Archives: September 2007

Earnings Slowdown

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on September 28, Categories: early

Even if the US economy manages to avoid slipping into recession, the outlook for corporate profits has deteriorated markedly. Third-quarter profits among companies in the S&P 500 are expected...

Revving Up a Search Engine

Posted by: Harry Maurer on September 27, Categories: late

This time around, Microsoft’s ambitions are a bit more modest. The company unveiled its latest search technology, called Live Search, claiming it will produce results more relevant to Web...

Global Stocks Surge

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on September 27, Categories: early

Asian stocks rallied, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index hitting a new high, and benchmark indices in Tokyo, Seoul, and Taipei gaining more than 1%. Shares in Europe climbed...

Heavy Goods Take a Dive

Posted by: Harry Maurer on September 26, Categories: late

You know that next Fed rate cut you’re betting on? Well, you may want to put more money on it. The Commerce Dept. reports that durable goods orders sagged severely...

Heavy Goods Take a Dive

Posted by: Harry Maurer on September 26, Categories: late

You know that next Fed rate cut you’re betting on? Well, you may want to put more money on it. The Commerce Dept. reports that durable goods orders sagged severely...

GM and UAW Reach Agreement, End Strike

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on September 26, Categories: early

General Motors and the United Automobile Workers reached an agreement at 3:05 A.M. Wednesday morning ending a two-day strike. On Monday, 73,000 union workers walked out on GM after negotiations...

Too Depressed to Shop?

Posted by: Harry Maurer on September 25, Categories: late

It’s been almost two years since US consumers were this blue. The Conference Board’s index of consumer confidence tumbled in September even more than experts had predicted, to 99.8...

Desperate Liaison

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on September 25, Categories: early

Microsoft is in talks to acquire a 5% stake in fast-growing social-networking site Facebook for $300 million to $500 million, a deal that would value the three-year-old start-up at...

Take That, GM!

Posted by: Harry Maurer on September 24, Categories: late

For the first time in 37 years, GM’s workers walked out. The UAW, which had set a strike deadline of 11 a.m., surprised most observers by sticking to it...

GM, UAW Near Deal

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on September 24, Categories: early

United Auto Workers and General Motors were headed toward agreement on a new four-year contract that would shift the burden of rdetiree health-care costs to a new union-run trust...

Director Steven Spielberg and partner David Geffen, with Jeffrey Katzenberg the founders of the Dreamnworks film studio, are in an increasingly public and acrimonious battle with corporate parent Viacom...

Up and Down on the Street

Posted by: Harry Maurer on September 20, Categories: late

Wall Street has been eagerly awaiting the earnings reports of its major investment banks to see how badly they’re being hit by the subprime disaster and the credit crunch....

Up and Down on the Street

Posted by: Harry Maurer on September 20, Categories: late

Wall Street has been eagerly awaiting the earnings reports of its major investment banks to see how badly they’re being hit by the subprime disaster and the credit crunch....

Dubai's Global Play

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on September 20, Categories: early

Borse Dubai, the government-owned exchange that is supposed to become a centerpiece of a new international financial center, will acquire a 19% stake in Nasdaq, the second-biggest US stock...

Treasury Traders Take Cover

Posted by: Harry Maurer on September 19, Categories: late

As if to confirm the wisdom of the Fed’s rate cut yesterday, the consumer price index was well-behaved in August, with prices actually falling by 0.1% and core inflation—that...

Treasury Traders Take Cover

Posted by: Harry Maurer on September 19, Categories: late

As if to confirm the wisdom of the Fed’s rate cut yesterday, the consumer price index was well-behaved in August, with prices actually falling by 0.1% and core inflation—that...

The Fed Throws a Global Party

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on September 19, Categories: early

Stocks soared in Asia, with most major market indices posting gains of 3% or more. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 3.7%, its biggest one-day rally in more than five years....

The Fed Goes for Broke

Posted by: Harry Maurer on September 18, Categories: late

Most observers were expecting a quarter-point cut. But the Federal Open Market Committee apparently decided to send a stronger signal, voting unanimously to slash the federal funds rate by...

It's IBM vs. Microsoft--Again

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on September 18, Categories: early

IBM will offer free office software on the internet beginning tomorrow that it hopes will lure corporate users away from Microsoft’s dominant Office Suite products—and spur demand for its...

Red-Faced in Redmond

Posted by: Harry Maurer on September 17, Categories: late

Many call it the most important antitrust case in European history, and Microsoft just suffered a grievous defeat. Ruling on an appeal by the software giant, the European Court...

GM, UAW Talks Turn Critical

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on September 17, Categories: early

General Motors and the United Auto Workers have made substantial progress in talks on a new contract, agreeing in principle on the creation of a union-administered trust fund that...

Rescue for British Lender

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on September 14, Categories: early

The credit crunch claimed its first big British victim as the Bank of England agreed to provide emergency financial backing for Northern Rock, one of the country’s largest mortgage...

Joblessness: Things Could Be Worse

Posted by: Harry Maurer on September 13, Categories: late

Ugly news on US job growth—that is, job shrinkage—whacked the stock market last Friday, as the specter of recession suddenly loomed closer. Today comes news on unemployment applications that...

Down to the Wire

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on September 13, Categories: early

Kolhberg Kravis Roberts and its bankers are still wrestling over just how much debt—and on what terms—the lenders will try to sell to finance the buyout firm’s $26 billion...

Political Tremors in Tokyo

Posted by: Harry Maurer on September 12, Categories: late

With his popular support cratering, and in the wake of a humiliating electoral defeat, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he would step down as soon as his Liberal...

Dollar Doldrums

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on September 12, Categories: early

US currency slumps to a record low of almost $1.39 against the euro as traders bet the Federal Reserve’s policy-making Open Market Committee will cut short-term interest rates by...

O.K., We'll Pump More Oil

Posted by: Harry Maurer on September 11, Categories: late

OPEC decided to open the spigots a bit in a bid to ease the pressure on crude prices. At a meeting in Vienna, cartel members decided to let 500,000...

Boiling Over

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on September 11, Categories: early

China’s inflation accelerated to 6.5% in August, the fastest pace in 10 years, on the back of soaring food prices, and the monthly trade surplus widened to the second-highest...

Smoke Signals from the Fed

Posted by: Harry Maurer on September 10, Categories: late

Three Federal Reserve honchos gave speeches as part of a barrage scheduled before the Sept. 18 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. Janet Yellen, head of the San...

Stocks Fall on Slowdown Fears

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on September 10, Categories: early

Asian stocks declined, and European shares were down in morning trading after a report that Japan’s economy shrank more than expected in the second quarter. UIS stock index futures...

Still on Edge

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on September 07, Categories: early

Asian shares fell, closing out the first losing week in three, and European shares were down in early trading, led by financial stocks as investors fretted that bank earnings...

Nardelli Raids Toyota Again

Posted by: Harry Maurer on September 06, Categories: late

New Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli grabbed a right-hand man, naming Jim Press president and vice-chairman of the carmaker. Press had been president and COO of Toyota North America. He’ll...

Core Conundrum

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on September 06, Categories: early

Since the oil and food price shocks of the 1970s, it’s been accepted wisdom that “highly volatile” food and energy prices should be excluded from the “core” inflation rate...

Growth Will Take a Hit, says the OECD

Posted by: Harry Maurer on September 05, Categories: late

The Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development cut its forecasts for GDP growth in Europe and the U.S., saying the credit crunch may force even gloomier prognostications. The report...

High Rise Deep Freeze

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on September 05, Categories: early

The roaring market for commercial property has all but ground to a halt as the credit crunch dries up lending and prospective buyers walk away. Until recently strong demand...

Ford Still Sliding, GM Up

Posted by: Harry Maurer on September 04, Categories: late

It’s not working—at least so far. Ford’s turnaround plan showed little impact on August sales, which dropped 14% from the same month last year. On the other hand, GM,...

A September Swoon?

Posted by: Stuart Jackson on September 04, Categories: early

September, historically a down month for US stocks, is likely to live up to its reputation, at least at the opening gun. After declines in Asia and Europe, US...

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