Economics Current Events Article Project, Essay Example

Week ending: October 25 2009

• The Barnes and Noble launch the E-Reader: According to the information given by Barnes & Noble in its website just prior its launch, the E-reader is the color touch screen device which will cost $259 and run on the AT&T’s 3G wireless network. It will likely be the biggest challenge to Amazon’s popular Kindle e-reader.

WSJ: October 20, 2009

• Opel Workers stage plans for strikes: On Tuesday, General Motors Co. appeared to be determined to finalizing the sale of its European operations to Magna International Inc. after the European Commission said it doesn’t want to block the deal,. But the deal had hit yet another obstacle when Spanish labour unions turned down Magna’s offer and scheduled a four-day strike.

WSJ: October 21, 2009

• PepsiCo’s 2.4 million sale: The Soda Market has hit lows in the cut throat stiff competition and the recession has put even greater pressure on companies such as PepsiCo (ticker: PEP). Moreover consumers cut back on bottled beverages to save money. Hugh F. Johnston, president of PepsiCo’s North American Beverages division, sold 38,300 shares for an average price of $62.31 on Oct. 16.

Barons: October 22, 2009

• The rise of Yuan : The Chinese currency Yuan which was first de-pegged from the dollar in July 2005, unofficially re-pegged in July last year – is likely to be unleashed again by the government, now that new economic economic data indicate that the worst of the economic crisis is over.

Wall Street Journal, October 23, 2009

Week ending: November 1, 2009

• At Odds over Land, Money and Gas: Broome County, which includes the town of Chenango, could potentially earn millions of dollars from the natural gas under their feet. They live above the Marcellus Shale, a subterranean layer of rock stretching from New York to Tennessee that is believed to be one of the biggest natural gas fields in the world. Thus New York environment officials have drafted lease with the residents to drill their land.

New York Times (www.nytimes.com): October 27, 2009

• French Weigh $52 Billion Bond Issue: France moved a step closer Thursday to issuing billions of Euros in bonds to raise money to promote growth industries. However a leading research group has warned that such an action would damage the country’s long-term fiscal future.

New York Times (www.nytimes.com): October 28, 2009

• The Royal Mail strike worsens: As we enter the latest of the Royal Mail of UK strikes there are serious concerns that the management and unions are further apart than ever before. The unions are threatening to take the management to court because of the 30,000 additional part-time workers they have brought in.

New York Times: October 29, 2009

• For Recovery Sony Chief Pushes Online Plan: The chief executive, Howard Stringer, of Sony advocates the online idea : an all-in-one online network that pipes Sony’s films, music, games and other content to its TVs, Walkmans and PlayStation game machines.

New York Times: October 30, 2009

Week ending: November 8, 2009

• ProQua Inc shuts down: ProQuo Inc., a start-up company that offered to filter out junk mail, to our growing list of venture-backed start-ups that have shut down this year. The company had raised $15 million over two rounds from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Mission Ventures.

Wall Street Journal November 3, 2009

• U.S. already $292 bln in the red this year – CBO: Congressional analysts said on Friday that the U.S. government showed a massive shortfall in the first two months of this fiscal year. The federal budget has been shattered by the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, as tax revenues have plunged and spending on safety-net programs like unemployment insurance have skyrocketed. The CBO estimated the deficit for November will have come in at $115 billion.

CNBC: November 4, 2009

• Conoco Phillips Shares: Despite numerous warnings that the global economy is still struggling, just about everyone following energy predicts at least one more spike in oil prices in coming years. It’s just that scenario that prompted Deutsche Bank analyst Paul Sankey to publish today a 61-page opus to clients in which he upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips (COP) to “Buy” from “Hold” and raised his price target to $55 from $40.

Barons: November 5, 2009

• BA Share prices rise: Announcing a six month operating loss of 111 million, a pre-tax loss of 292 million, paying no interim dividend and showing the poor performance for the rest of the year would in more normal circumstances have been enough to send the share prices down. But in fact the shares traded around 5% ahead in early morning trade.

WSJ: November 6, 2009

Week Ending: November 15, 2009

• ‘Good Friday’ but no respite in job losses: The key points of the surprisingly strongNovember jobs report, is that the US jobs market is starting to turn but the complete turn round will take time. This report lifted stocks and the dollar on Friday while pounding bonds, commodities and gold.

Financial Times: November 9, 2009

• The new challenges faced by Samsung : Samsung Electronics Co. has closed in on Hewlett-Packard Co., the world’s largest technology company by revenue, but walks a tightrope between its interests and those of other electronics makers to which it sells key parts like memory chips.

WSJ: November 11, 2009

• The Leak in HP spruces 3Com sells: The options market saw a spruce of action in 3Com, several hours before Hewlett-Packard announced plans to buy the technology company for $2.7 billion. Trading in 3Com suggested some traders may have known about the deal before the formal announcement. Options strategists said. “It could be that something leaked about this deal because someone buying those options for 60 cents, which could now be worth $2.60.”

WSJ: November 12, 2009

• Disney Gains and J. C. Penny gets boost: Walt Disney propelled the Dow Jones Industrial Average higher and retailer J.C. Penny got a boost from investors. The gain in the stock market was a surprise, as reports showing a decline in U.S. consumer sentiment in November and a widening of the trade deficit in September.

Wall Street Journal: November 13, 2009

Week Ending: November 22, 2009

• Time Warner Sets AOL Spin for December 9: Time Warner (TWX) has scheduled the terms for its spinoff of AOL, which will be made December 9 to holders of record. Holders will get one AOL share for every 11 shares of TWX they hold. Fractional shares will not be issued; instead they will be aggregated and sold in the open market, with proceeds paid to the holders who would have received fractional shares. The deal has been structured as a tax-free dividend.

Barons: November 16, 2009

• A Brighter Fourth Quarter for Capital One: CAPITAL ONE (TICKER: COF) posted its October monthly credit statistics in an 8-K filing and its credit-card Master Trust performance in a 10-D filing this morning. The credit trends were mixed, with the charge-off rate declining more than our expectations and the delinquency rate rising more than our expectations.

Barons: November 17, 2009

• Former Wal-Mart CEO’s $13 Million Sale : In the current scenario of a long drought in consumer spending, shares of discount stalwarts like Wal-Mart Stores (ticker: WMT) could be a bastion of safety. But the company’s former chief executive seems to be signaling otherwise by selling $13 million in shares. H. Lee Scott Jr., now Wal-Mart’s executive committee chairman, sold 244,414 shares at an average price of $53.31 each.

Barons: November 18, 2009

• Stagnation in Housing sales:  Even though the home-buying subsidy was extended through next March and expanded beyond first-time buyers, there’s little evidence that these giveaways are working. Applications for mortgages for home purchases, for instance, fell to a 12-year low last week even with a 30-year mortgage going for well under 5%.

Barons: November 19, 2009

Week Ending: November 29, 2009

• Fed Forecasts: Fed officials have predicted growth and a soft recovery to avoid inflation to creep in. They also squabbled over the asset sales.

Wall Street Journal: November 24, 2009

• Home Prices’ in U.S higher: The home prices have been higher in September but the pace of its ascent is slower as compared to prior months. It raises the doubt of the recovery of the U.S housing sector.

Wall Street Journal: November 25, 2009

• The second stimulus package of China: A flood of money is on the way as Beijing struggles to control market forces on the upside. China is ready to soon have a second economic stimulus though there has been no official announcement of the package. The stimulus will come via forces policy makers are only partly able to control and conditions are falling into place for a new monetary loosening to follow the enormous expansion of bank credit in the “first” stimulus of the past year.

Wall Street Journal: November 26, 2009

• The confidence in Euro-Zone Rises: The consumer and business confidence of the Euro Zone improved substantially in November, and the capacity use in the manufacturing rose for the first time since the start of the financial crisis.

Wall Street Journal: November 27, 2009

Week Ending: December 6, 2009

• Gold tops and reaches $1,200: Gold hit a record above $1,200 as fears about Dubai’s debt problems eased and the dollar further weakened.

Wall Street Journal, December 1, 2009

• The Ford, Toyota Sales rise: U.S. light-vehicle sales rose modestly in November as the industry continued to move past the effects of the summer’s “cash for clunkers” program, with Ford and Toyota posting increases of 0.1% and 2.6%, respectively. GM’s sales fell 1.8%; Chrysler’s sank.

Wall Street Journal, December 2, 2009

• Bernstein Revives IPO Business: Wall Street firm, known for its research, is returning to the business of pitching new-stock issues. With its core business under duress, Wall Street firm Alliance Bernstein LP is reaching into its old bag of tricks. Last month, its Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. brokerage unit had come back into IPOs, using its sales force to help Dollar General Corp. sell shares in an offering last month.

Wall Street Journal, December 3, 2009

• Unemployment rate drops to 10%: U.S. job losses in November showed a significant drop since the start of the recession, and the unemployment rate unexpectedly declined. It is a healthy sign and shows that the labour market is finally healing as the economy recovers. The Labour Department said on Friday that the Nonfarm payrolls fell by just 11,000 last month, slowing down from a downwardly revised 111,000 drop seen in October. It was due to the recovery which encouraged some companies to retain workers.

Wall Street Journal, December4, 2009,