BP Loses Last Ace, Gives Into US Escrow Demand And Kills Dividend
BP p.l.c. (NYSE: BP) gave up the last ace it had in the hole, agreeing to set up a $20 billion escrow account which will be used to compensate the people and businesses harmed…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Nokia Tumbles on Dreary Forecast
Nokia Corp. (NYSE:NOK) makes and sells more handsets than any other company in the world. The company faces two problems. First, it doesn’t compete well against high-end smartphones from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Research in…
Apple OS Leaves Competition To Eat Dust
According to research firm Quantcast, the leading OS among wireless subscribers who search the web is the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) operating system with a nearly 60% share. Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android OS which…
AT&T Kills Apple iPhone 4 Pre-Orders
From the AT&T website: “Pre-orders for iPhone temporarily suspended.” So much for Father’s Day. Douglas A. McIntyre
Today’s Best Market Rumors (6/16/2010)
Updated throughout the day. The US, EU, and IMF will give Spain $300 billion in aid (various) The Fed may not be regulated under the new financial reform bill (Reuters) BP p.l.c. (NYSE: BP)…
Housing Bleeds Out
Perhaps it is the expiration of housing tax credits, or high unemployment, or fears about a second recession. The Commerce Department said that housing starts in May were awful Privately-owned housing starts in May…
The Twitter-24/7 Wall St. Stock Market Report 6.16.2010 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…
Nokia Hammered By Apple And Android
Nokia oy (NYSE: NOK) may hold 38% of the global handset market, but it has lost whatever edge it had in the smartphone market–mostly to the Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG)…
German Confidence Drops As It Sweats The EU Recovery
Germany’s economy, the fourth largest in the world, is supposed to carry it through the Eurozone disaster. That is what the Germans thought. But the confidence has become a fascade. According to the ZEW…
The Question Comes Up Again: Will The US Rescue Europe
The EU denied rumors that it would give Spain an aid package of $307 billion along with the IMF and US. Spain’s borrowing costs are moving toward those that Greece had to pay before…
Another Dagger Into Housing’s Heart: Defaults Rise
There has been a great deal of data from the federal government that people who have received modified mortgages end up defaulting on those home loans. The number is estimated at 30% to 40%.…
Many Americans Think Oil Spill Damage Will Be Permanent
The two most pessimistic views of the BP plc (NYSE: BP) disaster are that the flow of oil from the well cannot be stopped by human intervention and that the environmental damage from the…
Media Digest (6/16/2010) Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
Reuters: Credit rating agencies will not be heavily regulated under the new financial reform bill. Reuters: AT&T (NYSE: T) had privacy problems with its iPhone 4 order system. Reuters: The EU, IMF, and US…
Government Ups Daily Deepwater Spill Rate To 60,000 Barrels
Every time the government releases new data on the rate at which the Deepwater Horizon rig is leaking, the figure doubles. Today, the Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center reported that the rate at…
The Oil Industry Says It Can Regulate Itself
“Badges? We ain’t got no badges. We don’t need no badges! I don’t have to show you any stinkin’ badges!”–The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 1948 A former Shell Oil Co. President John Hofmeister…
Builder Confidence Flags, Housing Double Dip
The double dip in housing has caught up to another important player. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index dropped sharply in June. Recently, mortgage application dropped another week-the fifth in…
Will The Pilot’s Strike Push Spirit Into Bankruptcy?
Spirit Airlines is currently closed down due to a strike by its pilots. The carrier announced today that the shutdown will continue at least through Thursday. The work stoppage could go on much longer.…
Treasury: Money Still Finding Its Way Into The US
The US probably became a significant draw for “safe have” seeking money in April. That was probably more true in May. The results of foreign investment is American assets was released by The Treasury…
Today’s Best Market Rumors (6/15/2010)
Updated throughout the day. US lawmakers may not put tough restrictions on credit rating agencies. (Reuters) Zynga Network, the maker of games for social networks, has landed 13.5 billion yen from Softbank. (Bloomberg) Douglas…
A Tale of Four Stock Market Decades
By John Tamny of Forbes This one argues that the ’20s stock market resembles the ’90s, and the ’70s resembles the market of the decade just passed. It seems the dollar’s direction versus gold…