Archive for the ‘Economics’ Category

Stocks rose on Friday, with the Dow marking its best four-week winning streak since 1933, lifted by robust results from Research in Motion and comments by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who said the central bank will do everything it can to stabilize banks.

Growing conviction that the worst is over for the economy helped Wall Street shrug off dour jobs data showing the highest unemployment rate since 1983.

The best four-week streak in the market since 1933, and the worst unemployment since 1983.

Didn’t we already bail these guys out?

The latest bailout plan for the U.S. auto industry will be unveiled Monday by President Barack Obama after a federal auto task force put the finishing touches on its recommendations Friday.

“I think they are winding down the decisions that have to be made and putting in place a plan that the president will announce on Monday, ” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in describing the meeting of the group charged with oversight of federal money given to automakers last winter.

The task force has been meeting for about six weeks behind closed doors.

Isn’t it nice to know they were meeting behind closed doors for six weeks. You know, just about the same time they started paying out for the first one…

Fifteen of 20 American International Group leading bonus recipients have agreed to give them back in full, said New York’s top legal officer who is probing into $165 million in executive pay at the troubled company bailed out by the U.S. government.

It’s amazing what guilt can do to people. Well, law abiding, self-respecting people, anyway.

Isn’t it nice to know our hard earned tax money was used to line the pockets of the very people that got AIG into the mess theu’re in now?

White House officials and some members of Congress reacted strongly Sunday to news that insurance giant AIG had intended to pay out $165 million in bonuses and compensation. The company has received at least $170 billion in federal bailout money.

Under pressure from the Treasury, AIG scaled back the bonus plans and pledged to reduce 2009 bonuses — or “retention payments” — by at least 30 percent. That did little to temper outrage at the initial plan, however.

I really don’t think this is the time to be paying bonuses, especially with taxpayer money.

They can survive without the loan, for a while anyway.

General Motors Corp. (GM), which had said it needed $2 billion to avoid running out of cash by the end of March, said Thursday it can survive for now without the loan.

GM still needs the money, just not as quickly as anticipated, a company spokeswoman said Thursday. The auto maker is working to get up to $16.6 billion in additional loans, which includes a cash infusion of $2.6 billion in April.

Either they need it or they don’t. If they don’t need it, we wouldn’t mind keeping it, would we?

Uh oh, even Capital One can’t keep the Vikings at bay.

Capital One Financial Corp (COF.N) said on Monday it trimmed its quarterly dividend 87 percent to save $500 million annually as credit card losses increase.

The bank and credit card company cut its dividend to 5 cents a share from 37.5 cents a share.

The key point to remember is they are still paying a dividend. A little something is better than nothing any day. Right?

Foreclosures are spreading by epidemic proportions, expanding beyond a handful of problem states and now affecting almost 1 in every 8 American homeowners.

It’s an economic role-reversal: The economy, driven down by the collapse of the housing bubble, is causing the housing crisis to spread.

Figures released Thursday show that nearly 12 percent of all Americans with a mortgage — a record 5.4 million homeowners — were at least one month late or in foreclosure at the end of last year.

And it’s just going to get worse.

I think it’s safe to say everyone saw this coming.

JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) said it is cutting up to 14,000 jobs, more than previously disclosed, as it tries to reduce costs in the face of a slumping economy and higher credit losses.

The second-largest U.S. bank on Thursday said it now expects to shed as many 12,000 jobs from integrating the former Washington Mutual Inc (WAMUQ.PK), up from 9,200 announced in December. It also expects to cut up to 2,000 investment banking jobs.

You cannot gobble up an entire company without ending up with too many people on the payroll.

Renowned investor George Soros said on Friday the world financial system has effectively disintegrated, adding that there is yet no prospect of a near-term resolution to the crisis.

Soros said the turbulence is actually more severe than during the Great Depression, comparing the current situation to the demise of the Soviet Union.

He said the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in September marked a turning point in the functioning of the market system.

“We witnessed the collapse of the financial system,” Soros said at a Columbia University dinner. “It was placed on life support, and it’s still on life support. There’s no sign that we are anywhere near a bottom.”

Nowhere near a bottom.

Read between the lines people. Their profit dropped 60%. They still made money, just not as much.

The dismal housing market dragged down fiscal fourth-quarter profit at Lowe’s Cos. by 60%, and executives at the home-improvement chain said Friday that they saw little hope of a substantive fix from a federal effort aimed at helping struggling homeowners.

…

Lowe’s earned $162 million, or 11 cents a share, in the three months ended Jan. 30. That’s down from $408 million, or 28 cents, during the same period last year. Revenue slid 4% to $9.98 billion.

Lowes revenue slid 4% to $9.98 billion. That’s billion with a ‘b’. A 4 percent drop in PROFIT. I know things are bad, but I don’t think they are as bad as the media (and the government) want us to think they are.