Strong earnings limit impact of Greek contagion fears

The fallout from the downgrading of Greek debt to ‘junk’ status continues to contaminate sentiment, but as earnings reports stay strong the pace of selling on equities markets slows
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 28 Apr 2010 | 4:20 am

BP Faces Investigation Over Rig Disaster, May Burn Oil Slick

BP plc (NYSE: BP) does not have much choice. It said it will cooperate with a US government investigation into the cause of  the Transocean drilling rig Deepwater Horizon in Mississippi Canyon Block 252 disaster. The Department of the Interior and Department of Homeland Security announced a joint enquiry into the explosion and sinking of the Transocean [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 28 Apr 2010 | 4:18 am

Misdirected CA County Bans Happy Meals

A California county has voted to ban fast-food restaurants from giving out toys with certain child-sized meals. Santa Clara county, located near San Francisco, wants to remove the positive association children have with junk food. Toys are only allowed if the food meets set nutritional requirements. The San Jose Mercury News has more:

The law prohibits restaurants in unincorporated parts of the county from giving away goodies unless the meals meet certain nutritional guidelines. More and more in recent years, fast-food critics say restaurants have encouraged families to make unhealthy choices by offering Iron Man Cyclone Spinning Robot Drones and Barbie Mermaid dolls with their kids’ meals.

“This ordinance breaks the link between unhealthy food and prizes,” said Supervisor Ken Yeager, who sponsored the initiative. Yeager said it is unfair to parents and children to use toys to capture the tastes of children when they’re young and “to get them hooked on eating high-sugar, high-fat foods early in life.”

Under the ordinance, restaurants would not be able to offer toys for kids’ meals that exceed certain nutritional standards — more than 485 total calories, for instance, or more than 600 milligrams of sodium. That means, at Wendy’s, four chicken nuggets, mandarin oranges and low-fat milk would get a toy. But the crispy chicken sandwich, fries and chocolate milk would not.

Although the county ranks as one of the healthiest in the nation, one in four seventh-, ninth- and 11th-graders in the county are either overweight or obese, and one in three low-income children between the ages of 2 and 5 fall into the same two categories. Latinos are disproportionately affected by the epidemic.

But when Amalia Chamorro, speaking on behalf of the state restaurant association, turned to ask how many of the audience — many of them Latino and several of them who work in the fast-food industry — would oppose the ordinance, the majority rose their hands.

If the county board passes its version of the ban, the county will impose a minimum $250 fine on violators.

This is the same part of the country that buys 100 Domino’s pizzas for schoolchildren every Friday (after a failed $4 million investment in a Pizzamatic machine).

Targeting kids’ toys sounds more like a publicity move than something that will actually be effective. Obese kids eat fast food anyway, not just for the toys. The best use of the toys is as a special, once-in-a-while treat for kids. Parents who use the meals that way probably don’t have obese kids, anyway.

By cutting off access to this particular tradition, the government isn’t targeting the meals or people it should be focusing on. That is, parents who enable their kids to eat food that makes them fat, all the time.

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors did accomplish one thing, however. They got their name in the national news. They projected an image of their county as one that’s tough on obesity (despite the dubious efficacy of their new law). In other words, they got PR. In a world where politicians thrive of visibility and votes, this was a good political move.

Actually making a dent in childhood obesity requires different action. Michelle Obama’s idea to give grocery stores tax breaks to set up shop in areas where nutritious food is in low supply is one good idea. Her suggestion to increase the number of farmer’s markets is another. Other promising ideas, executed at the local level, have included the Oklahoma City mayor’s challenge that the city lose 1 million pounds (he himself lost 40), and one Kentucky town’s move to put all bike paths and trail maps online.

There are tons of good options for slimming down kids. Banning the longtime tradition of a toy in a meal isn’t one of them.

Source: Business Pundit | 28 Apr 2010 | 4:11 am

Infineon Technologies makes $105M net profit in Q2 (AP)

AP - German semiconductor maker Infineon Technologies AG said Wednesday that improved growth and demand from automakers and chip card and security providers helped bring it back to profitability in the second quarter.
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 28 Apr 2010 | 4:10 am

Honda cautious on full year as competition heats up (Reuters)

Reuters - Honda Motor Co (7267.T) forecast a smaller-than-expected 10 percent rise in full year operating profit and warned of stiffer competition as Korean and U.S. automakers roll out models to rival its fuel-efficient line-up.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 28 Apr 2010 | 4:09 am

Greek financial crisis sends markets plunging (AFP)

AFP - Greece's deepening financial crisis sent stock markets and the euro reeling again on Wednesday after its debt was slashed to junk status, fanning fears of a default.

Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 28 Apr 2010 | 4:06 am

Shell reports $5.48 billion profit in Q1 (AP)

AP - Europe's largest oil company Royal Dutch Shell PLC reported a 57 percent increase in net profit for the first quarter on Wednesday due to higher oil prices and its first substantial production increase in years.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 28 Apr 2010 | 4:02 am

Greece fears batter markets again

European markets have continued to fall heavily amid speculation over the future of the Greek economy.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 28 Apr 2010 | 4:02 am

World markets tumble as euro debt crisis escalates (AP)

AP - World markets tumbled Wednesday amid acute fears that Greece's debt crisis would spread like wildfire through Europe after a leading credit ratings agency downgraded the country's debt to junk status and cut Portugal's rating as well.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 28 Apr 2010 | 4:01 am

World markets tumble as euro debt crisis escalates (AP)

AP - World markets tumbled Wednesday amid acute fears that Greece's debt crisis would spread like wildfire through Europe after a leading credit ratings agency downgraded the country's debt to junk status and cut Portugal's rating as well.

Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 28 Apr 2010 | 4:01 am

Greek contagion spreads; restructuring fears rise

The spreading euro-zone debt crisis threatens to spiral out of control unless authorities move quickly to shore up Greece, economists and strategists warn.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 28 Apr 2010 | 4:01 am

N Brown targets the US plus-size market

N Brown, the internet and catalogue home shopping business, is poised to break into the American market.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:59 am

Australia's Macarthur tries to keep rival bid alive

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australian takeover target Macarthur Coal left the door open on Wednesday to pursue a new bid for smaller rival Gloucester Coal , while awaiting a formal offer from its U.S. suitor.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:52 am

Bubble trouble for bonds?

Andrew Mellon, the banking icon, once famously said: "Gentleman prefer bonds." The implication being that bonds, while less perhaps less sultry than equities, will generate a predictable return for investors, and not put their investments at serious risk of capital impairment. Ostensibly the latter part is true: bonds sit higher up in the capital structure of and therefore have more downside protection. If a company performs poorly and its stock goes down, stockholders get nothing. On the other hand, if a company can't pay off bonds it's issued, investors could end up at least owning the company and its assets.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:51 am

Fears of Greek debt default hit markets

ATHENS (Reuters) - Fears that a planned rescue of Greece could stall and extend the financial crisis to other euro zone countries hit European markets on Wednesday as investors worried that Athens may default on its debt.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:51 am

LG Elec eyes World Cup TV boost, cautious on mobiles

SEOUL (Reuters) - World No.2 TV maker LG Electronics warned that profits at its struggling mobile division would be slow to recover, but it expects this summer's soccer World Cup to drive TV sales and push up next quarter's earnings.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:48 am

UPDATE 3-LG Elec eyes World Cup TV boost, cautious on mobiles

* Q1 operating profit 489 bln won vs 497 bln won mkt forecast
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:46 am

Record growth at Virgin Media fails to prevent widening losses

Virgin Media, the cable TV company formerly known as NTL, today claimed its fastest quarterly customer growth since it merged with Virgin Mobile four years ago.


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:45 am

Get your big paycheck back

Dear Annie: I was laid off about a year and a half ago from a fairly senior (division vice president) position at a media company. Just to make ends meet, as well as to avoid having any blank time periods on my resume, I've been working on a few projects here and there. It's been interesting, but far less lucrative than my old job.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:43 am

Yet Another Delay By Boeing

Problems with supply chain and parts shortages have caused Boeing (NYSE: BA) to yet again delay building  some of its 787 Dreamliners . The company said it would halt the building of the 23rd and 24th airplanes for a month and the shipment of fuselages would be kept in abeyance. The estimate of a month may turn [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:42 am

Europe Markets: Portugal stocks pounded as Europe slides again

European shares fell sharply again on Wednesday, extending steep losses from the previous session, as fears of peripheral sovereign debt default continued to weigh on markets and Portuguese stocks in particular.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:41 am

'The pound makes Britain immune from the Greek crisis? Nothing could be further from the truth'

Fundamentalist view: Barry Norris of Ignis explains why the London stock market will feel the effects of Greece's inability to pay its debts.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:40 am

EU calls emergency summit as Greece crisis deepens (AFP)

AFP - The European Union on Wednesday called a crisis summit as Greece's mounting debt crisis hit global markets amid fears that more countries would be sucked in.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:39 am

Fears of Greek debt default hit markets (Reuters)

Reuters - Fears that a planned rescue of Greece could stall and extend the financial crisis to other euro zone countries hit European markets on Wednesday as investors worried that Athens may default on its debt.
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:26 am

EU chief quells Greek restructuring fears

The president of the European Council insists there was ’no question’ of a restructuring of the country’s debt as its capital markets regulator set a two-month ban on short selling of shares
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:26 am

Yahoo wins Premier League internet highlights rights

Yahoo secures the exclusive UK online highlights rights for English Premier League football action for three years.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:23 am

Greece crisis pulls FTSE down at open (AFP)

AFP - The leading stock exchange fell at opening on Wednesday, after sharp losses the previous day, as traders were gripped by Greece's financial crisis and the EU called a crunch summit.

Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:21 am

How The Greek Debt Problem Can Be Fixed

The yield on Greek two-year bonds rose to 13.5% as S&P cut the credit rating of the nation’s sovereign debt to junk and downgraded the paper of Portugal two levels to A- from A+. The euro has sold off for three days on the perception that the Greek problem will not be resolved and the southern European nation will default [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:19 am

How to age-proof your career

At a company golf outing a few years ago, Michael Levine tried to rattle his 24-year-old colleague as he was about to putt by stealing a line from the 1980 movie "Caddyshack:" "Noonan!" he yelled, just as the caddies in the film did to disrupt a character on the green.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:16 am

Greece bans short-selling as panic spreads

The price of insuring Greece's debt against default soared to the highest rate in 14 years today as the country's securities regulator banned short-selling in Greek shares to halt a crisis of confidence.


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:09 am

Nasdaq OMX to close Neuro amid fierce competition

Nasdaq OMX, the transatlantic exchange operator, abandoned an 18-month attempt to break into pan-European share trading by saying it would close down Nasdaq OMX Europe
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:08 am

UPDATE 1-China Telecom Q1 profit down on 3G spending

* Q1 net profit 4.27 bln yuan versus 4.2 bln yuan forecast
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:08 am

Wall Street under fire: Senate vs. Goldman

Top Goldman Sachs representatives -- including CEO Lloyd Blankfein -- attempted to deflect criticism Tuesday as they faced a blistering cross-examination from lawmakers about the firm's role in the financial crisis.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:07 am

Britain risks Greek-style crisis, warns Vince Cable

Lib Dem finance spokesman says UK risks a Greek-style crisis unless the next government takes drastic action to cut borrowing.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:06 am

World stocks slump on Greek crisis

European shares dropped in early trading Wednesday, following a rout on Wall Street and slide in Asian markets overnight, amid mounting concerns that Greece's debt problems will spread.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:04 am

SEC probes hedge funds' use of side pockets: report (Reuters)

Reuters - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is taking a closer look at whether hedge fund managers abused a practice known as "side pockets" to prevent clients from withdrawing billions of dollars during the 2008 financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:03 am

Reviving Detroit's foreclosure blast zone

In a city filled with foreclosures and abandoned buildings, East Warren Avenue on Detroit's east side could be called the epicenter. Banks own 1,331 buildings in the surrounding 48224 zip code. More than 7 percent of homes in the area were in foreclosure last year -- the highest rate in the city.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:01 am

Earnings Watch: Updates, advisories and surprises

A roundup of the latest corporate earnings reports and what companies are saying about future quarters.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:01 am

China to hit US chicken with new tariffs

Beijing will levy anti-subsidy duties of up to 31.4 per cent on some products in a move that could further strain ties between the two countries
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:59 am

Team mates

Sport and new media look for winning results?
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:54 am

Retire to Mexico -- the price is right

The years-long trend of Americans buying homes and expatriating to Mexico has collapsed, done in by a trifecta of the recession, swine flu and an epic crime wave.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:49 am

Banks slated over customer gripes

The UK's biggest High Street banks are criticised by the City regulator for the poor way they deal with customer complaints.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:47 am

London Markets: Banks under pressure in lower FTSE 100 index

U.K. banks tumble on Wednesday as worries over contagion from Southern Europe’s debt swirl weighs on markets.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:46 am

UPDATE 2-Nobel Biocare Q1 lags rivals, shares tumble

* Nobel Biocare looking to narrow gap with rivals in 2010
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:43 am

UPDATE 2-AT&T exits stake in India's Tech Mahindra-sources

* Sells over 7 pct; mostly to Life Insurance Corp - sources
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:38 am

UPDATE 2-AT&T exits stake in India's Tech Mahindra-sources

* Sells over 7 pct; mostly to Life Insurance Corp - sources
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:38 am

Greece bans short-selling for two months

Greece’s market regulator bans short-selling of stocks listed on the Athens Exchange for the next two months, after local equities suffered a string of sell-offs in recent weeks as fears over the nation’s debt crisis escalated.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:37 am

UPDATE 2-Infineon hikes outlook as sees lasting demand ahead

* Shares down 1.5 pct (Adds analyst comment, share price)
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:33 am

SAP Q1 net profit jumps 97 pct to $514 million

German software maker SAP AG nearly doubled its first quarter net profit as demand for its products rose among customers worldwide, boosting sales, the company said Wednesday. SAP, whose
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:28 am

Royal Dutch Shell profit surges 57%

The energy giant benefits from a surge in oil and gas prices as well as improving production.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:27 am

Home Retail Group predicts 'difficult year' as results beat expectations

Home Retail Group, the owner of Argos and Homebase, today revealed an 11 per cent slump in full-year profits to £293 million, slightly ahead of its targets.


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:24 am

Shell profit soars on oil price, output growth

LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell Plc continued a run of better-than-expected first-quarter profit rises by the big international oil companies on the back of higher oil prices, and boosted, in its case, by an unexpected return to production growth.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:18 am

Honda sees profits and sales rise

Japanese carmaker Honda reports a profit for the first three months of the year, following losses a year ago.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:17 am

Infineon swings to profit, raises revenue outlook

German chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG swings to a fiscal second-quarter profit and raises its forecast for full-year revenue.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:16 am

BBVA shares slide as contagion overwhelms profit

Spanish second-biggest bank BBVA pushed out slightly better-than-expected first quarter results and said bad loans had stabilized on Wednesday, but the negative tide surrounding financial markets in southern Europe pushed shares lower.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:15 am

BAT volumes dip, but on track for the year

LONDON (Reuters) - British American Tobacco Plc , the world's No 2 cigarette maker, reported a 4 percent fall in underlying first-quarter volumes but said price rises led to good sales growth and it remains on track for 2010.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:11 am

Greek debt crisis rattles Asian markets, sends oil price tumbling

The worsening European debt crisis rattled Asia on Wednesday, as stock markets across the region fell and oil slid to near $82 a barrel.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:11 am

Greek crisis carries all before it (Reuters)

Reuters - Greece's exploding debt crisis eclipsed all else on financial markets on Wednesday, knocking down global stocks and pushing the euro for a time to a one-year low against the dollar.

Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:07 am

General Election 2010: tell us where the axe will fall

You don't have to look too far these days for vivid examples of what happens when you really lose control of your public finances.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:06 am

Plan to set sea on fire to destroy Louisiana oil spill slick

The US authorities dealing with the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico are considering deliberately setting fire to the petroleum on the sea's surface.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:04 am

Merkel to meet ECB, IMF heads amid Greek crisis (AP)

AP - The spiraling financial crisis surrounding Greece, and fears it could spread to other eurozone countries like Portugal, overshadowed a planned meeting Wednesday between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and other financial institutions.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:00 am

TEXT-Macarthur extends Gloucester offer to May 13

SYDNEY, April 28 (Reuters) - For a complete statement, please click on: http://pdf.reuters.com/asxnews/asxnews.asp?i=43059c3bf0e37541&u= urn:newsml:reuters.com:20100428:ASX_2A590774
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:59 am

SAP sticks to outlook as profit nearly doubles

German business software giant SAP said Wednesday that its first-quarter profit nearly doubled, helped by revenue growth across all its regions, lower costs and a smaller tax rate.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:56 am

Stock futures signal pause after sell-off (Reuters)

Reuters - Stock index futures pointed to a flat to slightly higher open on Wall Street on Wednesday following the previous session's sell-off, which was triggered by the downgrade of Greece and Portugal credit ratings, while investors awaited the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision and statement on the economy.

Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:55 am

Stock futures signal pause after sell-off

(Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a flat to slightly higher open on Wall Street on Wednesday following the previous session's sell-off, which was triggered by the downgrade of Greece and Portugal credit ratings, while investors awaited the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision and statement on the economy.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:55 am

Greece acts to stop speculators as debt crisis escalates

Stock market sell-offs raise concerns that contagion could spread through Europe and beyond.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:54 am

UPDATE 2-Informa pleased with 2010, sees flat margins

(Adds share price, analyst comment, details, background)
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:49 am

Fed likely to sound confident note on recovery (AP)

AP - Federal Reserve policymakers are likely to deliver a fresh vote of confidence in the staying power of the recovery as signs multiply the economy is strengthening.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:48 am

Media Digest (4/28/2010) Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

Reuters:   The Fed will probably say it will keep rates low. Reuters:   Republicans have come up with their own bank reform plan. Reuters:   Wellpoint says it will stop dropping patients. Reuters:   Oil continued to fall on global credit issues and abundant supply. Reuters:   The euro hit a one year low. Reuters:   Senators warned Facebook about [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:48 am

Greek borrowing costs at new highs

Three weeks away from potential default, Greece is seeing its borrowing costs spiral once again, a day after ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the country's bonds to junk status.
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:45 am

Strong corporate news limits impact of Greek contagion fears

08:05 BST. The fallout from the downgrading of Greek debt to "junk" status continued to contaminate market sentiment on Wednesday, with traders fearful that sovereign debt default contagion may not be...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:42 am

Shell profits rise 60% to $4.8bn

The oil and gas group has welcomed signs of an improving economic outlook as it reported an increase in underlying post-tax profits, exceeding analysts’ expectations
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:41 am

GOP blocks financial reform debate - again

Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:41 am

Higher oil prices lift Royal Dutch Shell’s profits by 60 per cent

Royal Dutch Shell announced a 60 per cent increase in profits this morning, propelled by higher oil and gas prices and growth in production.


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:38 am

Argos owner sees profits decline

Argos and Homebase owner Home Retail Group reports a slip in profits and says the year ahead is set to remain "difficult".
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:19 am

GOP votes 'no,' looks to 'yes' on their own terms (AP)

AP - Republicans are voting "no" so that some of them can get to "yes" on tightening the reins on Wall Street.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:18 am

Home Retail to return £150m to investors

Home Retail Group, Britain's biggest household goods retailer, announced plans to return up to £150m to shareholders as it met forecasts with an 11pc fall in annual profit.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:11 am

Concern over RBS performance pay

Royal Bank of Scotland bosses will face opposition from shareholders and protesters at its AGM in Edinburgh.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:11 am

Honda's "greener" line-up to drive profits, U.S. sales

TOKYO (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co , Japan's No.2 automaker, forecast a 10 percent rise in operating profit this year as demand in its biggest and most profitable U.S. market recovers from a multi-decade low.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:06 am

Business Bullet: Asia, Gold, Greece, Home Retail

The latest news on: Asia, Gold, Greece, Home Retail
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:06 am

Jon Friedman's Media Web: Goldman bashing: How are media doing?

The media’s coverage of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s fall from grace is generating a lot of heat, writes Jon Friedman, but how much light?

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:06 am

USDA to cut subsidies as insurers post big profits (AP)

AP - The federal government wants to save taxpayers billions of dollars by reducing spending on crop insurance after years of big profits by insurers, but the industry claims the reductions could hurt rural areas.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:03 am

World financial markets tumble on fears of debt crisis in Europe

In U.S., the Dow falls below 11,000 for first time in two weeks.

Global financial markets tumbled Tuesday as investor sentiment caved to the worsening government-debt crisis in Europe.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Ford swings to a profit in first quarter

The automaker posts earnings of $2.1 billion, bolstered by a strong turnaround in its North American operations. Ford’s F-Series pickup was the quarter’s top seller in the U.S.

In another sign that the U.S. auto industry was recovering from a deep downturn, Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday that it swung to a profit of $2.1 billion in the first quarter after posting a huge loss in the same period a year earlier.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Goldman execs stand their ground at Senate hearing

Key employees of the investment bank deny wrongdoing as lawmakers angrily question them about their role in the collapse of the housing market and the resulting recession. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Southwest fined for ‘bumping’

The U.S. Department of Transportation imposes a $200,000 fine against the airline for failing to follow federal guidelines when denying passengers seats on overbooked flights. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

On Location: Stay-at-home productions get city’s gratitude

City Hall, battling a perception of indifference, honors filmmakers who resisted the lure of other states’ tax credits to shoot in Southern California. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Home prices rise in three California cities

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 metropolitan areas falls 0.1% overall for February. But San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles post gains. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Lifetime Television gets a new chief who plans to make changes

Nancy Dubuc will try to duplicate her success at the History Channel, which she reshaped into a launch pad for popular reality shows. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

'Peanuts' licensing rights sold to Joe Boxer owner Iconix for $175 million

The family of the late Charles Schulz will also own part of the business too, giving it more control of and money from the comic strip's legacy. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Goldman execs stand their ground at Senate hearing

Key employees of the investment bank deny wrongdoing as lawmakers angrily question them about their role in the collapse of the housing market and the resulting recession.

After more than eight hours of tough questioning of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executives, one senator tried to explain to the firm's embattled chief executive why lawmakers and their constituents were so angry in the wake of the financial crisis.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

'Peanuts' licensing rights sold to Joe Boxer owner Iconix for $175 million

The family of the late Charles Schulz will also own part of the business too, giving it more control of and money from the comic strip's legacy.

CINCINNATI — You've got a new owner, Charlie Brown.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Ford swings to a profit in first quarter

The automaker posts earnings of $2.1 billion, bolstered by a strong turnaround in its North American operations. Ford’s F-Series pickup was the quarter’s top seller in the U.S. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Home prices rise in three California cities

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 metropolitan areas falls 0.1% overall for February. But San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles post gains.

A trio of California cities bucked a nationwide home price decline in February while most of the other metro areas posted losses or flattened out, underscoring the resurgence of the Golden State's coastal markets, data released Tuesday showed.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

World financial markets tumble on fears of debt crisis in Europe

In U.S., the Dow falls below 11,000 for first time in two weeks. Global financial markets tumbled Tuesday as investor...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

It’s a sad day for Happy Meals in Santa Clara County

County officials vote to ban toys and other promotions that restaurants offer with high-calorie children’s meals. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

WellPoint and Blue Shield of Calif. to stop dropping sick policyholders

The announcements by two of the nation’s largest health insurers follow action by Congress and the Obama administration to crack down on a practice known as rescission.

Stung by criticism and facing tougher federal regulation, two of the nation's largest health insurers say they will stop the practice of dropping sick policyholders.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

It’s a sad day for Happy Meals in Santa Clara County

County officials vote to ban toys and other promotions that restaurants offer with high-calorie children’s meals.

Happy Meal toys and other promotions that come with high-calorie children's meals will soon be banned in parts of Santa Clara County unless the restaurants meet nutritional guidelines approved Tuesday by the county Board of Supervisors.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Shell profits boosted by rising oil price

Royal Dutch Shell reported a 49pc rise in first quarter net profit due to higher oil prices and an unexpected return to production growth which helped the oil major beat all analysts' forecasts.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 28 Apr 2010 | 12:46 am

Ford profits jump but recovery fears hit shares

Ford earned $2.1bn (£1.4bn) in the first quarter as the economic clouds parted and consumers grew confident enough to buy cars again.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 28 Apr 2010 | 12:39 am

Shell profits up 50% on oil price

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell sees quarterly profits jump by nearly 50% thanks to higher oil prices and expansion in its business.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 28 Apr 2010 | 12:32 am

NZ stocks fall less than other markets

The New Zealand sharemarket fell along with markets around the world on concerns that the Greek financial crisis could spread, but it fell less than other markets and ended off session lows.Investors spooked by the latest twist...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 28 Apr 2010 | 12:24 am

Dollar recovers after diving on euro woes

The New Zealand dollar market had a day of two halves, with worries about European finances in the morning replaced by optimism about the domestic economy in the afternoon.Things get interesting tomorrow with a Federal Reserve...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 27 Apr 2010 | 11:30 pm

Fed seen maintaining promise to keep rates low

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve is expected on Wednesday to repeat its vow to keep interest rates at rock bottom levels for "an extended period" while acknowledging that the U.S. economic recovery is getting stronger.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 27 Apr 2010 | 10:32 pm

IPL chief vows cricket 'clean-up'

The interim chief of the highly lucrative Indian Premier League says a clean-up of the scandal-hit cricket tournament has begun.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 27 Apr 2010 | 10:21 pm

Investing in Clinical Trials

Firms that test new drugs for Big Pharma could be a health care bright spot.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 27 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm

3 Companies With Rising Returns on Equity (Screens)

Hough: These firms are growing more efficient -- a promising sign.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 27 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm

Sherpa in Chicago

Talon Asset Management delivers stellar returns by finding companies whose managers have skin in the game.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 27 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm

Are 529 Plans About to Become Less Risky? (Education and Your Money)

Legislation could add safety features to 529 plans, but banks may benefit most.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 27 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm

Farmers' economic confidence improves

Farmers' economic confidence improved in the first months of 2010, boosted by sheep and beef prices although optimism in some regions was restrained by drought conditions, a new Rabobank survey shows.It found 34 per cent of farmers...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 27 Apr 2010 | 9:25 pm

British Gas call-out ads banned

An advert that implied British Gas would attend same-day call-outs, even over Christmas, is banned by a watchdog.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 27 Apr 2010 | 8:02 pm

Goldman CEO, under siege, concedes changes coming

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The masters of the universe were forced down to earth on Tuesday.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:38 pm

Four senators ask Facebook to make privacy fixes to new features

They object to the social networking site sharing users' personal information with other websites without the explicit consent of the users.

Lawmakers and privacy watchdogs are asking Facebook Inc. to roll back a new feature that they say invades the privacy of the popular online social network's more than 400 million users.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:32 pm

Lions Gate to sue regulator over ‘poison pill’ ban

Lions Gate Entertainment will launch a legal action against a Canadian stock market regulator in an attempt to overturn a ban on the ‘poison pill’ defence the movie studio planned to use to block Carl Icahn’s $825m takeover bid
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:22 pm

The Worst CEOs In American History

The age of the American CEO did not begin until the end of the 19th century. Prior to that time, all the largest businesses in America were run by owners and families acting as proprietors. The best examples of these were in four industries: steel, finance, oil, and railroads. Although the firms often had general [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:19 pm

Goldman’s woes mount in Senate grilling

Goldman Sachs’ woes mounted as a high-powered US Senate subcommittee accused the Wall Street bank of “unethical” behaviour and profiting from the financial crisis.
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:13 pm

SEC porn scandal takes heat off Congress

Regulatory agencies were gutted with the blessing of some of the same lawmakers who are pointing fingers now.

As I write, our nation is still buzzing about the news flash that finally delivered the truth about why our economy melted down without word one from our crack government regulators.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:01 pm

St Laurence ultimatum - receivership or shares

The board of finance company St Laurence Limited (SLL) have today told its investors that either they vote to swap their debt for shares, or the company will go into receivership.Due to the "extremely difficult property market",...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:00 pm

Farmers market price fixing row settled

A dispute over price fixing at the Gisborne Farmers Market has been settled by the Commerce Commission.In future prices will be set by individual stall holders rather through a market committee.The commission began investigating...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 27 Apr 2010 | 6:50 pm

Synthetic CDOs, Explained

On today's All Things Considered, Adam Davidson explains the difference between a mortgage-backed security, a CDO, and a synthetic CDO. Also, why shorts aren't bad, and what a tranche is.

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Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 27 Apr 2010 | 6:37 pm

Is Goldman Sorry It Sold A Security One Employee Described as #$%&*?

By Jacob Goldstein

In the Goldman hearings today, Sen. Carl Levin kept using a profane, excremental adjective. One Goldman exec used the word in an internal email to describe a mortgage-related security the company sold in 2007.

Throughout the hearing, Levin kept returning to the argument that Goldman should have told clients its opinion of the security. Goldman should also have told clients if it stood to profit if the security performed poorly, Levin suggested.

The Goldman execs basically disagreed with Levin. They argued that when Goldman sold mortgage securities, it was not acting as an adviser to clients. Instead, they said, the company's role was to sell clients whatever they wanted to buy.

"The investors that we're dealing with on the long side, or on the short side, know what they want to acquire," CEO Lloyd Blankfein said. "I don't think our clients care, or that they should care," what Goldman's opinion is, he said.

It went back and forth like this for hours this afternoon, with variations on the theme. But there was one break in the monotony. It came when Levin was questioning David Viniar, Goldman's CFO:

LEVIN: And when you heard that your employees, in these e-mails, when looking at these deals said, God, what a s***y deal, God what a piece of crap -- when you hear your own employees or read about those in the e-mails, do you feel anything?

VINIAR: I think that's very unfortunate to have on e-mail.

(The gallery bursts out laughing.)

...

LEVIN: On an e-mail?

VINIAR: Please don't take that the wrong way. I think it's very unfortunate for anyone to have said that in any form.

LEVIN: How about to believe that and sell them?

VINIAR: I think that's unfortunate as well.

LEVIN: That's what you should have started with.

VINIAR: You're correct. It is.

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Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 27 Apr 2010 | 6:30 pm

GKN’s trademark transformed into revenue stream for pension scheme

GKN returned to profit in the year’s first quarter with its best performance since the start of the recession.


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 27 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm

Lloyds returns to profit after bad debts shrink

Lloyds Banking Group returned to the black in the first three months of this year — its first profit since buying HBOS in 2008. The figures prompted speculation that there would be a swift sale of part of the Government’s stake in the bank.


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 27 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm

Prudential showdown with dissident shareholder over break-up threat

The Prudential held an emergency meeting with its largest shareholder yesterday to confront Capital World Investors about its potential break-up plan for the insurer.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 27 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm

Asda tries refund promise to win back customers

Asda is losing market share and failing to match the pace of growth of its rivals, industry data revealed yesterday.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 27 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm

Briefing: Oil spill BP faces test in deep water

Tony Hayward’s mind has been on matters other than profit this week after the explosion in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 rig workers and triggered an oil spill.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 27 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm

Feltex chief exec says Ernst & Young never questioned him

The chief executive and director of the failed finance company Feltex told the Auckland District Court today Ernst & Young never questioned him about the state of the company's affairs as part of their review into the carpet-maker.Peter...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 27 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm

Change to parental leave for self-employed

The Government has made a small change to the rules around parental leave in an effort to make it more accessible for self-employed parents.Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson said today the change will come into effect on July 1.Self-employed...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:56 pm

‘Fabulous Fab’ gets little love from Senators

In his first public outing since the SEC pressed civil fraud charges against Fabrice Tourre and Goldman ten days ago over a mortgage-backed security, the 31-year-old Frenchman appeared before a high-powered Senate committee probing the bank’s role in the financial crisis
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:25 pm

Meet the 7 Goldman power players

Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:23 pm

Not us: Goldman execs deny wrongdoing in crisis

WASHINGTON - Defending his company under blistering criticism, the CEO of Goldman Sachs testily told sceptical US senators Tuesday that customers who bought securities from the Wall Street giant in the run-up to a national financial...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:15 pm

NZ sharemarket tumbles early

The New Zealand sharemarket tumbled in early trading in the wake of falling equities around the world as downgrades of Greece and Portugal fuelled fear
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:08 pm

Amid stalemate, Republicans float bank-reform plan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Republicans on Tuesday floated their first counterproposal to rewrite financial regulations after blocking a more sweeping Democratic plan for a second straight day.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:02 pm

Chinese dairy farm bidder in court

May Wang, the public face of the Chinese-led bid to buy the Crafar dairy empire, appeared in court this morning to face charges related to her failed Dynasty Group of companies.The 41-year-old made a brief appearance in the Auckland...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:00 pm

Brazil set for interest rate rise

Brazil’s central bank is expected to raise its core interest rate by as much as a full percentage point as the unexpectedly fast pace of economic growth puts increasing pressure on prices
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 27 Apr 2010 | 4:58 pm

Stocks pull back on Europe's deepening debt woes (AP)

AP - Investors are again worried that debt problems in Greece and Portugal could threaten the global economic recovery.

Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 27 Apr 2010 | 4:09 pm

How the major stock indexes fared on Tuesday (AP)

AP - Investors are again worried that debt problems in Greece and Portugal could threaten the global economic recovery. Stocks plunged in the U.S. and Europe Tuesday after Standard & Poor's downgraded the debt of the two European countries. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 213 points, its biggest loss in almost three months. All the major market indexes were down about 2 percent.
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 27 Apr 2010 | 4:01 pm

Senators to Facebook: Change privacy settings

Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 27 Apr 2010 | 3:56 pm

Financial Leaders Worry About Future, Do Nothing

Peter Peterson, who founded Blackstone and is on all the billionaire lists, started his own charity, The Peter G Peterson Foundation. Much of the work that the organization does involves getting opinions from the people in the highest levels of business and government. It does this through surveys or retreats. The surveys are easier to [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 27 Apr 2010 | 3:41 pm

Live Lloyd

*5:33 – LB: “I don’t think our clients care nor should they care” about whether Goldman is short something. “You could have the biggest mutual fund in the world selling stock and you wouldn’t know it

Carl: “This is a shitty deal, this is crap, what you think about that.”

LB: “We are selling securities all the time that we don’t like” but people just want to buy things.

*5:41 – LB and Carl Levin go back and forth and back and forth on what being a market maker is and whether anyone care if Goldman is short something it was selling to someone else.

Carl: You’re selling, then shorting. LB: We’re buying and selling all the time.

Carl: “I wouldn’t trust you if you came to me trying to sell something.”

LB: The buyer doesn’t care. They don’t give a crap that we’re betting against this stuff.

*5:46 – John McCain pops in despite the fact he’s been gone the entire day. Asks Lloyd why he thinks Goldman needed the TARP money.

LB – “We were brought in” and had no choice but to take the gov’t money.

McCain – Brings up shorting the residential mortgage market. LB says they made $500 million in revenue in 2007, but “did not make big money.” McCain slips up and says “you took Pork, I mean TARP money.”

*5:52 – Has Goldman done anything, McCain asks, to help community banks and homeowners pay their bills? LB: “We delivered $1 billion of the firm’s money to philanthropy” with $500 million to help small businesses. “Are any of these things enough? Not for the suffering existing in the world, but we are trying to do our part.”

*5:56 – McCain is just taking up time. He asks Lloyd what a synthetic CDO is. (John, we just heard 8 hours of testimony on that)

*McCain can’t pronounce Abacus. Lloyd corrects him and says he doesn’t believe there needs to be any disclosure on who is on the short side of the Abacus. “Senator this is not the subject of the legal proceeding” McCain: “A lot of these things are complicated Mr. Blankfein and may of them are hurting very badly and they believe your handling of the mortgage and housing was a direct contributor to the meltdown.” So There.

*6:04 – LB: Responding to a question of whether they need clients, Lloyd says “clients used to ask you for advice and then go another institution and ask for financing” Now, you not only have to give them advice, you have to have the balance sheet to help them accomplish their objectives.

*6:08 – The senators still can’t seem to figure out when Goldman was short and when it was long on CDOs. Kaufman is going over the whole timeline again and Lloyd sticks to the playbook “We reduced our risk.”

Kaufman: “Don’t you think there’s an appearance of a conflict here?” LB: “I don’t know.”

Uh oh, protestors are getting uppity. They’re yelling and most likely being escorted out.

*6:15 – LB: “We didn’t behave like we knew” what was going to happen in the mortgage market and “our positions reflect that because had we known we would have been massively short the market.” Kaufman: At what point did you decide the market was crappy. LB: “I don;t know that the decision was made to leave that business.” (It was just to reduce risk, right Lloyd?)

Kaufman – People on Wall Street are really smart. They knew the housing market was a bad deal. LB: “We’re not that smart.”

*6:22 – Kaufman gets the last word. “What really bothers people the most is not the bailouts” but the incredible compensation to people who made “horrible decisions.” “The idea that Wall Street came out just fine, thank you.”

*6:25 – Coburn admits Congress was the one who screwed up in not regulating mortgages asks Lloyd if he’s concerned about anything he’s heard at the hearing today. LB says, while he’s in the business of worrying, he seems not concerned about the actions of the employees on the prior panels.

Lloyd hints at possibly shedding Goldman’s bank holding company status.

On the financial bill – “I’m generally supportive of it, although there’s some details I’m less comfortable with.” He mentions Obama’s speech and how he agrees with the president that regulation will help bring trust back to the markets.

*6:40 – LB: “The financial system will be safer if banks are required to have more capital.” “It’s important for Goldman Sachs that we take away the notion that we’re too big to fail. A lot of the negativity associated with us is because of the perception that we are too big to fail and we have to get rid of that.”

*6:48 – Coburn asks LB why Goldman released Fab’s personal email. “Why would you do that to your employee, Coburn said.”Somebody made a personal decision that he’s going to be the whipping boy.” LB said the firm wanted to get it all out and said “I don’t think we added to those emails.” (Basically danced around the question.)

Getting close to 7pm – Carl Levin is getting hungry.

*6:56 – “In hindsight, I wish we had done more. At the time, we believed we were doing appropriate due diligence and disclosure.”

Anyone who wants to read the “Shitty deal” emails can do so here.

*7:00 – When Lloyd says “Cats and dogs,” he means old stuff they need to get off their books.

*7:05 – McCaskill doesn’t seem to understand the futures market. “You guys are securitizing this stuff and tranching it.” LB goes back to his days as an oil trader to make the point that there are a lot of financial speculators out there.

*7:09 – LB on Abacus: “I know there is an inherent distaste for the short side some of things. But ACA, the selection agent, was the biggest buyer of the deal. They bought $900 million of it.” On rating agencies: “They were inaccurate. I think they never anticipated the market could fall as much as it did.”

*7:15 – More LB on Abacus: “I think our person who testified in the first panel, said the selection agent knew about [Paulson] going short.” Whether that information should have been disclosed, Lloyd says “I don’t know, there’s no duty on us to disclose the existence of a short.” The question is whether Paulson had undo influence on selecting the assets in the CDO, Lloyd said. He said more than half the securities suggested by Paulson were thrown out by the selection agent.

*7:30 – Jon Tester of Montana asks LB if Goldman is too big to fail. LB says, “I don’t believe so.” Tester thinks he and Lloyd are speaking different languages. “It seems to me, that it’s not like selling a broken horse,” Tester said, although he said it seemed to him that there was a failure to disclose relevant things to the parties in the transaction. “It sounds like a scam.”

*7:41 – “There are parts of the business where you are a money manager and there are other parts where you are giving the client something they want” and they understand that you might be taking the other side of the trade.

*7:55 – LB and Carl Levin get into a round and round about why Goldman took money from AIG instead of going to a private insurance contract. Asked if he was troubled by the fact that Goldman got taxpayer money. LB said he was.

*7:58 – Levin ends the hearing with some declarations: He raises the idea thank banker should not offer their clients investments they don’t themselves believe in. “You don’t see that and it troubles me that you don’t see that. Goldman Sachs has turned itself into its own client. You took stuff from your own inventory that you didn’t believe in and sold it, then you bet against it.”

*8:09 – 55B, man, 55B

Mutual fund - Stock - Investing - Security - Business
Source: Dealbreaker | 27 Apr 2010 | 3:40 pm

The Tuesday Podcast: In Search Of The Red Tape Factory

On today's Planet Money:

David Kestenbaum tries to figure out why there's so much bureaucracy in India. He comes up with a few possible answers -- the legacy of colonialism, a pretext for bribery, and/or the machinery of democracy. He also brings back a few pictures of red tape in action. One of the photos is above; a few more are after the jump.

A Delhi merchant offers a "Pay Bill Register":

Here are a couple shots from the pages of the P.B.R., which appears to be some sort of ledger for recording payments to employees:

Finally, a quick reminder that the U.S. has yet to become a paperless nation. Here's one of the Goldman execs at that Senate hearing today:

Download the podcast, or subscribe. Music: Amit Trivedi's "Duniya Ye Duniya Badi Gol." Find us: Twitter/ Facebook/ Flickr.

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Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 27 Apr 2010 | 2:48 pm

Energy Speculation Limits Affecting Fuel Price Tracking: Audio

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 27 Apr 2010 | 1:52 pm

Goldman Sachs Quick Take: “The Bank Status” (GS)

If you have watched the tone, reaction, expressions, and pointed questions today from the Senate Hearing on Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), how you interpret the whole stance of the issues under discussion and the issues at stake will probably depend today on how you feel about the financial system, banks and brokers, and [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 27 Apr 2010 | 1:50 pm

Google Losing Chinese Market Share Isn’t the Problem

This morning Goldman Sachs removed Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) from its ‘Conviction Buy’ list and Google shares are up slightly today though still down around 15% since January. Credit Suisse, at the same time, downgraded Chinese search giant Baiduk, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) from ‘Neutral’ to ‘Underperform’. Baidu’s shares have lost 2% in trading so far today, but [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 27 Apr 2010 | 1:08 pm

Letters: iPhone, CEOs, health reform

Tess Vigeland reviews what listeners had to say about stories involving Gizmodo acquiring Apple's new iPhone model, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission grilling Wall Street execs, a doctor's take on health care reform, and plain language.
Source: Marketplace | 27 Apr 2010 | 1:07 pm

Arizona faces immigrant law backlash

Arizona's tough new legislation targeting undocumented immigrants has made the state itself a target. Jeff Tyler reports.
Source: Marketplace | 27 Apr 2010 | 1:07 pm

Detroit officials look to downsize city

In 1950, nearly two million people called Detroit home. Today, the Motor City has less than half that number. So local officials are considering shutting down whole swaths of the city and moving residents to more viable areas. Sarah Hulett reports.
Source: Marketplace | 27 Apr 2010 | 1:07 pm

Has the recession changed job fairs?

At least 15 million people are out of work in the U.S., so many are heading to a job fair. But has the form and function of job fairs changed during the Great Recession? Andrea Gardner reports.
Source: Marketplace | 27 Apr 2010 | 1:00 pm

BP slapped with lawsuits over oil spill

The oil slick from a platform explosion in the Gulf of Mexico is due to reach shore by the weekend. It could wreak havoc on the coastlines of four states. Sarah Gardner reports on the fallout for British Petroleum.
Source: Marketplace | 27 Apr 2010 | 1:00 pm

Worry over new credit default swaps

Most credit default swaps were designed for corporate and mortgage bonds, but now they're being sold on muni-bonds to investors who think state and local governments are heading the way of the housing market. Brett Neely reports.
Source: Marketplace | 27 Apr 2010 | 1:00 pm

Will Goldman drama impact reform?

Goldman Sachs officials appeared at a Senate hearing, defending themselves against fire over some of the trades the bank was involved in leading up to the financial crisis. The hearing is unrelated to the SEC'S fraud investigation, but the topic was still front and center. Reporter Jeremy Hobson talks the details with Tess Vigeland.
Source: Marketplace | 27 Apr 2010 | 1:00 pm

BioHealth Business Daily (CRL, DNDN, NEXM, RPC, TEVA, VVUS)

Earnings season has taken out some of the sting from biotech and biohealth trading reactions.  Today’s version of the BioHealth Business Daily is showing news and moves seen in Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE: CRL), Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN), NexMed, Inc. (NASDAQ: NEXM), Radient Pharmaceuticals Corporation (AMEX: RPC), Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NASDAQ: TEVA), [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 27 Apr 2010 | 12:57 pm

Greece Is Junk

By Jacob Goldstein

S&P just downgraded Greece's debt to junk. This is the latest suggestion that, even with multibillion-dollar bailout likely to come from the EU and the IMF, Greece may default on its debts.

Basically, S&P says, the terms of the bailout may force Greece to tighten its budget even more. That will be politically difficult and could also choke off the GDP growth that would be essential for Greece to dig itself out of debt.

S&P projects Greece's national debt to be 131% of GDP by 2011, up from 115% as of last year.

S&P also downgraded Portugal today, though Portugal still hasn't sunk to junk status.

A Greek default would probably prompt investors to demand higher interest rates on bonds sold by countries such as Portugal and Spain. That could in turn raise the risk that those countries would need bailouts of their own.

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Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 27 Apr 2010 | 12:02 pm

Blame game gathers pace over reform bill

If Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, is correct then Republicans are once again painting themselves into a corner as the obstructionist party
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 27 Apr 2010 | 11:38 am

How to Create an Effective Project Management Process

This is a guest post by Jason Westland of ProjectManager.com.

Any good project manager needs to know how to create an effective project management process. Regardless of line of business or industry, there are key factors that will contribute to an effective project management process.

Without effective use of project management techniques, a project can easily slip in regards to time, deadlines, costs and organization. A solid project management strategy will save time and money, whereas a poor strategy can bring the project to expensive chaos.

The following steps can show anyone how to create an effective project management process.

1. Make sure the project is driven by business benefits

It is important to define first the business benefits that you want to achieve from the project in hand. Make sure you clearly outline your objectives and that these are communicated to all involved. It’s also important that you filter out any unwanted proposals as soon as possible to avoid clouding the more important issues in hand.

2. Constantly evaluate the project benefits throughout the project’s lifecycle

As the project evolves it is important to continuously assess and re-evaluate the marketing, operational and technical viability of the project. This needs to continue throughout the course of the < A HREF="http://www.maxwideman.com/papers/life_cycle/life_cycle.pdf">projects lifecycle. If it’s found that a project is beginning to run away with itself and is no longer viable then there are issues that need to be addressed. Do this sooner rather than later and if need be, don’t be afraid to terminate the project.

3. Identify and involve stakeholders.

When a project starts it’s important to identify who the stakeholders are. A stakeholder is someone who is directly or indirectly affected by the project. Be sure to involve the stakeholders at all stages including the beginning. By doing this and spending the time to understand the internal and external requirements of the customer you will reduce the scope for error later on in the projects development. As always with project management, ensure there is an effective communication strategy is put in place in order that all those involved are keeping up to date with progress. This will also provide people with an opportunity to ask questions and make suggestions.

4. Use effective project management techniques

It’s vital that throughout good project management techniques and control mechanisms are put in place. This is a crucial area but is often one that many managers are poorly equipped to deal with or understand.

The core control techniques that are needed are:

• Planning
• Managing risk
• Managing scope change
• Managing schedules
• Managing costs
• Conducting reviews

An effective project manager will help provide guidance, training and support for all staff related to the project. This needs to include senior managers who act as sponsors.

5. Don’t cut corners

While everyone involved in a project is keen to get things moving, it’s important that you avoid the temptation to take short cuts or skip stages especially early on in the project. Decisions made here can have far reaching consequences so good management and planning early on can save time and money later.

6. Formally close a project and learn from your mistakes

Once a project has been successfully completed you need to formally close it. This process provides an opportunity for you to learn lessons from the experience and improve processes for the future. After a sufficient amount of time has passed conduct a post implementation review to establish whether the benefits that were initially set out were achieved, whether the solution that was delivered met the needs of the business for both the customer and their clients.

Jason Westland is the author of the book the project management lifecyle. He has been in the project management industry for the past 16 years and now runs a website which provides effective project management software.

Source: Business Pundit | 27 Apr 2010 | 11:16 am

SKF Raised to `Buy,' Volvo Cut to `Neutral': Audio

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 27 Apr 2010 | 10:39 am

Gallo, Gijsels Discuss Greece; Ritholtz on Goldman: First Word

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 27 Apr 2010 | 10:31 am

Greece debt crisis takes a toll on FTSE (AFP)

AFP - London shares ended in the red on Tuesday amid growing fears that the Greek debt crisis will spread to other weak eurozone economies.

Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 27 Apr 2010 | 10:12 am

Obama urges bipartisan effort on soaring deficits

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama said Tuesday that Washington must urgently confront unpleasant truths about deficits, while the Federal Reserve chairman said failure to mop up red-ink spending would "ultimately do great damage" to the country.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 27 Apr 2010 | 10:07 am

DuPont Profits Indicate Where Global Economy Might Be Recovering

DuPont, the world’s second-largest chemical company, reported Q1 2010 profits of $1.13 billion. Those are more than double the profits DuPont reported this time last year. Unlike the banking industry, DuPont’s profits came from an actual increase in business across units. CB Online breaks down where DuPont made its profits–and what that means for the global economy:

Overall sales volume increased by 19 percent, led by a 65 percent volume increase in the Asia-Pacific region. Performance among DuPont’s various business segments was led by the electronics and communications unit, which reported a 60 percent increase in volume on strong global demand, led by the Asia-Pacific region, and increased demand for photovoltaics.

DuPont’s performance materials unit saw volume increase by 56 percent as demand improved in the automotive, industrial, consumer and electronic markets. The company had been relying on results from its agriculture and nutrition business while units that sold coatings and other products to the automotive and housing markets struggled during the recession. Those businesses saw strong gains in revenue and operating profit during the first quarter.

As in the fourth quarter, DuPont’s performance chemicals unit saw increased demand for titanium dioxide in the first three months of this year. DuPont officials have said demand for products such as titanium dioxide, a white pigment used in consumer goods, house paint and automotive coatings, often indicates whether the economy is growing or contracting, particularly in the short term.

DuPont on Tuesday cited a recovery in the automotive and industrial markets, and moderate strengthening in construction markets, for improved performance in its safety and protection unit, whose products include Kevlar aramid fiber and Tyvek house wrap.

Also, from the DuPont website:

Pharmaceuticals first-quarter pre-tax income was $221 million, about $60 million higher than anticipated. The company expects full-year Pharmaceuticals pre-tax income of $360-$400 million.

First-quarter 2010 consolidated net sales of $8.5 billion were 23% higher than 2009. This reflects 19% higher volume, 2% higher local selling prices, and a 3% positive impact from currency exchange rates, partly offset by a 1% reduction from portfolio changes.

In other words, Asia is contributing to most of the volume increase that, in turn, increased DuPont’s profits. Where is the global economy recovering, then? Asia. Perhaps DuPont’s profits aren’t telling us much that we don’t already know, after all.

Source: Business Pundit | 27 Apr 2010 | 9:39 am

S&P Downgrades Portugal, Greece Cut To Junk

In another sign that the sovereign debt problem in Europe could spread beyond Greece, S&P downgraded the debt of Portugal by two levels to A- from A+. Greece’s debt was simultaneously cut to “junk” on concerns that a bailout by the Eurozone and IMF would falter. The credit agency slashed its long- and short-term sovereign credit ratings on Greece to [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 27 Apr 2010 | 9:32 am

Portuguese debt downgraded by Standard & Poor's (AP)

AP - Standard & Poor's has downgraded its credit rating on Portugal amid mounting concerns about the country's ability to get a handle on its debt load.
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 27 Apr 2010 | 9:08 am

Good Leadership Helped Ford Stocks Triple in the Past Year

Image: Agencia Brasil

Ford reported $2.1 billion in Q1 profits this morning, much higher than expected. Added bonus: Ford stocks have tripled since this time last year, when they were hovering around $4. (Current prices are also at a 5-year high). BusinessWeek has more:

The profit marked Ford’s fourth consecutive quarter of net income, the longest streak since 2005. Excluding some gains and costs, earnings were 46 cents a share. Ford’s 37 percent surge in U.S. deliveries through March more than doubled the industrywide increase, helping the second- largest U.S. automaker add domestic market share at the fastest pace in 33 years as the auto market rebounds. Ford was alone among its U.S. peers in avoiding bankruptcy in 2009.

The Fusion sedan, F-150 pickup and Focus small car drove Ford’s first-quarter U.S. sales gains…Net vehicle prices increased $1 billion last quarter, Ford said today, as (CEO Alan) Mulally pared discounts while selling new vehicles with more options that fetch higher prices.

Redesigned models such as the Taurus sedan helped boost U.S. market share through March to 17.4 percent from 14.7 percent a year earlier, the biggest jump since 1977, Ford has said. Ford has said it is attracting buyers from Toyota Motor Corp. after global recalls of more than 8 million vehicles.

The stock may be under pressure today because Ford’s results were boosted by “unsustainable” gains at finance unit Ford Motor Credit from rising resale prices, Himanshu Patel, a JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst in New York, told investors in a note today.

Ford’s “Way Forward” restructuring plan and Former Boeing CEO Alan Mulally, who took over at Ford in 2006, deserve a lot of the credit for Ford’s current success. Mulally sold or sheared off Ford’s controlling stake in five brands: Aston Martin, Mazda, Jaguar, Land Rover, and Volvo. In 2005, under the “Way Forward” plan, Ford sold Hertz Rent-a-Car to a private equity group, and also sold its controlling stake in India’s Mahindra and Mahindra. In lieu of a government bailout, Mulally mortgaged Ford’s assets, a move that left the company with more debt, but also allowed it to avoid the drastic downsizing and government control that crippled Chrysler and GM. The list goes on.

Ford got to where it is today by acting like a business, not a zombie. It deserves its success.

Source: Business Pundit | 27 Apr 2010 | 9:07 am

It Doesn't Matter Whether Goldman Was Long Or Short

By Jacob Goldstein

Did Goldman Sachs make money or lose money when the housing market collapsed? There's been a lot of hand waving about this question in the runup to today's Senate hearings on Goldman.

But the question is largely irrelevant.

Carl Levin, who chairs the subcommittee that's holding the hearings, says Goldman made money in 2007 from betting that housing prices would fall.

"Goldman Sachs made billions of dollars from betting against the housing market, and it placed those bets in some cases at the same time it was selling mortgage related securities to its clients," Levin said in a statement.

This overview from Goldman suggests the firm did make money from the housing market in 2007 -- then lost a lot of money in 2008, as the housing market continued to decline.

"During the two years of the financial crisis, while profitable overall, Goldman Sachs lost approximately $1.2 billion from our activities in the residential housing market," Lloyd Blankfein says in his testimony prepared for today's hearing.

It's possible that both men are right -- Goldman may have made a profit on its mortgage bets in 2007, then lost enough in 2008 to wipe out the previous year's profits.

But it doesn't really matter who's right.

Some of Goldman Sachs's clients were betting the housing market would rise in 2007 and 2008. Some were betting it would fall. Goldman itself made some bets that would pay off if the market rose, and others that would pay off if the market fell.

In a sense, a company like Goldman -- which is in the middle of all sorts of transactions, and is also making its own bets on the market -- is always betting in the same direction as some of its clients, and betting in the opposite direction as others.

Somehow, this seems to inspires less ire when Goldman takes a long position -- that is, when it bets that the market will go up. Suppose Goldman had been long the housing market during the entire crisis, and had clearly lost a lot of money. It seems unlikely that anyone would be saying that Goldman improperly "bet against" its clients that were short the housing market at the time.

So the key question isn't whether Goldman was net short or net long the housing market. It's whether the company told its clients everything it should have told them.

The issue of disclosure is at the center of the SEC's fraud lawsuit against Goldman. The SEC says Goldman wrongly failed to tell its clients about the role of a hedge fund that took a short position on a mortgage-related security. Goldman denies the charges.

Beyond the single transaction at issue in the SEC lawsuit, questions about what Goldman told its clients -- whether it told them the truth, and whether it kept secret facts it should have disclosed -- may ultimately be more important than whether the bank was short or long.

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Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 27 Apr 2010 | 8:22 am

Live-Blogging The Goldman Flogging: There’s Gonna Be A Showdown

* 9:45: Fifteen minutes to go. Disappointingly, His Fantabulousness and Lloyd Blankfein are on separate panels, meaning no opportunity for potential backhands to the face. No matter. There’s gonna be a showdown. So while we wait:

[I have it on good authority that Lloyd and Lucas have rehearsed the above moves and will be performing them at intermission.]

* 9:57: The “Pink Ladies” have traded in their standard uniforms for prison garb. Good one, ladies.

* 10:03: Carl Levin (NO RELATION) is telling us why we’re here. Goldman Sachs took advantage of its clients, yada, yada, yada.

* 10:04: That’s right, cameraman, focus on The Fab (who’s grown his hair a little longer and is looking kind of hot).

* 10:09: Carl: “Goldman Sachs treats clients like objects (of profit).” Jackie Treehorn, a former prop trader, was the first to pioneer this model at the firm.

* 10:16: Goldman made money off its shorts. Dun Dun Dun.

* 10:26: Apparently Goldman didn’t just hurt its clients, it hurt everyone in the world. Take a moment right now to show us on the doll where Goldman touched you.

* 10:28: Going to interrupt Carl for a moment to announce that Melissa Francis gave birth last night to her second son (with husband Wray). The kid’s name is Greyson Alexander Thorn. May he grow up to be a Goldman banker.

* 10:32: Senator Susan Collins: I’m very discreet…but I will haunt your dreams.

* 10:38: According to Suzy, we’re not here to celebrate the fact that Goldman Sachs made some money during the crisis. Which means I’ve made a terrible mistake. Reader poll: cancel the stripper cake, even though she’s already inside? Or just say fuck it? Why should this lady get to say what’s what?

* 10:40: Senator Claire McCaskill is just going to throw words out there, arrange them in any way you like: bets, odds, bookies, tranches, waterfalls, golden showers, clown-facing, pit bosses, Las Vegas, street gamblers, KGB.

* 10:44: SENATOR MARK PRYOR: “I MAY NOT UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING ABOUT EVERYTHING ON WALL STREET.”

* 10:47: Daniel Sparks, former mortgages department head and PMD: He only meant to stay at Goldman for two years. But he couldn’t let it go. There was something about Goldman he couldn’t shake. Something…special.

* 10:51: Josh Birnbaum, Former Managing Director, Structured Products Group Trading: Wharton grad. That is all.

* 10:56: Michael “Swenny” Swenson, Managing Director, Structured Products Group Trading: [guy behind left shoulder is just gonna play dead until the Model 5000 GS employee is finished]

* 11:02: Fabrice “Fab” Tourre: FINALLY. The only reason we’re here today. Reading of this statement. Unlike the Toyota hearings, no translator necessary. Won’t get good until he’s performing off the cuff but so far, I sense a ‘tude, and I like it. If he wants to make us really happy he’ll whip out a cigarette when he’s done and light up.

* 11:12: Before Carl finishes this little speech, is someone going to tell him that Sparks hasn’t found the email in the 938,918 page binder he was supposed to be looking for yet?

* 11:13: WHOEVER CAME UP WITH THIS PLAN FOR SPARKS TO JUST NEVER FIND THE RIGHT PAGE IS A GENIUS. LOOKIN’ AT YOU LUCAS.

* 11:16: Sparks: Senator Levin, I literally have no idea what you’re talking about. No joke, no offense, I straight up have no idea what you’re saying.

* 11:17: Senator Levin: IF I POINT AND SAY THE PHRASE ‘HOW DO YOU GUYS GET COMFORTABLE WITH’ OVER AND OVER AGAIN MAYBE AT SOME POINT IT WILL MAKE SENSE [aid whispering in Levin's ear: "Sir, things are unraveling, it's getting away from us." Levin: "Shut it bitch."] HOW DO YOU GUYS GET COMFORTABLE [FINGER POINTS] GET COMFORTABLE [FINGER POINTS] GUYS [FINGER POINTS] COMFORTABLE?!?

* 11:24: This is how it’s going to be. Every five to six minutes, Carl’s going to pick a new phrase to shout over and over, in the form of a question that people will have no idea how to answer. First phrase was “how do you guys get comfortable with,” next up, “crap pools.” Crap pools. Crap pools. Crap pools.

Sparks: I don’t…

CL: Crap pools.

Sparks: Sir?

CL: Crap pools.

Sparks: Um…

CL: Crap pools.

Sparks : All I’m saying…

CL: Crap pools?

Sparks: Mr. Chairman I’m just…

CL: Crap pools?

Sparks: Sir?

CL: Crap pools!

Sparks: We…

CL: Crap pools!

Sparks: I’m sorry?

CL: Crap pools! Knock, knock.

Sparks: Who’s there?

CL: CRAP POOLS!

Sparks: Look…

CL: Crap pools! Let me tell you a little story about a man named Crap pools! Crap pools! Even before you start. That was a preemptive Crap pools. Just know I have a whole bag of ‘Crap pools’ with your name on it.

11:30: Phrase # 3: “Shitty deals”

11:33: Carl: Who’s Tom Montag? Who’s Dan Sparks? Who’s Lloyd Blankfein? Who’s Carl Levin? WHERE AM I?

11:37: Senator Collins would like to go down the line and ask everyone if they felt they had a duty act in the best interest of their clients. Sending a silent plea to Fab to, after everyone else says yes, jumps up on the desk and say, “Our duty to our clie-ents vas simply zees [dramatic dick slap to random audience member's face.]

11:43: Collins: “Mr. Chairman, I think a tactic of this group is to burn through time by asking the question to be re-stated.” You win this round, Susan.

11:47 Collins: Turn to page 104.

Birnbaum [turns to page 104, sees it has nothing to do wtih what she's talking about]: Sorry, 104?

Collins: Shut your mouth when you’re talking to me! [confers with aid] Hmm, no. Not 104. 26. Bet you think you’re so smart, don’t you Goldie? Is this how you played your clients?

11:53: Levin: I’m hip to your games and your little tricks and we’re going to stay here until you answer the questions whether they make one ounce of sense or not, got it? [NOTE: THIS IS ONLY PANEL ONE OF THREE!!! SAVE YOURSELVES!]

12:00: Senator Kaufman: What I’m getting here from this hearing is that no one did anything wrong.

[panel: nods gravely]

12:05: Kaufman: I’m not a fan of hindsight or Monday Morning Quarterbacking (O RLY?). I’m not here to embarrass you You’re here to embarrass me and my colleagues. Just wanted to be clear on that. Got it, boss?

12:10 You guys this thing is sucking my will to live. There’s only one way way to recharge. Do this with me:

12:21 Senator Coburn: I’m just getting here, so I’ll make my opening remarks now, 3 hours into the thing. I was busy tending to more important issues. I was having a mole removed. Anyway, Swenson I have a question for yo, did you–

Swenson (as transcribed by PB): Senator, if you can’t bother to get here on time, just shut the fuck up already. I know what you’re going to ask and it was covered in my prepared statement. I will not repeat myself in order to accommodate your tardiness.

12:23 Senator Coburn: Who was your leader? Who sent you here? Who is your leader?

Birnbaum: We did it as a team.

Coburn: Who is your leader? Who led?

Birnbaum: We did it as a team. Are you suggesting there can only be one leader?

Coburn: There can only be on leader. YOU ONLY HAVE ONE LLOYD BLANKFEIN (which, btw, is the title of my memoir).

Birnbaum: Swenny was my ultimate boss.

Swenson: Sparks was my boss.

Sparks: Zuul was my boss.

12:30: No longer interested in even pretending to give a shit about this charade, Swenny has turned to audible sighs. [Swenson, you asshole, this is kind of a turn on-- call me. Sparks, you can give me a ring as well.]

12:36: Coburn: Were you embarrassed by those emails…the ones to your girlfriend?

Fab: Yeah, a little bit.

Coburn: Were you deeply embarrassed by them? Do you think Lucas and Lloyd released them to distract everyone from the fact that they’re currently structuring newfangled derivatives for Paulson&Co to short, such as Senator Levin’s performance on Dancing With The Stars?

12:40: We get it, Claire McCaskill, you have a gambling problem, particularly as it relates to sports betting. If GS just gives you a little money to get by can everyone go home?

1:15: [Riffing between Senator Ensign and Senator who's name I missed based on joke Ensign took a week to come up with-- "I think the people of Vegas would be offended to be compared to Wall Street. At least they know the game is rigged."]

1:30: Ensign: I think one of the reasons you guys were able to get away with this whole scam is that you used fancy words that people who aren’t market manipulators wouldn’t understand. For instance, the word ’static.’ Hows is someone who doesn’t work at Goldman or have their CFA supposed to understand what that means? Can you even tell me what that means right now?

Sparks: Sure, sir, and I understand it’s tricky. ‘Static’ is industry jargon for ‘fixed.’ Like when something doesn’t move.

Ensign: Okay, now define ‘canines.’

Sparks: Dogs. To the layman.

1:42: Senator Baucus: Do you think Goldman did anything wrong, Mr. Sparks?

Sparks: No, I would say I don’t think Goldman did anything wrong–

Baucus: Interesting. So you’re saying you don’t think Goldman did anything wrong?

Sparks: No, I would say I don’t think Goldman did anything wrong–

Baucus: Son, you’re not speaking my language.

1:55: Senator Tester: You guys have done a great job. You didn’t answer a single question but that’s okay that’s fine, that’s not your fault. Maybe later we can go out for a pop without the lawyers and you can tell me what really happened.

2:05: [Levin, to no one in particular] “Shiftin’ risk…CDO’s…lemons….lemons…”

2:20: Senator Coburn: I’m not finding what I want in these emails…you know…incriminating shit…so how about this– true or false, the firm has a policy which states that you’re not allowed to raise any ethical issues in an email. You know, the sort of shit that had you put it in an email, would’ve really helped me out today. Let’s just go down the line. Is that or is that not a firm policy.

Sparks: No.

Brinbaum: No.

Swenny: [Dramatic eye-roll] No.

Fab: No.

Coburn: Agree to disagree.

2:25: Senator Coburn: “We’re not that stupid.”

[...]

2:25: Senator Coburn: Does a ‘PM’ refer to ‘prime mover’?

Fab: Uhhh…generally it refers to ‘portfolio manager.’

Coburn: Phat magic?

Fab: Portfolio manager?

Coburn: Pimp money?

Fab: Portfolio manager?

Coburn: Potty mouth?

Fab: Portfolio manager?

Coburn: Pussy magnet?

Fab: Portfolio manager? But Pussy Magnet too, yes.

3:13 We’re past the 5 hour mark. HOW IS THIS STILL HAPPENING? Is it even legal not to break for lunch? There are two more panels to go– will Lloyd have to stay over night? HE DIDN’T BRING AN OVERNIGHT BAG!

AND BREAK.

3:30: I love you, Viniar but my fingers need a break. Resting them ’til LB.

Lloyd Blankfein - Goldman Sachs - Business - United States - United States Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
Source: Dealbreaker | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:45 am

Prince Alwaleed Will Continue Giving Goldman His Billions

United States - People - Royal Family - Arts - Prince George's
Source: Dealbreaker | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:41 am

Montag’s Email Proves Killinger Was Right to Fear Goldman

Forget shorting the housing market and fueling the financial crisis. What the Senate subcommittee needs to focus on this morning is why Goldman was selling self-described “shitty” products to its own clients.

“Boy that timberwo[l]f was one shi**y deal,” Tom Montag, Goldman’s head of sales and trading, wrote in an email about $1 billion CDO called Timberwolf the firm was trying to shove down the throats of its own clients. The email, written to the head of Goldman’s mortgage desk in June 2007, was released by the Senate panel.

How would you like it if your stock broker sold you some crappy stock he thought was going to tank just so his firm could get it off their books?

Part of the Timberwolf CDO was offloaded to Bear Stearns hedge fund manager Ralph Cioffi, whose fund imploded in the summer of 2007. He was subsequently charged by the Feds with fraud, although a Brooklyn jury found him not guilty. Montag is now Bank of America’s president of global banking and markets.

The email shows Kerry Killinger’s concerns about hiring Goldman as a banker were right on the money. “I don’t trust Goldy on this,” WaMu’s chief wrote in an Oct. 12, 2007, e-mail. “They are smart, but this is swimming with the sharks. They were shorting mortgages big time while they were giving CfC advice,” he said.

Killinger was referring to Countrywide Financial, which hired Goldman in late 2006 to help it raise capital to continue funding mortgages. That assignment gave the firm an inside view of Countrywide’s books and marks on their mortgage products. Although he doesn’t say it explicitly, Killinger hints that Goldman was using that information to trade for its own account.

Goldman Sachs CDO Labeled ‘Shi**y Deal’ by Montag in E-Mail [Bloomberg]

Hedge fund - Bear Stearns - Goldman Sachs - Bank of America - Business
Source: Dealbreaker | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:40 am

Fabrice Tourre: “I deny — categorically — the SEC’s allegation. And I will defend myself in court against this false claim.”

Here’s what Mr. Fantabulous is going to say in about an hour. Imagine this read with what one hopes is (fingers-crossed) a thick accent and an general attitude of “Let’s make zees quick, I have a match to be at by noon. Idiots.”

TESTIMONY OF FABRICE TOURRE (via WSJ)
__________
BEFORE THE
PERMANENT SUBCOMMITTEE ON
INVESTIGATIONS
APRIL 27, 2010
__________

Chairman Levin, Dr. Coburn and Members of the Subcommittee. My name is Fabrice Tourre, and I work at Goldman Sachs International in London. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the Subcommittee. I have worked at Goldman Sachs since 2001. Between 2004 and 2007, my job was primarily to make markets for clients. I made markets by connecting clients who wished to take a long exposure to an asset — meaning they anticipated the value of the asset would rise — with clients who wished to take a short exposure to an asset — meaning they anticipated the value of the asset would fall. I was an intermediary between highly sophisticated professional investors — all of which were institutions. None of my clients were individual, retail investors.

The structured products on which I worked fill an important need for these sophisticated financial institutions. To the average person, the utility of these products may not be obvious. But they permit sophisticated institutions to customize the exposures they wish to take in order to better manage the credit and market risks of their investment holdings.

Mr. Chairman, as you know, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently filed a civil suit alleging that I failed to disclose to investors certain material information regarding a transaction that I helped to structure called “ABACUS 07 AC-1”. I deny — categorically — the SEC’s allegation. And I will defend myself in court against this false claim.

Since the suit was filed, there have been many questions raised about the 07
AC-1 transaction and my role in it. I appreciate the opportunity to answer those
questions, and I want to make a few points absolutely clear.

First, the only two investors in this transaction, ACA and IKB, were institutions with significant resources and extensive experience in the CDO market. ACA was a specialty financial services company that, at year-end 2006, managed 22 CDOs with approximately $16 billion in assets. IKB, a large German bank, had a separate mortgage group and was an active participant in the CDO market.

According to IKB, as of January 2007, they had launched and managed more than
$16.8 billion of CLOs and CDOs and viewed securitizations and CDO investments
as an integral part of their business model.

Second, I never told ACA, the portfolio selection agent, that Paulson & Company would be an equity investor in the AC-1 transaction or would take any long position in the deal. Although I don’t recall the exact words that I used, I recall informing ACA that Paulson’s fund was expected to buy credit protection on some of the senior tranches of the AC-1 transaction. This necessarily meant that Paulson was expected to take some short exposure in the deal. Moreover, from the early stages of the transaction in January 2007 to its completion several months later, none of the offering documents, including the term sheets, flip book and offering circular, provided to ACA indicated that Paulson’s fund would be an equity investor.

If ACA was confused about Paulson’s role in the transaction, it had every opportunity to clarify the issue. Representatives of Paulson’s fund participated directly in all of my meetings with ACA regarding the transaction. I do not ever recall ACA asking me or Paulson’s representatives if Paulson’s fund would be an equity investor. Indeed, ACA and Paulson had several discussions about the transaction and at least one meeting without any Goldman Sachs representatives present. Quite frankly, I am surprised that ACA could have believed that the Paulson fund was an equity or long investor in the deal.

Third, the AC-1 transaction was not designed to fail. ACA and IKB were two of the most important clients of my desk. Moreover, the securities referenced in the transaction did not underperform the other securities of that ratings class and vintage. All of the securities of that ratings class and vintage performed poorly because the subprime mortgage market suffered a broad collapse. Goldman Sachs also had no economic motive to design the AC-1 transaction to fail. Quite the contrary, we held long exposure in the transaction just like ACA and IKB. When the securities referenced in AC-1 declined in value, we lost money too. Goldman Sachs’ overall losses in connection with the transaction exceeded $100 million,
including $83 million with respect to the retained long position.

Finally, ACA selected the portfolio of securities referenced in the transaction — not Paulson & Company. ACA had sole authority to decide what securities would be referenced in the transaction, and it does not dispute that point. Neither the Paulson fund nor Goldman Sachs could dictate to ACA the securities referenced in the deal. Paulson’s fund made suggestions to ACA, as did IKB and Goldman Sachs. And the SEC complaint concedes that ACA rejected most of Paulson’s suggestions while accepting others. So, while Paulson, Goldman Sachs and IKB all had input into the reference portfolio for AC-1, ACA ultimately
analyzed and approved every security in the deal. Thus, when Goldman Sachs
represented to investors that ACA selected the referenced securities, that statement
was absolutely correct.

Mr. Chairman, the last week has been challenging for me and my family, as
I have been the target of unfounded attacks on my character and motives. I
appreciate the opportunity to appear before the Subcommittee to answer these false
charges. I wish to repeat — I did not mislead IKB or ACA, two of the most
sophisticated institutional investors in these products anywhere in the world. I will
be pleased to answer any questions that the Subcommittee may have.

Goldman Sachs - Collateralized debt obligation - Paulson & Company - Subprime lending - Financial services
Source: Dealbreaker | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:13 am

Presented By:

Source: Dealbreaker | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:13 am

Snoopy Sells For $175 Million

By Jacob Goldstein

Peanuts, which was a big deal when I was growing up in the '80s, seems a bit old-timey now. But there's apparently still lots of money in the brand: The rights to Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts crew just sold for $175 million.

I'm tempted to say that Iconix, the branding company that now owns 80% of the licensing rights, figures it can cash in on the warm, fuzzy nostalgia that American 30-somethings like me feel toward the icons of our childhood.

But, as usual, this isn't about me. It isn't even about the U.S.

Peanuts is a monster of a global brand. Of the $2 billion in annual retail sales of Peanuts products, two-thirds comes from outside the U.S., according to Iconix.

The company, which also has a joint venture selling clothes with Madonna and which owns Joe Boxer and other brands, is partnering on the deal with the heirs of Charles Schulz, who wrote Peanuts and who died in 2000. Shulz's heirs will have a 20% stake. They're buying the brand from the media company E.W. Scripps.

Iconix said it expects Peanuts to generate annual royalty revenue of about $75 million. The company will also get the licensing rights to Dilbert as part of the deal.

Here's the press release from Iconix, and here's a story on the deal from the WSJ.

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Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 27 Apr 2010 | 6:22 am

Fabulous Fab: "I Deny -- Categorically -- The SEC's Allegation"

By Jacob Goldstein

Update: Tourre's prepared testimony, along with the statements of other Goldman officials, is online here. (But as of midday Tuesday, the page is a bit balky.)

The Senate's big Goldman show is today. Let's kick it off with Fabrice "Fabulous Fab" Tourre, the Goldman VP named in the SEC's fraud lawsuit against the company. He'll be speaking in the Senate this morning, and Politico's Morning Money has this excerpt from Tourre's planned testimony:

I deny -- categorically -- the SEC's allegation. ... The transaction was not designed to fail. ... I did not mislead IKB or ACA, two of the most sophisticated institutional investors in these products. ... The last week has been challenging for me and my family, [with] unfounded attacks on my character and motives.

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Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 27 Apr 2010 | 6:11 am

Opening Bell: 04.27.10

Meet The Real Villain Of The Financial Crisis (NYT)
Bethany McLean: “The transaction at the heart of the S.E.C.’s complaint is a microcosm of the entire credit crisis. That is, there are no good guys here. It’s dishonest and ultimately dangerous to pretend that Goldman is the only bad actor. And the worst actor of all is the one leading the charge against Goldman: our government…Come to think about it, shouldn’t Congress have its turn on the hot seat as well? Seeing Goldman executives get their comeuppance may make us all feel better in the short term. But today’s spectacle shouldn’t provide our government with a convenient way to deflect the blame it so richly deserves.”

A Crowd With Pity For Goldman (NYT)
“I don’t want to use the word childish … but it’s childish.” That’s how Kenneth Griffin described the SEC’s decision to pursue a civil fraud case against Goldman. “I think that the disclosure around one transaction being the justification to vilify Goldman Sachs or to pass regulatory reform is just incredible,” Mr. Griffin said. “I think the Goldman Sachs case has clearly energized the Democrats with respect to passing the regulatory reform.”

Tourre: A Hero in Villain’s Garb? (WSJ)
Dennis Berman: “Mr. Tourre, as they say on Wall Street, gets the joke. His job constructing highly structured mortgage products is a farce. And he feels uneasy about it. “[T]he real purpose of my job is to make capital markets more efficient and ultimately provide the US consumer with more efficient ways to leverage and finance himself, so there is a humble, noble and ethical reason for my job :)” he writes to his girlfriend Marine Serres in January 2007. At Goldman’s top levels, there is little farce. Instead, there is what the firm proudly touts as “conflict management”—the thorough, technical handling of competing interests inside and outside the firm.”

Deutsche Bank profit up 49% on investment-bank strength (MarketWatch)
The Germans reported profit of 1.76 billion euros ($2.34 billion), compared with 1.19 billion euros a year earlier and ahead of the 1.39 billion euro consensus estimate of analysts. “This is a low level by peer group standards and, given regulatory developments, suggests limited dividend progression for 2010,” said Nomura analyst Jon Peace in a note to clients.

Deutsche Bank faces U.S. mortgage securities suit (Reuters)
No worries, though, the Krauts aren’t sweating the potential U.S. class-action lawsuit over mortgage-related securities.

Roubini: Greece Just Tip of Debt Crisis Iceberg (CNBC)
“The recent problems faced by Greece are only the tip of a sovereign-debt iceberg in many advanced economies,” Roubini told readers of RGE Monitor. “Bond-market vigilantes already have taken aim at Greece, Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Iceland, pushing government bond yields higher.” “Eventually they may take aim at other countries – even Japan and the United States — where fiscal policy is on an unsustainable path,” he wrote.

Finance Bill Hits Impasse In Senate (WSJ)
On a 57-41 vote, Democrats fell short of the 60 votes they needed to begin debate, even losing one of their own.

Nomura Defections Damage Bid to Catch Up With Rivals (Bloomberg)
“The airplane just left the ground last year,” Chief Operating Officer Takumi Shibata said at the event at Tokyo’s Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa. “It needs to gain more altitude.”

Goldman Sachs - United States - U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission - Deutsche Bank - Bethany McLean
Source: Dealbreaker | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:30 am

A Picture, Worth What Words?

(Image source)

Source: Business Pundit | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:00 am