Are Unemployment Benefits a Blessing or a Curse?
When the US Congress left town for its Fourth of July recess, one of the last things the Senate did was to deny the Obama administration’s proposal to extend funding for both the Extended…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Today’s Best Market Rumors (7/9/2010)
Updated throughout the day. Deutsche Bank AG , Commerzbank AG and Deutsche Postbank will probably pass Europe stress tests. (Bloomberg) Singapore may pass China as the fastest growing economy in Asia (Bloomberg) Citigroup’s Asia…
The Twitter-24/7 Wall St. Stock Market Report 7.9.2010 The Wisdom Of Crowds
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…
China Renews Google License
Google Inc said that the Chinese authorities had renewed its China-based search page license, according to Reuters. Douglas A. McIntyre
Mortgage Rates Hit A Record Low — Again
Freddie Mac reports that mortgage rates hit another record low of 4.57% on a 30 year fixed home loan last week. That is down from the previous record low hit last week. According to…
Now It Is The Rich Who Abandon Their Homes
The rich are not selling their homes because they cannot find buyers. So like the rest of the 11 million US mortgage holders in the US with underwater mortgages, they are walking away from…
Yahoo! Cuts Deal With Zillow For Real Estate Listings
Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) will outsource its real estate section to Zillow, a popular listings site. The transaction calls for Zillow.com to oversee a network that will place home listings and ads from local real…
A New Way To Gyp Cable TV Subscribers
The cable and telecom companies have come up with a new way to get more money out of their subscribers. They will offer less expensive plans with many fewer “stations”. That means the cost…
China No Currency Manipulator, At Least Not By US Government Standards
The Treasury Department decided not to name China as a currency manipulator in a cleverly worded decision. The opinion was part of a Treasury report to Congress– the “Semi-Annual Report on International Economic and…
Media Digest 7/0/2010 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
Reuters: The US did not name China a currency manipulator. Reuters: Most money managers don’t believe the U.S. is in a double-dip recession — yet. Reuters: The IMF said housing and unemployment could hurt…
Another Court Rejects Obama Oil Rig Shutdown
Obama may never get his way as he tries to shut down deepwater drilling in the Gulf as a reaction to the BP disaster An appellate court upheld a ruling the the government does…
National Employee Morale Day At Merck
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK) will dump 16,000 workers now that its merger with Schering-Plough well along. The company announced plans to phase out operations at eight research sites and eight manufacturing sites,…
Microsoft Bing Picks Up Market Share–A Rounding Error
The research firm Hitwise reports that Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Bing search engine market share rose 7% in June, from 9.23% to 9.85%. The number is probably within a the margin of error of…
Commercial Real Estate Loan Restructurings Rise Dramatically
The second half of the real-estate debacle was supposed to come in the second of half of 2010. The first part came in 2008, when the value of residential mortgage-backed securities fell hard and…
Why Is Apple’s Stock Down? Android Gains On iPhone
Apple Inc’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) stock is down from its 52-week high of $279 to $256. One of the most significant reasons that although the iPhone, especially the latest version, is selling remarkably well its…
Container Shipping Rises While Commodity Shipping Slides
Seaborne shipping is experiencing a boom and bust period now as container shipping is having a difficult time meeting demand while dry bulk shipping continues its free-fall. The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of…
Today’s Best Market Rumors (7/8/2010)
Updated throughout the day. BP plc (NYSE: BP) will cap its well leak by July 27 (WSJ). The U.S. government is launching a program nicknamed “Perfect Citizen” to detect cyber assaults on private U.S.…
The Twitter-24/7 Wall St. Stock Market Report 7.8.2010 The Wisdom Of Crowds
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…
Consumer Confidence Plunges
Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index fell to -34 last week, the lowest weekly average since last July. At the same time, Gallup’s Job Creation Index remains relatively positive. That means that Americans believe that the…
Bets Payoff On LeBron James’ Future Move Toward Miami Heat
Update Labron James has announced he will leave Miami for Cleveland. Lebron James is moving to the Miami Heat and leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers. At least that is what Intrade, a prediction betting market…