By Ben Rooney, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: March 27, 2009: 10:00 AM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Consumer spending rose in February, rebounding for the second month in row after falling for 6 straight months, according to government figures released Friday.
The Commerce Department said spending by individuals rose 0.2%, after increasing a revised 1.0% in January. February's results were in line with a forecast from Economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
After adjusting for inflation, however, real personal spending declined 0.2%. In January, it rose 0.7%.
... Continue reading at http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/27/news/economy/personal_spending_income/index.htm
Friday, March 27, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
EXCHANGE TRADED
BY TRANG HO
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 3/23/2009
News of the Treasury Department's plan to clear bad assets off the books, along with a rise in home sales, jolted the market to its highest level in five weeks.
SPDR KBW Bank (KBE), Regional Bank HOLDRs (RKH), Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF), iShares Dow Jones US Financial Sector (IYF) and other financial ETFs led the S&P 500's massive 7% surge after a two-day pause. The ETFs each rallied 14% to an eye-popping 19%.
Although volume rose more than average, it was lower than in the rally's first week, which started March 9. All three ETFs cleared their 10-week moving averages but face resistance at their February peaks.
... Read rest of the story at http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=28&issue=20090323
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 3/23/2009
News of the Treasury Department's plan to clear bad assets off the books, along with a rise in home sales, jolted the market to its highest level in five weeks.
SPDR KBW Bank (KBE), Regional Bank HOLDRs (RKH), Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF), iShares Dow Jones US Financial Sector (IYF) and other financial ETFs led the S&P 500's massive 7% surge after a two-day pause. The ETFs each rallied 14% to an eye-popping 19%.
Although volume rose more than average, it was lower than in the rally's first week, which started March 9. All three ETFs cleared their 10-week moving averages but face resistance at their February peaks.
... Read rest of the story at http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=28&issue=20090323
Thursday, March 19, 2009
As funny as the times allow
Michael Schulder
CNN Senior Executive Producer
Tonight, Barack Obama will appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Will President Obama be funny? “As funny as the times allow,” said a White House official. How funny do these times allow one to be? We asked a similar question after 9/11. When can we laugh again? Following are some answers from Aristotle to Ackerman.
You can’t get funnier, given the times, than New York Congressman Gary Ackerman. Read what he said yesterday at the congressional hearings on the insurance giant AIG. He’s hilarious about the investment device that helped bring AIG and so much of the world economy to its knees — the credit default swap, based on collateral from subprime mortgages, which was pitched as a form of insurance.
... click the following link for the rest of the story.
CNN Senior Executive Producer
Tonight, Barack Obama will appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Will President Obama be funny? “As funny as the times allow,” said a White House official. How funny do these times allow one to be? We asked a similar question after 9/11. When can we laugh again? Following are some answers from Aristotle to Ackerman.
You can’t get funnier, given the times, than New York Congressman Gary Ackerman. Read what he said yesterday at the congressional hearings on the insurance giant AIG. He’s hilarious about the investment device that helped bring AIG and so much of the world economy to its knees — the credit default swap, based on collateral from subprime mortgages, which was pitched as a form of insurance.
... click the following link for the rest of the story.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
U.S. Economy: U.S. Consumer Prices Increase More Than Forecast
By Bob Willis and Timothy R. Homan
March 18 (Bloomberg) -- The cost of living in the U.S. increased more than forecast in February, reducing concern of a deflationary spiral that might push the nation toward a depression.
The consumer price index climbed 0.4 percent after a 0.3 percent rise in January, the Labor Department said today in Washington. Excluding food and fuel, the so-called core rate advanced 0.2 percent. The gains pushed the annual core inflation rate up to 1.8 percent, within the range that most Federal Reserve officials, meeting today, say is their objective.
Today’s figures reduce the odds of a prolonged price slide that has stirred concern among officials including St. Louis Fed President James Bullard. At the same time, inflation will probably stay subdued, analysts said; last month’s rise was spurred in part by car and clothing gains that may slow as consumers restrain spending.
“It brings some relief to the Fed, they are exactly in the middle of their comfort zone,” said Harm Bandholz, a U.S. economist at UniCredit Group in New York, who correctly forecast the rise in the core rate.
... keep reading the rest of the article at http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a96UYa3hNIh0&refer=home
March 18 (Bloomberg) -- The cost of living in the U.S. increased more than forecast in February, reducing concern of a deflationary spiral that might push the nation toward a depression.
The consumer price index climbed 0.4 percent after a 0.3 percent rise in January, the Labor Department said today in Washington. Excluding food and fuel, the so-called core rate advanced 0.2 percent. The gains pushed the annual core inflation rate up to 1.8 percent, within the range that most Federal Reserve officials, meeting today, say is their objective.
Today’s figures reduce the odds of a prolonged price slide that has stirred concern among officials including St. Louis Fed President James Bullard. At the same time, inflation will probably stay subdued, analysts said; last month’s rise was spurred in part by car and clothing gains that may slow as consumers restrain spending.
“It brings some relief to the Fed, they are exactly in the middle of their comfort zone,” said Harm Bandholz, a U.S. economist at UniCredit Group in New York, who correctly forecast the rise in the core rate.
... keep reading the rest of the article at http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a96UYa3hNIh0&refer=home
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Depression Fears Subside on Bernanke Remarks, Rally in Stocks
By Christopher Anstey and Scott Lanman
March 16 (Bloomberg) -- The longest winning streak in U.S. stocks since November and reassuring comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke are soothing concern that the U.S. is headed for its first depression in seven decades.
“The financial meltdown and accompanying depression scenario has been taken off the table,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Chicago-based Harris Private Bank, which oversees $60 billion. “The heart of the problem is the banking system, and news coming out of that sector suggests that we may have turned a corner.”
Banks from Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. to Barclays Plc indicated in the past week that earnings have been rising since the start of the year, and government data showed U.S. retail sales may be stabilizing after a six-month rout. With officials working on details of their bank-rescue plan, Bernanke said in an interview with CBS television’s 60 Minutes that the main risk is a shortage of political will to complete the task.
... continue reading at http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a_MU7GJ2KRpM&refer=home
March 16 (Bloomberg) -- The longest winning streak in U.S. stocks since November and reassuring comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke are soothing concern that the U.S. is headed for its first depression in seven decades.
“The financial meltdown and accompanying depression scenario has been taken off the table,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Chicago-based Harris Private Bank, which oversees $60 billion. “The heart of the problem is the banking system, and news coming out of that sector suggests that we may have turned a corner.”
Banks from Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. to Barclays Plc indicated in the past week that earnings have been rising since the start of the year, and government data showed U.S. retail sales may be stabilizing after a six-month rout. With officials working on details of their bank-rescue plan, Bernanke said in an interview with CBS television’s 60 Minutes that the main risk is a shortage of political will to complete the task.
... continue reading at http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a_MU7GJ2KRpM&refer=home
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Dear all:
As you may (or may not) know, I have a keen interest in satire. One of the ezines that I draw my inspiration from is ONION, which is a student run ezine from University of ***, ***. Below is the one article from the current issue. The humor may or may not be appealing depending on your taste, but I just thought with so many glum news around us, maybe this will give us a moment of levity!
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/obama_outfitted_with_238_motion
... SB
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Jamie Dimon Speech
Here is an honest wall street executive who has the guts to speak the truth and look at the meltdown in a balanced manner and then has the leadership to suggest how to get out of the issue. ... AM
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Uptick rule eyed, Fed chief backs accounting tweak
By Rachelle Younglai and Jeremy Pelofsky
March 10, 2009
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Regulators will consider reviving the "uptick" restriction on short-sellers of stocks and a top monetary official lent his support on Tuesday to modifying an accounting rule that has forced banks to take billions of dollars in writedowns.
...
The uptick rule, adopted after the 1929 stock market crash, allowed short sales only when the last sale price was higher than the previous price. The SEC abolished the rule in 2007, after concluding that advances in trading strategies rendered it ineffective.
...
see http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/03/10/uptick_rule_may_return_mark_to_market_changes_seen/ for full story.
March 10, 2009
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Regulators will consider reviving the "uptick" restriction on short-sellers of stocks and a top monetary official lent his support on Tuesday to modifying an accounting rule that has forced banks to take billions of dollars in writedowns.
...
The uptick rule, adopted after the 1929 stock market crash, allowed short sales only when the last sale price was higher than the previous price. The SEC abolished the rule in 2007, after concluding that advances in trading strategies rendered it ineffective.
...
see http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/03/10/uptick_rule_may_return_mark_to_market_changes_seen/ for full story.
The Best Advice
Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of One Laptop per Child, says that this advice has driven his whole life and career. Optimism in an uncertain world. Fortune, Dec 5, 2008.
Real Story of Housing Market
With all media outlets spitting out horror stories of crashing economy and crumbling real-estate market, lets cut through the chase and find out the real statistics of housing market. Once you get the real statistics you can decide for yourself where do we find ourselves.
In telling a story, what is being said is as important as who is telling the story and how. In the end it comes down to the classic case of whether the glass is half-empty or whether it is half-full. The way you perceive is dependent upon your own personality, which, often, gets influenced and shrouded by the media.For the real statistics on housing market, I would like to take you to the website of the National Association of Realtors at http://www.realtor.org/.Once there, click the 'research' link on the left hand side. A new menu shows up with white background under 'research'. Click 'Housing Statistics' and then 'Existing-Home Sales' and then 'Existing-Home Sales Overview Chart for Printing (PDF:17KB)'.
Or, if you want to avoid steps above simply click Existing Home Sales Statistice.
This is the real statistics. Compared to 278,000 houses sold in the US in Jan of 08, 257,000 houses are sold in the US in Jan of 09. Yes the market is bad. But not as bad. Is it?
This website is full of good information. Absorb as much as you can and decide of yourself.I personally would like you to believe that the glass is half full and not half empty.
Cheers everyone. Chin up.
In telling a story, what is being said is as important as who is telling the story and how. In the end it comes down to the classic case of whether the glass is half-empty or whether it is half-full. The way you perceive is dependent upon your own personality, which, often, gets influenced and shrouded by the media.For the real statistics on housing market, I would like to take you to the website of the National Association of Realtors at http://www.realtor.org/.Once there, click the 'research' link on the left hand side. A new menu shows up with white background under 'research'. Click 'Housing Statistics' and then 'Existing-Home Sales' and then 'Existing-Home Sales Overview Chart for Printing (PDF:17KB)'.
Or, if you want to avoid steps above simply click Existing Home Sales Statistice.
This is the real statistics. Compared to 278,000 houses sold in the US in Jan of 08, 257,000 houses are sold in the US in Jan of 09. Yes the market is bad. But not as bad. Is it?
This website is full of good information. Absorb as much as you can and decide of yourself.I personally would like you to believe that the glass is half full and not half empty.
Cheers everyone. Chin up.
Monday, March 9, 2009
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