What Is Important in the Financial World (4/22/1013)

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Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) may have received approval from the FAA for a fix to its 787 Dreamliner battery problem, but now the company has to figure how making the changes can be accomplished. Affected airlines are based around the world. Each carrier has to deal with its own regulators, and each has its own policies about safety and testing. Together, these make a easy effort to get the 787 back into service impossible. The Wall Street Journal said of Dreamliner test flights:

All Nippon Airways, which now operates under its newly created holding company ANA Holdings Inc. , has 180 Dreamliner pilots who haven’t been able to fly the aircraft since battery incidents prompted the suspension of 787 services worldwide in January. Training programs like lectures and flight simulators have been only available to maintain the required skills to fly the high-tech jet.

ANA may conduct at least 180 test flights “if a test flight is required for every pilot,” a person with knowledge of the airline’s 787 operations said. Still how many tests might take place remains fluid, the person added.

Shrinking Apple Profits

Bloomberg added to the flow of negative press about Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) with a forecast for the results of Apple’s current quarter:

Apple Inc.’s quarterly profit is projected to shrink for the first time in a decade, hurt by new products with lower profit margins and slower growth in iPhone sales.

Fourteen analysts have reduced their estimates for Apple in the past four weeks, as shares in the world’s most valuable technology company continue their slide from a September record high. Competition from Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) is also weighing on the stock, and pressure is mounting for Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook to introduce hit products to reignite sales

An earnings report tomorrow may show that fiscal second- quarter net income declined 18 percent to $9.53 billion, or $10.02 a share, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue is projected to show a rise of 8 percent to $42.4 billion, the slowest growth rate since 2009

Triple-Dip Recession

The United Kingdom has hit a tripled-dip recession, as its gross domestic product fell by 0.3% in the March quarter. The Telegraph reports on the U.K. GDP contraction:

The Office for National Statistics said that Britain’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell 0.3pc in the three months to the end of December, in line with two previous estimates.

The contraction was mainly due to a 2.1pc decline in industrial production, which represents the biggest fall since the first quarter of 2009, and brings Britain within sight of its third recession in five years.

“Today’s figures confirm that the UK economy finished last year on a very weak footing and keep alive the risk of a triple-dip recession,” said Samuel Tombs, UK economist at Capital Economics.