BP Well Costs Move About $11 Billion
BP plc (NYSE: BP) said it has pledged collateral to cover the costs of the independent escrow fund meant to cover claims and liabilities from the Deepwater Horizon spill. That is no news. But…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Unemployment May Not Recover Until 2015
The level of unemployment may not return to pre-crisis levels until 2015. The International Labour Organization reports that “if current policies persist, a recovery in employment to pre-crisis levels will be delayed until 2015…
Microsoft Prepares Large Smartphone Launch Which Could Work
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) may be late to launch a line of smartphones with its Windows 7 Mobile OS, but it plans to make up for that with a major foray into the business. The…
IMF: Budget Cuts Will Hurt Growth
Among the profound conclusions in the IMF’s new “World Economic Outlook” is that “initially fiscal retrenchment typically has contractionary short-term effects on economic activity, with lower output and higher unemployment.” The statement is obviously…
Why BP Does Not Need A Dividend
BP plc (BP) eliminated its dividend as the cost to the company of the Deepwater Horizon spill rose into the billions and billions of dollars. The UK-based firm says it has already spent $4…
China’s PMI Surges As Trade Battle Will Target US Services Sector
It is good to be in the manufacturing business in China now. The nation’s purchasing manufacturer’s index jumped more than expected to 53.8% in September, up 2.1% points from August, the China Federation of…
Media Digest (10/1/2010) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg
Reuters: Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HP) named the former CEO of SAP (NYSE: SAP) as CEO and a former president of Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) as chairman. Reuters: A trade by Waddell & Reed Financial helped start…
Mortgage Rates Hit All-Time Low, Does Not Help Slide In Home Prices
Average interest rates on fixed 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have fallen to an all-time low of 4.37%, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of conforming mortgage rates. The drop in rates clearly has done little…
Google’s Android Gains On The Apple iPhone
Google Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android mobile phone operating system continues to eat away at the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone’s lead in the smartphone market. According to ChangeWave survey of 4,000 respondents, completed Sept.…
Today’s Best Market Rumors 9/30/2010 Facebook, Skype, And McDonald’s Workers
Updated throughout the day. Facebook and Skype may form a partnership (AllThingsDigital) McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) may drop its healthcare plan. (WSJ). The Journal story on the McDonald’s healthcare plan is wrong (Bloomberg) Douglas A.…
Facebook, Skype, And The End Of The Phone Company
There are rumors that Skype, the Voice over Internet Protocol service, and social network Facebook may join forces. Each has hundreds of millions of members. In Facebook’s case, the number is over 500 million.…
Faltering Banks Strain Ireland’s Budget To Breaking Point, Bailout Next
Ireland announced that its budget deficit will rise to 32% of GDP, a number which is nearly unimaginable. It would be the equivalent to a $5 trillion annual deficit in the US. The major…
Foreclosures Are About 25% Of Q2 Home Sales
Foreclosed home sales were 24% of all transactions in the second quarter of 2010. The average price of a foreclosed home that was sold was 26% below comparable homes not in foreclosure. These data…
Moody’s Downgrades Spain From Aaa Rating As Austerity Protests Grow
Spain lost its precious Aaa rating as Moody’s downgraded its sovereign debt one notch to Aa1. The agency said the outlook for the new rating is stable. Moody’s gave three reasons for the downgrade.…
Media Digest (9/30/2010) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg
Reuters: China said legislation aimed at a devaluation of the yuan violated WTO regulations. Reuters: IPOs do poorly in the People’s Republic now but can raise money from overseas investors. Reuters: The new consumer…
The Top Ten Ways Workers Waste Time Online
It is broadly assumed that American workers with access to computers spend some portion of their day using them for personal communication, gain, or pleasure. The actual wasted time and productivity turns out to…
BP’s Dudley Makes Safety Pledge With Few Specifics
BP Plc.’s incoming CEO (NYSE: BP) Bob Dudley knows that the public is skeptical about his company’s plans to create a Safety Division. After all, the oil company has made these promises in the…
The Twitter-24/7 Wall St. Market Report 9/29/2010
Twitter has, by most estimates, 100 million members, which makes it one of the largest social networks in the world. All major media companies are on Twitter and some have more than one million…
Today’s Best Market Rumors (9/29/2010)
Updated throughout the day. Sanofi-Aventis may raise its bid for Genzyme (NASDAQ: GENZ). The Administration has begun to pressure American International Group (NYSE: AIG) to find a way to lessen the government’s ownership in…
Bill Gross Of Pimco: No One Will Make Any Money Any More
Bill Gross of Pimco may be the most widely-admired fixed income investor in the world. He is also a first rate pessimist in a pessimistic time. His most recent monthly letter says that the…