World Bank Cuts Global GDP Forecasts
The World Bank cut global GDP forecasts and warned the danger of a catastrophe in Europe could have Lehman like consequences in the developing world In a release The Bank has lowered its growth…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
YouTube Leads Online Video Sites In Traffic–Again
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/hub.1326407570.htmlNew data from research firm Comscore shows that Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) YouTube video site led all other video sites in terms of traffic–by an astonishing margin Whether Google makes much money on YouTube is…
Economic Confidence Stays High–Gallup
Gallup data for the week that ended January 15 shows that economic confidence remains high. The information could signal that the next round of consumer confidence data from The Conference Board and The University…
Unemployment A Bit Better In Mid-January–Gallup
A Gallup poll which tracks levels of unemployment improved very slightly from mid-December to mid-January. The research is one of the data points used, along with ADP, to forecast monthly figures from the federal…
Today’s Best Market Rumors (1/17/2012) MF Global Back Office, S&P Investigation
Updated thoughout the day AIA Group may make a $6 billion bid for the Asia insurace operations of ING (Reuters) Federal officials have begun a more agreesive investigation into the role played by S&P in…
Fitch-Greece Will Default
A senior executive of Fitch, the ratings service, has told Reuters that Greece will default. But, the process will be an orderly one, although that may not bring the capital markets much comfort “It…
Mini To Recall 89,000 Cars
Mini, a division of BMW, will recall 89,000 cars in the US. Oddly, the recall is not mentioned at the car brand’s site. Some of the Mini turbo charged versions can catch fire, according…
RIM To Release New Playbooks?
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/hub.1326407570.htmlThe Research In Motion Playbook tablet PC has already been a failure by most standards. The Canadian company was forced to take an inventory write down on the product last quarter. It appears that will…
Saudi Arabia Targets $100 Oil
Saudi Arabia probablywill target oil prices for 2012 at $100, according to several media reports. The desert nation says it needs the price to be that high to offset planned expenditures by its government. The…
China’s Impressive GDP Growth
Most of the press coverage and initial comments about China’s fourth-quarter GDP improvement of 8.9% centered on the fact that the expansion represented a two-and-a-half year low. Somehow, that caused concern that the number was…
Walmart’s E-commerce Woes Cannot Be Solved by a New Online CEO
Walmart (NYSE: WMT) added a new CEO to oversee its e-commerce operations. The general perception is that this business should be more competitive with Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN). That will be hard to accomplish in the shadow…
U.S. Becomes Odd Savior of Global Car Industry
The European Automobile Manufacturers Association reported that car and light truck sales in the region fell by 5.8% in December as demand in Spain and Italy was crushed. Total registrations in Europe came to 13.6…
What’s Important in the Financial World (1/17/2012) Saudi $100 Oil, Zappos Hack
Saudi Arabia apparently has set an oil price target of $100 for this year. That is so high that its effects may overwhelm an economic recovery around the world. Oil and petrochemical prices will move…
Media Digest (1/17/2011) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg
China’s economy expands at a better-than-expected 8.9% in Q4 and area markets soared. (Reuters) Walmart (NYSE: WMT) appoints a former CBS (NYSE: CBS) digital executive as head of its digital operations. (Reuters) Disapproval of Congress…
Samsung Shows Balance Sheet Muscle–$41 Billion Capex For 2012
Samsung, one of the world’s largest electronics companies and the No.2 market of smartphones showed what large profits and a strong balance sheet can do for a firm’s ability to invest in its future.…
ECB Overnight Deposits Reach Over One Half Trillion Euros
Europe’s banks continue to refuse to loan money to one another–even overnight. Deposits at the ECB reached over a half a trillion yesterday–a record. The trend will probably reverse itself, but most likely only…
Greece Situations Worsens
As delegation from the IMF, EU, and ECB started a visit to Greece to determine its creditworthiness to get the next tranche of rescue money, negotiations with private investors continue to go badly The…
Experts Say Olympus Auditors Blameless
A panel of experts which has tracked potential financial fraud at Japan firm Olympus has concluded that the firm’s auditors were blameless in the disaster. The company has sued its former CEO and some…
Italian Shipwreck Ruins Carnival’s Prospects
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/hub.1326407570.htmlThe ship wreck of the Costa Concordia off Italy has done more than take lives and raised the potential of an oil leak. The company that owns the boat–Carnival Cruises–suffered a 20% drop in…
China GDP Up 8.9% In Q4
China reported fourth quarter GDP growth of 8.9%. The number compared to an 8.7% consensus. The expansion was at a rate lower than at any time in the last two years. The global capital…