European stocks gain on China economic growth (AP)

AP - World stocks rose slightly Thursday after on strong economic growth in China and a U.S. Federal Reserve report showing the unfolding of a modest recovery in the world's biggest economy.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 15 Apr 2010 | 4:17 am

European stocks gain on China economic growth (AP)

AP - World stocks rose slightly Thursday after on strong economic growth in China and a U.S. Federal Reserve report showing the unfolding of a modest recovery in the world's biggest economy.

Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 15 Apr 2010 | 4:17 am

Toyota to test all SUVs, suspends Lexus GX output (Reuters)

Reuters - Toyota Motor (7203.T) said on Thursday it would conduct safety tests on all its sport utility models after a report claiming that a handling problem in a new version Lexus put drivers at risk of rollover accidents.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 15 Apr 2010 | 4:15 am

Foreclosure rates surge, biggest jump in 5 years (AP)

AP - A record number of U.S. homes were lost to foreclosure in the first three months of this year, a sign banks are starting to wade through the backlog of troubled home loans at a faster pace, according to a new report.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 15 Apr 2010 | 4:13 am

Foreclosures still haunt the market

The housing market has seen some positive signs recently, such as stabilizing home prices and increased sales, but foreclosures continue to haunt the market.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 15 Apr 2010 | 4:09 am

EU Speaks Of Deflation, As Inflation Looms

The European Union’s economy commissioner says that the 16 country region faces deflation if financial reforms are not made in most of the nations in the alliance. According to the AP, Olli Rehn said “it wasn’t enough for Greece and other “deficit countries” to reduce their budget gaps in coming years and not make reforms to the [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 15 Apr 2010 | 4:08 am

Debt-ridden Greece sees borrowing costs soar again (AP)

AP - Greece's cost of borrowing is soaring again, despite a weekend pledge of financial support from its European partners.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 15 Apr 2010 | 4:05 am

Indications: U.S. futures pull back before data; euro drops

U.S. stock futures pull back Thursday after the prior session’s rally ahead of a heavy slate of economic releases.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 15 Apr 2010 | 4:04 am

EU sees deflation risk if no reforms (AP)

AP - The European Union's economy commissioner warned that Europe's debt crisis could trigger deflation across the 16 nations that use the euro if Greece and others don't make tough reforms.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 15 Apr 2010 | 4:03 am

Google taps non-techies to build service

From art projects to Google with no engineering chops, the creators of Trendalyzer help build data animation service for Web giant.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 15 Apr 2010 | 4:00 am

Google archives tweets

What was the Twitterverse's reaction to the Lehman Brothers collapse? President Obama's election? Now you won't have to wonder.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:58 am

Bond market pushing Greece toward emergency plan

Renewed pressure on Greek government bonds may leave Athens with little choice other than to finally tap a standby aid plan provided by fellow euro-zone governments and the International Monetary Fund, economists said Thursday.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:57 am

Greek bond plunge stalls China-inspired risk rally

Global Markets Overview: Investors welcome the Chinese addition to a slew of positive macro and micro-economic data over recent days that have released animal spirits
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:55 am

Stocks poised to slip

U.S. stock futures drifted lower Thursday as investors prepared to take a step back after the previous session's rally.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:54 am

BP braced for protests at annual meeting

BP is expected to shake off environmental protesters and a potential rebellion over executive pay today at its annual meeting in London.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:46 am

Oil prices pause after strong gains (AFP)

AFP - World oil prices steadied on Thursday, after recent gains on the back of improving demand and strong company results in the United States, the world's biggest energy user, analysts said.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:37 am

Futures Movers: Oil futures drop below $86 after strong gains

Crude futures edge lower on Thursday, as the U.S. dollar’s rise against other major currencies encourages traders to lock in some recent gains.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:37 am

Foreclosure Rates Hit All-Time High In March

New data show that during Q1 2010, foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 932,234 properties in the first quarter, a 7% increase from the previous quarter and a 16% increase from the first quarter of 2009. The data was supplied by research firm RealtyTrac Foreclosure filings were reported on [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:35 am

Stock futures signal dip; eyes on UPS

(Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.3 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.2 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.21 percent at 5:12 a.m. EDT.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:35 am

Stock futures signal dip; eyes on UPS (Reuters)

Reuters - Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.3 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.2 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.21 percent at 5:12 a.m. EDT.

Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:35 am

Rio Tinto raises forecasts on iron ore demand

Rio Tinto has revised up its iron ore guidance for the year, after production surged 39 per cent on the back of increasing Chinese demand.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:34 am

Ash flight rights

Passengers rights if flights hit by the Icelandic ash cloud
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:33 am

Europe Markets: European shares hover around 18-month highs

European shares trade around 18-month highs on Thursday, as corporate updates on both sides of the Atlantic continue to buoy sentiment. Metals stocks declined.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:32 am

China's economic growth surges but inflation low (AP)

AP - China's economic growth surged to 11.9 percent in the first quarter, possibly giving Beijing room to allow its currency to rise, but analysts warned it faces growing pressure to cut back stimulus and keep the world's third-largest economy from overheating.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:31 am

Economic forecast: Germany to grow by 1.5 percent (AP)

AP - Germany's leading economic forecasters say Europe's biggest economy will grow by 1.5 percent this year, followed by 1.4 in 2011.
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:30 am

U.K. insider trade crackdown just tip of iceberg

Keen to crack down on City cheats, the U.K. has stepped up its focus on insider dealing, including by making the largest-ever allegation of corrupt trading in Britain. But one expert says the scale of the problem is so rife that criminals are still highly unlikely to be caught.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:30 am

Late payments 'hurt small firms'

More small and medium-sized businesses are suffering as their customers make late payments, research suggests.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:27 am

Rio sales rise on Chinese boom

China's booming economy helped mining giant Rio Tinto increase sales of iron ore in the first quarter of 2010.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:22 am

HP Moscow office raided in bribery investigation

The Moscow offices of Hewlett-Packard have been raided by Russian authorities in connection with an investigation into suspected bribery.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:22 am

Toyota to test all SUVs, suspends Lexus GX output

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor said on Thursday it would conduct safety tests on all its sport utility models after a report claiming that a handling problem in a new version Lexus put drivers at risk of rollover accidents.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:20 am

Mugabe denies company rule U-turn

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe denies a controversial law, forcing firms worth more than $500,000 to be majority-owned by "indigenous people", is being shelved.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:17 am

Subprime Payment Rates Improve — For How Long?

The credit ratings service Fitch says that payment rates on subprime montages improved for the first time in four years. “The share of subprime loans that were at least 60 days past due or in foreclosure fell to 46.3% in March from 46.9% a month earlier,” according to The Wall Street Journal. The number is [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:13 am

Volcanic-ash cloud shuts many U.K. airports

Concern about an ash cloud formed from a volcanic eruption in Iceland forces air-traffic control to close most of the domestic air space in the U.K.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:13 am

Leaving a legacy on a shoestring

Boomers have a well-deserved reputation for living in the moment. We've spent freely on things like travel and technology to enjoy what life offers. Now, nearing retirement and socked hard by the recession, many of us are so behind in our savings that we must rethink our long-term financial goals.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:12 am

Economy is recovering! In China, that is

China's economy revved into high gear during the first quarter of 2010, growing 11.9% compared with a year ago, a spokesman for the National Statistics Bureau said Thursday.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:12 am

Fans queue for World Cup tickets

Thousands of South African fans queue overnight to buy 500,000 unsold World Cup tickets over the counter in shopping malls and supermarkets.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:08 am

Peabody makes revised $3.8 bln bid for Macarthur

Peabody Energy makes a revised offer for Macarthur Coal on Thursday, lifting its earlier bid by 14% to $3.8 billion.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 15 Apr 2010 | 3:03 am

China GDP Surges 11.9% In Q1, US Trade Issues Lurk

China’s first quarter GDP growth rate was a sizzling 11.9%. The improvement was the best in three years and shows that the economy in the People’s Republic has returned to pre-recession growth rates. The same cannot be said of the US, EU, UK, and Japan and that could cause more tension in the intense debate [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 15 Apr 2010 | 2:55 am

London Markets: Carnival shares shine in mildly higher FTSE 100

Carnival Corp. shares lead the top British share index higher on Thursday, as a broker says the cruise operator could be one of the first to benefit from a recovery in the global economy.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 15 Apr 2010 | 2:54 am

EU needs long-term fix for fiscal trouble: Juncker

MADRID (Reuters) - The EU will have to set up a mechanism to help out member states in financing difficulties without giving members an excuse to relax fiscal discipline, Jean-Claude Juncker said on Thursday.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 15 Apr 2010 | 2:53 am

Lehman sets payouts to exit bankruptcy

(Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc laid out a plan on Wednesday to repay creditors a portion of some $1 trillion in expected claims, under a proposal that could resolve the largest U.S. bankruptcy in history.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 15 Apr 2010 | 2:52 am

In tough times, don't give up on stocks

Question: We have nearly all our savings in stock funds and are very concerned that the stock market is headed for another large downturn with an oil crisis on the horizon. Would you recommend that we switch to bond funds? -- Jessica Sprague, Gig Harbor, Washington
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 15 Apr 2010 | 2:50 am

Cold winter hits Scottish economy

The cold weather affected confidence and activity across all business sectors in the first quarter of 2010, a survey finds.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 15 Apr 2010 | 2:42 am

Merrill Lynch's $50 billion feud

For Stan O'Neal, late August 2007 was a period of great anxiety. The chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch was vacationing at his home on Martha's Vineyard and, as the world would later learn, playing a lot of golf. But he was also increasingly concerned about a $45 billion time bomb buried deep in Merrill's books. That bomb, of course, was the firm's liability from collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) -- an amount that had more than tripled just between December 2006 and April 2007.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 15 Apr 2010 | 2:34 am

Kuwait's Agility replaced as U.S. military supplier

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait's Agility , the Gulf's biggest logistics firm, has been replaced by a new company as the main supplier to the U.S. military in Kuwait and Iraq, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 15 Apr 2010 | 2:27 am

European Stocks to Watch: Looking for clarity in Europe's first quarter

Signs of spending and any earnest optimism from European companies could keep momentum going for stocks on the Continent as the first-quarter numbers roll out, say fund managers and strategists.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 15 Apr 2010 | 2:23 am

Oil hovered below $85 amid Asian, US demand growth

Oil prices hovered below $85 a barrel Thursday in Asia amid signs global crude demand is growing. Benchmark crude for May delivery was down 2 cents to $85.82 a barrel at late afternoon...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 15 Apr 2010 | 2:13 am

Former Gov. Bush: Still in charge at the Capitol? (AP)

AP - Ease class-size limits — check. Cut corporate income taxes — check. End tenure for new teachers and link teacher raises to student performance — check (for now).

Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 15 Apr 2010 | 2:10 am

Toyota testing safety on all SUVs

Toyota announced Thursday that is testing all of its sports utility vehicles after it suspended worldwide sales of the Lexus GX 460 due to a reported risk of rollover.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 15 Apr 2010 | 2:06 am

Rio's iron ore production jumps as Chinese economy picks up speed

Rio Tinto, the world's third-largest mining company, said that iron ore production in the first quarter of the year rose thanks to renewed demand from China.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 15 Apr 2010 | 2:05 am

World stocks at year highs on earnings, China

LONDON (Reuters) - Strong growth in China and upbeat corporate earnings lifted world stocks on Thursday to a new high for the year, putting them at levels last seen around the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 15 Apr 2010 | 2:05 am

World stocks at year highs on earnings, China (Reuters)

Reuters - Strong growth in China and upbeat corporate earnings lifted world stocks on Thursday to a new high for the year, putting them at levels last seen around the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 15 Apr 2010 | 2:05 am

China economic surge raises hope for yuan

China’s economy grew by 11.9 per cent during the first quarter of 2010, raising hopes that Beijing will loosen its control of the yuan.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 15 Apr 2010 | 2:05 am

Budget problems forcing prisons to cut counseling

In-prison treatment programs are facing budget cuts that could make it difficult for inmates with substance abuse problems to receive counseling. States including Kansas and Pennsylvania
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 15 Apr 2010 | 2:00 am

Birmingham City loses possession to Seymour Pierce

Seymour Pierce, the London stockbroker, has effectively taken control of Birmingham City Football Club - after the club's owners failed to pay £2.2m in unpaid fees.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:56 am

Toyota halts Lexus sales globally

Toyota suspends sales of its 2010 Lexus GX 460 worldwide amid roll-over concerns and says that it will test other SUV models.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:55 am

FTSE 100 opens higher (AFP)

AFP - Leading shares climbed at the start of trade on Thursday, boosted by positive data from the US and growing optimism about the state of the global economy.

Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:53 am

Soros risk to euro without German concessions report

MILAN (Reuters) - Billionaire financier George Soros thinks the euro and the European Union itself are at risk of breaking up if Germany refuses to play its traditional role and make concessions, he told a newspaper.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:49 am

Euro chief Juncker hits out at 'hesitant' Germany

Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker hit out on Thursday at what he called the German government's "hesitant" approach to Europe in the wake of the Greek debt crisis. Juncker told the...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:49 am

More pain: State budget gap is $89 billion

States will have to find a way to close an $89 billion budget gap before their 2011 fiscal year begins in July, according to a report from the National Conference of State Legislatures released Wednesday.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:49 am

EU's Rehn: Greece will not default

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - There is no possibility that Greece will default on its debts and no reason to doubt Germany's commitment to an EU pledge to help Greece, the European Union's monetary chief said on Thursday.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:43 am

Petronas halts fuel sales to Iran as sanctions loom

KUALA LUMPUR/DUBAI (Reuters) - Malaysia's Petronas has stopped supplying gasoline to Iran, a company spokesman said on Thursday, as the threat of U.S. sanctions on oil firms with supply ties to the Islamic Republic looms large.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:42 am

Media Digest 4/15/2010 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

Reuters:   An 11.9% growth in China during the first quarter has caused the government to look at tightening. Reuters:   Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM) is testing all of its SUVs after problems with one of its Lexus models. Reuters:   American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG) has set up a long-term commitment with China’s PICC. Reuters:   The EU may have [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:41 am

Danone reports 8.3 percent rise in 1Q sales

French dairy and bottled water company Groupe Danone SA on Thursday reported strong growth in first quarter sales as demand for its yogurts in France and across Europe helped offset...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:39 am

Volcanic ash creates flights chaos across Britain

Volcanic ash could ground all air traffic across the UK today, the head of aviation has warned as a mushroom cloud of debris heads south from Iceland towards continental Europe.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:32 am

Volcanic ash cloud grounds flights over Britain

All civilian air traffic will be grounded across the UK from midday today as a mushroom cloud of volcanic ash heads south from Iceland towards continental Europe.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:32 am

China's 11.9pc growth in GDP fuels overheating fears

Fears that China's economy is at serious risk of overheating deepened on Thursday after official data showed the economy has grown by 11.9pc.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:21 am

China growth points to yuan move

China's economy grew at an annual rate of 11.9% in the first quarter, leading some to predict a revaluation of the yuan.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:16 am

FACT CHECK: An echo is heard in Wall Street debate

Republicans say White House-backed legislation to oversee the financial industry would lead to more government bailouts. Democrats say that won't happen. So who's right? No one can be...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:08 am

Senate to take up $18B jobless benefits bill

A measure restoring jobless benefits to people struggling to find work is back on track in the Senate. The $18 billion measure could pass Thursday and prevent even more people whose 26...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:07 am

How the poll was conducted

Digits in the phone numbers dialed were generated randomly to reach households with unlisted and listed landline and cell phone numbers. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish.
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:03 am

AP-GfK Poll: Jump in opposition to health care law

Opposition to President Barack Obama's health care law jumped after he signed it _ a clear indication his victory could become a liability for Democrats in this fall's elections. A new...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:03 am

Business Bullet: China, Rio, BP, Consumers

The latest news on: China, Rio, BP, Consumers
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:01 am

Retail sales rise 1.6% in March, raising odds of a sustained recovery

The biggest gain in four months beats projections, while so-called core prices remain unchanged. Americans heartened...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Lawmakers call airline carry-on bag fees 'skyway robbery'

The charge announced by Spirit Airlines of as much as $45 spurs six Democratic senators to press for a ban on the practice. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Obama presses forward on overhaul legislation

Democrats are putting their energy behind a plan to give federal regulators power to prevent another financial crisis. But Republican opposition on Capitol Hill could cause the proposal to stall. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Obama presses forward on overhaul legislation

Democrats are putting their energy behind a plan to give federal regulators power to prevent another financial crisis. But Republican opposition on Capitol Hill could cause the proposal to stall.

President Obama made a forceful new push Wednesday for a sweeping overhaul of financial regulations to avert future economic catastrophes, but the long-sought legislation is in danger of stalling amid a gathering Capitol Hill firefight similar to the bitter healthcare battle.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Retail sales rise 1.6% in March, raising odds of a sustained recovery

The biggest gain in four months beats projections, while so-called core prices remain unchanged.

Americans heartened by an improving job market flocked to shopping malls and auto showrooms in March, raising the odds of a sustained economic recovery.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

For many, being jobless can seem never-ending

A record 44% of the nation's unemployed have been out of work at least six months. Many of those 6.5 million people may never completely rebuild their working lives. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Widely condemned cattle-killing method is used by kosher meat firm's supplier

Import records and undercover video show the 'shackle-and-hoist' slaughter technique is used at a South American plant that supplies Alle Processing, the biggest seller of kosher meat in the U.S.

Two years after U.S. kosher-food authorities said they wanted to stop use of a cattle-killing method widely criticized as inhumane, the country's largest seller of kosher meat is importing beef from a South American plant that employs the technique, import records and an undercover video show.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

U.S. stock funds see jump in cash inflows

Individual investors pump in the most since mid-January after mostly pulling money from domestic portfolios since August.

It's looking like more individual investors just can't stand being on the sidelines anymore as the stock market continues to rally.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Intel, JPMorgan earnings boost optimism on Wall Street

Unexpectedly strong first-quarter results from the tech and banking giants, along with positive economic data, embolden investors. JPMorgan's profit jumps 55% and Intel's rises nearly fourfold. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Widely condemned cattle-killing method is used by kosher meat firm's supplier

Import records and undercover video show the 'shackle-and-hoist' slaughter technique is used at a South American plant that supplies Alle Processing, the biggest seller of kosher meat in the U.S. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

For many, being jobless can seem never-ending

A record 44% of the nation's unemployed have been out of work at least six months. Many of those 6.5 million people may never completely rebuild their working lives.

Despite optimism over recent job gains, one grim statistic casts a long shadow over the recovering economy -- a record 44% of the nation's 15 million unemployed have been out of work for more than six months.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes still sees movie-rental opportunities

The retailer focuses on its ability to offer DVDs the same day they go on sale in stores and by mail, whereas rivals Netflix and Redbox have made deals with some studios to delay new releases.

Once the dominant renter of videotapes and DVDs with a presence on seemingly every street corner, Blockbuster Inc. is in the throes of closing more than 1,000 stores while its stock trades at 30 cents a share.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes still sees movie-rental opportunities

The retailer focuses on its ability to offer DVDs the same day they go on sale in stores and by mail, whereas rivals Netflix and Redbox have made deals with some studios to delay new releases. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Stocks close up on Intel, JPMorgan; S & P crosses 1,200

NEW YORK -- Upbeat forecasts from Intel Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. propelled the stock market higher for a fifth day.
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Promoting for dollars is new Twitter app

L.A. indie rock band Hypnogaja doesn't have a large marketing budget or the backing of a major label, but it does have 1.2 million Twitter followers. And that was recently worth $3,500.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Intel, JPMorgan earnings boost optimism on Wall Street

Unexpectedly strong first-quarter results from the tech and banking giants, along with positive economic data, embolden investors. JPMorgan's profit jumps 55% and Intel's rises nearly fourfold.

Two of America's corporate giants, Intel Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., reported unexpectedly strong financial results this week, reinforcing Wall Street's optimism that basic business operations are improving.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Promoting for dollars is new Twitter app

L.A. indie rock band Hypnogaja doesn't have a large marketing budget or the backing of a major label, but it does have 1.2 million Twitter followers. And that was recently worth $3,500.
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Lawmakers call airline carry-on bag fees 'skyway robbery'

The charge announced by Spirit Airlines of as much as $45 spurs six Democratic senators to press for a ban on the practice.

Airline fees for carry-on bags were deemed "a slap," "outrageous" and "skyway robbery" as six Democratic senators moved to ban the practice after Spirit Airlines Inc. said it would charge passengers as much as $45 to stow luggage in overhead airplane compartments.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Telecom drives market down

The New Zealand sharemarket pushed ahead to its highest level in 19 months in early trading before turning lower after Telecom cut its earnings guidance for the 2011 to 2013 financial years.Asian markets were mostly higher today...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 15 Apr 2010 | 12:54 am

Roche says first quarter sales up 6 percent

Pharmaceuticals maker Roche Holding AG reported a 6 percent increase in first quarter sales Thursday with strong performance by its anti-cancer drugs such as Avastin. The Basel,...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 15 Apr 2010 | 12:51 am

BP faces investor revolt over Canadian oil sands project and CEO's pay

BP, Europe's biggest energy company, faces a backlash from shareholders today over executive pay and its plan to invest in Canadian oil sands.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 15 Apr 2010 | 12:42 am

Vote due on BP's Canada oil plan

Oil giant BP is facing a rebellion from shareholders over its plans to extract oil from reserves in Canada.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 14 Apr 2010 | 11:51 pm

New tax breaks cause confusion, enforcement issues (AP)

AP - New tax breaks enacted last year are causing confusion for taxpayers and enforcement problems for the Internal Revenue Service, according to a government report issued Thursday, the deadline for filing individual returns.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 14 Apr 2010 | 11:48 pm

NZ dollar continues to be range bound

The New Zealand dollar continued to trade in a narrow range on a day in which Chinese economy data was the focus of investors' attention.The NZ dollar was at US71.34c at 5pm from US71.40c at 8am and US71.17c at 5pm yesterday.China's...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 14 Apr 2010 | 11:39 pm

Economists attack British opposition economy plans

More than 50 economists from around the world have signed a letter attacking the economic plans of Britain's opposition Conservatives, a paper said Thursday, as politicians geared up for a...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 14 Apr 2010 | 11:20 pm

Telecom to slash 200 senior jobs

Telecom says it is targeting a reduction of 200 management positions this year.The company today cut earnings guidance for its 2011 to 2013 years and kept guidance the same for 2010. It reiterated that it will detail its dividend...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 14 Apr 2010 | 10:37 pm

Home loan approvals take record tumble

The number of people who received mortgages in the first quarter of this year was 30 per cent down on 2009, as house sales stalled and investors threw caution to the wind about possible tax changes in the budget.One-third fewer...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 14 Apr 2010 | 10:30 pm

As Greek Epic Drags On, Germany Rises (Global Recovery Watch)

The nation has benefited from its role. Now, it has a great deal to lose.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 14 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm

How to Prepare for Next Year's Tax Season

VIDEO: Your 2010 return is due in 365 days. Are you ready?

Source: SmartMoney.com | 14 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm

5 Smart Books: Age of Uncertainty (SmartBooks)

We review new releases that examine strategies for coping with change.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 14 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm

Twitter Is the New Go-To Site for Travelers

Want a special pillow? Need an aisle seat? Twitter isn't just for deals anymore.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 14 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm

Lazard -- and Its Stock -- Have a Pay Problem

Lazard's stock is likely to remain constrained until it trims compensation.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 14 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm

What You Need to Know About ETFs

VIDEO: Schwab's Peter Crawford discusses ETF industry trends.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 14 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm

3 Stocks Institutions Are Chasing (Screens)

Hough: Deep-pocketed buyers may have bid up shares of these companies.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 14 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm

Fortune 500: Profits bounce back

The full Fortune 500 list -- along with the links, galleries, interactives, and stories listed below -- will be available on Thursday, April 15 at 7:30 a.m.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 14 Apr 2010 | 9:43 pm

China’s economy grows at 11.9%

China’s economic growth surged in the first quarter, underlining the rapid recovery from the global economic crisis but raising fresh questions about the risks of overheating
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 14 Apr 2010 | 9:32 pm

Chinese migrant workers face high hurdles

China’s estimated 230m migrants must go to great lengths to complete even routine bureaucratic tasks, which is just one measure of the enduring influence of the country’s archaic ‘hukou’ household registration system
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 14 Apr 2010 | 9:08 pm

Goldman and Deutsche take lead in China bank IPO

Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank secure lead roles in the blockbuster initial public offering of Agricultural Bank of China that is expected to raise $29bn
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 14 Apr 2010 | 8:52 pm

HP Moscow office raided over bribe claim

The offices of Hewlett-Packard in Moscow have been raided by Russian investigators looking into alleged bribery involving a sale of equipment to a Russian government agency
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 14 Apr 2010 | 7:34 pm

HP office searched in Russian bribery probe

SAN FRANCISCO - Russian authorities have searched a Hewlett-Packard office in Moscow in what one news report said was a bribery investigation.HP confirmed the search but wouldn't provide further details.Russian prosecutors...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 14 Apr 2010 | 7:13 pm

Global PC Sales: HP Rolls, Dell Leaks Oil

Dell Corporation (NASDAQ:DELL) is still having trouble in its race for global PC market share. Its number for the first quarter of 2010 was 13.3%. Taiwan manufacturer Acer had a worldwide share of 13.6% for the same quarter. Hewlett-Packard Corporation (NYSE: HPQ) continues its dominance in the industry and posted a market share of 19.7%. Total [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 14 Apr 2010 | 6:45 pm

Toyota moves to control damage from Consumer Reports' Lexus warning

The automaker's swift reaction in the wake of a series of large recalls is expected to set a precedent for other manufacturers who find themselves in similar situations.

The swift reaction by Toyota Motor Corp. to suspend sales of one of its upscale Lexus sport utility vehicles after it failed a Consumer Reports safety test illustrates how sensitive the auto industry has become in the wake of a series of large recalls in recent months.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 14 Apr 2010 | 6:29 pm

Toyota moves to control damage from Consumer Reports' Lexus warning

The automaker's swift reaction in the wake of a series of large recalls is expected to set a precedent for other manufacturers who find themselves in similar situations. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 14 Apr 2010 | 6:29 pm

Lombard four face criminal charges

The Securities Commission has laid criminal charges against Lombard Finance & Investments directors Sir Douglas Graham, Michael Reeves, William Jeffries and Lawrence Bryant.The charges carry a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 14 Apr 2010 | 6:20 pm

Money Matters, Diamonds Beckon

Yields on money market funds continue to drop. They currently pay interest of about .01% per year. Gold looks more attractive as an investment, and so do, perhaps, diamonds. Read more… Filed under: Commodities

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 14 Apr 2010 | 6:14 pm

Criminal Investigations Of HP Get Ugly But Sales Rise

The Russian and German investigations of potential bribes made by Hewlett-Packard Co (NYSE: HPQ) turned vicious today. German prosecutors are examining evidence that HP paid  “about €8 million ($10.9 million) in bribes to win a €35 million contract under which the U.S. company sold computer equipment, through a German subsidiary, to the office of the prosecutor general [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 14 Apr 2010 | 6:08 pm

Consumer confidence has sharpest fall since start of recession

Consumer confidence plunged last month at the sharpest rate since the beginning of the recession amid growing uncertainty over the election.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 14 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm

Dreaming of a million men from the Prudential

Prudential plans to increase significantly its agency workforce to at least one million in Asia as part of a recruitment drive to follow its $35.5 billion acquisition of AIA.$
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 14 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm

You want the truth? Here’s my anti-manifesto

Everyone is grumbling away about vacuous manifestos, insisting they want the truth — a most worthy sentiment. A recession should be the ideal moment to call for the realism and sacrifice needed to drive through long-delayed reforms. For party leaders, on the other hand, it is an ideal time to dodge the issues. Although the public, we should not forget, in fact connive in their escapist mood.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 14 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm

Asia for the action and London for the listing?

Managing thousands of highly incentivised life insurance salesmen can’t be easy. Managing a million life insurance salesmen sounds positively nightmarish.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 14 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm

Write-Offs: 04.14.10

$$$ UBS Can’t Shake Off Its Past: Investors Reject Plan to Absolve 2007 Management of the Blame for Losses [WSJ]

$$$ An Interview With Nassim Taleb [BI]

$$$ FDIC Selling Busted Bank Loans on Terms That Make It `Hard to Lose Money‘ [Bloomberg]

$$$ Record-Breaking Rental in Bridgehampton [NYM]

UBS AG - Business - Financial services - Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation - The Wall Street Journal
Source: Dealbreaker | 14 Apr 2010 | 5:45 pm

Manufacturing back to high levels

The strength of the Australian economy helped drive manufacturing in New Zealand to its highest level in almost two-and-a-half years last month.The Bank of New Zealand's Business New Zealand Performance of Manufacturing Index...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 14 Apr 2010 | 5:30 pm

Ex-Merrill Employee Who Stole $780,000 From Firm, Bought Ferrari Most Likely Going To Jail For At Least Three Years

It turns out that not only is that “not cool” with most investment banks but judges don’t like it either.  To add insult to injury, the one deciding this case did not see eye to eye with Steven Mandala and his lawyer’s argument that, in exchange for returning the money, he should get 1 to zero years downtown. Some people.  Honestly.

Earlier: Ex-Merrill Employee Who Stole Money From The Bank, Bought Ferrari Had Good Reason To Do So

Investment Banks - Lawyer - Business - Merrill Lynch - Financial Services
Source: Dealbreaker | 14 Apr 2010 | 5:26 pm

Obama fails to soften derivatives reform opposition

Barack Obama, president, met Republican leaders to discuss financial regulatory reform but the meeting did nothing to improve the tone of an increasingly bitter debate
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 14 Apr 2010 | 5:16 pm

Telecom on trading halt

The New Zealand stock market pushed ahead to its highest level in 19 months in early trading while market heavyweight Telecom was placed on a trading halt, pending a 'material announcement'.The benchmark NZX-50 index climbed as...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 14 Apr 2010 | 4:56 pm

Stocks rise on Intel, JPMorgan; S&P crosses 1,200 (AP)

AP - Upbeat forecasts from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Intel Corp. propelled the stock market higher for a fifth day.

Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 14 Apr 2010 | 4:51 pm

Pru seeks minority investors for AIA

Prudential wants to bring minority investors into some of the Asian businesses it plans to buy from AIG to help ease capital restrictions imposed by regional regulators
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 14 Apr 2010 | 4:33 pm

So This Happened

Today on Dylan Ratigan: Puppets explain the financial crisis.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

msnbc.com - Breaking news - World News - Dylan Ratigan - Television
Source: Dealbreaker | 14 Apr 2010 | 4:28 pm

BP to press on with Canada oil sands plan

The oil company will press ahead with its plan to invest in the controversial project in spite of protests from environmentalists and concerns among some shareholders
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 14 Apr 2010 | 4:27 pm

JP Morgan's profits buoy markets

JP Morgan's first quarter profits beat market expectations, boosting bank shares on both sides of the Atlantic .
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 14 Apr 2010 | 4:18 pm

Oyster Bay vineyard expects loss

Grape grower Oyster Bay Marlborough Vineyard is warning an anticipated loss for the 2010 financial year may cause the company to fail to meet its banking covenants.The company's directors were seeking a waiver and would make a...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 14 Apr 2010 | 4:15 pm

Gordon Gekko types back in demand

NEW YORK - Wall Street is hiring again.Among those in demand: traders of exotic financial investments such as derivatives, and risk managers whose job it is to keep companies from repeating the reckless bets that imploded and...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 14 Apr 2010 | 4:00 pm

Summary Box: Upbeat corporate outlooks lift stocks (AP)

AP - SMOOTHER SAILING: Encouraging forecasts from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Intel Corp. raised expectations that the economy is in recovery mode. Stocks rose for a fifth day.
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 14 Apr 2010 | 3:58 pm

JPMorgan Chase, CSX, Intel are big movers (AP)

AP - Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market:
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 14 Apr 2010 | 3:44 pm

How the major stock indexes fared on Wednesday (AP)

AP - Upbeat forecasts from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Intel Corp. propelled the stock market higher for a fifth day. The Standard & Poor's 500 index topped the 1,200 mark Wednesday for the first time in a year and a half. The Dow Jones industrial average moved above 11,100. Corporate earnings numbers and government reports on retail sales and regional economic conditions all indicated that the recovery is taking hold.
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 14 Apr 2010 | 3:39 pm

Top After-Hours Stock Movers (YUM, UPS, REVU, DVAX, MGM, SNTS)

Earnings are moving stocks, yet some are moving on other news as well in the after-hours trading session.  YUM! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM), United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS), Princeton Review Inc. (NASDAQ: REVU), Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: DVAX), MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM), and Santarus Inc. (NASDAQ: SNTS) are this evening’s after -hours stocks on [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 14 Apr 2010 | 3:39 pm

TSX rises as banks take a star turn (Reuters)

Reuters - Banks powered Toronto's main stock index higher on Wednesday, encouraged by forecast-beating results from U.S. bank JP Morgan, while upbeat U.S. economic data and firmer commodity prices played supporting roles in the rise.
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 14 Apr 2010 | 3:36 pm

Presented By:

Source: Dealbreaker | 14 Apr 2010 | 3:30 pm

Goldman Sachs Exec Tries Interesting New Tactic Re: Bonuses

Goldman Sachs has done a lot to try and stem the rage over some people’s belief that the Masters of the Universe did not deserve their nicely-sized bonuses this year. They’ve taken away the cash portion of Lloyd and Co’s, they’ve made senior management fork over a bunch of their money to charity (including a special fund set up specifically to “help Matt Taibbi get the help he needs”), they canceled plans for the annual DuckTails-esque money pit for the distribution of the young employees’ comp, and so on and so forth. And yet. People still won’t get off their asses. So. It was time try something different. A new approach. One that would perhaps appeal to the plebes, where most of the ridiculous bitching is coming from. Everybody agreed this was a great idea, and last night at a fundraiser for Harry Reid held by Goldman co-President Gary Cohn, it was put to the test.

Charlie Gasparino, not on hand but working the phones as soon as he heard there was a party going down that contained four of mankind’s most nefarious elements, to him (Goldman employees, Democrats, “those Hymen Roth-types,” and passed hors d’oeuvres), reports:

A press official for Reid confirmed there was some acrimony at the meeting and said Reid took it all in stride. At one point, one of the Goldman executives complained about being attacked by politicians for receiving large bonuses by saying, “You don’t know how expensive it is to live in New York City.”

While some might doubt the genius of this move, pump the brakes ’til you hear the rationale from the c-suite. Most of the people giving GS shit are peasants, right? Given. And peasants don’t live in the big city, they live in places far far way where they don’t know what the cost of rent or an apartment at 15CPW is like. But if they did, they’d probably realize they’re judging GS a bit too harshly and that really, what may seem like “huge ass bonuses” to them are essentially minimum wages because it costs a lot more to send your kids to private schools and install auto-fellatio room in your penthouse in NYC than it does in other parts of the country. And they’d probably have no problem with all this at all.

Goldman Sachs - New York City - Harry Reid - Masters of the Universe - Minimum wage
Source: Dealbreaker | 14 Apr 2010 | 3:30 pm

Google, Commodities, Bonds, Chart of the Day: Taking Stock

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 14 Apr 2010 | 3:23 pm

Summary Box: Wall Street firms slowly hiring again (AP)

AP - FINANCIAL HELP WANTED: Wall Street banks are slowly hiring again, dangling big bonuses to attract top talent 18 months after the industry began its biggest downsizing since the Great Depression.
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 14 Apr 2010 | 3:22 pm

General Election 2010: City jobs set to hit pre-crisis level

The number of jobs available in the City is set to return to levels last seen before the financial crisis hit by August this year, experts have predicted.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 14 Apr 2010 | 3:05 pm

SFO's plea-bargaining plan suffers a blow from Judge Bean

So much for Richard Alderman's plan to copy the US system of plea bargaining.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 14 Apr 2010 | 2:35 pm

10 DJIA Components Hit New 52-Week Highs (AXP, BAC, CAT, CSCO, GE, HD, HPQ, INTC, JPM, MCD)

When investors see 52-week highs in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and in the S&P 500 and NASDAQ, the obvious statement is “of course there are many stocks hitting 52-week highs.”  But we have hit 52-week highs before, and today still looks like a near-term record of stocks that hit 52-week highs.  If you include [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 14 Apr 2010 | 2:32 pm

It's a shame the public don't know more about the latest blue chip - Essar Energy

Hands up if you can name the finance director of Essar Energy. C'mon now, be honest. Okay I admit it is a bit of a tough one, so what about the chief executive? No cheating at the back, there is no need to be embarrassed.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 14 Apr 2010 | 2:25 pm

Upbeat signals on US economy

The chairman of the US Federal Reserve and the head of one of the country’s biggest banks struck a bullish tone on the economy, hailing stronger spending by businesses and consumers as the harbingers of a domestic recovery
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 14 Apr 2010 | 2:25 pm

General Election 2010: hung Parliament fears hitting financial market 'overblown'

Politicians, rating agencies and analysts have "totally overblown" the dangers, a leading economist has said.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 14 Apr 2010 | 2:19 pm

This Is What Eliot Spitzer Paid $2,000 An Hour For

As previously mentioned, Ashley Dupré has a spread (and the cover) in the latest issue of Playboy. The Village Voice’s Foster Kamer obtained some shots from the mag, and we’ve placed a couple after the jump. Why? Not for gratuitous nudity of course but because one of the questions constantly raised when we speak of the noted hooker fucker’s time with AD is “$2,000?” Really? According to the lady of the hour, she’s worth every penny, being “very good” at fornicating. Unfortunately, to date, no one’s stepped up to the plate to verify that claim. Leaving us no other choice than to evaluate whether or not she’s worth 2 g’s a pop than on the basis of a) her rack and b) willingness to stick stuff (for instance, a whip) in her mouth. (And though it should go without saying but since some of you are special: NSFW. Unless you work at, like a bondage wholesaler, or a boob factory, in which case, proceed.)

Village Voice - Ashley Alexandra Dupré - Playboy - Foster Kamer - United States
Source: Dealbreaker | 14 Apr 2010 | 2:15 pm

Dimon: Kerry Killinger is Full of It

Jamie Dimon had some choice words for Washington Mutual chief Kerry Killinger on JPMorgan’s earnings call today. In short: JD, never one to mince words, disputed Killinger’s assertion at yesterday’s Congressional hearings that a special club of Wall Street execs got bailed out while WaMu got shafted.

“I am unaware of any club,” Dimon said on the call. Michael Cavanagh, JPMorgan’s CFO said the bank was the only bidder for WaMu. Yesterday, Killinger said he was treated unfairly when regulators seized his company and sold it a “bargain” price to Jamie & Co.

“Look you got to ask the regulators, we had nothing to do with the decisions that were made around declaring them insolvent and stuff like that,” Dimon said on the call. “Obviously they were having deposit outflow. As you remember when we bought the company we put up $40 billion reserves for writedowns and various assets.”

Killinger said yesterday that deposits at WaMu were stable, the bank had more than enough capital and had not been asked by regulators to raise more cash. Still, WaMu had hired Goldman Sachs to help it find more capital or a merger partner, but those efforts were stymied by a parallel auction being conducted by the FDIC.

Killinger maintains WaMu would have made it through the financial crisis had regulators not seized it prematurely.

When asked whether WaMu would have failed if the government had not declared the bank insolvent, Dimon said deposits were flying out the door and co

nditions in mortgage market “just got worse” in the months after it collapsed.

Kerry Killinger - Wall Street - Washington Mutual - JPMorgan Chase - Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Source: Dealbreaker | 14 Apr 2010 | 2:01 pm

Morgan Stanley property fund faces record loss

A Morgan Stanley fund is heading for the largest loss in the history of private-equity property investing after the economic downturn destroyed the value of its assets.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 14 Apr 2010 | 2:01 pm

Author Hess Discusses Book `Smart Growth': First Word Special

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 14 Apr 2010 | 1:55 pm

Bond Trading Is Good To JPMorgan Chase. Mortgages, Not So Much

By Jacob Goldstein

The first-quarter profits at JPMorgan Chase, the second biggest bank in America, make it look like a big Wall Street investment bank that happens to have a retail banking operation attached to it.

The bank said today that it made $3.3 billion in profits in the first three months of this year.

Most of that money -- $2.5 billion -- came from its investment banking division, which made a lot of money trading bonds, the company said.

The bank's "retail financial services" group, which includes retail banking, mortgage banking and real estate portfolios, lost $131 million during the quarter, driven by big losses in real estate. The bank also set aside $2.3 billion "for litigation reserves, including those for mortgage-related matters."

"Obviously, the mortgage area has been a very confusing, complex area," said Jamie Dimon, the bank's CEO, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

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Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 14 Apr 2010 | 1:30 pm

Apple delays international iPad launch

Struggle to meet strong demand from US customers leads to postponement but European carriers line up local price plans
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 14 Apr 2010 | 1:24 pm

Columbia Business School Outrage

A distraught listener writes: “Bess-

I stumbled onto this Columbia Business School Vineyard Vines logo tie on the clearance rack at Century 21 the other night. It’s the same tie our investment management club gave to Buffett in Omaha last October. That tie was full price in our bookstore – $65. Century 21 is unloading it for $35.”

“Does this speak to a declining value for the MBA in general, the particularly shitty value in a Columbia MBA specifically…??? I don’t know. But this is bush league even for Columbia.”

Columbia Business School - Master of Business Administration - Education - Colleges and Universities - Investment management
Source: Dealbreaker | 14 Apr 2010 | 1:00 pm

Brand Loyalty Starts from the Inside: An Interview with Diane Durkin

In today’s commoditized world, loyalty is more important than ever. If you can’t compete on price, you have to focus on things that keep customers coming back. That means a good product, good service, and an experience that customers will remember. You’re only as good as the following you build.

Experts have been arguing about how to cultivate customer and brand loyalty for years. Consultant and loyalty expert Diane Durkin, who runs Loyalty Factor, LLC, has an original take on the issue. She says loyal employees build loyal customers, which in turn cultivates a solid brand following. Loyalty, in other words, starts from the inside.

We interviewed Diane to learn more about how loyalty radiates outwards from employees to brands. Here’s what she had to say.

BP: How do you differentiate customer loyalty and brand loyalty?

Customer loyalty is people recommending you to others because of good quality and service – a value added perspective. It is people wanting to use your products because of your value on going green and philanthropic philosophies.

Customer loyalty is continuously buying from your organization and recommending it to others.

Brand loyalty is having the name recognition and being recognized as a Best Run, Best Managed Company, Industry Leader, and a high integrity company.

BP: Can you tell me a little bit about how employee loyalty affects customer and brand loyalty?

When employees feel they are appreciated, learning and growing they have a sense of dedication and commitment to servicing the customer in a positive and helpful manner. They basically treat the customer the way they are being treated – with appreciation and wanting to meet with customers’ needs. Loyal employees take a lot of pride and commitment in exceeding customer expectations and helping the company grow and prosper.

BP: Some companies–Wal-Mart or McDonald’s comes to mind–have a reputation of high turnover and unenthusiastic employees, but still have brand loyalty. How do you explain companies like that?

Wal-Mart and McDonald’s do not have as many unenthusiastic employees as you may think. McDonald’s in particular has done a good job of transforming attitudes of their employees. With these two retailers, price, value and convenience are key ingredients. It’s hard to justify paying 10–20% more at another retailer for the same product.

BP: What’s the worst-case scenario for a company whose employees aren’t loyal?

There is a direct correlation between lack of employee loyalty and company performance. Companies highlighted as “Best Places to Work” also show growth and profitability.

BP: Can you give me 2-3 ways that a company can increase employee loyalty?

In order to increase employee loyalty, set a clearly defined purpose, vision and set of values that is understood by everyone.

Purpose: What we are here to achieve. How do we make a difference?

Vision: Where do we see ourselves in the future?

Values: Ethics and morals by which this company will operate.

Offer Culture & Communications Training to help employees understand the behaviors that will ensure their personal success within the organization.

Recognize effort and reward performance with small rewards and frequent words of appreciation. Utilize the two most underutilized words in the English language, “Thank You,” or “Great Job.” Distribute small tokens of appreciation like candy bars or $5 gift cards to Dunkin Donuts, McDonald’s or Wal-Mart. These small rewards have great mileage and help create employee engagement.

Dianne M. Durkin is the President and Founder of The Loyalty Factor, LLC, a training and consulting firm that specializes in change management, employee loyalty, and customer loyalty programs.

Source: Business Pundit | 14 Apr 2010 | 12:22 pm

Corporate Brawl – Japanese Style

Fujitsu, the Japanese tech company, has taken to the public airwaves to defend itself against charges that at forced its former president Kunaiki Nozoe to step down last September over unfounded allegations he was involved with the Japanese mafia.

In what has turned into some nasty corporate fisticuffs, Nozoe has publicly accused Fujitsu of canning him in a secret meeting with company executives instead of at an official meeting of the board. He has threatened a shareholder lawsuit accusing Fujitsu of misleading investor when it said Nozoe had resigned because of illness.

“We did not violate the law or take any improper steps with respect to Mr Nozoe’s resignation,” Fujitsu Chairman Michiyoshi Mazuka said at a news conference on Wednesday.

More from Reuters:

Fujitsu, which had originally cited illness as the reason for Nozoe’s resignation, was forced to revise its disclosure in a flip-flop that triggered a two-day slide in its share price and a verbal warning from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The company has been under pressure to give a more detailed account of what happened, including addressing Nozoe’s claim that he was pressured to resign in a closed-door chat with select executives, instead of in an official meeting of the board.

“Looking back, I think we should have dismissed him at a board meeting instead of using illness,” Mazuka said.

Tokyo Stock Exchange - Fujitsu - Business - Japan - Company
Source: Dealbreaker | 14 Apr 2010 | 12:21 pm

Dear Viking Global Investors

Andreas Halvorsen’s first quarter letter (“we are disappointed with the investment performance”) and the departure speech of David Ott (AH’s “closest partner, trusted-friend and Viking co-founder”).

To: Viking Investors
From: O. Andreas Halvorsen
Date: April 13, 2010

David Ott, my closest partner, trusted friend and co-founder of Viking, has recently decided to step down as CIO and from active management of the firm in order to spend more time with his family (attached to this letter are notes from David’s talk this morning with all Vikings). As a result, most CIO portfolio positions have been transferred to other portfolios and a few have been liquidated effective today with minimal impact on gross exposure. David will become an Advisory Director and expects the time he will spend on Viking activities to be about half his previous level. He will continue to mentor the analyst staff and contribute to idea-generation, valuation judgment and analyst development as well as work on a variety of performance analysis projects.

I have met scores of impressive business executives in my investing career, but only very few are in David’s league. His perceptive interpretation of facts and complex business relationships; his awesome processing power; his powerful ability to reach insights and conclusions in difficult situations; his willingness to rally behind others’ good ideas; his quiet yet unwavering leadership; and his enthusiastic and unselfish encouragement of others, have left permanent marks on Viking’s bedrock. With his continued involvement, it is unlikely that these marks will fade. His very successful management of the CIO portfolio has benefited all of us as investors in the fund. Since David assumed CIO responsibility in June 2005, VGE is up 119% net of all fees through March 31 of this year, compared to an increase of 11% for the MSCI World Index. While we recognize that David’s reduced schedule represents a loss to Viking, we respect his decision and are very happy that he will remain involved; we expect that he will continue to have a meaningful impact on the firm.

The resulting reorganization of job descriptions provides great opportunities for a number of extraordinary Vikings who have been given increased responsibility to contribute even more to the firm. Each of these Vikings is eager and able to step up. David’s portfolio-related responsibilities have been passed on to portfolio managers Tom Purcell, Dan Sundheim, Jim Parsons and Dris Upitis who will now collectively manage 85% of capital. They are all outstanding investors who have made significant and consistent contributions to the firm during a combined total of 30 years and previously managed 55% of the capital. I will continue to serve as Viking’s CEO and risk manager and will now also serve as CIO through my involvement in the firm’s largest positions. I will not actively manage capital. My direct reports on the non-investment side, Rose Shabet (Chief Operating Officer), Eric Komitee (General Counsel), Ian Brock (Treasurer and Manager of Prime-Broker Relationships) and David Vaccaro (Acting Head Trader), will take on greater responsibility for the day-to-day management of the firm such that I can spend more time on investment-related activities. Dris will join the Management Committee, which already includes Tom, Dan, Jim, Rose and me; Eric serves as Counsel to the committee.

In response to these events, we have restructured the firm’s investment organization to optimally align our talented personnel with firm goals. Our job is to achieve maximum capital appreciation commensurate with reasonable risk. Every Viking identifies with this objective. There were three important tenets of our past structure that we will retain in our new model. One, the firm will be able to establish large positions and introduce concentration in the very best ideas; two, at least two senior portfolio managers will be involved when large positions are taken; and three, there will be a complete separation between portfolio and risk management.

Performance and Portfolio
Our first quarter performance for VGE was -0.1% and for VLF was 4.5%, net of all fees on a composite basis. This compared to a gain of 4.7% for the MSCI World Index and a gain of 5.4% for the S&P 500 Index.

We are disappointed with this investment performance. Two factors contributed to the poor results: The largest individual losses came from a few large long positions and the short portfolio in VGE outperformed the market indices. In contrast to the concentrated losses in our long portfolio, our short losses were broad-based as no single short position cost VGE more than 30 basis points in the quarter. On an unlevered basis, VGE’s long portfolio was up 5.1% and the short portfolio was up 7.2%, yielding a long-short spread of negative 2.2% (see the attached Base Case Analysis).

Having a negative long-short spread is no way to run a hedge fund. Our aspiration is quite the contrary: It is our goal to construct a diversified portfolio of longs that significantly outperforms a partly offsetting selection of shorts over time. During the first quarter, some of the companies in our long portfolio reported results that were worse than we had expected. Concern over the global economy, government stimuli, and regulatory initiatives combined with increased market volatility resulted in large price declines for companies that missed earnings. In VGE, Financials was the worst performing sector with Banks representing the only industry group with losses exceeding 100 basis points of capital. Bank longs contributed 0.2% while Bank shorts cost us 1.3%. The longs represented large, well-capitalized banks that, in our opinion, have adequately provided for losses in their loan portfolios. We were short a collection of smaller, regional banks with significant commercial real-estate related loan exposures that we believe have not yet been fully marked-to-market leading to a need for additional capital over time.

Following the underperformance in both longs and shorts, we investigated our assumptions and analysis on all of these positions and in most cases confirmed our prior findings and retained the bulk of our bank exposures. While the Financials sector was our worst performing for VGE, the Information Technology sector was our worst performing for VLF. The Health Care sector was the largest profit contributor for both VGE and VLF. Attached to this letter, you will find a breakdown of VGE and VLF exposures by sector and industry group as defined by the Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”).

At the end of the first quarter, Visa Inc. was our largest position in both VGE and VLF at 7.0% and 8.1% of capital, respectively. The largest individual short position in VGE represented 2.2% of capital. VGE’s ten largest longs comprised 35.8% of capital and the ten largest single name shorts accounted for 15.9% of capital on March 31. VLF’s ten largest positions comprised 41.5% of capital. The following were our positions on March 31 in order of size for both VGE and VLF:

Visa Inc. (V.N)

Invesco Limited (IVZ.N)

Unilever NV (UNc.AS)

Express Scripts Inc. (ESRX.O)

Tyco International Limited (TYC.N)

Bank of America Corp. (BAC.N)

Metlife Inc. (MET.N)

News Corp. (NWSA.O)

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM.N)

Barclays PLC (BARC.L)

Four of the top ten long positions in both VGE and VLF were new to, or reentered, the list this quarter: Tyco, Metlife, News Corp and Barclays.

Express Scripts was our largest winner for the first quarter, contributing 0.5% to VGE’s performance and 0.6% to VLF’s performance. Express Scripts is one of the big three pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) in the United States. PBMs manage pharmaceutical drug benefits in an efficient and cost effective manner by aggregating the buying clout of their enrollees, enabling them to work with manufacturers for reduced pricing. Express Scripts’s business model aligns the company’s interests with its clients by incentivizing increased use of mail pharmacies and generic drugs, providing high margin to the company and cost efficient treatment for its clients. Over the next three years there will be a significant increase in the number of branded drugs going generic (approximately $28 billion in 2012 alone), and we believe Express Scripts will benefit from this brand-to-generic conversion. In addition, in late 2009, Express Scripts purchased WellPoint’s less efficient PBM business which gave them a significant boost in scale. Express Scripts’s ability to take advantage of the generics wave and to optimize synergies from the acquisition of WellPoint’s PBM business is core to our thesis. We think there is significant upside to the stock as our earnings estimates are higher than consensus and we believe that the business deserves a minimum multiple of 20x earnings versus the current multiple of 16.5x 2011 consensus. As of March 31, Express Scripts was our fourth largest long position at 3.2% of VGE capital and 3.7% of VLF capital.

Our largest loss in the quarter was in Mastercard (MA.N) which cost us 0.7% in VGE and 0.9% in VLF. We have owned Mastercard at various points since its IPO and continue to believe in the long-term strength of its business model. Mastercard was our largest profit contributor in 2007, second-largest in 2008 and third-largest in 2009. Although we continue to believe in strong secular revenue growth for transaction processors, Mastercard relies heavily on credit card spending (which offers slower secular growth than debit cards) and has suffered a few key customer losses that will weigh on results in
the short-to-medium term. Visa, which was our largest position as of March 31, was the beneficiary of this share shift. We did not own Mastercard at the end of the quarter, but continue to follow the company closely and monitor the stock for potential re-entry points.

Our gross exposure remained relatively flat during the quarter, ending at 144%, after having trended up for over a year. We continue to believe that improved clarity around government regulatory actions around the world and a healthier financial market warrant higher gross exposure on the margin. However, increased dependence on central banks as a backstop for the financial system, leads, in turn, to questions about the health of sovereign states’ balance sheets. As you may recall, we started increasing our gross exposure from its nadir in November 2008, when central banks effectively socialized the risk of large bank defaults. Since then, an enormous amount of debt has made its way onto national balance sheets as a result of unprecedented fiscal stimuli with the effect that implicit and explicit government guarantees are less sound. While we do not believe there is cause for imminent concern, we remain cautious until there is more clarity as to how governments intend to reduce their debt burden and the effects this may have on the global economy and opportunities for corporate revenue growth and margins. In the meantime, we continue our search for winners and losers across a variety of industry
groups regardless of the economic environment.

At the end of the quarter, developed Asian markets ex-Japan represented less than 1% of gross exposure in VGE and VLF, while the U.S. and Canada represented 73% of VGE’s and 75% of VLF’s gross exposure. In Asia ex-Japan, there are 190 equities that trade over $30 million a day excluding Chinese A shares; including A shares, there are 520. While we make investments based on fundamental company research and do not allocate capital to a particular region based on top-down macro analysis, we believe the Asian markets represent an attractive investable universe that will grow over time. Accordingly, we plan to allocate more analyst resources to this region and are evaluating opening an office in Hong Kong.

We are often asked by investors how we think about owning stocks that are widely held by other hedge funds. There is no categorical answer to this question, but I would like to discuss some of the factors we consider when establishing and maintaining positions in companies known to be popular with our peers. First and foremost, the critical issue is whether we are ultimately proven right in our analysis. Every single position we take has been independently researched by a Viking analyst and each investment decision has been thoughtfully deliberated by one or more of our portfolio managers. We do not borrow conviction from another firm or individual, although we frequently find it informative to talk to other investors to understand the attributes they value. These conversations can help us better assess what has already been reflected in the prevailing stock price. Incidentally, we often find the greatest success in investments where we have a differentiated view from the Street, but we do not shy away from high conviction ideas just because other hedge funds are involved. Although we thrive on standing alone, we do not take positions opposite other firms just to be contrarian. We recognize that all the shares of a given company must be owned by someone and it can be comforting to know that the other shareholders represent firms that we respect rather than not. There is obviously some risk associated with being in an investment alongside likeminded investors who may have been trained in the stock-picking trade in similar ways in that we may decide to sell at the same time. To limit the consequences of crowded exits, we pay attention to the liquidity of the stocks we trade and take large positions only in the most liquid stocks in the world. The problem of crowding is most acute in our shorts due to the risk of unlimited loss and the potential for cancelled borrow arrangements. Here we do tread carefully. As you are aware, we are guarded in disclosing our shorts to anyone and we do on occasion limit the size of our positions, or eliminate them altogether, when we perceive a position to be tight in the borrow market or crowded by equity long-short investors. Ultimately, we live and die by our analysis, portfolio management skills and efforts to contain risk – managing crowded trades is merely another challenge we face in delivering attractive returns at reasonable risk.

Business - Investment - Risk management - MSCI World - Appreciation
Source: Dealbreaker | 14 Apr 2010 | 11:45 am

RDM Financial Uses `Barbell’ ETF Strategy: Audio

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 14 Apr 2010 | 11:33 am

McDonald's Raised to `Buy,’ Mosaic Cut to `Neutral': Audio

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 14 Apr 2010 | 11:32 am

Mortgage Boom Anthem: 'I Like Big Bucks'

By Jacob Goldstein

A little more Washington Mutual color from this week's Senate hearings:

At a retreat in Kuai back in 2006 -- when the housing market peaked -- WaMu employees sang this riff on the Sir Mix-a-Lot classic:

I like big bucks and I cannot lie.
You mortgage brothers can't deny,
That when the dough roles in like you're printin' your own cash,
And you gotta make a splash,
You just spends.
Like it never ends,
Cuz you gotta have that big new Benz.
All of that bling you're wearin',
Shining so bright peoples starin'.
It's crazy, I gotta ski Aspen
That's all I'm askin'.

Two year later, after things fell apart, WaMu employees held a wake for their company. There, somebody sang another song, riffing on a Beatles tune: "I should have known better than to hold that stock."

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Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 14 Apr 2010 | 11:12 am

Don’t Forget to File Your Schedule M

Did you make less than $95,000 last year If so, you’re probably eligible for a $400 tax credit, thanks to the government’s Making Work Pay program.

Here’s the catch. You must fill out a tax form called the Schedule M to get your credit. No tax form, no credit. That’s true for self-employed workers, too.

Here’s where things get confusing. There is no rebate check for Making Work Pay. Instead, the government actually reduced your payroll taxes last year. That way, you could get a few more bucks each paycheck, and get use of the credit sooner. It was incremental, and you probably didn’t notice it.

Oddly, the IRS doesn’t actually apply that credit until you file a Schedule M. Bankrate’s Kay Bell explains how it works:

Essentially what the IRS wants via this new form is to double-check that people get the correct credit amount due them. The problem is that in some cases, people got more credit than they should have. This could be the case for someone who held multiple jobs or who could be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return. In such instances, the Schedule M will account for the over payments.

And for folks who are eligible for the full amount, Schedule M will help them determine whether they received the maximum possible credit in their paycheck or are due more money when they file their returns.

For most folks who made under the thresholds and had their withholding reduced last year, there’s no problem. The credit amount plus your reduced withholding amount on your W-2 will be added together (along with any other credits for you might be eligible) in the “payments” section of your 1040 or 1040A to cover your tax bill.

If all of these amounts are more than your tax bill, you’ll get a refund. But if you didn’t claim the credit, that money won’t be counted, so you’re shorting yourself.

Note to government: Rebate checks would have been a better idea. Read more of Kay’s article here for further clarification on the Schedule M.

Source: Business Pundit | 14 Apr 2010 | 10:43 am

JP Morgan Chase’s Big Profits Don’t Mean Much

JP Morgan Chase reported a net income of $3.3 billion in Q1 2010. Their profits, which are up 57% from Q1 2009, came largely from trading. The JP Morgan report comes the same week the Dow went above 11000 for the first time in 18 months.

Traders are happy. JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon stated he is optimistic about the economy. But where’s the context for the rest of us?

For big banks, making profits off investments means borrowing money at a record-low interest rate, then reinvesting it into bonds, commodities, currencies, and other securities with higher yields, according to AP reporter Stevenson Jacobs. That could all go down the toilet if interest rates rise. Although loan losses are slowing down, banks still aren’t making nearly as much off consumers as they are from their investment spread. The AP has more:

And although the big banks starting with JPMorgan Chase & Co. on Wednesday are expected to have good news, analysts say their continuing rebound is unlikely to boost lending. Banks are still conservative about loans, while consumers and business remain wary about adding to their debt burdens. Losses on residential real estate have slowed, but a wave of commercial real estate defaults is hammering small and midsize banks. Analysts forecast that trend will continue through 2010 and beyond.

That’s forcing even big money-making banks to set aside billions of dollars, money that will protect against losses but that will also eat into profits. Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup may have to allocate a combined $33.2 billion over the next two years just to cover home equity losses, according to CreditSights Inc.

“Things aren’t as bad as they were six months ago, but that doesn’t mean everything is rosy,” said Paul Miller, a managing director for FBR Capital Markets. “We still think normalized (bank) earnings are still two years off at best.”

Along that line, analysts don’t see lending picking until unemployment falls from its current level of 9.7 percent and small and midsize businesses start expanding.

That last point on small and midsized businesses expanding doesn’t look good yet. SMB owners still aren’t optimistic, according to the Wall Street Journal. Jobs don’t look rosy, either. The people most excited about the so-called economic recovery seem to be economists, the media, and, naturally, the heads of big banks.

The verdict? Chase made money, thanks to low interest rates. The Dow is up. But jobs, small businesses, and government policy are still shaky. I’ll believe in a recovery when I see it.

Source: Business Pundit | 14 Apr 2010 | 10:36 am

The Cost of Living: Healthy vs. Unhealthy

We all know that we should eat right, exercise and live an overall healthy lifestyle but, not everyone does. Eating healthy foods generally costs more; however, a habit of eating cheaper junk foods can lead to obesity — which is quite expensive in terms of health care costs and lifespan. Here is a look at what is costs to live, depending on whether you choose a healthy lifestyle or slide into an unhealthy one.

Click to Enlarge

Source: Business Pundit | 14 Apr 2010 | 10:22 am

Christopher Whalen: Surveillance With Prewitt and Keene

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 14 Apr 2010 | 10:21 am

H&R Block’s Smyth: Surveillance With Prewitt and Keene

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 14 Apr 2010 | 10:20 am

Portales’s Peabody: Surveillance With Prewitt and Keene

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 14 Apr 2010 | 10:19 am

Howard Davidowitz: Surveillance With Prewitt and Keene

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 14 Apr 2010 | 10:17 am

Soros Discusses Greek Debt Crisis: First Word Special

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 14 Apr 2010 | 8:39 am

In Washington, Banks Fight Transparency

By Jacob Goldstein

In the finance-reform debate, the smart money is fighting over derivatives.

It's easy to see why: Five big U.S. banks made $28 billion in revenues last year trading derivatives, according to Bloomberg News. And the push in Washington to change the way derivatives are traded could eat into the profits banks make off those trades.

So, this morning's WSJ reports, big banks are lobbying hard to dilute the proposed changes.

Derivatives are financial instruments whose value is derived from something else -- the weather, or interest rates, or the likelihood that a borrower will default on a loan.

They're largely traded over-the-counter. That's fancy way of saying that one banker picks up the phone and calls another banker, and they make a deal. So nobody really knows what derivative contracts are out there, or how much risk any bank is taking on.

That's how you could have a giant company like AIG collapse all of a sudden -- it wrote a lot of derivatives contracts that were supposed to pay off if mortgage-backed bonds failed. But when the housing market crashed, AIG couldn't pay up.

It's likely that any financial-reform bill that Congress passes will require many derivatives to be traded publicly -- on an exchange, or through a central clearinghouse. (For the latest details on this, see yesterday's letter from Sen. Blanche Lincoln, who is one of the key players on derivatives reform.)

Some businesses use derivatives to hedge risk; farmers, for example, buy derivatives as insurance against crop failure. The banks argue that requiring more open, standardized trading of derivatives could harm their ability to write customized derivatives contracts that meet the precise needs of businesses.

Of course, more transparency in the derivatives market would also give businesses outside the banking world a better idea of whether they're paying competitive rates for the derivative contracts they're buying. That, in turn, could eat into banks' profits.

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Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 14 Apr 2010 | 7:26 am

Carnell on Bernanke's Testimony, Keeble on Greece: First Word

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 14 Apr 2010 | 7:13 am

The Ultimate Half-Baked Idea

Source: Business Pundit | 14 Apr 2010 | 5:33 am