05/15/2012 (9:52 am)

Stocks close down 1% on bank, Europe worries

Filed under: Europe, legal |

All three U.S. stock indexes closed down roughly 1% Monday. Investors sold out of stocks on worries over the political and economic stability of the eurozone and the safety of the U.S. banking sector.

Over the weekend, Greece’s political crisis appeared to worsen as parties fought to form a government. The lack of resolution heightened fears that Greece could be forced to leave the eurozone.

"Everyone is trying to figure out how much of the possibility of Greece leaving the eurozone is being factored into the market," said Frank Davis, head of trading at LEK Securities.

The Dow Jones industrial average () closed down 125 points, or 1%. The S&P 500 () lost 15 points, or 1.1%. The Nasdaq () fell 31 points or 1.1%.

Meanwhile, JPMorgan’s announcement last week of a $2 billion trading loss continues to drag down bank stocks.

Bears are roaring back

Shares of JPMorgan (, Fortune 500), which were down 9% Friday, lost another 3% Monday, after the bank announced the retirement of chief investment officer Ina Drew, who oversaw the unit responsible for the trading blunder. Fitch Ratings downgraded JPMorgan’s debt after Friday’s closing bell, voicing concern over a "lack of liquidity."

Stocks of rival Wall Street firms Citigroup (, Fortune 500), Wells Fargo (, Fortune 500) and Goldman Sachs (, Fortune 500) all slid roughly 2% Monday, following 4% losses Friday. Morgan Stanley (, Fortune 500) dropped by more than 4%.

"If [JPMorgan CEO Jamie] Dimon is making these mistakes and known as one of the best managers out there, it really makes people wonder again who is controlling the risk situation at the banks," said Douglas DePietro, head of trading at Evercore.

As Greece’s problems heat up, investors made a dash out of European debt securities Monday, with the yield on 10-year Greek bonds shooting up to 27.3%.

The yield on the Spanish 10-year bond climbed to 6.33%. Any rate above the 6% benchmark heightens bailout risk. Italian bond yields also rose, hitting 5.75%.

Meanwhile, the German bund slipped to a record low of 1.45%, further raising the spread between Germany and the weaker nations’ yields.

Investors will keep tabs on Germany after German Prime Minister Angela Merkel’s party lost elections in the nation’s largest state on Sunday. Merkel is due to face national elections next year.

U.S. stocks finished lower Friday and were down for the second straight week.

World markets: Major European stocks closed sharply lower. Britain’s FTSE 100 () lost 2%, while the DAX () in Germany tumbled 1.9%, and France’s CAC 40 () plunged 2.3%.

The Shanghai Composite () lost 0.6% in trading Monday, while Hang Seng () in Hong Kong ended down 1.2%. But the Nikkei () in Tokyo finished up 0 short term personal loan.2% for the day.

The People’s Bank of China took action Saturday to stimulate slowing growth, as it cut the amount of reserves banks are required to hold. The move came a day after economic readings showed inflation, industrial production growth, spending and lending in the world’s second-largest economy all slowing.

Companies: Yahoo (, Fortune 500) CEO Scott Thompson left the company Sunday, after it was found he padded his resume with an embellished college degree, ending his term there after just four months.

The web-portal company also reached a deal with activist shareholder and Third Point CEO Dan Loeb, who had initially disclosed the problems with Thompson’s resume, by agreeing to nominate three of four directors he had put forth for its board.

Beauty company Avon Products (, Fortune 500) said that it would consider the most recent buyout offer from Coty Inc., which upped its offer last week. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (, Fortune 500) is helping to finance the bid and said it would back the purchase.

Shares of online deal site Groupon () rose nearly 11% in after-hours trading, following its release of first-quarter results, which showed narrowing losses and better-than-expected sales. In recent months, Groupon has seen accounting problems, shareholder lawsuits and an examination by the Securities and Exchange Commission, but shares moved up 19% Monday ahead of earnings.

Wall Street betting as big as ever

Shares of Chesapeake Energy (, Fortune 500) rebounded Monday from their Friday sell-off, which was sparked by news that Chesapeake might have to delay some asset sales, which are necessary to pay down its debt.

After Friday’s close, the company announced it had arranged for a $3 billion unsecured loan from Goldman Sachs (, Fortune 500) and affiliates of Jefferies Group (). On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that activist investor Carl Icahn is expected to reveal he has increased his stake in the company to more than 5%.

Shares of Best Buy (, Fortune 500) rose after the retailer said former Chief Executive Brian Dunn’s relationship with an employee was inappropriate but didn’t involve "misuse of company resources" or "misuse of aircraft."

Currencies and commodities: The dollar was stronger against the euro, but fell versus the Japanese yen and the British pound.

Oil prices for June delivery slid to a five-month low, losing $1.96 to $94.17 a barrel.

Gold futures for June delivery lost another $26.30 and reached $1,557.70 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose, pushing the yield down to 1.78%. 

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04/06/2012 (8:40 am)

Employment gains slow, jobless rate drops

Filed under: Mortgage, legal |

Payrolls rose far less than expected in March, keeping the door open for further monetary policy support from the Federal Reserve, even as the unemployment rate fell to a three-year low of 8.2 percent.

Employers added 120,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said on Friday, the smallest increase since October. Economists polled by Reuters had expected nonfarm employment to increase 203,000 and the jobless rate to hold at 8.3 percent.

The weak employment growth last month likely reflected the fading boost from unseasonably warm winter weather. The payrolls count for January and February was revised to show just 4,000 more jobs created than previously reported.

The drop in the unemployment rate, to the lowest level since January 2009, reflected a drop in the labor force. The separate household survey, from which the jobless rate is derived also showed a drop in employment.

The weak employment gains could hurt President Barack Obama’s chances for re-election in November. The unemployment rate has fallen from 9.1 percent in August.

The painfully slow recovery in the labor market is a concern for Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who is keeping open the option of further monetary policy support for the economy if the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high pay day loans.

Minutes of the Fed’s March policy meeting released this week showed policymakers seeing a broadening of the economic recovery, leaving them slightly less inclined to launch a third round of bond purchases, known as quantitative easing, to spur growth.

The private sector added 121,000 new positions in March, while government employment edged down 1,000.

Manufacturing enjoyed another month of strong job gains, with factories adding 37,000 new positions, helped by carmakers trying to meet pent-up demand for motor vehicles. Factory jobs increased by 31,000 in February.

Construction hiring fell 7,000, the second straight monthly decline. In the huge service sector, gains were in healthcare, professional and business services categories. Temporary help fell 7,500 after rising 54,900 in February.

Despite the weak employment gains last month, average hourly earnings rose 5 cents.

The workweek dipped to 34.5 hours from 34.6 hours in February.

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04/01/2012 (7:56 am)

Iraq March Crude Exports Rise to Highest in Post-Hussein Era - Bloomberg

Filed under: Business, legal |

Iraq

02/17/2012 (7:44 am)

Obama

Filed under: Lenders, legal |

The economy is looking better to the American public and with it President Barack Obama

02/09/2012 (5:04 am)

Greek Premier Pushes Party Leaders on Deal - Bloomberg

Filed under: legal, technology |

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos began negotiating with leaders of the political parties supporting his caretaker government as he tried to make up for lost time to secure a second aid package.

Papademos met with the chiefs in Athens today after delaying the gathering for a second time in as many days as Greek officials and international creditors haggled over terms. He held an unscheduled meeting late last night with the so- called troika of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to put final touches on a 130 billion-euro ($172 billion) rescue plan.

Yesterday

02/06/2012 (3:20 am)

Sony, Panasonic Losses Worsen; Samsung Dominates - Bloomberg

Filed under: economics, legal |

Japan

02/04/2012 (12:24 pm)

Russia Signals Keeping Rates on Hold for Months as Inflation Threat Wanes - Bloomberg

Filed under: legal, term |

Russia refrained from cutting interest rates after a surprise reduction in December, signaling for the first time since August that borrowing costs may remain unchanged in the

01/22/2012 (10:52 am)

Merkel Pushes EU Toward Stricter Fiscal Limits, Heeding Draghi

Filed under: legal, term |

European Union governments returned to German Chancellor Angela Merkel

01/15/2012 (11:12 pm)

Euro Leaders Race to Salvage Rescue Plans - Bloomberg

Filed under: Business, legal |

European leaders will this week try to rescue under-fire efforts to deliver new fiscal rules and cut Greece

01/07/2012 (5:00 am)

Gannon-owned apartments in receivership

Filed under: Europe, legal |

A judge has appointed a receiver for the Ridge Point Crossing apartments in St. Louis County, a two-property complex that’s owned by an affiliate of Gannon International.

The appointment is the latest of a string of apartment properties owned by Creve-Coeur based Gannon that have been put in receivership following loan defaults in the past year.

Ridge Point Crossing includes 292 units at 11251 Graben Drive in St. Ann and 96 apartments at 11302 Bonanza Drive in Maryland Heights.

Wells Fargo sought a receiver for Ridge Point Crossing last month after an affiliate of Gannon defaulted on a $9.9 million loan secured by the property, according to court filings.

The Gannon affiliate “has failed to make debt service payments, make critical vendor payments and keep up with payroll obligations,”  St. Louis County Circuit Court Judge Robert Cohen wrote in his order appointing Nolan Real Estate Services receiver of Ridge Point Crossing on Dec. 13.

As receiver, Nolan Real Estate will collect rent at the property, make repairs and pay utilities.

Bill Schierholz, president of Gannon’s real estate group, could not be reached for comment payday loan. Daniel Spirn, an attorney representing Wells Fargo, declined to comment.

The appointment of a receiver at Ridge Point Crossing follows similar appointments at Gannon-owned apartment complexes in the past year.

In April, a receiver was appointed for the 272-unit Springwood Apartments in Bel-Ridge after PNC Bank alleged Gannon defaulted on a $5.7 million loan secured by Springwood and failed to properly maintain the apartments. Springwood has since been sold.

In June, a receiver was appointed for the 336-unit Suson Pines Apartments at 5625 Suson Hills Drive in south St. Louis County after PNC alleged Gannon defaulted on a promissory note and owes the bank more than $13 million.

The real estate arm of Gannon International, which is owned by Chief Executive William Franke, owns nine apartment properties in the St. Louis area.

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