![]() | Interview and discussion with the President of the Iowa Northern Co, Daniel Sabin. He talks about his company's profile, from the deepest challenges to the sweet success. (Venture) |
Features - Editor, 2 July 2009 -
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Third Quarter Kicks Off On Positive Note On Wall Street
Wall Street started the third quarter of 2009 on a positive note, with all three major stock indicators notching up small gains on Wednesday. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 57 points, the Standard & Poor's 500 gained 4 points, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 11 points, being 0.7 percent, 0.4 percent and 0.6 percent respectively. The improved performance of stocks is being attributed primarily to better than expected housing and manufacturing reports. An especially encouraging aspect of the manufacturing reports is that customer inventories are too low, suggesting that production figures should pick up soon as inventories are raised to more realistic levels.
Although the gains on Wall Street were marginal, stock market traders are of the opinion that investors are nonetheless encouraged by the gradual improvement which is seen as an indication that the recession is slowing down. Twenty-four of the thirty Dow stocks rose, with IBM leading the way, followed by Coca-Cola, 3M, Chevron and Exxon Mobil, revealing that Wednesday's market gains were broad-based.
Although the last day of the second quarter saw stocks falling, it turned out to be the best quarter, percentage wise, that Wall Street has experienced in some time. For the period April to June, the Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 15.2 percent, a percentage increase which has not been experienced since the fourth quarter of 1998. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 11% and the Nasdaq composite gained 20 percent, both being their best quarter since the second quarter of 2003. While these percentages are off a lower base, they are nevertheless encouraging.
As US automakers continue strategizing on how best to deal with the ongoing recession, General Motors interim CEO Fritz Henderson is seeking approval for plans to restructure the company to rid itself of burdensome contracts and commitments. Experts in the motor industry have voiced their doubts that Henderson is the right man to shake up GM management, bearing in mind that he has worked for General Motors for twenty-five years, much of which he has spent in a management position – on the management team that got the company into trouble in the first place. Meanwhile suppliers to the auto industry are starting to feel the pinch and a recent request by suppliers for up to $10 billion in government assistance was rejected by the Obama administration. Suppliers are concerned that this lack of assistance will result in a spate of bankruptcies. This fear has been exacerbated by the news that Lear Corporation, suppliers of auto seating primarily to General Motors and Ford Motor Co., is poised to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
![]() | Interview and discussion with the Chairman and C.E.O. of Union Pacific, James Young. He talks about how his company handle the economic downturn and their plans to further success. (Bloomberg News) |
![]() | Interview and discussion with the President of the L.L.C., Jack Welch and his wife Suzy Welch. They talk about they're plans to launch Jack Welch Management Institute. (For The Record) |
![]() | Interview and discussion with the Co-Founder of the Better World Books. He talks about how they business starts and how well things are going for them. (Bloomberg News) |
![]() | Unemployment swells to 9.5%, means 467,000 more people lost their job. (Political Capital) |
Latest Financial News Headlines
China's shares edged up Friday to a new one-year high on optimism about a possible economic revival, with real estate and dairies up but banks and metals mixed.
LDK Solar Co., which makes wafers used in solar cells, said Thursday its second-quarter wafer shipments will top an earlier forecast, but sales will come in below Wall Street's expectations.
Employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate climbed to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent. Workers also saw weekly wages fall, suggesting Americans will have little appetite to spend and the economy's road to recovery will be bumpy.
Stocks tumbled on Thursday, driving the S&P 500 down to its third-straight weekly loss, as a steeper-than-expected slide in June non-farm payrolls revived caution about economic recovery prospects.
MONDAY, July 6 NEW YORK -- The Institute for Supply Management releases its services sector index for June, 10 a.m. EDT.
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Features - Editor, 29 June 2009
Personal Savings; Bank Failures; Week Ahead on Wall Street
Both the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 slipped on Friday ending on a low for the second week running, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite managed to notch up a small gain for the week. The rally which had been spurred on by speculation that the U.S. economy is beginning to stabilize, was pushed off track by recent economic reports indicating the road to recovery may still be some way off. A Commerce Department report released on Friday revealed that personal income had surged, however, savings had done the same. This is seen as a sign that investors are choosing to sit out the recession, rather than to spend at the present time. Savings in relation to income rose from 5.6 percent in April to 6.9 percent in May. Bearing in mind that economic growth is largely dependent on consumer spending, economist see the mounting personal savings rate as a cause of concern.
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Markets - Editor, 24 June 2009
Investors Ponder Housing Market, Regulatory Restructuring and Inflation/Deflation Fears
Monday saw stocks fall to a three-week low on Wall Street, mostly due to the World Bank's dismal outlook on the global economy growth. The better than expected housing market report slowed the decline on Tuesday, but failed to regain losses entirely and the day drew to a close with the Dow Jones industrial average falling 0.2 percent, the Nasdaq composite remaining virtually unchanged and the Standard & Poor's 500 managing a 0.2 percent gain. Prior to the losses recorded over the past week or so, markets had enjoyed a 14 week rally, primarily fuelled by optimism that the economy was on the road to recovery - a viewpoint which now appears to have been premature, or overly optimistic.
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News - Editor, 18 June 2009
Bank Credit Rating Cuts Ahead of Regulator Overhaul
Fears that the recession may drag on longer than anticipated, made investors nervous and impacted negatively on Wall Street at the beginning of the week. A tech rally on Wednesday boosted the Nasdaq composite index with a gain of 0.7 percent. However, news of credit rating cuts for US banks caused financials to slide, dragging the Dow Jones industrial average with it, ending the day with a 0.1 percent loss, with a similar loss being recorded by the Standard & Poor's 500.
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