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House prices up 6.6% in past yearHouse prices have gone up by 6.6% in the past year, according to the latest Halifax house price survey.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 May 2010 | 4:13 am As Oil Spills Into Gulf, Drillers Seek Permission To Attack The ArticIf nothing else, the big oil companies are audacious. Just as thousand of barrels of oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf, Shell Oil is in the final stages of getting court permission to drill in the Arctic ocean, north of Alaska. The work in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas is set to begin [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 7 May 2010 | 4:11 am Fearful Wall Street session spooks investorsGlobal Markets Overview: A fearful and shambolic session on Wall Street haunted global markets on Friday as investors tried to absorb political reverberations from the streets of Athens to the polling booths of BritainSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 7 May 2010 | 4:07 am Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani wins gas rulingNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's Supreme Court ruled in favor of billionaire businessman Mukesh Ambani in a long-running dispute with his brother over the country's largest gas find, effectively giving the government control to set gas prices.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 May 2010 | 4:06 am Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani wins gas ruling (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 7 May 2010 | 4:06 am RBS losses cut as bad debts fallLosses at Royal Bank of Scotland have narrowed in the first three months of 2010 after a drop in bad debts.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 May 2010 | 4:05 am BA cabin crew reject 'new offer'BA cabin crew "overwhelmingly reject" an offer aimed at ending a long-running row over pay and conditions, Unite says.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 May 2010 | 4:00 am Europe Markets: European shares slide as jitters riseEuropean shares dropped in a volatile session on Friday, with Germany’s impending vote on aid to Greece, the fallout from the turmoil on Wall Street and the likelihood of a hung parliament in the U.K. combining to fuel investor nervousness.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 May 2010 | 3:59 am Indications: U.S. futures climb after Thursday's tumultU.S. stock futures on Friday rise after one of the most tumultuous sessions in history, with markets prepping for the release of payrolls data, news on the Greek rescue and who will lead Britain -- and bracing for further volatility.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 May 2010 | 3:57 am L'Occitane debuts on Hong Kong bourse (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 7 May 2010 | 3:55 am HSBC profits grow in first quarterHSBC, the global bank, said it had enjoyed a "very good" performance in the first quarter, aided by falling bad debts, Asia, and a return to profit at its US division for the first time since 2007.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 May 2010 | 3:55 am Pound slumps on unclear electionThe pound and shares fall sharply as it becomes clear that the UK general election has produced no clear majority.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 May 2010 | 3:54 am The Germans Knuckle UnderWhether the Germans wanted to flaunt it or not, they have always been the economic linchpin of the Eurozone. They were, until last year when China pulled ahead, the world’s largest exporter. Their GDP, the fifth largest in the world, allows them to dominate the financial relationships among the Eurozon nations although on paper they are [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 7 May 2010 | 3:54 am Gulf oil spill ruining vibe on `redneck Riviera' (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 7 May 2010 | 3:49 am World stocks slide on Dow collapse, debt crisis (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 7 May 2010 | 3:48 am World stocks slide on Dow collapse, debt crisis (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 7 May 2010 | 3:48 am House prices fall as unsold properties riseHouse prices unexpectedly fell in April as the number of unsold properties rose to the highest level in a year, figures showed today. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 May 2010 | 3:48 am Japan shares end off lows in wake of U.S. sell-offAs U.S. regulators began probing Thursday's market sell-off, Japanese shares ended down Friday but well above the day's lows, in a country with a history of its own trading glitches.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 May 2010 | 3:47 am Global stocks drop as US probes Wall Street plunge (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 7 May 2010 | 3:44 am TIMELINE-Key dates in India's Ambani brothers' disputeMay 7 (Reuters) - India's Supreme Court ruled in favour of billionaire businessman Mukesh Ambani in a long-running dispute with his brother over the country's largest gas find, effectively giving the government...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 May 2010 | 3:41 am Conservatives gain but seen short of majorityBritain’s Conservatives are on track to win the most seats in parliament, but it appears unlikely the party will be able to secure the outright majority needed to guarantee ending 13 years of Labour rule.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 May 2010 | 3:41 am Irish airports reopen despite Atlantic ash cloud (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 7 May 2010 | 3:40 am German MPs debate unpopular Greek aidGerman MPs debated Friday the government's unpopular decision to help bail out Greece, two days before a state election that could seriously weaken Chancellor Angela Merkel's governing...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 May 2010 | 3:40 am The Oil Spill: Where Are The Remedies When They Are NeededIt is one thing to make a mistake and another to be unprepared to fix it. That is particularly true with the means of correction are at hand. BP plc (NYSE: BP), Transocean (NYSE: RIG), and perhaps a number of regulators are faced with the improbable explosion and sinking of their Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. What is [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 7 May 2010 | 3:39 am China may cling to peg as Athens burnsOne of the collateral impacts of the carnage in global markets over the last few days could be a delay in any Chinese decision to begin appreciating its currencySource: Financial Times - US homepage | 7 May 2010 | 3:39 am Fears intensify about Greek crisis' impact on USThe U.S. economic recovery is on shakier ground. The growing European debt crisis has sent stock markets on a wild ride. A weaker European economy could sap demand for U.S. exports and...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 May 2010 | 3:32 am Hung parliaments sets off negotationsFollowing one of the closest election battles in decades, the two main British political parties, the ruling Labor Party and opposition Conservative Party, set about trying to outmaneuver each other for power on Friday.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 May 2010 | 3:31 am HSBC sees global profits growthHSBC says bad debts on its books are at their lowest for two years, with its US operation making its first profits since 2007.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 May 2010 | 3:30 am India's Anil Ambani:no plans to file review petitionMUMBAI, May 7 (Reuters) - Indian billionaire Anil Ambani said on Friday his firm Reliance Natural has no plans to file a review petition in the Supreme Court.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 May 2010 | 3:30 am Apple Starts To Run Out Of iPadsSomeone blundered. After Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) ran low on iPads for its overseas launch and then had to delay shipments of the tablet sold on its website, its U.S. stores are running out of the product. Apple should have anticipated the demand based on the success of the iPhone. It has sold more than one [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 7 May 2010 | 3:25 am Policymakers battle markets to halt Greek contagionATHENS/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shock waves from the relatively small Greek economy reverberated around the world, as investors worried about the chances of other European governments facing a similar debt crisis.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 May 2010 | 3:22 am Grape-loving moth invades Calif.'s wine countryA moth with a devastating appetite for grapes is causing worries in California's San Joaquin Valley, the country's top grape growing region. The European grapevine moth, unknown to this...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 May 2010 | 3:21 am War on against new farm pest in San Joaquin ValleyAgriculture officials in the heart of California's San Joaquin Valley are about to go to war against an insect with a devastating appetite for grapes. Since grapes are the valley's top...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 May 2010 | 3:20 am Bain shortlists buyers for Outback Asia assets-sourcesSEOUL/HONG KONG, May 7 (Reuters) - Buyout firms Unitas, Permira [PERM.UL], and Barings Private Equity are among the shortlisted bidders for the sale of Outback Steakhouse's Asian assets, in a deal valued...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 May 2010 | 3:16 am Bain shortlists buyers for Outback Asia assets-sourcesSEOUL/HONG KONG, May 7 (Reuters) - Buyout firms Unitas, Permira [PERM.UL], and Barings Private Equity are among the shortlisted bidders for the sale of Outback Steakhouse's Asian assets, in a deal valued...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 May 2010 | 3:16 am HSBC, RBS report better first quartersTwo of Britain’s largest banks, HSBC Holdings and the Royal Bank of Scotland, say their first-quarter performances improved.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 May 2010 | 3:16 am TABLE-Kamei -2009/10 group forecastCONSOLIDATED EARNINGS ESTIMATES (in billions of yen unless specified)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 May 2010 | 3:15 am Spain exits recession: central bankThe Spanish economy scraped out of recession in the first quarter, expanding by 0.1 percent for the first time since 2008, the Spanish central bank said in a preliminary estimate on Friday.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 May 2010 | 3:14 am Surprise fall in house pricesHouse prices in Britain unexpectedly fell in April, reversing a rise in March, mortgage lender Halifax said on Friday, raising doubts about the sustainability of a housing market upturn.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 May 2010 | 3:14 am New high in personal insolvenciesA new record high has been recorded for the number of people being declared insolvent in England and Wales.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 May 2010 | 3:13 am US probes shock share plunge after market panic (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 7 May 2010 | 3:10 am NASDAQ Cancels Trades On Scores Of CompaniesAcknowledging that there may have been human error in the very sharp but temporary drop in stock prices yesterday, the NASDAQ has canceled trades on dozens of stocks that were made between 2:40 pm and 3 pm. The action is a quick admission that something went terribly wrong as the market was in free fall. But, the [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 7 May 2010 | 3:08 am Markets on edge after Dow plungeStock markets around the world retreated Friday as investors expressed nervousness after an unprecedented selloff on Wall Street that was triggered by unusual trades.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 May 2010 | 3:08 am Wall St futures signal gains after sharp slide (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 7 May 2010 | 3:07 am Wall St futures signal gains after sharp slide(Reuters) - U.S. stock futures pointed to a stronger start for Wall Street on Friday, with equities set to rebound after falling sharply in the previous session.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 May 2010 | 3:07 am Sales growth cuts Panasonic lossA recovery in global sales helped electronics group Panasonic to cut its losses in the first three months of 2010.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 May 2010 | 3:06 am Global shares fall on Greece debtShares in Europe and Asia fall amid investor fears over Greek debt, as sterling slumps during the British general election count.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 May 2010 | 3:03 am Is Market's Plunge Reason to Buy or Bail? (By the Numbers)Hough: As investors fret, market fundamentals remain unchanged.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 7 May 2010 | 3:01 am Dueling Predictions for the Market's Future (Broker Talk)Weighing recent turmoil, two brokers offer opposing outlooks.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 7 May 2010 | 3:01 am How to Keep Your Grad From Moving Back HomeDigital-age job tips for parents of the class of 2010.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 7 May 2010 | 3:01 am This Week's Business Tweets: Death Spiral? (Twitter Beat)The fate of Internet Explorer, Lloyd Blankfein and Greece.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 7 May 2010 | 3:01 am What's Your Liver Worth? (Money and Your Mind)The idea of buying and selling organs gives people the creeps. Why it shouldn't.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 7 May 2010 | 3:01 am Nomura's Major Global ExpansionThe Japanese brokerage's global growth strategy will pay off.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 7 May 2010 | 3:01 am Spanish economy out of recessionSpain's economy emerged from recession after growing by 0.1% in the first three months of 2010, the country's central bank says.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 May 2010 | 2:56 am Metals Stocks: Gold edges down in early Asian tradingGold prices slip in Asian trading Friday after soaring in the wake of a sell-off on Wall Street, combined with continued worries about Europe's fiscal troubles.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 May 2010 | 2:56 am Obama suspends new offshore drilling bidThe Obama administration took the first concrete steps Thursday to make good on its pledge to halt new offshore drilling projects, suspending the approval process for new wells off of the Virginia coast.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 7 May 2010 | 2:55 am German parliament seen approving Greek bailout (AP)AP - Germany's finance minister told lawmakers Friday that there is no alternative to approving a rescue package for debt-laden Greece, and parliament was expected to give it the go-ahead.Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 7 May 2010 | 2:46 am General election 2010: reaction from the money expertsThe fisrt hung Parliament since 1974 brings with it a great deal of uncertainty.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 May 2010 | 2:43 am European stocks dive at open after Wall St slump (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 7 May 2010 | 2:41 am UK's RBS beats expectations with return to profitLONDON (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland beat expectations with a return to profit in the first quarter as bad debts continued to shrink, even as investment banking earnings more than halved from its strong start to last year.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 7 May 2010 | 2:38 am Citi sees up to 20% correction over GreeceJust hours after one of the most bruising sessions for Wall Street, with equities losing the most in more than a year, strategists in Europe were not exactly predicting a big rebound in the near term.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 May 2010 | 2:26 am Court rules in Reliance gas feudAn Indian court rules in favour of billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries in a row with his brother over gas prices.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 May 2010 | 2:22 am UK election ends in hung parliamentDavid Cameron was facing the prospect of a constitutional stand-off with Gordon Brown on Friday morning over who would get the keys to Number 10 as a hung parliament in the UK appeared inevitableSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 7 May 2010 | 2:16 am Fearful Wall Street session spooks investors09:00 BST. A fearful and shambolic session on Wall Street haunted global markets on Friday as investors tried to absorb political reverberations from the streets of Athens to the polling booths of Britain...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 May 2010 | 2:14 am Euro-zone nations to finalize Greek rescue plan (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 7 May 2010 | 2:10 am New Homebuyer Credits Aim to Replace Expired Federal Program (Time.com)Time.com - Realtor Coldwell Banker is getting its clients to offer a new home buyer credit; so too is the Florida branch of Prudential Realty. Even the state of California is getting into the actSource: Yahoo! News: Business News | 7 May 2010 | 2:10 am Gilts fall in hung parliament uncertaintyUK government bonds and sterling fell early on Friday as investors worried about the prospects for economic recovery under a hung parliament and contagion affects from the US and Europe. Early...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 May 2010 | 2:07 am Equity selloff snowballs; sterling tumbles (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 7 May 2010 | 2:06 am Japan injects $20bn to calm marketsJapan's central bank on Friday said it would inject more than $20bn (£14bn) in liquidity to calm markets in response to global turmoil triggered by the Greek debt crisis.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 May 2010 | 2:04 am Currencies: Dollar index pares Asian gains as stocks off lowsThe dollar rises against the yen but slips against the euro, with the dollar index paring earlier gains as Asian equity markets stabilize above session lows after opening sharply down in the wake of a sell-off on Wall Street.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 May 2010 | 2:04 am Hung parliament casts shadow over marketsLondon equities fell further on Friday as traders came to terms with the prospect of domestic political uncertainty after the inconclusive general election result in the context of turbulence across global...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 May 2010 | 2:00 am London shares slump as UK heads for a hung ParliamentLondon’s leading share index fell to its lowest level since February this morning, while sterling sank against the dollar and the euro after incoming results of the general election indicated that no party would gain an overall majority. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 May 2010 | 1:55 am Media Digest 5/7/2010Reuters: Stocks fell in Asia and Europe as the pound and euro fell. Reuters: The GOP’s attempt to kill a consumer watchdog program was not successful. Reuters: The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) is in settlement talks with the SEC. Reuters: Nasdaq named stocks on which it will cancel trades. Reuters: American International Group (NYSE: [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 7 May 2010 | 1:54 am London Markets: U.K. assets fall as hung parliament loomsBritish stocks, bonds and the pound tumbled on Friday as U.K. investors await the final outcome of one of the most closely contested general elections in decades.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 7 May 2010 | 1:53 am Greek fears spook markets (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 7 May 2010 | 1:47 am Investment bank profits halve at RBSShares in the Royal Bank of Scotland fell by more than 5 per cent in early trading today despite the bank reporting its first quarterly operating profit for a year. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 May 2010 | 1:35 am Mukesh Ambani wins landmark gas caseIndia’s Supreme Court has ruled in favour of India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, in a long-running dispute with his younger brother Anil over how to split the wealth from the country’s biggest gas discoverySource: Financial Times - US homepage | 7 May 2010 | 1:22 am General Election 2010 sketch: spectre of austerity Britain stalks the election revellersCity partygoers crowd the dance floor as dawn brings a sell-off in sterling and heralds a changed world.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 May 2010 | 1:09 am Business Bullet: G7 call, Gold, Sterling, RBSThe latest news on: G7 call, Gold, Sterling, RBSSource: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 May 2010 | 1:00 am Stocks nosedive as Europe's woes mountThe Dow drops 1,000 points, then rebounds. Computerized trading is blamed for the free fall.One of the wildest days in stock market history left investors deeply shaken Thursday, with some fearful that another chapter in the global financial crisis was about to unfold.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 May 2010 | 1:00 am Dramatic stock plunge could reinforce investors' fear of getting back into the marketJust when you thought it was safe to get back into the stock market.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 May 2010 | 1:00 am U.S. retail recovery continues in April but pace slackensSales at major chains rise 0.5% from a year earlier, though most miss analysts' forecasts. Experts caution that an early Easter skews results.The retail recovery continued in April, but at a more sluggish pace than in recent months.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 May 2010 | 1:00 am U.S. retail recovery continues in April but pace slackensSales at major chains rise 0.5% from a year earlier, though most miss analysts' forecasts. Experts caution that an early Easter skews results. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 May 2010 | 1:00 am Stocks nosedive as Europe's woes mountThe Dow drops 1,000 points, then rebounds. Computerized trading is blamed for the free fall. One of the wildest...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 May 2010 | 1:00 am Retailers hope to be nurtured again by Mother's DayAfter feeling orphaned the last couple of Mays, florists, jewelers and restaurateurs are optimistic that families will show their love for moms in a bigger way this year. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 May 2010 | 1:00 am FCC chooses a middle ground in enforcing net neutralityFCC Chairman Julius Genachowski says existing law allows the commission to apply a 'narrowly tailored broadband framework' to ensure that all Internet traffic is handled the same way. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 May 2010 | 1:00 am FCC chooses a middle ground in enforcing net neutralityFCC Chairman Julius Genachowski says existing law allows the commission to apply a 'narrowly tailored broadband framework' to ensure that all Internet traffic is handled the same way.The Federal Communications Commission has come up with a new way to apply some net neutrality rules that would force Comcast Corp., AT&T Inc. and other broadband Internet service providers to handle all Web traffic the same, without imposing limits on users or blocking websites.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 May 2010 | 1:00 am Payday lenders pressure borrowers to get politicalThe lenders, notorious for high fees and interest rates, have been pressing vulnerable customers to help them kill the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 May 2010 | 1:00 am NHTSA official offers lukewarm endorsement of auto safety billIn surprisingly brief comments to a House panel, David Strickland said the proposed law would strengthen the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, but its input on the measure wasn't sought...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 May 2010 | 1:00 am Payday lenders pressure borrowers to get politicalThe lenders, notorious for high fees and interest rates, have been pressing vulnerable customers to help them kill the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency.As legislation advances in Congress to crack down on consumer-unfriendly lending practices, staffers in the offices of California Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein noticed a funny thing this week: Customers of payday lenders were calling by the hundreds to oppose the bill, and all seemed to be repeating the exact same phrases.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 May 2010 | 1:00 am NHTSA official offers lukewarm endorsement of auto safety billIn surprisingly brief comments to a House panel, David Strickland said the proposed law would strengthen the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, but its input on the measure wasn't sought.The nation's top highway safety regulator on Thursday offered a limited endorsement of a proposed law that would give the federal government greater leverage over automakers by enacting new safety standards and significantly raising the maximum fines for violations of federal safety rules.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 May 2010 | 1:00 am Retailers hope to be nurtured again by Mother's DayAfter feeling orphaned the last couple of Mays, florists, jewelers and restaurateurs are optimistic that families will show their love for moms in a bigger way this year.It's all about Sunday. Flowers in bright shades of pink, purple and orange are on hand, and designers are busy crafting dramatic new bouquets and arrangements at Mark's Garden in Sherman Oaks as the big day inches closer.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 7 May 2010 | 1:00 am Markets won't forgive political procrastinationThe recent years of financial crisis have seen markets fail and those appointed to regulate them fail. The question this morning in the UK is whether our politicians are about to fail us too.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 May 2010 | 12:44 am General Election 2010: Pound and bonds slide as City confronts a hung ParliamentSterling fell to its lowest in more than a year, UK government bonds sold off and the FTSE 100 dropped as investors woke up to the first hung Parliament since the 1970s.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 May 2010 | 12:34 am General Election 2010: six shares for austerity BritainWhoever inhabits No 10 Downing Street faces the urgent need to tackle Britain's debt mountain. Which shares should prosper in an age of austerity?Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 7 May 2010 | 12:29 am Kraft beats estimates, analysts wary on Cadbury (Reuters)Reuters - Kraft Foods Inc posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit as it showed improvement in legacy businesses like beverages in the United States, while absorbing recently acquired chocolate maker Cadbury Plc.Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 7 May 2010 | 12:10 am Goldman Sachs in settlement talks with SEC: WSJ(Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc's lawyers are in talks with representatives of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle the fraud charges brought against it by the regulator, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the situation.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 6 May 2010 | 11:56 pm Goldman Sachs in settlement talks with SEC: WSJ (Reuters)Reuters - Goldman Sachs Group Inc's lawyers are in talks with representatives of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle the fraud charges brought against it by the regulator, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the situation.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 6 May 2010 | 11:56 pm Bank of Japan pumps funds into marketThe central bank moved to offer Y2,000bn in overnight liquidity to ‘increase markets’ sense of security’ because of turmoil resulting from the debt crisis in GreeceSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 6 May 2010 | 11:52 pm Bank of Japan pumps funds into marketThe Bank of Japan moved to offer Y2,000bn ($21.6bn) in overnight liquidity on Friday to "increase markets' sense of security" because of turmoil resulting from the debt crisis in Greece. It is...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 6 May 2010 | 11:52 pm NZ dollar recovers some of plungeThe New Zealand dollar had an extremely volatile session absorbing the fallout from the huge fall in US equities just before this market opened."It has been a bit of a roller coaster after the movements in the equity markets,"...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 6 May 2010 | 11:18 pm AIG axes Goldman as its main corporate adviser: report(Reuters) - American International Group has replaced Goldman Sachs as its main corporate adviser with Citigroup and Bank of America Corp , the New York Times said, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 6 May 2010 | 10:46 pm U.S. payrolls seen up in April, jobless rate steadyWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. nonfarm payrolls likely grew for a second month in April as the government's census hiring picked up and private employment rose modestly, signs a gradual labor market recovery is building.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 6 May 2010 | 10:44 pm Nasdaq names stocks with cancelled trades (Reuters)Reuters - Stock exchange operator Nasdaq OMX Group Inc issued the names of hundreds of stocks for which it is canceling trades following Thursday's sudden stock market plunge.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 6 May 2010 | 10:14 pm Nasdaq names stocks with cancelled tradesHONG KONG/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock exchange operator Nasdaq OMX Group Inc issued the names of hundreds of stocks for which it is canceling trades following Thursday's sudden stock market plunge.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 6 May 2010 | 10:14 pm Kan. Senate approves bill raising taxes (AP)AP - A bill increasing Kansas' sales tax cleared the state Senate late Thursday night, a victory for Democrats and moderate Republicans who hope to avoid cuts in social services and aid to public schools.Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 6 May 2010 | 9:43 pm Immelt attacks backlash against bankersGeneral Electric chief executive Jeffrey Immelt throws his weight behind Wall Street criticising the populist backlash against bankers and Goldman SachsSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 6 May 2010 | 9:34 pm Electric car plant to be built in Hawaii (AP)AP - South Korean electric car manufacturer CT&T announced plans Thursday to build an assembly plant in Hawaii that will eventually produce up to 10,000 vehicles a year and employ as many as 400 people.Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 6 May 2010 | 9:28 pm British explorer Rockhopper hits oil in FalklandsUK exploration company discovery could prove lucrative for the Treasury.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 6 May 2010 | 9:10 pm Probe launched into Chinese Crafar farm buyThe woman behind a $1.5 billion dairy farm bid to buy the Crafar farms has struck out at the media, who she says are undermining the credibility of Natural Dairy and its plans for investment in New Zealand.The Overseas Investment...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 6 May 2010 | 9:00 pm CalPERS may see more lawsuitsA case involving two top former officials of the giant California Public Employees' Retirement System may be just the start, state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown says.A state lawsuit targeting two top former officials of the California Public Employees' Retirement System could be the first in a series of state and federal actions focused on the nation's largest public pension fund.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 6 May 2010 | 8:32 pm Oil spill's economic damage could be permanentBP has promised to cover all legitimate claims, but the law caps its liability, and relief might take years to reach those whose livelihoods are most in peril.BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward is promising to shoulder all cleanup costs and pay all legitimate claims from the deadly Gulf Coast oil rig accident — but for those hit hard by the spill the relief could come too late to help them recover.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 6 May 2010 | 8:16 pm XT network had 'immature operational systems' - reportTelecom's XT network failed because the network and supporting operations were not ready to manage the levels of traffic experienced, a report commissioned by Telecom has found.United Kingdom-based Analysys Mason was not asked...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 6 May 2010 | 8:02 pm Government didn't move fast enough to stem financial crisis, Geithner saysThe financial crisis could have been "less severe" if the government had moved faster to contain the damage, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said Thursday.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 6 May 2010 | 7:16 pm Senate rejects proposal to break up largest banksWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Thursday rejected a proposal that would split up the six largest banks in an effort to ensure that large financial firms do not threaten the economy if they fail.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 6 May 2010 | 7:10 pm The Wall Street big dipper: panic as shares dive then bounceWall Street suffered one of its worst falls in a single trading session yesterday, amid mounting concerns that the sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone will spread beyond Greece. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 6 May 2010 | 6:49 pm U.S. stock plunge raises alarm on algo tradingNEW YORK (Reuters) - A spine-chilling slide of nearly 1,000 points in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, its biggest intraday points drop ever, led to heightened calls for a crackdown on computer-driven high-frequency trading.
Source: Reuters: Business News | 6 May 2010 | 6:46 pm NZX down 1.87pc after volatile sessionThe New Zealand dollar had an extremely volatile session absorbing the fallout from the huge fall in US equities just before this market opened."It has been a bit of a roller coaster after the movements in the equity markets,"...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 6 May 2010 | 6:15 pm The Road AheadThe rhetorical flights of the election campaign are over. The burden of government awaits. The urgent priority of the next administration is indisputable: fixing the British economy. The parlous state of the economy and the public finances overshadows even the momentous fact that Britain is at war in Afghanistan. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 6 May 2010 | 6:01 pm Live: the City responds to the electionFriday May 7 2010, from 7am Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 6 May 2010 | 6:01 pm Professional investors boost profit at the Queen’s brokerSchroders almost trebled its profits in the first quarter thanks to a £6 billion surge in new mandates from institutional investors. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 6 May 2010 | 6:01 pm BP’s name is stained by its barrels of hubrisFor Tony Hayward, it was a moment to savour. Two years after his appointment as chief executive, his decision to push BP to the outer limits of deepwater oil exploration had borne fruit — in spectacular style. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 6 May 2010 | 6:01 pm Hot air cools hopes of an economic surgeVolcanic ash and election uncertainty curbed activity in Britain’s service sector last month, denting hopes of a surge in economic growth in the second quarter. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 6 May 2010 | 6:01 pm Shareholder revolt against huge bonuses growsThe backlash against excessive executive pay gathered momentum yesterday when three British blue chips came under fire from irate investors. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 6 May 2010 | 6:01 pm Wall St's wild day triggers electronic trade probeNEW YORK - A computerised selloff possibly caused by a simple typographical error triggered one of the most turbulent days in Wall Street history overnight and sent the Dow Jones industrials to a loss of almost 1,000 points, nearly...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 6 May 2010 | 6:00 pm House approves $6 billion 'cash for caulkers'House lawmakers on Thursday approved a $6 billion measure that aims to provide rebates to homeowners who invest in energy efficiency improvements -- but not without a fight from Republicans.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 6 May 2010 | 5:42 pm P&G stock drops 37% -- not reallyJust before 3 p.m. ET Thursday, shares of Procter & Gamble appeared to have fallen 37%, helping trigger a massive 900-point sell-off in the Dow Jones industrial average.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 6 May 2010 | 5:30 pm Nasdaq Will Cancel Trades, NYSE Arca May As Well.Nasdaq Operations said it will cancel all trades executed between 2:40 p.m. to 3 p.m. showing a rise or fall of more than 60 percent from the last trade in that security at 2:40 p.m or immediately prior. According to Reuters, NYSE Arca may cancel a number of trades that occurred during the same time period. [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 6 May 2010 | 5:21 pm Why The DJIA Will Renew Its Assault On 12,000The DJIA will once again begin its move toward 12,000 after the market collapse of the last several days. The quick drop of almost 1,000 points on May 6 seems to have been due to a trading or software anomaly. A look at the market before and after the incident confirms that the index was moving toward a 300 [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 6 May 2010 | 5:12 pm RWC minister issues hotels price-gouge warningRugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully has written to the Hotel Council asking it to persuade its members not to risk damaging New Zealand's tourism reputation by over-charging for accommodation during the rugby World Cup.The...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 6 May 2010 | 5:00 pm Private equity groups plan $10bn bid for FISThree of the world’s leading private equity groups are teaming up to attempt the biggest buyout since the financial crisis, eyeing a bid for payments processor Fidelity National Information Services that would easily exceed $10bn, people familiar with the deal saidSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 6 May 2010 | 4:58 pm Write-Offs: 05.06.10
$$$ Porn Company Has Plan to Stop SEC Time-Wasting [Asylum] $$$ Mark Haines FTW [CWS] $$$ Reid Backs Breaking Up Banks, Auditing Fed [HuffPo] 
Source: Dealbreaker | 6 May 2010 | 4:45 pm Presented By:Source: Dealbreaker | 6 May 2010 | 4:45 pm Briscoe first quarter sales rise 7.4 pcRetailer Briscoe Group says first quarter sales rose 7.4 per cent from a year earlier to $96.8 million.On a same store basis, sales for the quarter to May 2 were 7.2 per cent above the first quarter for last year.While the...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 6 May 2010 | 4:30 pm Telecom profits tumble 38pcTelecom's profits for three months to the end of March have fallen 38 per cent from $159m to $97m.The company had delivered a "range of positive outcomes" in the quarter, said chief executive Paul Reynolds, including 128,000 growth...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 6 May 2010 | 4:30 pm Is Your Target-Date Fund Too Risky?A new study calls for a more conservative allocation strategy.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 6 May 2010 | 4:27 pm Meanwhile, On Craigslist…
Unique New York City Apartment Share for an ‘Attractive, Slim, and Easygoing’ Girl [BroBible]
Source: Dealbreaker | 6 May 2010 | 4:15 pm Goldman Sachs Employee ‘Meh’ About The Events Of The Day
“I went to lunch and the market dropped 800 points. People were pretty chill and like, ‘Oh, it’s just some program trading thing,’” a source in Goldman’s investment management said. “[The] Citi rumor spread here before I started seeing it hit the news, because people were talking to clients on trading desks who were all hearing it too.” Today’s Stock Market Crash Was Not Citi’s Fault, Says Citi; Goldman Remains ‘Chill’ [NYO]
Source: Dealbreaker | 6 May 2010 | 4:00 pm XT grew too big, too fast - reportTelecom's XT network grew too big too quickly, an independent review into the failed network has found.The report, released this morning alongside Telecom's third quarter earnings, shows the network was not ready to manage the...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 6 May 2010 | 4:00 pm Weak tax take contributes to NZ fiscal deficitWeak personal and corporate tax takes are swelling the government's fiscal deficit, despite one-off gains from big tax avoidance settlements and under-spending in a range of areas, according to Treasury figures for the nine months...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 6 May 2010 | 4:00 pm Maybe It Wasn't Just GreeceBy Jacob Goldstein In the span of a few minutes this afternoon, the Dow lost nearly 1000 points, then gained most of it back. There were lots of reports saying that fears about Greece triggered the sell-off. But mistakes by traders or glitches in computerized trading systems may have played a role as well. The WSJ reports that a trader may have accidentally placed an order to sell $16 billion in futures tied to stock indexes, when he meant to place the order for $16 million. And there were "a number of erroneous trades" during the minutes when the market was plunging, a spokesman for the company that owns the New York Stock Exchange told Bloomberg. The FT's Alphaville blog points out that Procter & Gamble shares fell by more than 20 percent -- about three times as much as the Dow -- before regaining almost all of the ground it lost, and says the decline may have been related to a "technical screw up." And Barron's notes that shares in Accenture -- which opened and closed the day above $41 per share -- traded for one cent per share at one point today. Here's a chart that shows Procter & Gamble (in blue) compared to the Dow (in red) this afternoon: 
(via Yahoo Finance) » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 6 May 2010 | 3:45 pm The Month’s Biggest Index Losers: Chinese Agriculture, Chinese Solar, and Semiconductor FabricatorsThere were strong losses in three Tickerspy indexes over the most recent 30-day period. This month’s biggest fallers are in Chinese Agriculture, Chinese Solar, and Semiconductor Fabricators. Chinese agriculture stocks continue to decline, and are down 43.2% in the past month. The worst performing stocks in the index are China Agritech Inc., (NASDAQ: CAGC) down 37.9%, China Green Agriculture, Inc., (NYSE: [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 6 May 2010 | 3:44 pm Market Decline, Biggest Intraday Dow Loss Since ’87: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 6 May 2010 | 3:44 pm After Record Plunge, Dow Ends Down 348 (Market Update)Index careens below 10000 before recovering. European debt fears spread.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 6 May 2010 | 3:36 pm Snagging the Best Seat on the PlaneSeatGuru.com's Matt Daimler on how to get the best seat on your next flight.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 6 May 2010 | 3:34 pm Harrowing Day for Stocks and ETFs (Daily ETF Wrap-Up)Wild swing down roils indexes; technical glitch suspected.
Source: SmartMoney.com | 6 May 2010 | 3:16 pm Shahzad's $65,000 home equity piggy bankFaisal Shahzad lived on the downslope side of affluence in the small Connecticut hamlet of Shelton. On Monday, while Shahzad sits in a jail cell in downtown New York City, a judge is scheduled to foreclose on his home, clipping Shahzad's last attachment to the American dream.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 6 May 2010 | 2:54 pm Jobs slowly returning on Main StreetMain Street's job hemorrhaging has slowed.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 6 May 2010 | 2:44 pm Goldman braces for shareholder furyHell may hath no fury like shareholders of Goldman Sachs scorned.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 6 May 2010 | 2:40 pm Live-Blogging The Citi Conference Call
Amusingly (suspiciously!) this call was planned before the shit hit the fan, possibly weeks ago, to discuss “what is happening in global funding, foreign exchange, credit and equity markets.” At least that’s what they want us to believe. 4:35: Armando Diaz, Citi’s US Head of Franchise Trading takes the mic. “As believer of market efficiency and sniffing out the truth we were concerned about the Citi rumors.” “We have done a very thorough examination multiple times in terms of trading logs, systems, runs” “We have not found any info that would lead us to believe we were involved in a technical error” (so S a D, CNBC) “we’ve heard the “e-mini rumor”– what took place electronically was not linked exclusively to the e-mini volume” Talking about Greece, yada, yada, yada. Hopefully someone will bring up the (fat fingered) elephant in the room during the Q&A. While we wait, I’d like for anyone at Citi to let me know if this rings true for them:
Source: Dealbreaker | 6 May 2010 | 2:30 pm Finance Reform: Three Amendments To WatchBy Jacob Goldstein The Senate is busy hashing out amendments to the finance reform bill. Here are three to keep an eye on. 1. Audit the Fed Introduced by: Bernie Sanders, Independent What it would do: Give the GAO new powers to audit how the Fed conducts monetary policy. Argument in favor: "The American people overwhelmingly believe there should be transparency at the Fed," Sanders told the WSJ. "The idea that trillions of dollars of their money was lent out and we don't know who received that money--nobody that I know of thinks that that makes any sense at all." Argument against: In this letter, Ben Bernanke argues that the amendment would "seriously threaten monetary policy independence, increase inflation fears and market interest rates, and damage economic stability and job creation." Read more: Full text of the amendment. 2. Force big banks to shrink. Introduced by: Ted Kaufman and Sherrod Brown, Democrats What it would do: Limit the amount of money banks could borrow and restrict any bank's share of the nation's total insured deposits. (This post from Rortybomb shows how much the big banks would have to shrink.) Argument in favor: "If we're going to prevent big banks from putting our entire economy at risk, we need to place sensible size limits on our nation's behemoth banks," Kaufman wrote. Argument against: "The reason that our large financial institutions are the size that they are is because we have companies in this country that need large institutions in order to be competitive," Sen. Bob Corker told Bloomberg. Read more: Full text of the amendment. 3. Put the Consumer Protection Agency inside FDIC. Introduced by: Richard Shelby, Republican What it would do: Among other things, the amendment would require that the consumer protection agency's rules be approved by the board of the FDIC. Argument in favor: The FDIC is supposed to make sure that banks are sound. Proponents argue that giving the FDIC oversight over the consumer protection agency would ensure that the agency's rules don't threaten the soundness of banks. Shelby said in a statement that the amendment "solves problems without massive government intrusion into the private sector." Read more: Full text of the amendment. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 6 May 2010 | 2:00 pm Wall Street reform stuck on consumer protectionAs the Senate continues to debate the Wall Street reform over these next few weeks, there is one issue that threatens to derail final passage: Consumer protection.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 6 May 2010 | 1:52 pm Gold hits 5-month high above $1200Gold surged past the psychologically significant $1,200 mark on Thursday as stock markets plummeted and investors sought a safe haven.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 6 May 2010 | 1:46 pm Paulson, Geithner: Shed light on Wall StreetHenry Paulson and Timothy Geithner, two key players in the government's bailout of the financial system, said Thursday that steps should be taken to shed light on the darker corners of Wall Street in order to prevent another crisis from happening.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 6 May 2010 | 1:42 pm Greece passes tough austerity packageThe Greek parliament passed the socialist government’s austerity bill as tens of thousands of Greeks gathered outside parliament to mourn the three bank employees killed during anti-austerity riots the previous daySource: Financial Times - US homepage | 6 May 2010 | 1:32 pm Flood may sink some Tenn. businessesDamage estimates are just beginning to be tallied after two days of rain dumped nearly 14 inches on parts of Tennessee. Blake Farmer reports.Source: Marketplace | 6 May 2010 | 1:30 pm Choppy waters ahead for offshore oilWith all this oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico, what do folks in the energy industry think it means for their fortunes? Rob Schmitz reports that for folks at the annual Offshore Technology Conference, it's been a nail-biter.Source: Marketplace | 6 May 2010 | 1:30 pm Having kids makes you unhappy, right?Research suggests that people with children are less happy than those without. Commentator Betsy Stevenson suggests maybe we're looking at it all wrong.Source: Marketplace | 6 May 2010 | 1:29 pm FCC's 'third way' to regulate broadbandThe Federal Communications Commission reasserted its authority to regulate broadband access. That authority was questioned by a federal appeals court ruling last month. Nancy Marshall Genzer reports the FCC promises not to be heavy handed.Source: Marketplace | 6 May 2010 | 1:20 pm Did a Software Glitch Cause The Market Crash?Part of the drop that took the DJIA down almost 1,00o points to under 10,000 is being blamed on software glitches at the exchange. Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) dropped 21% in a few minutes and then quickly recovered to even on the day. The DJIA ended down 320 to 10,500 Gold was up to a record [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 6 May 2010 | 1:19 pm Has labor market reached tipping point?The Bureau of Labor Statistics says productivity was up more than 3% in the first quarter, which could mean some green shoots in the labor market as employers try to keep up production. Eve Troeh reports those shoots are going to grow slowly.Source: Marketplace | 6 May 2010 | 1:19 pm How financial reform bill is shaping upIn Washington, the Senate is moving through a list of amendments to financial reform legislation. Washington bureau chief John Dimsdale talks with Kai Ryssdal about some of the amendments being considered.Source: Marketplace | 6 May 2010 | 1:19 pm What caused the Dow's big plunge?The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 1000 points. Reporter Jeremy Hobson talks with Kai Ryssdal about how much the Greek debt crisis played into the plunge, other factors that led to the fall, and what's going to happen at tomorrow's open.Source: Marketplace | 6 May 2010 | 1:19 pm Tarp stigma hit credit, says PaulsonThe US Congress hurt credit flows when it “stigmatised” the $700bn bank bail-out programme, Hank Paulson, the former Treasury secretary and previous chief executive of Goldman Sachs, suggested.Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 6 May 2010 | 1:16 pm When Will the Pain Stop. . .
Procter & Gamble went from a modest 3 percent decline to a 25 percent drop in a matter of seconds. Most likely a trading glitch, but still someone probably made some serious dough. Goldman dropped about 5 percent before regaining some ground. Update: CNBC Reports a Citigroup trader was responsible for a mistaken “fat finger” trade that caused “million” to turn into “billion.” Citi told CNBC it has no evidence of such a trade. Financial stocks and tech getting killed. Where will it end? Predict the close. Ready go.
Source: Dealbreaker | 6 May 2010 | 12:59 pm Steve Cohen Finally Recognized For What We’ve Known All Along
The fact that Steve Cohen is AN AMERICAN HERO. That little oversight ends tonight, aboard the USS Intrepid.
And the fun doesn’t stop there, particularly if you are a member of Team SAC Capital. In addition to tonight’s awards dinner, SC’s generosity is being rewarded in the form of four (4) Navy SEALS who will spend the summer in Stamford putting you bitches through the paces. I don’t care how much money you made Steve last month. Can you bob for 5 minutes, float for 5 minutes, swim 100 meters, bob for 2 minutes, do some forward and backward flips, swim to the bottom of the pool and retrieve an object with your teeth, return to the surface and bob five more times? With your arms and legs tied the whole time? Are you familiar with the term “cold water conditioning” AKA “surf torture”? No one is exempt. Grab a raft.
Source: Dealbreaker | 6 May 2010 | 12:05 pm Presented By:Source: Dealbreaker | 6 May 2010 | 12:03 pm SEC Staffers Can Now Enjoy Stress-Free Browsing at Work
Playboy Plans Free, Safe-For-Work Site[paidContent.org]
Source: Dealbreaker | 6 May 2010 | 12:03 pm Fiat Raised to `Neutral,' Westpac Banking Cut to `Sell': AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 6 May 2010 | 11:28 am Jes Staley on Goldman, Volcker Rule, Highbridge, Financial Reg
Source: Dealbreaker | 6 May 2010 | 11:26 am 4 Top Reasons Illegal Immigration Grew Out of Control and How We Can Fix ItThis is a guest post by Damien Hoffman of Wall St. Cheat Sheet. In order to determine an effective solution to illegal immigration, we must first understand the major reasons why it has grown out of control: 1. Demand for Low-Skilled Labor Far Outweighs Legal Supply
Problem: Tamar Jacoby, president of ImmigrationWorks USA, says in boom times employers would want as many as 400,000 immigrants on permanent or temporary visas. However, only 5,000 green cards a year are issued to low-skilled workers seeking permanent residence. Clearly, we should expect a black market in labor to arise when demand for workers far exceeds the legal supply. Solution: The federal government should work closely with states and employers to provide the administrative resources necessary to create a legal labor pool. If there exists a simple and efficient process for foreign workers to provide labor inside the United States, the need for illegal activity will be greatly reduced. 2. Businesses Pay Less for Illegal Labor
Problem: Illegal immigrants are much cheaper than legal laborers. Illegal immigrants accept lesser pay, unsafe working conditions, and breaches of promises because they risk deportation if employers anonymously turn them in. Compare that with the average American worker who is always looking for a raise, demands safe working conditions, and threatens to sue when promises are broken. Solution: For starters, the feds need to raid and heavily fine more large corporations who are knowingly exploiting illegal labor. Some of the top offenders include large scale farming operations (MOO), meat processing plants, and home builders (XHB). On a smaller scale, local businesses should have ways to whistle blow when their competitors are using illegal labor. This would prevent issues in the restaurant industry, with landscapers, retail outlets, etc. 3. Consumers Want to Pay the Lowest Possible Price
Problem: Businesses are seduced by illegal labor because selling in the retail marketplace is as competitive as a fight for the last scrap of food on a desert island. Therefore, businesses generally cut corners as much as possible in order to keep their prices lower than competitors. Why? Because although everyone I have ever met wants a raise and better benefits, most of these same people are always looking to pay the absolute lowest price for an item without concern for the collateral damage. 4. Stakeholders Lobby Congress to Prevent Real Solutions
Problem: As with any issue that has some rudimentary solutions, lobbyists spend far more money and time than us maintaining the status quo. The irony is state and federal tax collections would be higher if illegals were on the books. So, it is both in the interest of our government and our citizens to fix the problem. However, we’re competing against multibillion dollar companies whose self-interests are not a benefit to society as a whole. Solution: Campaign finance reform would be ideal, but we’ll settle for some politicians who actually listen to their constituents and want higher tax receipts. For more articles by Damien , general news, and finance tips, check out Wall St. Cheat Sheet.
Source: Business Pundit | 6 May 2010 | 11:06 am Juckes, Whalen, Wood, Weiss: Bloomberg SurveillanceSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 6 May 2010 | 11:01 am FusionIQ's Ritholtz, Gluskin's Rosenberg: On the EconomySource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 6 May 2010 | 11:00 am Man Arrested for Turning $10 Check into $269,951
Florida police have arrested a man for altering a $10 check to amount to $269,951. He deposited the bogus check into a Bank of America ATM. UPI has the story: The Lee County Sheriff’s Office said Clair Arthur Smith, 42, of Cape Coral, received a $10 check from Florida Gulf Bank when he closed his account March 25 and altered the amount to $269,951 before depositing it into his Bank of America account via an ATM April 3, the Fort Myers (Fla.) News-Press reported Wednesday. Investigators said the deposit receipt was found during a search of Smith’s home. They said Smith confessed to the act on tape. He was arrested and charged with fraud, grand theft and failing to register as a convicted felon in Lee County. Bank of America detected that the check, which Smith deposited through an ATM, was a fraud. I always wondered how far people could go when altering the balance on a check. Smith deserves an “A” for effort.
Source: Business Pundit | 6 May 2010 | 10:49 am Ken Kam Says ETFs Give False Sense of Confidence: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 6 May 2010 | 9:57 am ECB dashes hopes of swift anti-contagion actionThe European Central Bank has dashed hopes of it acting soon to calm the eurozone’s escalating fiscal crisis – but said governments should ‘step-up’ efforts to bring down deficit and debt levelsSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 6 May 2010 | 9:17 am America's Pet Platypus Needs Another $10.6 Billion
"Send money." (Nicole Duplaix/Getty Images) By Jacob Goldstein Toxie, Planet Money's pet toxic asset, may not have been the savviest investment. But at least our exposure is capped at $1,000. That looks pretty good compared to Fannie and Freddie -- the toxic twin platypuses that have already cost U.S. taxpayers more than $100 billion. And Freddie alone will need another $10.6 billion this quarter, after losing $6.7 billion in the first three months of this year, the platypus said yesterday. Ben Bernanke recently described Fannie and Freddie as platypuses because they were taken over by the government in 2008, and they're currently in a no-man's land between public and private. Everybody agrees that this is unsustainable, but it's unclear what the government's going to about it. The formerly independent firms were originally created by the government. Their basic job was to buy mortgages made by banks, then sell bundles of those mortgages to investors, along with a guarantee that the mortgage would be paid back. The companies were wildly overleveraged during the boom and got totally crushed in the bust. In Freddie's quarterly earnings announcement yesterday, the CEO said: [W]e are seeing some signs of stabilization in the housing market, including house prices and sales in some key geographic areas. But as we have noted for many months now, housing in America remains fragile with historically high delinquency and foreclosure levels, and high unemployment among the key risks. Translation: Taxpayers aren't done paying for the platypus. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 6 May 2010 | 8:35 am Could The Euro Crisis Derail The U.S. Recovery?By Jacob Goldstein So far, the effects of the crisis in Europe have been pretty muted in the U.S. Stock prices have fallen in this country over the past few days, but they're still higher than they were a couple months ago. What's more, the troubles in Europe are driving up demand for U.S. Treasury bonds. That drives down the interest rate on U.S. debt, which makes it easier for people to borrow money in this country, and lowers the risk of inflation -- both of which help keep the recovery going. So what would it take for Europe's crisis to derail the U.S. recovery? For a start, there would have to be acute problems in a country bigger than Greece. "If the problem can be contained to Greece, the impact on the U.S. is trivial," Ian Shepherdson of High Frequency Economics told me recently. Portugal may be the next euro-zone country to run into trouble, but the real worry at the moment is Spain, whose economy is much bigger than those of Greece and Portugal combined. If Spain (and/or Italy and Ireland, two other heavily indebted euro-zone countries) fall into a Greek-style bailout-austerity spiral, Europe's economy will suffer. That would hurt U.S. exports in two ways. European consumers would buy fewer goods overall. And the euro would continue to fall against the dollar, making U.S. goods more expensive in Europe. While that would doubtless slow the U.S. recovery, it wouldn't be enough on its own to send the U.S. back into recession, Shepherdson said. He pointed out that exports account for only 12% of U.S. GDP -- and only about a fifth of our exports go to Europe. So even if U.S. exports to Europe "fell in half, it wouldn't push the U.S. economy into recession," he said. But the hit to exports could be compounded by trouble in the U.S. financial sector. This sort of thing is harder to predict. But U.S. banks hold about $1 trillion of European debt -- and one of the lessons of the panic of '07-'08 was how quickly problems in the U.S. financial sector spread to banks in Europe, this morning's WSJ notes. Perhaps the most important variable is the vaguest of all: fear. Even without a major downturn in exports or a significant hit to U.S. banks, growing debt problems in Europe -- and declines in the prices of European stocks -- could prompt investors to pull back in the U.S. A shift out of U.S. stocks and corporate bonds and into cash and treasuries would reverse many of the gains of the last several months. If the shift were large enough -- a big if -- it could derail the recovery. "This is like we've agitated a colony of prairie dogs, and everybody is looking out of their hole to see what's going on," a bond strategist in Chicago told the WSJ. "But it's no crisis, yet." » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 6 May 2010 | 7:40 am Meredith Whitney Discusses Financial Industry: First WordSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 6 May 2010 | 6:59 am Children’s Medicine Contamination Happened in Grimy Plant
The FDA has found dust, grime, and bad quality control at the Johnson & Johnson manufacturing plant that produced last week’s recalled children’s medicine. The plant basically sounded like a backyard operation (Reuters): Inspectors also found raw ingredients contaminated by an unspecified bacteria, a lack of quality control procedures and poor handling of complaints, according to the report dated April 30. The FDA’s report said inspectors found raw material used to manufacture several lots of Children’s and Infant’s Tylenol was contaminated with bacteria, but none of the finished drug product sampled tested positive. There were 46 consumer complaints about dark material in the liquid products between June 2009 and April 2010, according to the FDA report. Johnson & Johnson’s factory isn’t the first to be called out for dirty conditions. Early last year, bird droppings leaked into Kelloggs peanut butter–probably courtesy of a hole in the factory ceiling. Although the bacteria responsible for the J&J recall may not have come from the condition of the factory, updating factories would still go a long way towards preventing these kinds of problems.
Source: Business Pundit | 6 May 2010 | 6:27 am An iPad Scam to Avoid
Source: Business Pundit | 6 May 2010 | 4:04 am
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