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Latest Articles: Business
Google Will Hire At Least 6,000 Workers In 2011
Post Date: 2011-01-26 11:12:00 by Brian S
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Google said Tuesday that 2011 will be its biggest hiring year ever, an effort that would have the company hiring more than 6,200 workers around the world and at least 2,000 in the Bay Area, in what economists called an optimistic sign for the region's halting economic recovery. With those plans, Google would boost its work force by at least 25 percent in a single year to more than 30,000 employees, nearly triple the company's size at the end of 2006. Google would then be more than twice as big as Yahoo and more than six times bigger than the company that has become its most formidable competitor -- Facebook. "The growth that we're seeing across a lot of different areas is ...
U.S. New Home Sales Increase More Than Forecast After Worst Year on Record
Post Date: 2011-01-26 11:06:40 by Brian S
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Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Purchases of new houses in the U.S. rose more than forecast in December as the industry struggled to stabilize following its worst year on record. Sales climbed 18 percent to a 329,000 annual pace, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. The median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg News survey called for a rise to 300,000. The percentage jump was the biggest since 1992, and was led by a record 72 percent surge in the West. The gain follows data on existing home purchases for December that showed buyers are returning to the market after a mid-2010 slump to take advantage of low mortgage rates and reduced prices. Even so, mounting ...
GOP Calls For Quick Action On Free Trade Pacts
Post Date: 2011-01-25 12:10:19 by Brian S
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The House Republican charged with overseeing trade policy says Congress should act on all three pending free trade agreements within the next six months. Rep. Dave Camp, who chairs the Ways and Means Committee, said at a hearing completion of trade deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama were "a sure-fire way to create American jobs by growing U.S. exports of goods and services." All three agreements were signed in 2007 but Congress has put off ratification, with Democrats claiming they didn't adequately address such issues as Korea's restrictions on U.S. autos and violence against labor leaders in Colombia. The United States and South Korea recently reached a deal ...
Home Prices in U.S. Declined 1.6% From Year Earlier
Post Date: 2011-01-25 11:51:50 by Brian S
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Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Residential real-estate prices dropped in November by the most in a year, signaling housing has yet to join the U.S. rebound. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of home values in 20 cities fell 1.6 percent from November the prior year, the biggest 12-month decrease since December 2009, the group said today in New York. The decline matched the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Mounting foreclosures will probably throw more properties on the market this year, further depressing prices, homeowners’ equity and construction. The lack of a sustained housing rebound and unemployment above 9 percent are among reasons the Federal Reserve may ...
Commercial Real-Estate Debt Hits Two-Year High as Investors Bet Worst Over
Post Date: 2011-01-25 11:48:59 by Brian S
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Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Debt investors are wagering that the worst is over for commercial real estate, driving prices on mortgage bonds to the highest in more than two years. “Investors have gotten more comfortable and have started putting money back into CMBS,” Chris Callahan, head of commercial-mortgage backed bond trading at Credit Suisse Group AG, said in an interview at the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council’s conference in Washington. “It has gone from being the red-headed stepchild to being a viable asset class again.” Investors are buying bonds tied to hotel, shopping center and skyscraper loans as more financing becomes available to borrowers, ...
Consumer Confidence in U.S. Increases More Than Forecast on Job Optimism
Post Date: 2011-01-25 11:47:50 by Brian S
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Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Confidence among U.S. consumers rose more than forecast in January to the highest level in eight months as Americans became more optimistic about job prospects. The Conference Board’s index of sentiment increased to 60.6 from a revised 53.3 the prior month that was higher than previously estimated, figures from the New York-based private research group showed today. Economists projected the January gauge would rise to 54, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. A pickup in optimism, an improving labor market and tax relief may combine to encourage consumers, whose spending accounts for about 70 percent of the economy. Federal Reserve ...
Treasury's Toxic Asset Funds Gain 27 Percent
Post Date: 2011-01-24 19:14:52 by Brian S
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(Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury's toxic asset funds have gained 27 percent since they were created to help revive the mortgage-backed securities market, according to data expected to be released later on Monday. As part of the government's deeply unpopular $700 billion bailout program, the funds were set up to remove illiquid securities from banks by matching private capital with taxpayer money and Treasury loans via funds run by private investment managers. Although furor over the bailout helped Republicans win control of the House of Representatives in the recent election, the government has been recouping taxpayers' money. The eight toxic asset funds, run by asset managers ...
In Norway, Start-ups Say Ja to Socialism
Post Date: 2011-01-24 18:08:03 by Ferret Mike
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We venture to the very heart of the hell that is Scandinavian socialism—and find out that it’s not so bad. Pricey, yes, but a good place to start and run a company. What exactly does that suggest about the link between taxes and entrepreneurship? Wiggo Dalmo is a classic entrepreneurial type: the Working-Class Kid Made Good. Dalmo, who is 39, with sandy blond hair and an easy smile, grew up in modest circumstances in a blue-collar town dominated by the steel industry. After graduating from high school, he apprenticed as an industrial mechanic and got a job repairing mining equipment. He liked the challenge of the work but not the drudgery of working for someone else. "I ...
Dow Barrels Toward 12000 as Techs, Materials Soar
Post Date: 2011-01-24 18:00:18 by Brian S
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After a week of hesitation, the blue chips soared more than 100 points and almost brushed up against the 12000 threshold on Monday as the markets benefited from a surge of buying in the materials and tech sectors. Today's Markets The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 108.68 points, or 0.92%, to 11980.52, the Standard & Poor's 500 gained 7.49 points, or 0.58%, to 1290.84 and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 28.01 points, or 1.04%, to 2717.55. The FOX 50 picked up 5.91 points, or 0.64%, to 926.93. The impressive rally marked Wall Street's strongest performance since December 2. It also put the Dow on track to bring its weekly win streak to nine -- a feat it hasn't ...
Jobs Outlook Rises to Decade High, U.S. Business Economists
Post Date: 2011-01-24 17:57:04 by Brian S
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Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. companies’ employment outlook improved to a 12-year high this quarter after sales strengthened and economic growth picked up, a survey showed. The percentage of businesses expecting to increase payrolls in the next six months exceeded the share projecting more firings by 35 points, the most since the question was first asked in 1998, according to a survey by the National Association for Business Economics issued today in Washington. Sixty-two percent of respondents planned to boost spending on new equipment this year, up from 48 percent in the October survey. “Things are headed in the right direction,” Shawn DuBravac, chief economist at the ...
GM Says Sales Up 12.2 Percent
Post Date: 2011-01-24 13:32:57 by Brian S
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General Motors Monday said its sales increased 12.2 percent in 2010, boosted by record sales in China, to touch 8.3 million vehicles compared to 7.4 million in 2009. GM achieved double-digit increases in five of its top 10 markets, including the 28.8 percent increase in China, where the Detroit-based firm and its partners were the first to top the two-million sales mark in a single year. It also reported an increase of 41.3 percent in Uzbekistan in Central Asia, which is now GM's 10th-largest market by volume. Deliveries in the United States, GM's second largest market, rose 6.3 percent despite the phase-out or sale of four brands, while Brazil, GM's third-largest market, saw ...
Citigroup: Uncle Sam to Get out Completely on Tuesday
Post Date: 2011-01-24 12:42:11 by Brian S
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It looks like Monday may be the last day of Uncle Sam’s ownership ties to Citigroup. Dow Jones’ Jamila Trindle reports: The U.S. Treasury said an auction of more than 465.1 million warrants to purchase Citigroup Inc. common stock will begin Tuesday morning. The warrants will be sold through a Dutch auction method that sets a market price by allowing investors to submit bids above a minimum price specified for each auction. The auction will start at 8 a.m. EST and offer 255,033,142 “A” warrants with a minimum bid price of $0.60 per warrant and 210,084,034 “B” warrants with a minimum bid price of $0.15 per warrant. Bidders have until 6:30 p.m. Tuesday to ...
GM Likely to Double 2012 Chevy Volt Production Capacity to 120,000
Post Date: 2011-01-24 12:38:17 by Brian S
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General Motors Chief Executive Officer Dan Akerson is expected to announce that GM will double the output of the 2012 Chevy Volt from 60,000 to 120,000. This comes just after Akerson told the public that the company would increase their 2011 Volt output to 25,000 units from an original goal of 10,000. Akerson joined GM as the CEO in September 2010 and is set on getting more GM plug-in hybrid vehicle models on the road. A higher production of the Volt would mean costs would come down and the now $41,000 vehicle would become more affordable for a larger group of consumers. In addition to ramping up Volt production Akerson has told GM employees that he wants them to start looking for ways to ...
General Motors Putting 750 Laid-Off Employees Back to Work in Flint, Michigan
Post Date: 2011-01-24 12:35:47 by Brian S
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General Motors is adding a third shift to its Flint, Michigan, assembly facility, creating 750 jobs. The plant produces the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra heavy-duty pickup trucks. "Adding a third shift is a response to customer demand for heavy-duty pickups, which most people use to tow, haul, and plow," said Mark Reuss, president of GM North America. "Equally importantly, it brings jobs and a needed economic boost to the Flint area." The first wave of workers will begin assembling the vehicles in the second quarter of the year, with additional employees arriving in the third quarter, when the third shift is expected to begin work. GM will begin hiring by ...
Economy Probably Sped Up as U.S. Consumer Spending Rose Most in Four Years
Post Date: 2011-01-23 18:05:59 by Brian S
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Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) -- The economy in the U.S. probably grew at a faster pace in the fourth quarter, driven by the biggest gain in consumer spending in four years, economists projected a report this week will show. Gross domestic product rose at a 3.5 percent annual pace, up from a 2.6 percent rate in the previous three months, according to the median estimate of 67 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before a Jan. 28 Commerce Department report. Other data may show business investment remained a pillar of the economic rebound, while home prices decreased. Ford Motor Co. and Apple Inc. are among companies benefiting from the pickup in household spending that is forecast to extend into ...
Home Buyers Are at Risk in Bad-Foreclosure Case at Massachusetts Top Court
Post Date: 2011-01-21 11:37:37 by Brian S
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Jan. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Massachusetts’ highest court will consider whether a home buyer can rightfully own a property if the bank that sold it to him didn’t have the right to foreclose on the original owner. The state’s Supreme Judicial Court, which agreed last month to take the appeal, already ruled Jan. 7 that banks can’t foreclose on a house if they don’t own the mortgage. The lower- court decision now under review said the buyer of residential property in Haverhill, Massachusetts, never really owned it because U.S. Bancorp foreclosed before it got the mortgage. “It appears to be the next step in the conversation,” Paul R. Collier III, who ...
The bigger they come, the harder they fall: Oprah plummets
Post Date: 2011-01-21 05:02:15 by Happy Quanzaa
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Oprah's OWN Network Plummets in Ratings Two Weeks After Launch Winfrey flagship shows are the best performers, while Dr. Phil reruns outdraw Gayle King’s morning show. NEW YORK – After a strong opening at the beginning of the year, ratings for OWN, the cable network joint venture of Oprah Winfrey and Discovery Communications, have declined, with shows with Winfrey’s name in the title remaining its strongest performers. For its second week, ratings for OWN fell about 20 percent among its target demo of women over 25 years old, according to the New York Post. The average audience in prime time was 310,000 people. Looking at total viewership, the network’s ...
Doing Business The Quaker Way
Post Date: 2011-01-20 20:39:12 by lucysmom
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The faith was born in England during the 17th century. Persecuted for their beliefs, Quakers banded together for self-protection, forming communities and networks based on mutual trust. Supported by those communities and empowered by those networks, Quakers invented new ways of doing business. (At least one of their innovations is still with us: the traveling salesman.) Indeed, author David K. Hurst locates the cradle of capitalism in the little town of Coalbrookdale, England, where Quaker manufacturers like Abraham Darby forged the iron sinews of the Industrial Revolution. During early Quaker meetings, "the business activities of their members were scrutinized by their peers, not ...
Philadelphia Manufacturing Expands for Fourth Month
Post Date: 2011-01-20 12:43:55 by Brian S
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Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Manufacturing in the Philadelphia region expanded in January for a fourth month as orders grew the most since September 2004 and employment picked up. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s general economic index slipped to 19.3 from 20.8 last month. The gauge was forecast to hold at 20.8, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. Readings greater than zero signal expansion in the area covering eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware. Demand for new equipment and more exports to countries like China are boosting sales at manufacturers such as International Business Machines Corp. Gains in consumer spending, which accounts ...
Your Wife: A Tried and True Measure of Inflation
Post Date: 2011-01-20 12:00:52 by Capitalist Eric
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Dr. Marc Faber, of the Gloom Boom & Doom Report joins Chris Martenson for a discussion about the global economy, the policies of the Federal Reserve, and the effects of monetary inflation. As always, Dr. Faber provides important insights that simply cannot be ignored, as the signs for where we’re headed are all around us. Listen to the interview:Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.AudioPlayer.embed("audioplayer_1", {soundFile:"aHR0 ...
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Fall More Than Forecast
Post Date: 2011-01-20 11:30:10 by Brian S
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Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance payments fell more than forecast last week, adding to evidence the labor market is healing. Applications for jobless benefits decreased 37,000 in the week ended Jan. 15, the biggest decline since February 2010, to 404,000, Labor Department figures showed today. Economists forecast 420,000 claims, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. The number of people on unemployment benefit rolls fell, while those getting extended payments rose. Employers may be retaining workers after the economy showed signs of strengthening at the end of last year. Economic growth may need to ...
Leading Indicators Index in U.S. Rises Above Forecast
Post Date: 2011-01-20 11:28:59 by Brian S
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Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- The index of U.S. leading economic indicators increased in December more than forecast, a sign the recovery will gather steam in the new year. The Conference Board’s gauge of the outlook for the next three to six months rose 1.0 percent after a 1.1 percent gain in November, the New York-based group said today. The December reading, the sixth consecutive monthly increase, exceeded the 0.6 percent gain in the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Improved consumer expectations, fewer firings and rising stock prices are boosting the outlook for household spending, the biggest part of the gross domestic product. Even so, Federal Reserve policy ...
Sales of U.S. Existing Homes Jump More Than Estimated to Seven-Month High
Post Date: 2011-01-20 11:27:49 by Brian S
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Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Sales of U.S. previously owned homes jumped more than forecast in December as buyers tried to lock in low mortgage rates before the economic recovery pushed borrowing up further. Purchases of existing houses, which are tabulated when a contract closes, increased 12 percent to a 5.28 million annual rate, the most since May and exceeding the highest estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed today in Washington. The median price dropped 1 percent from a year earlier, and the share of sales represented by foreclosures climbed. Buyers are returning to the housing market after a government tax credit ...
Industry: Great Lakes Cargo Shipping Way Up In '10
Post Date: 2011-01-19 18:37:31 by Brian S
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TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) -- Shipments of bulk cargo such as iron ore on the Great Lakes jumped by one-third last year, a hopeful sign for a region battered by the recession, an industry spokesman said Wednesday. The Lake Carriers Association credited a gradually healing economy for the increase in waterborne transport of coal, limestone, sand and other raw materials. But the dramatic statistical improvement in 2010 also reflects the industry's dismal showing the previous year. "We obviously have a ways to go," said Glen Nekvasil, spokesman for the association, which represents 18 companies that operate 55 U.S.-flagged vessels on the Great Lakes. The ships hauled 88.7 ...
U.S. Housing Starts Fell in December to One-Year Low
Post Date: 2011-01-19 11:44:46 by Brian S
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Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Builders began work on fewer homes than projected in December, a sign the industry that triggered the recession continued to struggle more than a year into the U.S. economic recovery. Housing starts fell 4.3 percent to a 529,000 annual rate, the lowest level since October 2009, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey called for a 550,000 rate. A jump in building permits, a proxy for future construction, may reflect attempts to get approval before changes in building codes took effect at the beginning of this year. Companies like KB Homes and Lennar Corp. project demand will be slow to rebound as ...
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