balance sheet. Just first off, is that just a weird thing for you to think about? MR. DUDLEY: Well, it is not so much the -- we don't have the assets. We have the loans that are collateralized by those assets. Q: Although I think a few of them are REO, that they are -- MR. DUDLEY: A few of them are REO, but most of them are still, you know, loans. We are not in the business of trying to acquire hotels -- (chuckles) -- and office buildings. But you're right. You know, as part of the Bear Stearns transaction, which Bear Stearns was acquired by J.P. Morgan, and in relationship to AIG, we have three Maiden Lane facilities, which represent about 5 percent of our balance sheet. So it is a lot smaller than people, I think, realize where we're managing assets that we have never had to manage before. And that is challenging because, you know, we are trying to maximize the value of those assets to the taxpayer because that whose interest that ultimately we're representing, but we are trying to do it in a way that, you know, we don't get embroiled in difficult, you know, sort of private sector kind of webs, which can be quite complicated at times. For example, in some of the commercial real estate that we have that, you know, we own -- we own pieces of the capital structure on properties that are no longer performing well. And negotiating a solution in terms of how you're going to restructure this across a wide range of private sector participants, plus the Fed, you know, is very, very challenging. Q: So is there someone on staff who is representing this property as a property owner? MR. DUDLEY: We have a whole group that manages all these special investments. Plus we have lots of outside help -- advisors who provide us with impartial advice in terms of what they think we should do in terms of best managing the asset to maximize the value for the taxpayer. Q: We bought a toxic asset. I mean, us at Planet Money. We pooled our money and we bought a toxic asset. And we actually found that Maiden Lane has the same toxic asset, just a year later vintage. So ours is actually better than yours -- (laughter) -- although ours we bought at a penny on the dollar and I think you bought it 30 cents on the dollar, I hate to tell you. We came out a lot better. Do you have -- when you are looking at those assets -- are there people here whose job is -- I guess what I want to understand is are there people here whose job it is to just make those perform, get as much value as they can as if they were an investment bank or a pension fund or something, totally not thinking about other Federal Reserve, financial stability issues and then other people in the building who are thinking about those issues without thinking about how it will affect those properties? MR. DUDLEY: Well, we certainly were aware when we took on these portfolios that we didn't want to, you know, rapidly liquidate the assets because that could actually depress financial asset markets more generally. And in our role as the Federal Reserve, you know, that would be sort of in conflict with our broader mandate. So we certainly wanted to manage these assets in a way that didn't destabilize the economy. So we internalized that consequence. But other than that, I think we are trying to manage them as a, you know, smart investor would manage them in a way to maximize their value. You know, that said, we would prefer -- you know, since this isn't what we view our main job, we would prefer to actually, you know, probably liquidate these portfolios maybe a little bit more quickly than a private investor because, you know, we don't really want to be in this business. So if you sort of said a private investor might view this as something that they're going to do for the rest of their life -- (chuckles) -- and then hand it off to their daughter or son to manage the business for us -- no, we view this as a one-time experience and we want to get out of this business, you know, sooner rather than later. Q: This is not marking a fundamental shift in Fed policy? You are now going to be looking for great hotels and motels? MR. DUDLEY: We would hope that we never would have to do this again. If we do our job properly in terms of financial stability and regulation and monetary policy, hopefully this will be very much a one-off experience. You know, and I think that is borne out by history. The last time that the Federal Reserve used the authority that we have used during this crisis, clause 13(3) -- section 13(3) authority -- prior to this crisis was back in the Great Depression. So this is something that we do not use lightly. We did not want to get into this business. But at the end of the day, we thought that this was necessary to support the financial system, and by supporting the financial system, support the economy. Q: So just one very last question. We actually called one of the REO properties, a mall in Oklahoma that's in default. And I don't know how to say this other than as inarticulately as, it just blows my mind to think that we could call a mall in Oklahoma and realize their owner is the Fed. Just how do you feel when you think about that? It's such a weird thing. MR. DUDLEY: Well, were not happy about it. (Chuckles.) You know, these were special circumstances. We came into this property to basically -- to find a way for Bear Stearns to be taken over by J.P. Morgan because we thought that the alternative -- Q: But I just want to -- with your experience -- MR. DUDLEY: When we thought the alternative was a financial market calamity. So this is sort of the downside of the intervention. Q: But for you just as a human being, would you -- MR. DUDLEY: I did not expect as president of the New York Federal Reserve that I'd be having to worry about a mall in Oklahoma City. (Chuckles.) Is that fair? Q: All right. (END) » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 9 Apr 2010 | 1:40 pm Self-Described “Social Networking Group For The Alpha Male” Wants You To Ask Yourself Something 5 g's a year and all this can be yours. 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CarbonNYC Club: Inside The Frat For Millionaires [GofaG]
Source: Dealbreaker | 9 Apr 2010 | 1:31 pm Euro rises on hopes of Greek dealEurozone officials said that, under proposals yet to be signed off by political leaders, emergency funds made available to Greece would have to be repaid at a pre-agreed interest rate that helped Athens without amounting to a clear subsidySource: Financial Times - US homepage | 9 Apr 2010 | 1:27 pm Next Week’s Can’t Miss Earnings (AA, INFY, CSX, INTC, JPM, JBHT, YUM, SCHW, AMD, GOOG, ISRG, BAC, GE)Didn’t earnings season just end? It sure feels that way. The earnings season floodgates are about to open. The media will try to tell you this is the most critical earnings season ever, but you already know where we stand in the big picture. You will see earnings gains. There is no way not to [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 9 Apr 2010 | 1:24 pm Carlsberg workers continue strike over beer rationsCarlsberg workers are striking against new rules that limit the amount of free beer they can consume during their working day.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 9 Apr 2010 | 1:23 pm US bank accounting 'masks true debt levels'Major Wall Street banks are using accounting techniques similar to those utilised by Lehman Brothers in its final days to mask the size of their balance sheets at the end of reporting periods.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 9 Apr 2010 | 1:22 pm Investigative teams may hurt ToyotaToyota says it's put together new investigative teams to look into reports of unintended acceleration as part of an effort to listen to customers more intently and address their concerns. Alisa Roth reports.Source: Marketplace | 9 Apr 2010 | 1:22 pm Barclays to stand trial over $11bn Lehman 'windfall'Barclays is to stand trial in New York over allegations it benefited from an $11bn (£7.15bn) 'windfall' when it bought Lehman Brother's US brokerage for just $1.75bn.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 9 Apr 2010 | 1:14 pm Trouble brewing for right in the USWith protests planned in more than 50 cities, the Tea Party movement will also converge on Washington to protest at what they claim is the biggest government takeover of the economy in America’s historySource: Financial Times - US homepage | 9 Apr 2010 | 1:10 pm Reader's Digest rescued from extinction by Jon MoultonThe monthly magazine synonymous with doctors' waiting rooms has been rescued from administration.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 9 Apr 2010 | 1:06 pm Last of their kind: 5 fading iconsFrom barber poles to limburger cheese, these 5 companies are the last left in America making iconic products now in their twilight.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 9 Apr 2010 | 12:58 pm Small talk: China builds, trees, fake billsMarketplace's Brendan Newnam and Rico Gagliano chat with fellow staffers Stacey Vanek-Smith, Brett Neely, and Jeremy Hobson about under-the-radar stories: A Chinese version of Times Square, miracle trees, and counterfeit $1 bills.Source: Marketplace | 9 Apr 2010 | 12:55 pm Unemployed man gives savings awayGiving away $10 each day for a year might seem strange for someone who is unemployed. Rebecca Sheir reports on one Washington D.C. man's unique project, Year of Giving.Source: Marketplace | 9 Apr 2010 | 12:55 pm Abuses in program that conceals flightsProPublica's Michael Grabell talks with Bob Moon about an investigative report he co-wrote involving a program designed to conceal private jets' flight plans for security reasons, and how it's being misused.Source: Marketplace | 9 Apr 2010 | 12:55 pm Weekly Wrap: No crisis accountabilityFreelance business journalist John Carney and The Big Money's Heidi Moore talk with Bob Moon about why so many bankers went before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission claiming ignorance, and China's move to reevaluate its currency.Source: Marketplace | 9 Apr 2010 | 12:55 pm A computer engineer Barbie campaignMattel's newest Barbie is a computer engineer because of a well-orchestrated campaign. Erin Fitzgerald, a Defense Department electrical engineer, talks with Bob Moon about why she helped rock the vote for the doll's career move.Source: Marketplace | 9 Apr 2010 | 12:52 pm MasterCard online mall uses card dataMasterCard will soon launch a big marketing campaign for its MarketPlace, an online mall, which it says will be specifically tailored to shoppers. Stacey Vanek-Smith reports.Source: Marketplace | 9 Apr 2010 | 12:52 pm Fannie execs blame failure on biz modelFormer executives of the mortgage giant Fannie Mae testified before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. The execs said Fannie and Freddie failed because they were victims of an unsustainable business model. Nancy Marshall Genzer reports.Source: Marketplace | 9 Apr 2010 | 12:51 pm Wellcome Trust links up with Blackstone to bid for RBS branchesBritain's largest medical research charity has joined forces with a US private equity giant to bid for 318 Royal Bank of Scotland branches.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 9 Apr 2010 | 12:43 pm Goldman Sachs Shareholders Keeping Executive Suite In Stitches
First off, when it comes to LB, you don’t separate anything, nuclear powered nutsacks or otherwise. Second, “strengthen the integrity of the board”? Lloyd has integrity (charm and panache) oozing out of every known and unknown orifice. You couldn’t jam any more integrity into that thing if you tried.
Source: Dealbreaker | 9 Apr 2010 | 12:30 pm Time Warner weighs MGM bid structures: sourcesNEW YORK (Reuters) - Time Warner Inc is evaluating possible new structures to its bid for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , as the auction for the studio drags on, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 9 Apr 2010 | 12:22 pm Roger Alton quits as editor of the Independent after Lebedev takeoverRoger Alton has stepped down as editor of The Independent just two weeks after the newspaper was acquired by Alexander Lebedev, the Russian billionaire and former KGB agent.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 9 Apr 2010 | 12:21 pm Ex-Fannie chief hits at lending modelThe former chief executive of Fannie Mae said the mortgage finance company’s model left him in an impossible situation when the housing market collapsed and suggested its fate would have been different if it could have diversifiedSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 9 Apr 2010 | 12:12 pm Prospect of National Insurance hike is already hitting hiring plansThe boss of a fast-growing small business based in London has this week scrapped plans to hire an extra employee because of Labour's planned rise in National Insurance, confounding the Chancellor's claim that the controversial hike will not cost jobs.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 9 Apr 2010 | 12:10 pm Coca-Cola swoops to take majority stake in smoothie maker InnocentCoca-Cola has acquired a majority stake in Innocent, the smoothie maker, in an 'unusual' deal that will allow the company's founders to retain operational control of the business.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 9 Apr 2010 | 12:01 pm FTSE 100 rallies on strong peformance from Wall StreetResolution was in focus as the wider market recovered almost all of Thursday's losses.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 9 Apr 2010 | 11:55 am Brewer is supporting HarlequinsSuffolk brewer Greene King IPA is extending its sponsorship of the Harlequins Rugby Union team until 2015.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 9 Apr 2010 | 11:54 am Petrol price surge raises the prospect of higher interest ratesA rise in the cost of petrol may add to pressure on the Bank of England.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 9 Apr 2010 | 11:52 am Kiwi faces ban over investment fundsMELBOURNE: The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is taking legal action to disqualify unlicensed operators of 14 offshore managed investment funds who allegedly misled 700 investors by operating like a Ponzi...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 9 Apr 2010 | 11:50 am Greece credit rating cut as prospect of rescue loomsGreece may be forced into the arms of the International Monetary Fund as soon as this weekend, experts warned.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 9 Apr 2010 | 11:36 am Answering to both God and Uncle SamReporter Sally Herships profiles Nikia Robert -- a woman who left Wall Street to work as both a minister and a tax preparer.Source: Marketplace Money | 9 Apr 2010 | 11:08 am Tax day: Annual whack upside the headCommentator Harriet Brackey says the pain you feel on tax day isn't all bad.Source: Marketplace Money | 9 Apr 2010 | 11:08 am China's national sport: tax evasion?Scott Tong reports on the widespread game of tax evasion in China.Source: Marketplace Money | 9 Apr 2010 | 11:08 am Are we to blame for new airline fees?Tess Vigeland explores what's behind the airline industry's growing charges -- from paying extra for carry-ons to the new "pay-per-pee" system.Source: Marketplace Money | 9 Apr 2010 | 11:08 am Getting PersonalEconomics editor Chris Farrell and Tess Vigeland answer listener questions, but first they explore whether to refund or not to refund, and what to do with the money if you do get some back from the IRS.Source: Marketplace Money | 9 Apr 2010 | 11:08 am The psychology behind taxesBill Congdon of the Brookings Institution has studied the behavioral patterns behind taxes. He talks to Tess Vigeland.Source: Marketplace Money | 9 Apr 2010 | 11:08 am Name your yearly tax ritualPeople around the country describe what they go through as April 15th draws near.Source: Marketplace Money | 9 Apr 2010 | 11:08 am In California, the state does your taxesJulie Small reports on a state government program that prepares your taxes for you.Source: Marketplace Money | 9 Apr 2010 | 11:07 am Meet the tax man himselfInternal Revenue Commissioner Doug Shulman talks to Tess Vigeland about doing his own taxes, and how the recession led the IRS to do things differently this year.Source: Marketplace Money | 9 Apr 2010 | 11:07 am The Weekly Dividend & Buyback (BPT, SKT, MNRO, QCOM, PAYX, AMIN, TJX, HOTT, TM, ETR, GE, JPM, UFS)We frequently cover companies raising dividends and announcing new stock buyback plans. We did see some dividend hikes this week, but there are also many unique dividend stories from this week which have flown under the radar. This edition of The Weekly Dividend & Buyback does not have these companies in any particular order. This [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 9 Apr 2010 | 11:07 am China bolsters US push for Iran sanctionsThe US and its western allies achieved a diplomatic breakthrough of sorts after China joined talks at the United Nations in New York to consider a fourth round of sanctions against IranSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 9 Apr 2010 | 11:02 am A look at global economic developments (AP)AP - A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Friday:Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:53 am Thai protesters seize key satellite stationAnti-government demonstrators seize a key satellite station, defying security forces who used tear gas grenades and water cannon in an attempt to control the crowd before retreatingSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:51 am Gluskin Sheff’s Rosenberg: Surveillance With Prewitt and KeeneSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:47 am Reader's Digest finds new buyerReader's Digest UK is bought out of administration, securing the immediate future of the company and its 100 employees.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:46 am Commerzbank’s Kraemer: Surveillance With Prewitt and KeeneSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:46 am The Wall Street Journal Investigates: BoozeAs you know the Wall Street Journal prides itself on uncovering the big stories that are not yet being told. They were the first to bring the serious issue of chest hair (to flaunt or not to flaunt) to light, they talked about spray tanning when no one else would and I know I don’t have to remind you it was Rupert’s crack investigative team that blew the lid off Cankles. This morning, they’ve done it again, with a Page One feature on drinking. Sometimes people do it! Sometimes people drink so much they get drunk. How does this happen? It’s a fairly complex issue to understand, especially to the laymen, but it generally involves going to bars. There, patron lured into lapping this shit up and often times places will entice them to drink even more by offering these so-called “two for one” packages, probably something originally created by Goldman Sachs. What happens next you ask? The Journal worked on this story for a while so obviously we’ve got answers. What happens is that “some pretty colorful behavior” ensues. It’s wild. I can’t say anymore. Just watch.
Source: Dealbreaker | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:45 am Stifel’s Keay: Surveillance With Prewitt and KeeneSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:45 am Westpac’s Franulovich: Surveillance With Prewitt and KeeneSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:44 am Nicholas Lardy: Bloomberg On the Economy With Tom KeeneSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:42 am This Week’s LinksMashable describes how 5 brands are mastering the game of Foursquare. Worldometers measures world stats–real time. Zero Hedge on a 1929-30 media propaganda push that looked an awful lot like ours today. Think labor laws are always good for employees? Not so much, according to Coyote Blog. Will America have too few workers in the next decade?
Source: Business Pundit | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:28 am Home building flattensSYDNEY: Construction activity in Australia weakened in March, with the industry contracting slightly after two months of growth, a report says.The Australian Industry Group-Housing Industry Association performance of construction...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:20 am FTSE 100 shares rebound (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:16 am Is Toby Smith Involved in Penny Stock Pump-and-Dump Schemes?
Unfortunately for Toby (and those who followed his recommendations,) the Asian broadband wireless company has failed so far to find the financing it needs to stay afloat despite several arrangements with relatively unknown investment firms that have subsequently walked away from the deal several times. Announcements of the financing deals have caused big spikes in China Tel’s stock price, only to be followed by dramatic drops when the investment firms failed to deliver the cash. Curiously, several China Tel insiders and a mysterious Mexican trust company have cashed out to the tune of several million dollars right before the shares tanked. Apparently, Smith’s stocks have tanked in the past. From The Street Sweeper:
For his part, Smith told The Street Sweeper that he is confident China Tel will secure new financing and maintains his $8 price target.
Source: Dealbreaker | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:05 am The brain power stays in New ZealandNew Zealanders often respond with dismay when news breaks of another local manufacturer moving overseas.It's true that entire regions can be affected - as was seen last year when Fisher & Paykel Appliances shifted the operations...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:00 am Groser optimistic after agricultural greenhouse gases meetingThe Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases' inaugural meeting, which wound up in Wellington yesterday, went well, the Government says.The meeting of senior officials and scientists from the alliance's 29 member...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:00 am Hedging bets on movies' futuresLOS ANGELES: Think you're better than Hollywood at gauging whether an upcoming flick will be a box office bomb or a sleeper hit?Investors get a chance to put your money behind that under two proposals movie studios are denouncing...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:00 am Gattung denies insurer sale rumoursFormer Telecom head and recently appointed chairwoman of AIA Australia Theresa Gattung has denied rumours the life insurer is up for sale.Speculation has swirled around the possible sale of several of AIA Group's subsidiaries,...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:00 am Brian Gaynor : Trust wrangle led to murder attemptMartin Lyttelton's conviction for the attempted murder of Richard Ord shows that the sharemarket can be a source of human conflict. The crime, for which Lyttelton received a jail term of five years and 11 months, had its foundation...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:00 am New Hope joins the bidding war for Macarthur coalSYDNEY: New Hope, an Australian coal producer, has bid $3.71 billion in shares to buy Macarthur Coal, battling rival proposals from Peabody Energy and Noble Group.New Hope offered 2.7 of its shares for every one of Macarthur's,...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:00 am Brent Sheather : The warnings started back in 2002I almost choked on my coffee a couple of weeks ago when I read Anne Gibson's Herald article on finance company debentures.She quoted financial planner Chris Lee as saying that no one had warned investors about the risks of finance...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 9 Apr 2010 | 10:00 am World stocks rise amid Greek bailout talk (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 9 Apr 2010 | 9:47 am Pound up on producer price dataThe pound jumps against the dollar and euro after a sharp rise in the cost of goods leaving UK factories raises inflation worries.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 9 Apr 2010 | 9:47 am Confidential To Steve Schwarzman: Charlie Gasparino Thought The Food At Your Party Sucked
It’s at the end of the story that Charlie sends a message to a certain Blackstone CEO. And that message is simply this: you’re going to have to do a lot better than the Waldorf if you want to ply this gourmand with free food in exchange for favorable coverage. Thanks for the free booze but your spread tasted like shit, and Chaz had to stop off somewhere on the way home to fill up.
Source: Dealbreaker | 9 Apr 2010 | 9:25 am Oil prices on firm footing (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 9 Apr 2010 | 8:55 am Waser on Greece, Euro, Economy; Ladwa on Stocks: First WordSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 9 Apr 2010 | 8:47 am Apple v GoogleHow Steve Jobs hopes to muscle in on mobile adsSource: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 9 Apr 2010 | 8:41 am Germany Will Bail Out Its Banks, Not GreeceGreece needs 53 billion in euros to cover its deficit and debt service this year. Germany and France are dragging their feet rather than providing Greece immediate aid, for reasons that are not entirely clear. It may be based on their concerns that Greece does not have a clear picture of its own finances and [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 9 Apr 2010 | 8:38 am Poor pension advice 'continues'Some advisers are still giving poor advice to people regarding switching of their pension funds, the City watchdog says.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 9 Apr 2010 | 8:20 am This Week’s Weird Jobs
1. UK: Lifestyle/Relationship Journalist/Public Relations Professional Need someone who can pitch a good story to London media outlets. Story is a bout a Dr who has a group of males and is taking them around London teaching them the skills and science behind meeting women. Please send resume right away. Thanks Thing is, this doctor is really bad at meeting women. He’s going to give these guys really bad advice, but nobody will know it. You have to make him look good, however. Still interested? 2. UK: HENCHMEN NEEDED 20-30 henchmen needed for moderately-sized supervillain organisation with large expansion potential (fortresses built into geological structures, corruption of government officials, possible genesis of ‘nemesis’ vigilante). Electrical theme. Applicants must be willing to learn new skills, including but not limited to operation of specialised ‘lightning guns’. Applicants will also be required to wear specialised uniform when at work (functional rubber suits with my logo on front), except in cases where deception is required (posing as hostages in order to ambush vigilantes, etc). Desired (but not necessarily required) in applicants: -interesting deformations/obsessions/powers(?) giving rise to interesting nicknames (e.g. Claws, Pyro, Buzzsaw, and similar) Equal opportunies employer. Both henchmen and femmes fatales absolutely welcome. Great promotion opportunities – right-hand-man position constantly being unexpectedly opened. Would look good on any future supervillain resume/CV. Send an email with details of any prior henchman work, or details of what is driving you to join the ranks of a supervillain organisation. Will reply to all serious applicants. Hope to hear from you, and with luck, welcome you into a rewarding and promising career! - Jacque (The Zapper) Zerapi * Location: London, but planned worldwide expansion If you’re really lucky, they’ll make a movie about you. 3. LA: Writer / End Of The World. Funny thing is, I bet this author actually received the requested number of “solid facts.” 4. WA: need to move a shed need to move a shed to new location, 10 miles, no freeway. please give a quote if you could handle it. There are bodies and a small wood chipper in the shed. Don’t ask questions, OK? 5. NY: Handyman needed for fairytale ending… Once upon a time in a land far, far away there once lived a queen whose king was too busy to handle some of the small jobs around the castle. Things like fixing a ceiling fan, the garbage disposal, the leaky kitchen sink, a broken gate and fence around the castle’s pond and taking a peek at the dishwasher that has become a ROYAL pain. The queen asked and asked, but the king was still too busy. (At least for this story’s sake we’ll say “busy”) So the queen decided to never ask the king again to do these jobs…instead, she thought it would be best to seek out the nicest and skilled handyman in the kingdom. She placed an ad on the royal internet asking for a well mannered, licensed and insured (liability and WC) handyman to help her with these chores. The queen (who is also effected by the kingdom’s economy) is seeking a reasonable estimate or two and is even willing to purchase her own replacement parts if that will keep the costs lower. Your reply to this ad will surely help the Queen of Nag-a-lot (and of course the king) live happily ever after… I wish all job postings were this lyrical. Happy Friday!
Source: Business Pundit | 9 Apr 2010 | 7:53 am Secondary Offerings Keep Coming (LIWA, PNW, NGLS, LYV, VRTS)The floodgates of secondary offerings are not quite as open as they were two weeks ago. Still, many secondary offerings are coming. Companies are raising cash and insiders are using strength to lock prices in on shares. We have three deals priced this morning from Lihua International, Inc. (NASDAQ: LIWA), Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE: [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 9 Apr 2010 | 7:41 am Paying Down The National Debt: Your Donation Gladly AcceptedBy Jacob Goldstein Greece is in big trouble. But you can help! The National Bank of Greece has set up a "Solidarity Account" that will be used to pay down the country's debt. Make your deposit (free of charge!) by Internet, phone, or wire transfer to account number 040/541599-36 Or, if you'd prefer to help the U.S. pay its own public debt, the Treasury would be glad to take your money. They've set up a convenient online form to make it easy. "Welcome to the United States Treasury's site for making donations to help reduce the public debt," the form says. "If you would like to make a donation, please fill in the required fields and click the Submit Data button when completed." » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 9 Apr 2010 | 7:34 am Repo Men: Big Banks Hide DebtBy Jacob Goldstein At the end of each quarter, just before they report their finances to the public, big banks pay back a bunch of the money they've borrowed. That way, it doesn't look like they're relying so heavily on debt. Then, when the next quarter starts, they borrow a bunch more money. This morning's WSJ reports: A group of 18 banks--which includes Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc.--understated the debt levels used to fund securities trades by lowering them an average of 42% at the end of each of the past five quarterly periods, the data show. The finding is based on borrowing in the repo market, a huge source of short-term loans for banks. They use the money they've borrowed on the repo market to make bets on stocks and bonds. Banks got into trouble in the crisis in part because they relied too heavily on borrowed money. The banks' use of repo loans is a bit different than "Repo 105," the trick Lehman Brothers used to mask its reliance on borrowed money; in that case, Lehman pretended like it would never have to pay back the money it borrowed on the repo market. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 9 Apr 2010 | 7:07 am Brandt on His Book `The Man Who Ate His Boots': Lewis LaphamSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 9 Apr 2010 | 7:03 am Top Day Trader Alerts (ABK, MBI, ATLS, CASY, CTIC, PALM)These are this Friday’s top day trader and active trader alert stocks moving on news this morning. There is more detail on the moves on each over at VSInvestor.com: Ambac Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: ABK) is up over 75% after posting an earnings gain after some gains. This also has MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) up 9.5% [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 9 Apr 2010 | 7:00 am Today’s Best Market Rumors (4/9/2010)Updated throughout the day. Bain and KKR plan IPOs for Toys ‘R’ Us, HCA, and NXP Semi (WSJ) Twitter will redesign its homepage. (AllThingsD) Continental (CAL) may push out US Air (LCC) as the merger partner for United (UAUA) (BusinessWeek) Douglas A. McIntyre Filed under: Rumors Tagged: CAL, LCC, UAUA[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 9 Apr 2010 | 6:54 am What Does Twitter Say About The Stock Market? Plenty 4.9Twitter has, by most estimates, 75 million visitors a month, which makes it one of the largest social networks in the world. All major media companies are on Twitter and some have more than one million Twitter users. 24/7 Wall St. will look at the Twitter posts at Reuters Biz, WSJ, Financial Times, CNN Money, MarketWatch, [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 9 Apr 2010 | 6:36 am DRAM Joins Flash Memory in Shortage Concerns (SNDK, MU, AMAT, KLAC, SMH)Earlier this week, we noted Morningstar research on how to bet on winners during a coming flash memory shortage. But the shortages and rising prices are expanding beyond flash memory now. New data from DRAMexchange is pointing that Flash Memory may soon be joined by DRAM in shortages or at least in supply concerns. The [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 9 Apr 2010 | 6:25 am Top 10 Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (CNI, CELG, FSLR, JCP, MGM, POT, QCOM, SYNA, TXN, WSM)These are this Friday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls: Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE: CNI) Cut to Sector Peform at CIBC. Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) Cut to Hold at Jefferies. First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) maintained sell but raised estimates on orders at Soleil. J.C. Penney Company (NYSE: JCP) Raised to Conviction [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 9 Apr 2010 | 6:09 am Tech Comprehension FAIL
Source: Business Pundit | 9 Apr 2010 | 5:17 am
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