My finance view

Unemployment rates increased in 46 of the 50 states last year, according to an annual report issued Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Michigan had the highest unemployment rate of any state in 2008, 8.4 percent. It was followed by Rhode Island at 7 payday loan online.8 percent and California at 7.2 percent.

The lowest jobless rate in any state last year occurred in South Dakota at 3.0 percent. Wyoming (3.1 percent) and North Dakota (3.2 percent) were the runners-up.

What follows is an alphabetical list of the 50 states, accompanied by their 2008 annual average unemployment rates and their changes in percentage points from 2007.

• Alabama, 5.0% rate (increase of 1.5 points)

• Alaska, 6.7% rate (increase of 0.5 points)

• Arizona, 5.5% rate (increase of 1.7 points)

• Arkansas, 5.1% rate (no change)

• California, 7.2% rate (increase of 1.8 points)

• Colorado, 4.9% rate (increase of 1.0 points)

• Connecticut, 5.7% rate (increase of 1.1 points)

• Delaware, 4.8% rate (increase of 1.4 points)

• Florida, 6.2% rate (increase of 2.1 points)

• Georgia, 6.2% rate (increase of 1.6 points)

• Hawaii, 3.9% rate (increase of 1.3 points)

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Royal Bank has turned in a first-quarter profit of $1.05 billion, down 15 per cent from last year’s $1.25 billion but above levels expected by most analysts.

Canada’s biggest bank (TSX: RY) said the turbulent market environment reduced earnings by $646 million.

But its adjusted cash earnings per share amounted to $1.18, well above a consensus forecast for 94 cents according to Thomson Reuters.

Total revenue rose to $6 payday loans for bad credit.94 billion from $5.65 billion in the prior-year period.

The bank left its quarterly dividend unchanged at 50 cents per share.

Canadian banks have so far vastly outperformed their American counterparts, ho have not weathered the economic storm very well, many requiring billion of dollars in government help.

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Industry sources say Hilton Hotels Corp. is preparing for numerous layoffs, possibly some in its IT department which is based in Memphis.

Earlier this month, Hilton’s CIO, Tim Harvey, who is in charge of the company’s IT department, resigned effective March 31. Harvey will stay on for a year as a consultant, a Hilton spokesman confirmed late Tuesday.

Industry sources say layoffs could be communicated to employees as soon as Thursday, but how many people would be affected is unknown. Hilton employs around 1,100 people in Memphis.

When contacted about pending layoffs, Hilton’s communications department issued the following statement:

“Hilton Hotels Corporation, as previously stated, is undergoing a corporate transformation short term personal loans. Any changes within the organization will be communicated directly to our team members at the appropriate time.”

Hilton announced plans on Jan. 21 to move its headquarters from Beverly Hills, Calif., to Washington, D.C., in the third quarter of 2009. When the move is complete, the company will relocate administrative functions of its Hilton Garden Inn brand to Memphis. The Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn & Suites and Homewood Suites brands are already headquartered in Memphis. The recently launched Home2Suites brand will also be located in Memphis.

When the move was announced, industry sources speculated the move could increase Hilton’s employment base of 1,100 in Memphis to about 1,500 people.

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A provincial government oversight committee is asking why the Ontario Securities Commission is not doing more for retail investors.

David Wilson, chair of the Ontario Securities Commission, told the Standing Committee on Government Agencies that the commission is vigilantly monitoring public companies to ensure that they are properly disclosing information to the public.

“We’re doing everything possible to fulfill our mandate in this time of unprecedented economic uncertainty,” Wilson said during his remarks at Queen’s Park.

“With the uncertainty in the markets, we’re sustaining a level of high alert. We believe increased vigilance is necessary to both provide protection to investors, and to foster confidence in the integrity of the capital markets.”

There is a widespread feeling that the OSC, the province’s stock market regulator, represents the interests of Bay Street, rather than ordinary investors, New Democratic MPP Michael Prue said.

Wilson disputed that, replying, “everything we do at the OSC has at its core investor protection. We think our commissioners and goals are all focused in the right direction.”

Prue noted that the OSC is currently looking to fill three part-time commissioner posts. Candidates are required to have senior level experience in securities law or the financial industry.

Prue, MPP for Beaches-East York, asked whether an ordinary investor could be appointed. “There are 13 commissioners. Surely to God one could represent (ordinary investors) without throwing the whole thing into turmoil guaranteed fast personal loans.”

Wilson said that the job requires “significant expertise and skill,” particularly when it comes to hearing cases and developing investment industry policy. He added that the Ontario government is ultimately responsible for the appointments.

The oversight committee also heard from Pamela Reeve, who served on the OSC’s Investor Advisory Committee from January 2006 until it was disbanded in December 2007.

The investor group met five times per year to discuss investment industry issues such as advisor and client relationships, commissions, transparency, and point of sale documents.

The 10 members raised many ongoing issues, Reeve said. When the OSC abruptly ended the program, “there wasn’t a sense we had come to the end of the discussion.”

In his testimony earlier, Wilson had told the government that the Investor Advisory Committee had generated “lots of ideas” but had run its course.

Wilson also told the committee that the Canadian Securities Administrators, an umbrella group of the country’s provincial securities regulators, is moving ahead with proposals to prevent a crisis such as the collapse of the asset-backed commercial paper market from happening again.

The proposals include creating a framework to regulate credit rating agencies, and requiring public disclosure of all relevant information used in preparing a rating on a security.

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Mortgage rates held steady over the past week, as homeowners got a boost from the stimulus bill and President Obama unveiled a foreclosure-prevention plan on Wednesday.

The average 30-year fixed mortgage stayed constant at 5.34% for the week ended Feb. 18, according to Bankrate.com.

The average 15-year fixed rate mortgage sank below the 5% threshold to 4.93%;the average jumbo 30-year fixed rate slipped to 6.92% from 6.98%.

Adjustable-rate mortgages were mixed, with the average 1-year ARM falling to 5.47% from 5.67% and the 5/1 ARM holding at 5.37%.

"Interest rates are moving in a sideways pattern and I don’t expect to see a jump out of this range for a little while," said Mike Larson, an analyst at Weiss Research.

"The government is playing a spread game. It’s selling Treasurys and buying mortgage-backed securities, so it’s suppressing mortgage yields and keeping those rates stable empire payday loans. But demand for U.S. debt is not unlimited, at some point, people may be reluctant to buy it," Larson added.

In the past week, the president signed the stimulus package, which offers first-time homeowners a maximum tax credit of $8,000. On Wednesday, he unveiled his plan to stem foreclosures by modifying loans for borrowers both at risk or already in default, and allowing certain homeowners to refinance.

Bankrate.com’s national weekly mortgage survey is conducted each Wednesday from data provided by the top 10 banks and thrifts in the top 10 markets. 

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CEO Irene Rosenfeld has new marching orders for the 100,000 people who work at Kraft Foods Inc: “Make today delicious.”

That new corporate mantra and a set of seven values to go with it are the latest step in Rosenfeld’s strategy to turn around the largest North American food maker.

Since she became chief executive in 2006, Rosenfeld has revamped the management team, realigned the corporate structure and pushed the maker of Oreo cookies, Kraft cheese and other well-known food brands to increase both sales and profits.

The company has also benefited in recent months as consumers avoid restaurants to save money and turn to its brands to prepare their own meals.

With the corporate framework in place, it was time to come up with a unifying concept to represent Kraft, especially at a point where economic uncertainty is weighing on consumers.

“In the current environment around the world, there’s a lot of pessimism and I am hoping this will be an uplifting message,” Rosenfeld told Reuters on a visit to Kraft headquarters to participate in the company’s employee meeting.

The message is meant to unite a company of 100,000 employees, many of whom came to Kraft as part of acquisitions like the 2007 purchase of the LU Biscuit business or who had developed some their own ways of doing business in “siloed” units that characterized Kraft before Rosenfeld became CEO.

“A number of our business and a number of our functions just grew up in a different place,” Rosenfeld said

The new corporate mission to “make today delicious” will be a backdrop to Rosenfeld’s presentation to analysts Tuesday at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference in Boca Raton, Florida 30 day payday loans.

But the focus of the presentation will be about how Kraft has taken the steps Rosenfeld promised to turn around a company that had often disappointed investors with sluggish sales and profits that were below expectations.

While improvement was seen in 2008, earlier this month, Kraft cut its 2009 forecast, hurt by a stronger U.S. dollar that reduced revenue from overseas sales and a move by consumers to lower-priced competitors.

Company shares are trading near a year low of $24.61 and some investors question whether Kraft, and other well-known food companies, can still be considered a safe haven.

NEW LOGO, WITH A SMILE

Rosenfeld told employees that the motivating idea behind the company’s new identity must yield concrete results.

“While they’ll be interested, our investors will really be looking for proof that our higher purpose is leading to better financial performance,” Rosenfeld said during the presentation, Kraft’s new corporate logo has the name “kraft foods” in lower case blue letters, with the “foods” part underlined by a red smile. 

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BOSTON — When does "absolute" imply something that in reality is far less than certain?

When it comes to absolute return funds. That’s the label mutual fund companies have put on hedge fund-style products that they’ve been rolling out with increasing frequency the past three years. The funds seek to smooth out the bumpy, downward ride the markets have taken lately.

The problem is, the market’s slide has exposed absolute return funds’ big weakness: You can still lose money, even if you manage to fare better than most investors in a downturn. Absolute return funds lost an average 11.7 percent over the 12-month period ended Wednesday, according to Morningstar Inc.

Their 3-year record isn’t much better: an average loss of nearly 5 percent per year. The funds are so new that there’s no 5-year data.
The losses may be a shock if you think the funds all but guarantee a positive return.

"All these funds have clauses in the prospectus that say something like, ‘We’ll use our best efforts to achieve this absolute return,’ " said Adam Bold, founder of The Mutual Fund Store, an investment management company based in Overland Park, Kan. "But I think very few retail investors ever read a prospectus. Instead, what they see are the glossy marketing materials."

Absolute return strategies vary from fund to fund, but they typically employ methods hedge fund managers and institutional investors have long used to smooth returns. Those include short-selling — or placing a bet that a stock will decline in value — and investing in bonds, futures, options, derivatives, arbitrage and leverage.

The "absolute" label differentiates the funds from far more common "relative return" funds that seek to outperform benchmarks like the Standard & Poor’s 500 index. Absolute return funds seek modest gains regardless of how broader markets perform.

Despite their recent losses, the funds’ performance still looks decent compared with funds investing mainly in stocks. After all, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost nearly 39 percent last year.

The absolute return funds are part of a broader category of "market neutral" funds that give investors access to hedge fund strategies. Such funds gathered $5.5 billion in new investor money last year, but still account for less than 1 percent of assets in all funds available to individual investors, said Rob Ivanoff, an analyst with Financial Research Corp payday loan help.

Putnam Investments has long used absolute return strategies on behalf of institutional clients, and last month launched four absolute return funds for individual investors. The funds seek annualized returns from 1 percent to 7 percent greater than those of Treasury bills, a gauge of inflation. Treasury bills have generally been yielding about half a percentage point the past couple months.

Returns are assessed over three years, so if a fund falls short of its target one year, it can still meet it if it improves in the other two years.

Investor fees fall and fund managers receive less if a fund fails to hit its target; the opposite is true if the fund exceeds the target.

"It puts us on the same side of the table as the client," said Bob Reynolds, Putnam’s chief executive and president.

Avi Nachmany, research director of fund industry consultant Strategic Insight, expects absolute return funds to continue drawing investors nervous about volatility. And although the funds didn’t perform well during last year’s sharp market decline, he says the products still show promise to even out returns over the long haul.

"I think it would be a mistake to project from an event that happens once every 50 years or so, and use that as a rule to base expectations going forward," Nachmany said.

Critics like Bold, of The Mutual Fund Store, argue the funds need to establish a long-term track record before investors should consider them. And with investors so nervous these days, Bold says, companies rolling out absolute return funds now are grasping at a strategy to capitalize on fear.

"These funds are being created not by the investment strategy departments of these fund companies, but by the marketing departments," Bold said. "I think it’s a gimmick. Over time, I don’t know how they can possibly deliver on what people think they’re being promised."

Morningstar fund analyst Laura Lutton worries that many absolute return funds give their managers too much leeway to hit their target returns using a wide range of strategies.

"The manager can buy pretty much anything they want to achieve that objective," Lutton said. "And I am just concerned that the longer the leash, the more likely it is that things are going to go wrong."

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Despite tough economic times, customers are finding comfort in the comparatively inexpensive entertainment found at the movie theatre, powering Toronto-based Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund to its best year ever.

The allure of the Hollywood blockbuster also helped propel Canada’s largest movie exhibitor to record gains in 2008, with full-year profit up by 30.6 per cent to $34.6 million. Revenue rose 5.5 per cent to $849.7 million, from $805 million in 2007.

"When people go to the movies it’s escapism," Cineplex president and chief executive Ellis Jacob said in a conference call with analysts yesterday.

The grim economic environment, particularly in the fourth quarter of last year, seems to have given a boost to companies offering affordable options. McDonald’s restaurants and Wal-Mart stores are among those benefitting from the new thriftiness as households retrench in the downturn.

"The Canadian box office continues to exhibit recession-resilient characteristics," said Scotia Capital media analyst Turan Quettawala in a note this week.

Cineplex reported a 2008 fourth-quarter profit of $7.1 million, reversing a $2.8 million loss in the quarter a year earlier.

Distributable cash for the final quarter rose 73.6 per cent to about 4.5 cents a unit from 2.6 cents a unit.

A strong showing with the new James Bond flick Quantum of Solace and teen vampire film Twilight helped drive strong results in the quarter.

Concession revenues per patron in the quarter also rose above the $4 mark for the first time.

"So far we haven’t seen any evidence that would suggest the weakening economy is having a significant impact on concession spending," said analyst Quettawala.

Cineplex last increased concession prices in the second quarter of 2008. Quettawala said given the tougher economic environment, concession revenues may be under pressure in 2009.

However, Jacob said to analysts that he did not see "pricing erosion" in concessions this year no credit check payday loans.

"People want to treat themselves when they get to the theatre."

Another problem area that may be emerging is media advertising revenues – the at-times unpopular ads that play at the beginning of the movie.

While revenues were up for the year, by 8.7 per cent, the fourth quarter experienced a slowdown, dipping by 1.1 per cent as "current economic conditions resulted in fewer advertisers committing to on-screen advertising."

Jacob told analysts that he did not see this as a continuing trend but rather as a "point in time situation."

Despite mounting challenges by software pirates who often have movies on DVD at the same time they are showing in theatres, Cineplex also set a new record for attendance, with 63.5 million theatre-goers in 2008, up 3.8 per cent from the year before.

Cineplex Galaxy said Hollywood blockbusters boosted attendance at its theatres by 16 per cent in the final 2008 quarter, which ended Dec. 31.

"We have diversified our business beyond the traditional movie exhibition model," Jacob said.

Live via satellite presentations of the Metropolitan Opera in addition to concerts, ballet and live theatre have added to the bottom line.

The company is also aggressively moving into 3D and has opened new theatres across the country, including a new nine-screen complex at Fairview Mall in North York in the fourth quarter.

The company, whose fortunes are highly dependent on Hollywood productions, looks like it may have another good year this year.

New X-Men, Star Trek, Terminator and Harry Potter franchise movies are slated to be released in 2009.

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Philippine exports in December fell nearly twice as much as forecast as the deepening global recession cut orders for electronics and clothing.

Overseas sales dropped 40.4 percent to $2.67 billion, a report by the National Statistics Office said in Manila today, the most since Bloomberg started tracking the data in 1981. The median estimate of 10 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had been for a 23.9 percent decline.

The government predicts economic growth may weaken to the slowest pace in eight years in 2009 amid falling demand for the nation’s products and workers. Companies may fire as many as 100,000 workers this year, Economic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto said Jan. 29.

“The numbers will get worse before they get better,” said Song Seng Wun, an economist at CIMB-GK Securities Pte in Singapore. “Full-year exports will likely be in the red. With many facilities running at significantly reduced capacity, it’s not promising on the job front.”

Amkor Technology Inc., which makes semiconductor components, has cut 1,500 jobs at its two Philippine plants, Agence France- Press reported last week, adding to job cuts by manufacturers including Intel Corp saving account payday loan. and Texas Instruments Inc.

Overseas shipments dropped 11.4 percent in November and declined 2.9 percent to $49 billion for the year.

The peso fell 0.3 percent to 47.155 per U.S. dollar at 9:47 a.m. in Manila, according to Tullett Prebon Plc. The benchmark stock index dropped after four days of gains, declining 1.1 percent to 1,930.82.

Electronics Exports

The government forecasts exports will rise between 1 percent and 3 percent this year, according to Economic Planning Director Dennis Arroyo. Electronics exports, which make up about 60 percent of the total, may drop 8 percent, the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries of the Philippines association said in December.

Electronics shipments declined 48 percent to $1.34 billion in December. Exports of clothing fell 11 percent to $160 million.

Sales to the U.S. dropped 21 percent to $574 million. Shipments to Japan declined 28 percent to $458 million. Exports to China fell 58 percent to $217 million.

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A former Queen’s Medical Center administrator has been found guilty of defrauding the hospital of nearly $600,000.

Patricia Cleary Syling, 39, of Lutz, Fla., pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to all eight counts of mail fraud with which she had been charged by a federal grand jury last year.

The charges alleged that Syling created fraudulent contracts between a company she owned and her then-employer, Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, and then invoiced Queen’s for payments under those contracts even though she actually didn’t do any work.

Syling was first hired by Queen’s in September 2001 as the corporate compliance administrator.

U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo said in a news release that Syling admitted that terms of the three contracts prepared by her and her business, Healthcare Financial & Compliance Management, were not requested, nor were the terms bargained for by any authorized representative of Queen’s make quick cash today.

From November 2002 to July 2004, Syling invoiced QMC eight times for payments under the fraudulent contracts created by her and received a total of $594,430.84 in payments from Queen’s, Kubo said.

Syling faces up to 20 years in jail on each count when she is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway on May 26.

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