Facebook Tries To Reverse Problems In Ad Market
Facebook has decided that its advertising sales are weak enough that it could affect the price of its IPO. The social network controls close to a third of the display advertising inventory in the…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Gas Price Jump Higher Again, Toward $5
The chance that trouble in Iran could press gas price for regular to a $4 average in the US increase by the day. As a matter of fact, The New York Times ran a…
Greece Posts Brutally Low PMI Figure
The PMI of many nations in Europe improved last month according to research firm Markit. The region-wide number was 49, not terribly bad as many of the nations in the eurozone are in periods…
China PMI Improvement
There may be a ray of light out of China which shows that parts of the global economy are solid. The PMI of the People’s Republic rose to 51 in February, a sign that…
Media Digest (3/1/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg
Statements by Bernanke about the uneven economy push stocks down. (Reuters) Chinese factory activity grows more than expected in February. (Reuters) Facebook sets new advertising tools for major marketers ahead of its IPO. (Reuters)…
Today’s Best Market Rumors (2/29/2012) HP Layoffs, GM EU Tie Up
Updated throughout the day on the 24/7 Wall St. Wire HP will lay off 275 people from its WebOS division (AllThingsD) GM has balked at a tie up with Peugeot (Reuters) Apple will release its…
States with the Most Miserable Housing Markets
Home prices fell in December to the lowest levels since the housing crisis began in mid-2006, according to the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Index. While other housing statistics certainly suggest that a…
An EU Ban on Credit Ratings Agencies?
A man hardly anyone in the U.S. has heard of — Leonardo Domenici, a member of the European parliament — has suggested that the body ban the ability of credit rating agencies to offer…
Costco Prospers: Are Consumers Optimistic or Frugal?
Costco (NASDAQ: COST) issued extraordinarily strong February sales numbers along with its earnings for the period that ended February 12. Revenue for the quarter rose from $20.9 billion last year to $23 billion. But…
What’s Important in the Financial World (2/29/2012) India’s GDP, ECB Borrowing
Yesterday was yet one more day for speculation about Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) near-term plans. The fever may have been warmer than usual as Apple’s market value moved above $500 billion. The advance helped put the…
Media Digest (2/29/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to launch a new iPad next week. (Reuters) Blackstone (NYSE: BX) says CEO Stephen Schwarzman made $213 million last year. (Reuters) The Justice Department is looking at whether banks manipulated the…
HP To Fire 275–AllThingsD
As Hewlett Packard retreats further from the WebOS it hoped to use in portable devices, the staff that supports it become less important. It may seem trivial, but it’s a sign of HP’s decision to…
Stockton Nears Chapter 9
Stockton CA inched closer to a Chapter 9 filing as it ran out of money, and state aid is uncertain. It become one of several cities which have considered such a filing. The action…
Banks Draw 530 Billion Euros From ECB
Eight hundreds banks drew 530 billion euros in cheap short-term loans from a new ECB facility. It is the second such facility established in less than half a year. The facility is meant to bolster…
LightSquared Fires CEO
Troubled wireless broadband firm LightSquared, backed largely by money from Harbinger Capital led by Philip Falcone, fired its CEO Sanjiv Ahuja. The company, said, however, that he resigned, and that a search for a new…
FDA-Use Of Statins May Cause Problems
The FDA announced today that the use of statins, common among people with high cholesterol, pose problems which were not mentioned on the lables on the drugs before. The agency reported that Information about…
International Swaps and Derivatives Association To Rule On Greek CDS
Did the restructuring of Greek debt trigger a default? Based on S&P’s recent ratings notice, the answer is “yes”. But, the official determination is left to the obscure International Swaps and Derivatives Association which…
Bridgewater Made $13.8 Billion In 2011
Hedge fund Bridgewater made $13.8 billion for its clients in 2011, according to Bloomberg, which used data from LCH Investments NV. According to the findings by LCH, these are the results from some of…
U.S. Creates Another Toothless Organization to Handle Unfair Trade
The Administration, smarting from accusations that it has done too little for the manufacturing sector because of a perception that American jobs have been eroded by the unfair trade practices of China and other emerging nations, created yet…
IBM Sacks 1100
IBM laid off over 1000 workers today according to Alliance@IBM. The people were primarily in the GTS Delivery Application Hosting and AMS Commercial Delivery, according to the source. The same organization claims the IBM…