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Latest Articles: Business
Ford Investing $600 Million, Adding 1,800 Jobs to Produce Next-Generation Escape in Louisville
Post Date: 2010-12-09 12:18:36 by Brian S
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* Ford is investing $600 million to transform its Louisville Assembly Plant into a state-of-the-art facility, becoming Ford's most-flexible high-volume plant in the world * When the fully transformed Louisville Assembly Plant re-opens in late 2011, it will operate on two production shifts, requiring 1,800 incremental jobs from today's staffing levels to be filled through a combination of existing Ford workers and new hires * Construction begins in mid-December, allowing installation of new tooling, body shop equipment and other upgrades necessary to build the next-generation Escape for North America; key UAW employees from the plant will help transform the facility * Based on ...
October Wholesale Inventories, Sales Rise Strongly
Post Date: 2010-12-09 12:17:31 by Brian S
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Business inventories at the wholesale level rose for the 10th straight month in October while sales were up by the largest amount in seven months. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that wholesale inventories rose 1.9 percent in October, a much larger gain than many economists were expecting. Sales jumped 2.2 percent, the biggest increase since March. The strong gains in both inventories and sales were encouraging signs that manufacturers will continue to see demand boosted by business efforts to restock depleted store shelves. Inventory rebuilding has been a key factor supporting the economy's efforts to recover from the 2007-2009 recession. The 1.9 percent rise in October ...
U.S. Home Values to Drop by $1.7 Trillion This Year, Zillow Says
Post Date: 2010-12-09 12:11:17 by Brian S
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hn Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. home values are poised to drop by more than $1.7 trillion this year amid rising foreclosures and the expiration of homebuyer tax credits, said Zillow Inc., a closely held provider of home price data. This year’s estimated decline, more than the $1.05 trillion drop in 2009, brings the loss since the June 2006 home-price peak to $9 trillion, the Seattle-based company said today in a statement. The drop in home values pushed more buyers underwater, meaning they owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, Zillow said. The percentage of homeowners with so-called negative equity reached 23.2 percent in the third quarter, up from 21.8 percent at ...
Weekly Jobless Claims Fall To New 27-Month Low
Post Date: 2010-12-09 12:07:38 by Brian S
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The Department of Labor reported today that the four-week average of initial unemployment claims fell to 427,500 for the week ending December 4, which is the lowest level since the first week of August 2008, more than two years ago (see chart above). The number of workers continuing to receive jobless benefits fell to 4,226,000 on a four-week average basis for the week ending November 27, the lowest level for that count since early December 2008. The drop in claims was the fifth consecutive weekly decline in the four-week average, which has also declined in 7 out of the last 8 weeks, and 13 out of the last 15 weeks, so the trend in jobless claims is definitely on a downward ...
TREASURIES-Sell Off In Europe On Tax Cut Worries
Post Date: 2010-12-08 11:28:43 by Brian S
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LONDON/TOKYO, Dec 8 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury prices fell sharply on Wednesday, pushing yields higher, as a proposed extension of tax cuts stoked fears over the U.S. government's control of the budget deficit. A poorly received sale of German Bunds added to the exodus from government securities. "The market is suffering still in the aftermath of the compromise on the tax agreement between Obama and the Republicans," said Nick Stamenkovic, bond strategist at RIA Capital Markets Edinburgh. U.S. President Barack Obama reached a deal with Republican members of Congress to extend for a further two years a series of tax cuts first introduced by President George W. Bush. ...
Government Sells Remaining Shares In Citigroup; Investment To Net $12 Billion Total Profit For Taxpayers
Post Date: 2010-12-07 13:04:44 by Brian S
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Tuesday, December 7, 2010; 12:15 AM The Treasury Department plans to sell the rest of its stake in Citigroup, a move that would allow the government to end its ownership in the bailed-out banking giant while turning a $12 billion total profit for taxpayers. The agency said in a statement late Monday that it had reached an agreement to sell its remaining 2.4 billion shares in Citigroup for $4.35 apiece, a deal that would net the government proceeds of $10.5 billion. "By selling all the remaining Citigroup shares today, we had an opportunity to lock in substantial profits for the taxpayer and avoid future risk," Tim Massad, acting assistant Treasury secretary for financial ...
U.S. Job Openings Climbed in October, Pointing to Bigger Payroll Increases
Post Date: 2010-12-07 12:14:29 by Brian S
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Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Job openings in the U.S. rose in October for the first time in three months, a sign gains in payrolls will accelerate in early 2011. The number of positions waiting to be filled increased by 351,000 to 3.36 million, the most since August 2008, the Labor Department said today in Washington. Excluding a drop among government agencies, the 369,000 increase in openings at companies was the biggest in four years. Combined with declining claims for jobless benefits and surveys showing hiring at manufactures and service providers is picking up, today’s report may help ease concern the labor market lost momentum in November. The government reported last week that the ...
Retail Pump Prices At 26-Month High As Oil Prices Hover Near $90 A Barrel
Post Date: 2010-12-06 13:03:42 by Brian S
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Americans are getting a sour holiday surprise at the gas pump, where prices are at the highest they've been in over two years. They may even hit a national average of $3 a gallon by January. Although supplies remain plentiful and gasoline demand has diminished since September, retail gas prices are rising because oil prices are at the highest levels since October 2008. The two-week advance paused on Monday as benchmark oil for January delivery lost 23 cents at $88.96 a barrel in midday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. A stronger dollar kept a lid on prices. Since oil and other commodities are priced in dollars, a stronger dollar makes them more expensive for buyers who use ...
Baucus Seeks to Prevent Year-End Transfers of Assets to Beat Estate Taxes
Post Date: 2010-12-06 12:27:36 by Brian S
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Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Senator Max Baucus is pushing a proposal intended to prevent wealthy taxpayers from transferring assets to family members before year’s end and pay less in gift taxes than the levy they would face after they die. The Senate today in a procedural vote rejected the measure, introduced Dec. 2 by Baucus, a Montana Democrat who heads the Finance Committee. Under the proposal, the existing 35 percent gift tax would increase to 45 percent for transfer until the end of the year. The Baucus proposal may still become law as part of a compromise to extend Bush-era tax cuts that expire Dec. 31. It would remove an incentive to pass along fortunes to children and ...
Unemployment Skyrockets, Obama Flees Country
Post Date: 2010-12-03 11:47:54 by jwpegler
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The new unemployment figures were released today. Unemployment rose to 9.8%. We've now had 19 straights months of unemployment over 9%, which is the worst record since the Great Depression. So what did Obama do? He snuck out of the White House in the middle of the night and flew to Afghanistan. I guess he thought he'd be safer there than in front of the U.S. press.
Two-Year Low For Layoffs Hints At Hiring Pickup
Post Date: 2010-12-02 15:04:49 by Brian S
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- November marked a two-year low for the number of people applying for initial unemployment benefits, suggesting that the tight job market may be easing at last. The slowing of layoffs and a solid month for retailers are the latest evidence of a strengthening economy in the final months of the year. Even the struggling housing market showed signs of improvement: On Thursday, it posted a third straight monthly increase in signed contracts for home purchases. Some economists are now sketching a more optimistic forecast for Friday's report on November employment, though few expect a change in the 9.6 percent unemployment rate. Still, the encouraging news helped extend a ...
Jobless Claims Rise, But Trend Shows Improvement
Post Date: 2010-12-02 12:04:29 by Brian S
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WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, but the broader trend in layoffs points to a slowly healing job market. The average over the past month fell to a two-year low. New claims for unemployment aid rose last week by a seasonally adjusted 26,000 to 436,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. The previous week's claims were revised up slightly to show applications had tumbled by 31,000 to 410,000. The figures are often volatile during the weeks around the Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving holidays. Even so, the longer-term trend has shown a downward drift. The four-week moving average of claims, which smooths volatility, fell to 431,000 ...
Fiat Turns to Natural Gas for U.S. as Toyota, GM Go Electric
Post Date: 2010-12-02 12:01:42 by Brian S
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Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- As Sergio Marchionne brings back Fiat SpA to the U.S. after nearly three decades, he may add another Italian speciality: the natural gas engine. Marchionne, who is chief executive officer of Fiat and Chrysler Group LLC, says natural gas engines offer a better way to cut emissions because they’re cheaper than competing technologies. He also argues electric cars, which General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. are betting on, present “too many obstacles” such as the recharge time for batteries. “Natural gas is very suitable for the U.S.,” Constantinos Vafidis, who oversees transmission and hybrid development at Fiat’s research center in ...
Pending Sales of Existing Homes in U.S. Increased a Record 10% in October
Post Date: 2010-12-02 12:00:27 by Brian S
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Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Pending sales of U.S. existing houses unexpectedly jumped by a record 10 percent in October, indicating the industry at the center of the last recession is stabilizing as the job market improves. The increase in the number of Americans signing contacts to buy previously owned homes followed a 1.8 percent drop in September, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. Another report showed claims for jobless benefits over the past month on average dropped to a two-year low. Combined with figures showing chain-store sales topped estimates last month, the reports added to evidence the world’s largest economy is strengthening, sending stocks up ...
Fed Names Recipients of $3.3 Trillion of Aid During U.S. Financial Crisis
Post Date: 2010-12-01 13:44:58 by Brian S
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Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve, under orders from Congress, today named the counterparties of about 21,000 transactions from $3.3 trillion in aid provided to stem the worst financial panic since the Great Depression. Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. were among the biggest borrowers from one program, the Term Auction Facility, with as much as $45 billion apiece. Some aid went to U.S. units of foreign institutions, including Switzerland’s UBS AG, France’s Societe Generale and Germany’s Dresdner Bank AG. The Fed posted the data on its website to comply with a provision in July’s Dodd-Frank law overhauling financial regulation. “The Federal ...
Chrysler Reports November Sales Up 17 Percent As Jeep And Ram Brands Drive Increase
Post Date: 2010-12-01 13:43:33 by Brian S
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DETROIT (AP) - Chrysler says its sales rose 17 percent in November as the company joined General Motors and Ford in reporting big increases. The automaker says it's the eighth straight month of year-over-year sales increases. Chrysler says the increase was driven by the Jeep and Ram brands. The redesigned Jeep Grand Cherokee sport utility vehicle continued a string of huge sales increases, more than tripling from November last year. Chrysler also says the Ram truck brand had a 67 percent sales increase. The company sold just over 74,000 vehicles last month, compared with nearly 64,000 in November of last year.
Ford Sales Surge 24% in November
Post Date: 2010-12-01 13:40:14 by Brian S
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Sales at Ford Motor (F) rose 24% in November compared to a year ago as demand surged for a wide range of the company's vehicles, the automaker said Wednesday. For the month, Ford said it moved 147,338 vehicles off dealers' lots, up from 118,536 in November 2009. "With our strongest-ever line of products, we're pleased to see more signs the economy is growing and the demand for new vehicles is increasing," said Ken Czubay,vice president of U.S. sales, in a statement. "Ford's broad range of high-quality, fuel-efficient vehicles is driving one of our best years ever and positioning Ford to deliver improved results in the future." The Dearborn, Mich.-based ...
Stocks Rise Sharply On Signs Of Economic Growth
Post Date: 2010-12-01 12:22:30 by Brian S
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NEW YORK (AP) -- A jump in hiring by small businesses and reports of global expansion in the manufacturing industry sent U.S. stocks sharply higher Wednesday and pushed bond prices down. Fears that the European financial crisis would spread also eased after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet suggested that the bank could buy bonds by struggling countries within the European Union. That, along with a better-than-expected bond auction by Portugal, helped send the euro and European stock indexes sharply higher. The euro rose 0.8 percent after the auction. The Euro Stoxx 50 index, which tracks blue chip companies in countries that use the euro, rose 1.8 percent. The Dow ...
GM's November U.S. Sales Rise 11% as Demand for SUVs, Pickup Trucks Gains
Post Date: 2010-12-01 11:43:39 by Brian S
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Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Co.’s U.S. sales rose 11 percent in November as higher demand for pickups and sport-utility vehicles pushed the industry toward matching its fastest sales pace of the year. Deliveries in the month climbed to 168,739, Detroit-based GM said today in a statement. The largest U.S. automaker was expected to post a 13 percent sales increase by researcher TrueCar.com, and Edmunds.com projected a 12 percent gain. Industrywide light-vehicle sales may have reached a 12.2 million annual pace in December, the average of eight analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. That would almost match the 12.3 million rate of October that was the fastest since ...
Manufacturing in U.S. Expands for a 16th Month as Recovery Gains Traction
Post Date: 2010-12-01 11:41:32 by Brian S
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Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Manufacturing in the U.S. expanded for a 16th consecutive month in November, a sign the world’s largest economy is gaining traction as the year draws to a close. The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index was little changed at 56.6 after 56.9 in October, the Tempe, Arizona-based group said today. A reading higher than 50 signals growth. The figure compared with a median estimate of 56.5 in a Bloomberg News survey and highlights global industrial strength that extends to China and Europe. Manufacturers such as Dow Chemical Co. remain at the forefront of the U.S. expansion as growing demand abroad fuels exports and companies invest in new ...
Chrysler Hiring 1,000 As It Works On New Lineup
Post Date: 2010-11-30 18:12:09 by Brian S
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Chrysler Group LLC needs 1,000 additional engineers and high-tech employees to work on its future product lineup. The automaker is actively recruiting on 35 college campuses and encouraging resumes in a bid to add the professionals by April of next year. The Auburn Hills-based automaker decimated its workforce as part of restructuring leading up to bankruptcy in 2009. The automaker emerged in June 2009, formed a partnership with Fiat SpA and began work on overhauling its needy product lineup. Chrysler had 82,280 employees at the end of 2006, including 64,750 in the United States. By June 2009, that figure had fallen to 47,800, with 32,250 in the United States. The automaker has hired ...
Black Friday Weekend Roars Back as the Obama Recovery Continues
Post Date: 2010-11-30 15:09:25 by Brian S
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In mid-November, I wrote a piece about the Obama recovery in consumer spending, specifically, retail sales. This past weekend was the nation's biggest retail sales weekend of the year, also known as the black Friday weekend. So what's happening? Is the retail sales growth continuing, indicating a continuing desire of consumers to spend? It certainly seems that way. The National Retail Federation released data showing strong improvements in retail shopping trends over last year.According to a National Retail Federation survey conducted over the weekend by BIGresearch, more shoppers visited stores and websites over Black Friday weekend – and spent more ...
Boss Fires Herself To Save Employees
Post Date: 2010-11-30 14:22:59 by Skip Intro
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Boss Fires Herself To Save Employees When Lola Gonzalez, owner of Florida-based Accurate Background Check, realized that she had to begin layoffs to keep her company afloat, she couldn't bear to let go of anyone. So she fired herself instead. Gonzalez told Central Florida News 13: "My employees are the most trusted," Gonzalez said. "They've been here for years. They've been loyal. They've been dedicated. It was just the right thing to do in my opinion." Gonzalez gained national attention when she left her company and asked her staff to run it in her stead while she took on a new, lower-paying job as a social worker. She has found a surprise passion ...
GM Hires 1,000 Engineers in Michigan to Expand Electric Vehicle Offerings
Post Date: 2010-11-30 12:09:51 by Brian S
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General Motors Co., the maker of the Chevrolet Volt gasoline-electric car, will hire 1,000 engineers in Michigan to help expand the automakers’ lineup of electric- drive vehicles. The hiring will increase GM’s workforce of electric-vehicle engineers by 50 percent to about 3,000, said Rob Peterson, a spokesman for the Detroit-based company. GM, which plans to sell 10,000 Volts next year and 45,000 in 2012, is hosting a media event today to mark the start of production of the $41,000 car. The Volt, begun under former Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner, is the centerpiece of GM’s effort to position the company as innovative and environmentally friendly. Dan Akerson, who took ...
Consumer Confidence in U.S. Rises to Five-Month High
Post Date: 2010-11-30 11:37:40 by Brian S
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Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Confidence among U.S. consumers rose in November to the highest level in five months, a signal the biggest part of the economy may pick up strength. The Conference Board’s confidence index increased to 54.1, exceeding the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey, from a revised 49.9 in October, figures from the New York-based research group showed today. Measures of employment and income expectations improved. Gains in consumers’ outlooks combined with discounts helped boost purchases at retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. during the Thanksgiving weekend. Citigroup Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. are among companies saying they plan to add jobs or ...
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