EU Prepared Iran Sanctions
EU governments began a process to approve a ban on Iranian oil imports. They believe, that, along with the US effort, this will pressure Iran which has been in the midst of a nuclear…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Germany And France May Push Weaker Bank Rules To Aid Financial World–FT
German and French financial officials believe that new bank regulations which would force many financial firms to raise money are too strict in the current troubled economic climate The FT reports that A joint…
OPEC Wants Oil At $100
OPEC wants oil prices to stay near $100. It members need high prices to cover the costs of their national financial needs. That high price could also undermine economic growth in areas like China,…
EU Leaders May Flank Talks Between Greece And Private Bond Holders
While Greece negotiates terms for private holders of its debt to exchange current paper for bonds with face values of about 70% lower, eurozone finance ministers may dictate what those bonds can pay in…
EU Banks May Rely Even More On ECB
Europe’s banks will not loan money to one another. That is a likely sign that they are too worried to make loans to businesses outside their industry. This has caused a gridlock in available…
Spain Forecasts 1.5% GDP Drop
The Bank of Spain announced depressing news. It says that the nation’s GDP will drop 1.5% this year, and rise a fraction next. The country already suffers from a 20% or better unemployment rates.…
Gas Prices Rise In Last Two Weeks
If low gas prices are a key to the recovery, the recovery has problems. The Lundberg Survey showed that gas prices rose 3.48 cents last week to $3.3944 a gallon. As oil prices remain…
RIM Replaces CEOs, but Too Late
After a series of management mistakes that cost Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) its lead in the global smartphone business, and over 80% of its market value, the firm’s long-time co-CEOs were pushed out in favor…
Greek Bond Talks Snag On Interest Rates
While private holders of Greek debt may agree to take new bonds with a face value 50% below those currently in force, there is still no agreement on the yield on the new paper.…
China December Exports Reach Record
According to MarketWatch Grain, cotton and sugar imports surged last month on a wave of opportunistic purchases and year-end contract fulfilments, with corn shipments rising nearly 400 times on year to the highest…
S&P Affirms EU Ratings
S&P affirmed its AAA rating of the EU, a week after it cut the ratings of several of the alliance’s nations. According to Bloomberg in our opinion, the supranational entity known as the EU…
Sears Up 13% On Financing Talks
Shares of Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD) rose 13% on Friday to $49. There may have been several causes. The first is that all or part of troubled retailer will be sold. The next is…
Netflix, Its Troubles Ongoing, Changes Management Team
Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), it share price cleaved to about a third of its peak because of an increase of what it charges customer, hundreds of thousands of cancellations from subscribers because of the move,…
China Imports From Iran Up 30% In 2011
China’s imports from Iran, a country locked in many disputes with the West and a series of sanctions rose 30% to 27.76 metric tons, according to China’s General Administration of Customs. Total imports rose…
No Deal Between Greece And Private Investors
The hopes of a deal between Greece and private creditor which own some of its sovereign paper faded again today. According to several accounts, representatives of the creditors left the country in the last…
US Airways May Try To Buy American (AMR)–Bloomberg
Bloomberg reports that US Airways (NYSE: LCC) may make a merger bid for bankrupt AMR, parent of American Airlines. The action would make sense for several reasons. The first of these is that AMR and…
Existing Home Sales Rise 5% In December, But Cancellations At 33%
The National Association of Realtors announced that existing home sales rose 5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.61 million. This was only slightly better than the 4.45 million in 2010. In other words,…
Microsoft 1, Google 0
It was no accident that Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) earnings were good and Google’s bad (NASDAQ: GOOG). The assumption that search is one of the best businesses in the world has proved inaccurate. The notion…
VW, No. 2 Car Company in the World, Has U.S. Problem
Volkswagen came close to having bragging rights. Its global sales made it the second largest car and light truck manufacturer worldwide. That placed it ahead of Toyota (NYSE: TM) and behind General Motors (NYSE:…
China’s Hard Soft Economic Landing
The closely watched HSBC (NYSE: HBC) PMI estimate for China read 48.8 for January, barely better than the 48.7 in December. Any number below 50 represents contraction. The factory activity of the People’s Republic…