S&P Informs France Of Downgrade From AAA–WSJ
According to The Wall Street Journal, the rumor that France will lose its AAA rating from S&P is true The paper reports that Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has notified the French government of…
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Douglas A. McIntyre
Apple To Allow Labor Association To Inspect Factories
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has joined the Fair Labor Association (FLA). The company will allow open, independent inspections of its suppliers. The labor practices of suppliers like Foxconn have been bought into question. .The Fair Labor…
Ford To Bid On $54 Billion Contract For Blast Proof Vehicles
Ford will bid against Lockheed Martin to get a contract for blast proof vehicles valued at $54 billion. According to Bloomberg The Army and Marine Corps plan to open competition Jan. 20 in the…
Bondholders Walk From Greek Talks–Institute for International Finance
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/hub.1326407570.htmlThe Institute for International Finance (IIF) said its members who have been negotiating with Greece about bailout terms have left the table. “Under the circumstances, discussions with Greece and the official sector are paused for…
Nokia To Launch Lumia 900 In Late March
The flagship of Nokia’s effort to regain share in the smartphone sector–the Lumia 900– will be released in the US on March 18. Media speculation about the date is based on Windows chief Paul Thurrott’s recent comments. The Lumia 900 will…
France Will Lose AAA-Agence France-Presse
News agency Agence France-Presse has reported that France will lose its AAA credit rating in the new future. ADP claims that Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg will keep their top S&P rating. There have been…
EPIC Asks ITC To Investigate Google Search
The Electronic Privacy Information Center has asked the International Trade Commission to start an investigation of recent changes by Google to Google Search, the dominant search algorithm on the Internet. In a letter, EPIC writes “Google’s…
Spain’s Bank Borrowing Hits 118.9 Billion Euros In December
In a sign of distress within the already weak Spanish bank sector, its average borrowing from the ECB was 118.9 billion euros. The Spanish government has indicated it may have to raise 80 billion to…
Today’s Best Market Rumors (1/13/2012) Kodak Funds, Bank Of America Plans
Updated throughout the day Kodak (NYSE:EK) has approached Citigroup (NYSE: C) for money to tide it through Chapter 11 (Bloomberg) Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) was given a mandate by the Fed to produce…
Euro Area Trade Surplus Sharply Higher
The trade surplus of the 17 nations in the Euro area moved sharply higher according to Eurostat The first estimate for euro area1 trade with the rest of the world in November 2011 gave…
The 10 Most Hated Companies in America
Customers, employees, shareholders and taxpayers hate large corporations for many reasons. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed a lengthy list of corporations for which there is substantial research data to choose the 10 most hated in…
In Layoff Wave, a New Threat of Economic Retreat
The public and the press usually measure unemployment one month at a time as data from ADP and the federal government are issued. The jobs market can also be tracked in another way. Mass…
The Video Game Recession
The holiday season should be the best part of the year for video game hardware and software makers. But research firm NPD said industry sales fell 21% in December to $3.99 billion. Hardware sales dropped…
What Happens When Kodak Surrenders
When Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK) goes into Chapter 11, which is all but certain, its patent portfolio will not be the only part of its business that will be affected. An auction of the patents may…
What’s Important in the Financial World (1/13/2012) iPhone Riots, Goldman Oil Price Forecast
Layoffs have surged recently. There is no telling why they happened all at about the same time. Drug giant Novartis (NYSE: NVS) said it will cut nearly 2,000 jobs. Food Lion will shut 113 stores,…
Media Digest (1/13/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg
TPG may invest $1 billion in troubled Olympus. (Reuters) President Obama to ask for a $1.2 trillion increase in the national debt ceiling. (Reuters) China’s foreign currency reserves drop to $3.18 trillion, a sign…
Asia And Europe Market Move High On Eurozone Hopes
Most indices in Asia and Europe rose on hope that the financial crisis in the eurozone has improved. Recent auctions of Italian and Spanish bonds have been completely below expected interest rates. In Asia,…
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi Says EU Problems Improve
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi says his organization has helped pull Europe part way out of its debt crisis. The bank has been the safe harbor for hundreds of billions of dollar in…
Kodak May Turn To Citi For Chapter 11 Finance–Bloomberg
Eastman Kodak may turned to Citigroup for money to carry it through Chapter 11. The news, reported by Bloomberg, is another bit of information that a bankruptcy is imminent. Some investors still believe that Kodak…
Italy Three-Year Debt Costs Fall
Government leaders in the eurozone have hoped that the panic over sovereign debt would end or at least drop An auction of Italian debt, after successful auctions by Italy and Spain yesterday, should ease fears According…