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BUSINESS
Fed
Warns Slow Growth Keeps Recovery From Gaining Strength
Moneynews.com
By The Associated Press
Wednesday, July 28, 2010 2:03 PM
The pace of economic activity has slowed or held steady in parts of
the country, revealing a choppy path back to health. |
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A new survey released by the Federal Reserve found the U.S.
economy growing this summer, even as risks mount. Of the
12 regions tracked by the Fed, the survey said Wednesday
that growth held steady in Cleveland and Kansas City, but
slowed in Atlanta and Chicago. Economic activity elsewhere
was described as modest.
High unemployment, cautious consumers and
businesses, an ailing housing market and an edgy Wall Street
have kept the recovery from gaining strength.
Manufacturing expanded in most regions.
However, half of them — New York, Cleveland, Kansas
City, Chicago, Atlanta and Richmond — reported that
activity had "slowed" or "leveled off."
Steel production declined in both Chicago and Cleveland.
Retailers reported sales gains, although
merchants in some places said shoppers focused on buying
"necessities." Sales of big-ticket goods were
slower. In fact, reports across most regions found that
auto sales had declined.
The housing market turned more sluggish
after homebuyer tax credits expired in April. Commercial
real estate businesses continued to "struggle"
across all 12 regions, the survey said.
READ THE ENTIRE STORY - CLICK HERE
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As of 7:15 a.m. in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
futures rose 49 points, or 0.47%, to 10497, the S&P
500 index futures rose 5.5 points to 1107.60 and the Nasdaq
100 futures were up 6.75 points to 1876.50.
Before today's open, investors will get another dose of
earnings results from Fortune 500 companies such as Colgate-Palmolive
(CL: 83.82 ,0.00 ,0.00%), Motorola (MOT: 7.68 ,0.00 ,0.00%),
MetLife and most notably Exxon (XOM: 60.91 ,0.00 ,0.00%).
The oil and gas giant is expected to report a profit of
$1.47 per share, based on estimates by Thomson Reuters.
The company's outlook and comments on the political or economic
aftermath of the BP oil disaster may also affect trading.
READ
THE ENTIRE STORY - CLICK HERE
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| Foreclosure
Surge in Most Big Cities as Home Crisis Spreads
Moneynews.com
By The Associated Press
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Households across a majority of large U.S. cities received
more foreclosure warnings in the first six months of this year than
in the first half of 2009, new data show. |
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The trend is the latest sign that the nation's foreclosure
crisis is worsening as homeowners battling high unemployment,
slow job growth and an uneven rebound in home prices continue
to fall behind on their mortgage payments.
In all, 154 out of 206 metropolitan areas
with at least 200,000 residents posted an annual increase
in foreclosure activity between January and June, foreclosure
listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.
The firm tracks notices for defaults, scheduled
home auctions and home repossessions — warnings that
can lead up to a home eventually being lost to foreclosure.
The latest figures show the threat of foreclosures
is spreading well beyond the top tier of metropolitan areas
located in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona, which
have borne the brunt of the fallout from the housing crisis.
Those states saw housing values surge during
the housing boom years. When the boom ended, values collapsed
and foreclosures soared.
READ
THE ENTIRE STORY - CLICK HERE
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Rupert
Murdoch to White House: No free news
By GLENN THRUSH
Wednesday, July 28,
2010 12:38 PM
It looks like Rupert Murdoch has finally figured out
a way to make the White House pay — literally. |
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The Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal has jacked up the
rate it charges the administration’s news clipping
service by a jaw-dropping $600,000 per year — and
is steering the White House towards a direct deal with News
Corp., according to an administration official.
“Obviously, we’re not
paying $500,000. This is taxpayer money,” the official
said. “We have no idea how we’re going to handle
this. We may have to drop [The Journal].”
It's unclear how News Corp. arrived at
the $600,000 figure. But copyright laws would prevent the
news-clipping service from widely disseminating Wall Street
Journal articles without the parent company''s permission.
For the past decade, Democratic and Republican administrations
alike have paid a small Virginia-based media company $100,000
or more each year to prepare customized packages of excerpts
from print, TV, radio and blog outlets. Bulletin News of
Reston performs the labor-intensive searches, which would
otherwise require the hiring of government staff, every
night starting at 9 p.m., delivering a package of article
extracts and Web links to the West Wing by 5 a.m. each morning.
READ THE ENTIRE STORY - CLICK HERE
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New
jobless claims drop again, but remain high
Thursday, July 29, 2010
WASHINGTON — New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits
fell slightly more than expected last week, government data
showed on Thursday, offering a ray of hope for the anemic
labor market recovery. |
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Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 11,000
to a seasonally adjusted 457,000 in the week ended July
24, the Labor Department said.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast
claims slipping to 459,000 from the previously reported
464,000 the prior week, which was revised slightly up to
468,000 in Thursday's report.
The four-week average of new jobless claims,
seen as a better measure of underlying labor market trends,
fell 4,500 to 452,500.
A Labor Department official described the
report as "fairly straight forward." Jobless claims
have not fallen much this year and remain above levels that
analysts say are consistent with sustained jobs growth.
Sluggish jobs growth remains the
biggest obstacle to the economy's recovery from its longest
and deepest recession since the 1930s, which showed signs
of slowing down in the last couple of months.
READ
THE ENTIRE STORY - CLICK HERE
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