Google To Launch Android Tablet–WSJ
Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) will launch its own Android tablet shortly. The hardware will be made by partners which includes Samsung According to The Wall Street Journal Google Inc undaunted by a short-lived attempt to…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Investigation Of Apple Supplier Foxconn Finds Issues At Factories
The Fair Labor Association found problems at three plants run by Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) supplier Foxconn. Oddly enough, these come as Apple CEO Tim Cook visits China where the plants are based. The Fair Labor…
Troubled U.S. Cities Still Face Jobs Problems
New data from Gallup show that some cities that suffered the worst jobs losses during the recession have the lowest job creation now. The five metropolitan areas at the bottom of the Gallup Job…
As Broadband Surges in Russia and China, Governments Lose
The number of people with broadband connections in the United States, Korea, Canada and the United Kingdom increased very little last year. Too many people there already have the service for there to be much…
As Spain Strikes, Reactions Against Austerity Surge
Strikes by union members across Spain represent another major obstacle to the future of austerity in the most financially troubled EU countries. The strikes can be added to the threat that the coalition government in…
What’s Important Today (3/29/2012) PetroChina Tops Oil Production, Goldman Board Meets
Europe moved closer to raising the value of all of its bailout funds to a total of $1.3 trillion. Many economists believe that sum will calm the global capital markets. Worry remains that the amounts…
Media Digest (3/29/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg
The heads of the BRIC nations say the pace of IMF-led reforms concerns them. (Reuters) Facebook cuts trading of its stock in the secondary markets. (Reuters) The board of Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) continues to…
Goldman Sachs Still Considers Blankfein’s Fate
GS.COMAs it meets in India, the board of Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) is apparently still considering whether the roles of chairman and CEO at the investment bank should be split. If they are, embattled…
Germany Unemployment At All-Time Low
Germany continues to strengthen as the most powerful economy in Europe as it avoids a region-wide recession. Its Labor Office reports that the jobless rate fell to 6.7% in Mach. Reuters writes that this…
PetroChina Passes Exxon
Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) is no longer the world’s largest corporate producer of oil. That distinction has gone to PetroChina (NYSE: PTR). Reuters reports that “PetroChina announced Thursday that it pumped 2.4 million barrels…
Europe May Raise $1.3 Trillion Bailout Fund
nationsonline.orgEurope pressed closer to raising the value of all of its bailout funds to a total of $1.3 trillion. Many economists believe that this sum will calm the global capital markets. There is still…
Asia Crushed Again, Europe Down
Shares across Asia fell on worry that commodities prices, particularly metals, will continue to fall. Many miner and refinery stocks dropped. The Hang Seng was off by 1.6% to 20,543. The Shanghai Composite was…
Today’s Best Market Rumors (3/28/2012) RBS M&A, Opel Plants
Updated throughout the day on the 24/7 Wall St. Wire Goldman Sachs may split the roles of chairman and CEO (Reuters) The board of Opel may decide to close plants in the UK or…
The Rejection of Austerity Begins
With national elections in Greece only a few weeks away, the coalition that rules the nation finds itself in trouble. Politicians who supported austerity measures as a means to get a bailout of the country’s…
More Debate Over Release of Strategic Oil Reserves
French paper Le Monde reports that the heads of France, the United Kingdom and United States have begun discussions about a release of some of the crude in their strategic oil reserves. Media coverage…
Economy Trumps Oil as Major Concern
Oil prices are more than $100 a barrel for West Texas Intermediate. Gasoline is approaching $4 a gallon. But Americans worry more about the economy than they do the price of energy, though it…
What’s Important in the Financial World (3/28/2012) New Goldman CEO, Obama Gas Poll
Concerns about a slowdown in China’s economy and the effect it will have on the earnings of big companies based there have begun to hammer the stock market. The Shanghai Composite suddenly fell 2.7% overnight. That…
Obama Loses Support On Energy–Reuters/Ipsos
Energy prices have begun to smother President Obama’s popularity. A new Reuters/Ipsos shows that 68% of Americans do not approve of how Obama has handled the gas price crisis. Reuters reports that: The disapproval…
UK GDP Falters–Office of National Statistics
Britain’s gross domestic product dropped more than previously forecast in the final quarter of last year. The Office of National Statistics reported the contraction was 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2011 and not the 0.2%…
CEO Ouster At Goldman?
Pressure from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) shareholder, to change the investment bank’s board composition has dropped. That has not stopped senior management and the…