Monday, December 29, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Canada's 4 Billion Auto Bailout
A historic $4 billion lifeline to rescue General Motors and Chrysler in Canada is likely just the first instalment of public loans to the sputtering automakers, concedes Prime Minister Stephen Harper. "I will not fool you. There is obviously money at risk here and there may be, well, more money as we go forward," Harper said yesterday as he joined Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty in revealing terms of the huge aid package at a Toronto hotel.
Bush Approves Auto Bailout
$17.4-billion Buys Time For Detroit
Restructure fast or go bust. That was the blunt message U.S. President George W. Bush delivered to General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC Friday as he grudgingly approved $17.4-billion (U.S.) in emergency bridge loans for the cash-starved car makers. Even with the infusion, many experts said one or both of the companies may still be forced into bankruptcy protection after March 31, 2009, when Washington can call the loans. And analysts said Chrysler, the smallest of the Detroit Three, may not survive as an independent car maker.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Complex Obesity
Obesity 'Set Before Age Of Five'
Compared to children in the 1980s, today's youngsters are fatter and most of their excess weight gain happens before school age, they will say. This suggests initiatives to prevent childhood obesity should be started before school, suggest the authors. The EarlyBird Diabetes study of 233 children from birth to puberty is being published in the journal Pediatrics. One in four children aged four to five in England are overweight, latest figures show.
Seven new gene variants discovered by scientists suggest strongly that obesity is largely a mind problem. The findings suggest the brain plays the dominant role in controlling appetite, and that obesity cannot easily be blamed on metabolic flaws. Two international studies, published in Nature Genetics, examined samples from thousands of people for the tiniest genetic changes.
Many of the seven key variants seem to be active in the brain.
Many of the seven key variants seem to be active in the brain.
Biggest Oil Cut In OPEC History
Some bullish investors still regard the oil-futures market, showing sharply higher forward prices, as a stairway to heaven. To OPEC, though, which reduced its output quota by 2.2 million barrels a day Wednesday, it is a mountain to climb. The forward curve for Nymex crude prices currently slopes upward -- known as a "contango" -- and is extraordinarily steep. At $50.64 a barrel, the May 2009 contract commands more than a $10 premium to the "front month," or January contract. That spread has widened by about $7 in the past month. Farther out, futures rise above $70 from late 2012.
International Monetary Standard
More Stable Currency Needed
More than 200 members of the Fordham community converged upon the Flom Auditorium on Oct. 14 to hear John Forbes Nash Jr., Ph.D., winner of the 1994 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, talk about solutions to the downturn in the national and global economy.Nash told the audience that such financial crises would be less likely to occur if there was some international monetary standard, such as the gold standard or competition among worldwide currencies, to curb inflation and prevent the rise of mortgage abuses. He expressed some skepticism about a government bailout as a solution.
The Falling Dollar
Dollar Trades Near 13-Year Low
The dollar traded near a 13-year low versus the yen and at the weakest level against the euro since September as the Federal Reserve’s near-zero interest rate policy reduces the appeal of holding U.S. assets.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
$30 Oil?
OPEC, the producer of 42 percent of the world’s oil, may make the biggest supply cut in a decade to halt the plunge in crude prices as demand drops for the first time since 1983. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will probably lower output targets by at least 2 million barrels a day, or 7.3 percent, when its members meet Dec. 17, according to 18 of 33 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. While Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah said last month that his country needs oil priced at $75 a barrel to spur development, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. predicts crude may slide to $30 from $46.28 today.
Wealthy Elite Investments Wiped Out
The alleged $50 billion fraud by former Nasdaq Chairman Bernard Madoff has rippled deep into Boston's wealthy elite, forcing a charitable foundation to close and triggering losses by prominent philanthropists. The Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation, which financed trips for Jewish youth to Israel, said the money that supported its programs was invested with Madoff, a 70-year-old Wall Street trader arrested on Thursday.
100,000+ Job Cuts
December Layoffs Exceed 100k
The second week of December was another brutal one for jobs, as Bank of America and at least 20 other companies announced more massive cuts. "The recent news does not bode well," said Rich Yamarone, director of economic research at Argus Research. "This is the reason it's going to be the longest recession we've had in post World War II history."
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Job Cuts Continue
Alcatel-Lucent Plans More Job Cuts
Alcatel-Lucent said Friday it will eliminate 1,000 more white-collar jobs as part of its new chief's plan to return the company to profitability, but shares slumped as investors were hoping for a bolder shift in business strategy. The Paris-based maker of networking equipment for telecommunications operators also intends to cut half of the 10,000 contractors it employs in measures aimed at saving $991 million by the fourth quarter of 2009.
BofA to Cut 35,000 Jobs
Bank of America Corp., battling the slowed economy, expects to eliminate about 35,000 positions over the next three years as it absorbs New York securities firm Merrill Lynch & Co.
The reductions, representing about 10% to 11% of the companies' combined work force, will hit "all lines and staff units" in both companies, reflecting both redundancies created by the Merrill acquisition as well as the "current recessionary environment," Bank of America said.
Yahoo Layoffs Today May Not Be the Last
Yahoo began laying off 1,500 workers on Wednesday as part of a plan, announced in October, to slash expenses by $400 million a year. The cost cutting, however, may have to go deeper in the coming year.
Rio Tinto With 14,000 job Cuts
Rio Tinto, the Anglo-Australian mining giant, said yesterday that it would cut 14,000 jobs in an attempt to reduce its $39 billion (£26.2 billion) debt mountain.
Sony Plans 16,000 Job Cuts
Sony is to cut more than 16,000 permanent and part-time jobs from its worldwide electronics division and will raise prices for its products in the face of dwindling consumer spending.
Sara Lee Expects 700 Job Cuts
Sara Lee Corp. announced plans Thursday to outsource some additional back-office operations in an effort intended to save up to $250 million a year as the company continues its turnaround effort.
Pfizer Slashes 700 Jobs
Pfizer is restructuring its operations in France, and you know what that means: streamlining, a.k.a. layoffs. The company said 700 jobs will be cut in the reorganization, with the layoffs focused on its French HQ in Paris and its sales force. Its union, however, claims that the cuts actually will amount to 892: from current employment of 1,771 to 879. "It is much higher than what we thought," a union delegate told Agence France Presse.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Job Losses Continue
Nearly 17,500 Additional Job Cuts
Nearly 17,500 job cuts were announced on Monday is likely to lower investor confidence as the markets are expected to retain the gains from last week on positive sentiment. Ford Motor Co's Volvo Cars is expected to hand out pink slips to as many as 3,401 full-time jobs, which is 14 percent of the division's total workforce. These positions will include 2,721 workers in Sweden, with 2,367 blue-collar employees and 680 outside the country.... Dow Chemical Co. reported Monday that it plans to slash as many as 5,000 full-time jobs, which represent 11 percent of the company's total workforce...In a separate report, 3M Co., a manufacturing conglomerate, reported that in the current quarter it has slashed almost nearly 1,800 positions across the company, mainly in the developed economies of the U.S., Western Europe and Japan. This will generate $170 million in 2009...
Anheuser-Busch InBev Announces
Monday announced that, as part of its previously announced plans to effectively integrate Anheuser-Busch Inc., the U.S. business unit today communicated plans to cut approximately 1,400 U.S. salaried positions in its beer-related divisions, affecting about 6 percent of the company's total U.S. workforce.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Israel To Strike Iran Alone
IDF Preparing Options For Iran Strike
The IDF is drawing up options for a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities that do not include coordination with the United States, The Jerusalem Post has learned. While its preference is to coordinate with the US, defense officials have said Israel is preparing a wide range of options for such an operation. "It is always better to coordinate," one top Defense Ministry official explained last week. "But we are also preparing options that do not include coordination." Israeli officials have said it would be difficult, but not impossible, to launch a strike against Iran without receiving codes from the US Air Force, which controls Iraqi airspace. Israel also asked for the codes in 1991 during the First Gulf War, but the US refused.
Record Number Of Americans Using Food Stamps
Record Number Using Food Stamps
Food stamps, the main U.S. antihunger program which helps the needy buy food, set a record in September as more than 31.5 million Americans used the program -- up 17 percent from a year ago, according to government data. The number of people using food stamps in September surpassed the previous peak of 29.85 million seen in November 2005 when victims of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma received emergency benefits, said Jean Daniel of the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service...One in 10 Americans were participating in the food stamp program as of September, said Dottie Rosenbaum, analyst with Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank.
Canadian Bankruptcies Up 21 per Cent
Canadian Bankruptcies Up 21 per Cent
Bankruptcies in Canada numbered 9,468 in October, up 7.2 per cent from September and 21.1 per cent from October 2007, with the pain concentrated among individuals. The office of the federal Superintendent of Bankruptcy reported Thursday that 8,972 consumers filed for bankruptcy in October, up 7.5 per cent from October and 22.8 per cent from a year earlier. Business bankruptcies totalled 496 for the month, up 1.4 per cent from the previous month but down 3.3 per cent from the year-ago corporate toll. Compared with a year earlier, the month's total bankruptcies were up 50.9 per cent in Alberta, 37.4 per cent in British Columbia, 36.5 per cent in Newfoundland and Labrador, 21.6 per cent in Ontario, 17.4 per cent in Nova Scotia, 15.3 per cent in Saskatchewan and 13.6 per cent in Quebec.
20% Of Borrowers “Under Water"
U.S. Must Step Up Foreclosure Efforts
Foreclosures may begin on 2.25 million homes this year, more than double the pace before the financial crisis, he said. Estimates show as many as 20 percent of borrowers may now be “under water,” where their mortgage is bigger than the price of their home, Bernanke said. “Despite good-faith efforts by both the private and public sectors, the foreclosure rate remains too high, with adverse consequences for both those directly involved and for the broader economy,” Bernanke said.
Massive Job Cuts
Jobless-Benefit Highest Since 1982
More Americans are collecting jobless benefits than at any time in the last 26 years as companies rush to cut costs in a sinking economy. The number of people on unemployment benefit rolls rose to 4.09 million in the week ended Nov. 22, the most since December 1982, the Labor Department said today in Washington. A separate report showed orders at U.S. factories tumbled in October by the most in eight years as demand collapsed at home and abroad.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Peter Schiff
"The brutal truth that no one in Washington dares acknowledge is that our systemic economic problems can only be solved by a reduction in consumer borrowing and an increase in savings. We must repair our national balance sheet and a painful recession is the only path to achieve this"
Canada Housing Sales Decrease, Values Increase?
The number of homes sold in 2008 in Canada is expected to total 440,000, a 15 per cent decrease from the previous year, ReMax said in its sales forecast Wednesday. The report also reported housing values will rise in the following regions: Regina (39 per cent) Saskatoon (24 per cent) Winnipeg (22 per cent)St. John's (21 per cent) Saint John (19.5 per cent) Sudbury (14 per cent) Montreal (12 per cent). Housing values are expected to ring in at around $300,000, a three per cent decline from 2007, the forecast said. Sales in 2009 are anticipated to mirror 2008 levels, with average prices dropping to $293,000.
Low Oil Prices,Massive Inflation In Iran
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has acknowledged publicly for the first time that tumbling oil prices are hurting Iran's fragile economy, a sensitive subject for the leader critics have accused of mismanaging the country's finances, state media reported Wednesday. Oil prices have plunged more than 60 percent since the summer as a faltering global economy reduces demand. Ahmadinejad said that will force the government of the world's fourth largest oil exporter to make painful spending cuts, official news agency IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.... Many economists believe cutting fuel subsidies will take Iran's inflation over 50 percent from the current 30 percent.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Washington's $5 Trillion Tab
Fighting the financial crisis has put the U.S. on the hook for some $5 trillion a report says. So far.For all the fury over Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's $700 billion emergency economic relief fund, it seems downright puny when compared to the running total of the government's response to the credit crisis. According to CreditSights, a research firm in New York and London, the U.S. government has put itself on the hook for some $5 trillion, so far, in an attempt to arrest a collapse of the financial system.
Lost Auto Jobs Pegged At 15,000
Lost Auto Jobs Pegged At 15,000
Auto makers in Canada stand to lose more than $3.1-billion this year and next and will vaporize about 15,000 jobs during the same period, the Conference Board of Canada says. The main culprit is the massive slump in the U.S. market, which has already led to production cuts at assembly plants in Canada this year and will cause auto makers to throttle back output next year as well. “Canadian auto manufacturers remain caught in a maelstrom of cyclical and structural industry changes, not limited to softening U.S. vehicle demand, cross-border wage gaps and increasingly stringent fuel emissions standards,” the Ottawa-based organization said Tuesday in its autumn outlook for the sector.
Iran 'Fires Second Space Rocket'
Iran 'Fires Second Space Rocket'
Iran says it has launched its second space rocket, the Kavosh 2, in a successful follow-up to the first launch in February. State media said that two more tests would be needed before an Iranian-built satellite could be launched into orbit. Iran denies that its long-range ballistic technology is linked to its atomic programme. It is already under international pressure to give up its nuclear work, which it says is purely civilian.
54 More Banks To 'Problem List'
54 More Banks To 'Problem List'
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Tuesday the list of banks it considers to be in trouble shot up nearly 50 percent to 171 during the third quarter—yet another sign of escalating problems among the institutions controlling Americans' deposits. The 171 banks on the FDIC's "problem list" encompass only about 2 percent of the nearly 8,500 FDIC-insured institutions. Still, the increase from 117 in the second quarter is sharp, and the current tally is the highest since late 1995. "We've had profound problems in our financial markets that are taking a rising toll on the real economy," said FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair in a statement, adding that Tuesday's report "reflects these challenges."
Violent Protests In Iceland
Icelanders Demand PM Resign
Thousands of Icelanders demonstrated in Reykjavik on Saturday demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Geir Haarde and Central Bank Governor David Oddsson for failing to stop a financial meltdown in the country. It was the latest in a series of protests in the capital since the financial meltdown that crippled the island's economy. Hordur Torfason, a well-known troubadour in Iceland and the main organiser of the protests, said the protests would continue until the government stepped down. "They don't have our trust and they are no longer legitimate," Torfason said as the crowds gathered in the drizzle before the Althing, the Icelandic parliament. A separate group of 200-300 people gathered in front of the city's main police station demanding the release of a young protester being held there, Icelandic media reported.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
