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Latest Articles: Business
Lowe’s Profit Climbs 27% After Sales Exceed Forecast
Post Date: 2010-02-22 08:49:12 by war
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Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Lowe’s Cos., the second-largest U.S. home-improvement retailer, posted fourth-quarter profit that exceeded analysts’ estimates after sales at established stores fell less than the company forecast. Net income rose 27 percent to $205 million, or 14 cents a share, from $162 million, or 11 cents, a year earlier, the Mooresville, North Carolina-based company said today in a statement. Analysts projected 12 cents, the average of estimates in a Bloomberg survey. Sales in stores open at least 13 months fell 1.6 percent in the quarter ended Jan. 29, beating Lowe’s prediction that they would decline at least 2 percent. U.S. housing starts increased 2.8 percent ...
Chicago Fed National Activity Index for January [More Good Hopey Changey News!!!]
Post Date: 2010-02-22 08:35:22 by war
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Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Following is the text of the Chicago Fed’s National Activity Index from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Led by improvements in production- and employment-related indicators, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index in January was slightly positive for the second time in the past three months. From June 2007 through October 2009, the index had been consistently negative. The index increased to +0.02 in January from -0.58 in December, with all four categories of indicators having improved. The index’s three-month moving average, CFNAI-MA3, increased to -0.16 in January from -0.47 in December, reaching its highest level since July 2007. January’s ...
Companies Hiring This Month: February
Post Date: 2010-02-21 14:45:00 by war
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In a CareerBuilder survey at the end of 2009, 20 percent of employers said they would be looking to increase headcount this year. For example, Aerojet, a space and defense contractor, is looking to hire more than 100 people in virtually all areas of its business across the country. Insphere Insurance Solutions, the largest career-agent producer group in the insurance industry, is seeking more than 800 agents to partner with them as they grow and expand coverage. But the numbers don't stop there. Kelly Services, a world leader in work-force solutions, is hiring more than 14,000 positions all over the United States. (Read a review of Kelly Services.) "During the last six decades, ...
Worried Toyota Dealers Adding Own Voice To PR Push
Post Date: 2010-02-21 13:18:36 by Brian S
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(02-21) 08:44 PST WASHINGTON (AP) -- How rattled are Toyota dealers about the company's problems? Some dealerships nearly hired the same crisis public relations firm that handled the travails of socialite Paris Hilton, singer Chris Brown and a company that California called the state's worst inland polluter. With Toyota waging a furious lobbying and advertising battle to protect its name following the recall of 8.5 million vehicles, many of its 1,200 dealers are taking matters into their own hands. A group in Southern California almost retained the PR firm Sitrick and Co. of Los Angeles. Insiders said the idea was nixed after Toyota officials said the company should speak with ...
Fed Report Shows Borrowing Fell In January
Post Date: 2010-02-19 15:31:31 by Brian S
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WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Borrowing by financial institutions kept falling in January, the Federal36;Reserve said in a monthly report Friday. Lending to depository and other financial institutions as of Jan. 27 was $54 billion, down $42 billion from the previous report. The drop came as financial conditions improve. On Feb. 1, the Fed closed some programs created to help financial companies after the Wall Street meltdown. Friday's report showed purchases36;of36;mortgage-backed36;securities to help the housing sector rose. As a result, the Fed held $2.25 trillion in assets as of Jan. 27, up $13 billion from the previous report.
GM To Pump $500 Million Into Engines, Create 550 Jobs At Three US Plants
Post Date: 2010-02-19 15:20:34 by Brian S
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General Motors announced today plans to invest nearly $500 million toward producing the next generation Ecotec engines, which will result in creating nearly 550 jobs at three U.S. plants. GM’s Bay City powertrain plant will get a $10.5-million investment and create 15 jobs for the plant. The plant already employs 312 workers, according to GM’s Web site. The bulk of the $494 million investment being announced today will occur at GM’s Tonawanda, N.Y., engine plant to add capacity for the next generation Ecotec engine. It will bring about 470 jobs, GM said. GM will invest $425 million at the New York plant. GM’s Defiance, Ohio, powertrain plant will get a $59 million ...
Oracle plans to hire 2,000 workers: report
Post Date: 2010-02-19 14:41:33 by war
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NEW YORK (Reuters) – Software maker Oracle Corp (ORCL.O), which is near to closing its $7 billion acquisition of computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc (JAVA.O), plans to hire 2,000 sales and engineering employees, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. The new hires will outnumber the cuts Oracle is making in Sun's head count, the Journal said, citing an interview with Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison. Separately, in an interview with the New York Times, Ellison said he expected Sun's chief executive, Jonathan Schwartz, to resign and hoped that Scott McNealy, Sun's co-founder and chairman, would stay on at Oracle, although his title and duties were not clear. ...
PA WInd Turbine PLant Recalls Workers Pland To Hire More
Post Date: 2010-02-19 14:38:58 by war
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EBENSBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Spanish wind turbine maker Gamesa has brought back 79 workers laid off from a western Pennsylvania plant in November. The company says it will also hire 50 more workers at its plant in Ebensburg, about 70 miles east of Pittsburgh. Company officials said in November that 141 people were laid off, including the 79 who have been recalled. More than 60 others were to be offered buyouts or jobs in other parts of the company. Gamesa said it was bringing back the workers after Gov. Ed Rendell on Thursday announced three new wind energy projects worth $22.8 million. The contracts were not all directly awarded to Gamesa, which will benefit instead by wind turbine orders ...
New Mortgage Delinquencies Fell At End Of 2009 As Foreclosure Crisis Begins To Ebb
Post Date: 2010-02-19 13:06:57 by Brian S
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The number of borrowers falling behind on their mortgage payments dropped sharply at the end of last year, a sign the foreclosure crisis is beginning to ebb. The Mortgage Bankers Association said Friday the percentage of borrowers who missed just one payment on their home loans fell to 3.63 percent in the October to December quarter, down from 3.79 percent in the third quarter. The decline was even more remarkable because delinquencies usually rise at that time of year because of heating bills and holiday spending. However, more than 15 percent of homeowners with a mortgage had missed at least one payment or were in foreclosure, a new record for the 10th-straight quarter "The bad ...
Fed Discount-Rate Increase Signals Recovery on Track
Post Date: 2010-02-19 11:29:46 by Brian S
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Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve’s decision to raise its discount rate shows that the global recovery is on track and other central banks can afford to keep withdrawing emergency measures, former policy makers and economists said. “It’s another minor step in a long march towards normalization,” said former Bank of England official Charles Goodhart in a telephone interview. “The Fed has already moved some way to reducing credit easing, as has the ECB, as has the Bank of England.” The Fed yesterday raised the rate charged to banks for direct loans by a quarter-point to 0.75 percent, the first increase since June 2006. The Fed said it was a ...
U.S. Consumer Prices Increase Less Than Forecast in Sign Inflation Subdued
Post Date: 2010-02-19 11:22:38 by Brian S
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Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The cost of living in the U.S. rose in January less than anticipated and a measure of prices excluding food and fuel fell for the first time since 1982, indicating the recovery is generating little inflation. The consumer-price index increased 0.2 percent for a fifth straight month, led by higher fuel costs, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. Excluding energy and food, the so-called core index unexpectedly fell 0.1 percent, reflecting a drop in new-car prices, clothing and shelter. Retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have reduced prices to lure customers at a time when most employers are reluctant to hire. Restrained inflation will allow Federal ...
Philadelphia Area Manufacturing Gains as Orders Fuel Factory-Led Recovery, Highest Level In 5 Years
Post Date: 2010-02-18 14:13:15 by Brian S
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Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Manufacturing in the Philadelphia region expanded in February for a sixth straight month as orders surged to the highest level in more than five years, another sign that factories are leading the economic recovery. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s general economic index rose to 17.6 from 15.2. Readings greater than zero signal growth. Measures of employment and shipments accelerated, and inventories expanded for the first time since September 2007. Surging exports, inventory replenishment and corporate spending on new equipment are fueling a factory-led recovery from the worst recession in seven decades. The manufacturing expansion may spur the labor ...
U.S. Leading Indicators Gain a 10th Month in Sign Economy to Keep Growing
Post Date: 2010-02-18 11:36:50 by Brian S
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Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The index of U.S. leading indicators rose in January for a 10th straight month, pointing to an economy that will keep expanding through the first half of this year. The New York-based Conference Board’s measure of the outlook for three to six months increased 0.3 percent, less than anticipated, after a revised 1.2 percent rise in December that was higher than previously estimated. The series of gains in the index is the longest since 2004. Companies are stepping up production and asking employees to work more hours to meet greater demand that may help spur hiring in coming months. Faster economic growth will depend on employment gains that have yet to occur. ...
Stocks, Dollar Advance on Economy Outlook
Post Date: 2010-02-17 16:11:49 by war
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Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks and the dollar rose as higher-than-estimated earnings and economic data signaled the global recovery is gaining momentum. Treasuries slid as Federal Reserve minutes showed policy makers debated selling assets. The MSCI World Index of 23 developed nations’ stocks advanced 0.7 percent at 4:02 p.m. in New York. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.4 percent a day after the benchmark U.S. equity measure surged the most since November. The Dollar Index rallied as much as 1 percent to 80.528, weighing on metal prices and shares of commodity producers. The yield on the 2-year Treasury note rose six basis points to 0.86 percent and the 10- year yield ...
*HEWLETT-PACKARD BOOSTS FULL-YEAR EPS, REVENUE FORECASTS [More Bad News For The EconBlood Dancers]
Post Date: 2010-02-17 16:07:44 by war
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HP Reports First Quarter 2010 Results First quarter net revenue of $31.2 billion, up 8%, or $2.4 billion, from a year earlier First quarter GAAP operating profit up 20% to $3.0 billion; GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.96, up 28% from $0.75 a year earlier First quarter non-GAAP operating profit up 13% to $3.5 billion; non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $1.10, up 18% from $0.93 a year earlier Double-digit year-over-year growth in printers, industry standard servers and PCs Cash flow from operations of $2.4 billion, up 114%, or $1.3 billion from the prior year Raises full-year outlook
Economy Prompts Fresh Look At ND's Socialist Bank
Post Date: 2010-02-17 13:53:30 by Brian S
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BISMARCK, N.D. – It has no automatic tellers or drive-up windows, doesn't issue credit cards, and tends only a few thousand checking and savings accounts. Its only location is a glass, steamboat-shaped headquarters near the Missouri River, where the business moved from its original 1919 home in a former auto assembly plant. The Bank of North Dakota — the nation's only state-owned bank — might seem to be a relic. It was the brainchild of a failed flax farmer and one-time Socialist Party organizer during World War I. But now officials in other states are wondering if it is helping North Dakota sail through the national recession. Gubernatorial candidates in Florida ...
U.S. Factory Output, Home Starts Exceed Forecasts in Sign Recovery Intact
Post Date: 2010-02-17 12:04:19 by Brian S
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Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Industrial production in the U.S. rose more than anticipated in January as factories churned out more consumer goods and business equipment, leading the recovery of the world’s biggest economy. The 0.9 percent increase in production at factories, mines and utilities followed a 0.7 percent gain the prior month, according to the Federal Reserve in Washington. Figures from the Commerce Department today showed housing starts climbed to a 591,000 annual pace, exceeding the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Stocks advanced on the reports and after Deere & Co., the world’s largest maker of farm machinery, signaled investment in new equipment will ...
Blizzards Make It More Difficult to Decipher U.S. Economic Data
Post Date: 2010-02-17 11:46:18 by Brian S
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Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Blizzards that hammered the East Coast of the U.S. and winter storms that blasted through the deep South earlier this month also disrupted economic data. Record amounts of snow last week blanketed cities including Washington and Philadelphia, prompting the federal government to shut down for four days, businesses to close temporarily and Americans to stay at home. Another system caused record snowfall in Texas before moving into Mississippi and North Carolina. The blizzards that wreaked havoc for snow plows, clean-up crews and utility companies will soon play out in economic data, making it difficult to gauge the strength of the economy as it emerges from recession. ...
Pension Funds Begin Active Investment In Gold; George Soros More Than Doubles Gold ETF Stake in 4th Quarter
Post Date: 2010-02-17 11:44:40 by Brian S
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MOSCOW (Reuters) - Pension funds have started investing actively in gold last year viewing the metal as a safe long-term investment, the head of the World Gold Council told Reuters on Wednesday. "Last year we saw a very notable switch of pension funds to holding gold for the first time," Aram Shishmanian, the CEO of the council, told Reuters Financial Television on the sidelines of a forum organized by the Adam Smith Institute in Moscow. He said China and South Africa were the top producers last year and added Russia's weak mining legislation was the main constraint for the sector development in the country. The WGC does not forecast gold prices for 2010. Shishmanian said ...
Commercial Real Estate Losses Threaten Economy
Post Date: 2010-02-16 15:45:52 by Brian S
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Falling real estate values will soon leave many businesses struggling to refinance mortgages, according to a report released Thursday by the Congressional Oversight Panel. The February report pointed to $1.4 trillion in commercial real estate loans that will reach the end of their terms between 2010 and 2014. These cover retail properties, office space, industrial facilities, hotels and apartments and were issued during the previous decade under. About half of these mortgagesare "underwater," meaning that borrowers owe more than their property is worth. Consequently, a significant wave of mortgage defaults may hit small- and mid-sized banks when the loan terms end. The results ...
US Demands Toyota Documents Tied To Massive US Recalls; Automaker Plans To Idle 2 Plants
Post Date: 2010-02-16 14:58:49 by Brian S
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WASHINGTON (AP) - The Transportation Department demanded documents related to Toyota's massive recalls in the United States on Tuesday to find out if the automaker acted swiftly enough. Toyota, meanwhile, said it will idle production temporarily at Texas and Kentucky plants over concerns the recalls could lead to big stockpiles of unsold vehicles. The legal documents demand that Toyota tell the government when and how the company learned of the safety defects in millions of vehicles over the entrapment of gas pedals by floor mats and sticky accelerators. The documents were delivered to Toyota on Tuesday and the company must respond within 30-to-60 days or face fines. The intensifying ...
Homebuilder Confidence Increase In February
Post Date: 2010-02-16 13:55:24 by Brian S
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(AP) – 22 minutes ago MIAMI — The National Association of Home Builders said Tuesday its housing market index rose two points in February, a sign that low interest rates and federal tax credits are boosting demand for new homes. The builders group said the index reached 17 in February, after falling for two consecutive months. The increase may also signal builders are feeling better about their prospects following data that the job market could be improving. The Labor Department reported last week the number of newly laid-off workers seeking unemployment benefits fell to 43,000 — the lowest level in a month. Meanwhile, interest rates for mortgages are hovering around 5 ...
Foreign Demand For US Debt Drops By Record Amount
Post Date: 2010-02-16 12:58:16 by Brian S
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Foreign demand for US Treasury bonds and notes fell by a record amount in December as China reduced its holdings. The Treasury said foreign holdings of US debt dropped by $53bn, surpassing the previous record set last April. China cut its holdings by $34.2bn - meaning it is now the second-biggest US debt holder after Japan. The drop in demand may mean that the US has to pay more to borrow, just as the government has to fund a record budget deficit. In total, net purchases of long-term stocks, bonds and notes increased by $63.3bn in December, down from $126.4bn in the previous month, the Treasury said. China was a net seller for a second straight month. Its bond holdings amounted to ...
Manufacturing in New York Fed Region Expands at Faster Pace as Sales Grow
Post Date: 2010-02-16 12:53:41 by Brian S
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Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Manufacturing in the New York region expanded in February at the fastest pace in four months as companies boosted payrolls in anticipation of accelerating orders and sales. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s general economic index rose to 24.9 this month, higher than anticipated, from 15.9 in January. Readings above zero in the so-called Empire State Index signal growth in the area covering New York and parts of New Jersey and Connecticut. Manufacturers are increasing output to replenish depleted inventories as business and consumer spending pick up and exports surge. The factory expansion may persist for months, leading to gains in hiring and incomes that ...
Foreclosure mystery: Why can't conservative Utahns afford their mortgage?
Post Date: 2010-02-12 13:11:32 by Brian S
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What is it about Utahns? Back during the housing bubble in 2006, when this Sandy, Utah, home was for sale, Utah struggled with high bankruptcy rates. Now that the real estate bubble has burst, it has nation's fifth-highest foreclosure rate, according to a new report released Thursday. During the housing bubble, they led the nation in bankruptcies. Now that the bubble is bust, they're among the top states in foreclosures. A RealtyTrac report released Thursday showed they had the fifth-highest foreclosure rate among the states, with 1 in 231 homes receiving a foreclosure notice in January. That's nearly double the national rate and not far from No. 4 Florida's rate of 1 in ...
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