11/21 DailyFinance

Please add updates@feedmyinbox.com to your address book to make sure you receive these messages in the future. DailyFinance D-Day for Harry Reid: Can he wrangle 60 votes for Senate health reform bill? November 20, 2009 at 7:05 pm Filed under: Economy Perhaps Ringo Starr should attend Saturday night's start to the debate over the health care reform bill in the Senate. After all, it was Starr who first uttered the malapropism that later became a hit song (and movie) by The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night. Saturday evening may shape up to be just that in the upper house of Congress. For clues regarding the bill's destiny, look for key, early maneuvering. Bill author Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, has to retain all 60 members of the Democratic Conference (58 Democrats, two Independents) to pass a procedural vote. If even one conference member strays -- and can't be persuaded to change the vote -- the health care reform bill won't even make it to the Senate floor for debate. Continue reading D-Day for Harry Reid: Can he wrangle 60 votes for Senate health reform bill? D-Day for Harry Reid: Can he wrangle 60 votes for Senate health reform bill? originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments A lonely wiki on Wall Street November 20, 2009 at 6:30 pm Filed under: Investing It seemed like a good idea at the time. Last month the Museum of American Finance on Wall Street, which collects all manner of physical financial artifacts ranging from ticker tape to board games like "Rich Uncle: The Stock Market Game," launched a wiki with hopes of gathering financial tales, too. But the site has attracted just one main contributor since it went live in October. The featured personal story was posted by "Ninja Dad," a finance executive who writes about the pre-credit crisis days of freewheeling loans to homebuyers like his daughter with no income, no job or assets, (aka the NINJA borrower). Continue reading A lonely wiki on Wall Street A lonely wiki on Wall Street originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Majority of states see unemployment rates move higher in October November 20, 2009 at 5:00 pm Filed under: Economy, People Given that the nation's overall unemployment rate rose to its highest level in decades in October, it's perhaps not surprising that a majority of states reported higher numbers of joblessness last month compared to September, according to fresh data released Friday from the U.S. Department of Labor. In 13 states the rate topped the national average of 10.2%, leaving many to wonder when the economic recovery that is reportedly underway will finally result in more jobs. Overall joblessness rose in 29 states and the District of Columbia last month, while the rate fell in 13 states, according to the survey. In September, 23 states and Washington D.C. reported that their unemployment rates increased, and 14 states had jobless rates above the national average. Continue reading Majority of states see unemployment rates move higher in October Majority of states see unemployment rates move higher in October originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Stocks end lower as investors grow skittish about the rising dollar November 20, 2009 at 4:40 pm Filed under: Investing The stock market ended a losing week with light selling as investors grew uneasy about a rising dollar and spiking demand for the safest government debt. After two strong weeks, investors tried unsuccessfully to extend the market's rally after major stock indexes closed at 13-month highs on Tuesday. Disappointing reports on housing and worries about flagging demand at technology companies sapped strength from the market's eight-month rally. Stocks fell for the third straight day Friday as a disappointing earnings report from computer maker Dell (DELL) weighed on technology shares. The Nasdaq composite index, with a big representation of tech stocks, logged the weakest performance of the major indexes for the week. Continue reading Stocks end lower as investors grow skittish about the rising dollar Stocks end lower as investors grow skittish about the rising dollar originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Fed stalls on Chinese bank deal, costs taxpayers $1.7 billion November 20, 2009 at 4:40 pm Filed under: Economy With regulators having seized 123 banks so far this year, one might think the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. would be looking everywhere to find potential buyers for failed financial institutions' deposits and assets. But there's one place to which they're apparently not quite ready to turn: China. When San Francisco-based United Commercial Bank failed on Nov. 9, the Fed was weighing an application by Chinese bank Minsheng to step in and take it over. But while it considered whether Chinese regulators were prepared to oversee a bank with operations on both sides of the Pacific, time ran out and UCB was shut down. Continue reading Fed stalls on Chinese bank deal, costs taxpayers $1.7 billion Fed stalls on Chinese bank deal, costs taxpayers $1.7 billion originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments With a name like Smucker, the stock's got to be good November 20, 2009 at 4:20 pm Filed under: Company News, Investing, Earnings, Stock Picks Cash-strapped consumers are eating more meals at home and that's slathering J.M. Smucker's (SJM) bottom line in sweet, sticky profits. The packaged-food maker said Friday that fiscal second-quarter earnings boomed more than 170%, blowing past Wall Street's estimates by 18 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters. Even more impressive, revenue leaped by 52%. Smucker may be best known for its eponymous jams and jellies -- other brands include Jif, Hungry Jack, Crisco and Pillsbury -- but it's the Folgers coffee business the company acquired from Procter & Gamble (PG) last year that's jolting growth. Continue reading With a name like Smucker, the stock's got to be good With a name like Smucker, the stock's got to be good originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Massucci's Take: Twitter CEO says Murdoch's Google plan is doomed November 20, 2009 at 4:00 pm Filed under: Company News, Technology, People, Media, Google , Apple, News Corp. Twitter co-founder and CEO Biz Stone said Thursday that Rupert Murdoch's potential plan to block Google from searching New Corp.'s (NWS) websites is doomed to fail. Murdoch has accused Google (GOOG) of stealing content from his publications, which include The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post in the U.S., and The Times and The Sun in the United Kingdom. The cantankerous tycoon said last week that blocking Google could be part of his strategy to get more people to pay for content online. Here's a young man, all of 35, who runs a company that makes no money, telling an old man, 78, who runs companies that have made billions, that he is wrong. But while it's easy to dismiss Stone's comments as youthful bravado, I think he's giving Murdoch some valuable advice. Continue reading Massucci's Take: Twitter CEO says Murdoch's Google plan is doomed Massucci's Take: Twitter CEO says Murdoch's Google plan is doomed originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Green Turismo: To save the Earth and save gas, turn cars into video games November 20, 2009 at 3:40 pm Filed under: Energy, Technology, Economy, Green My friend has a Tesla Roadster. For those who are unfamiliar with Tesla Motors, the Roadster is the Ferrari of the electric-vehicle world, a high-performance two-seater with more sex appeal than Mae West. How ironic, then, that my friend pines for her old Honda Insight, a dinky little hybrid that has been a commercial failure but remains a cult favorite among the green car set. Why would any sane, hedonistic California resident wish their Ferrari were a Chevy Chevette? Because the Insight had a wonderful feature that told her how efficiently she was driving. That feature was a light on her dash that glowed green when she was driving smoothly, braking gradually, and accelerating at a moderate piece. It glowed red when she drove like a bat out of hell, braked hard, and turned sharply. While driving her clunky little Insight, her focus was on how to make that light stay green. Continue reading Green Turismo: To save the Earth and save gas, turn cars into video games Green Turismo: To save the Earth and save gas, turn cars into video games originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Philip Morris gets snuffed on a $300 million verdict for a former smoker November 20, 2009 at 3:00 pm Filed under: Company News, Altria Group A Florida woman on Thursday won a $300 million judgment against Altria Group's (MO) unit Philip Morris USA -- the largest award yet among 8,000 lawsuits filed in the state against tobacco companies. Jurors took three hours to return the award to Cindy Naugle, 61, of Ft. Lauderdale, a former smoker who was given $56.6 million in compensatory damages and $244 million in punitive damages. Philip Morris is responsible for all of the punitive damages and for 90% of the compensatory ones. The jury found Naugle 10% at fault. Naugle says she started smoking at 20 in 1968 and made repeated attempts to quit, finally succeeding in 1993. Today, she has emphysema, requires a 24-hour oxygen and must travel in a wheelchair. Continue reading Philip Morris gets snuffed on a $300 million verdict for a former smoker Philip Morris gets snuffed on a $300 million verdict for a former smoker originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments High fund costs can devour your returns November 20, 2009 at 2:30 pm A reader asks this question: "I stumbled across some information on Vanguard's Web site about what they call the 'Investing Truths.' One of them is about costs and shows that a 1.2% expense ratio would eat up 46% of an 8% return over 50 years. Can that be true?" The short answer is "yes". Based on a hypothetical investment of $10,000, a fund with an expense ratio of 1.2% would yield $244,322 to the investor and a whopping $210,693 to the fund. Continue reading High fund costs can devour your returns High fund costs can devour your returns originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Couple arrested after refusing to pay tip at Pennsylvania pub November 20, 2009 at 2:20 pm Filed under: People, Media Talk about a rough night. Two Pennsylvania college students were arrested recently for refusing to pay a tip. According to media reports, Leslie Pope, a senior at Moravian College, and her boyfriend John Wagner, a grad student at Lehigh University, wound up in the back of a squad car after complaining about the lack of service they received at the Lehigh Pub in Bethlehem, Pa. on October 23. They evidently had good reason to complain. Continue reading Couple arrested after refusing to pay tip at Pennsylvania pub Couple arrested after refusing to pay tip at Pennsylvania pub originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Dell in a handbasket: Should founder Michael Dell resign? November 20, 2009 at 1:30 pm Filed under: Company News, Technology, Dell With apologies to Warren Buffett, it's only when the tide comes in that you learn who can swim. With waves of growth on the horizon for the tech sector, it's becoming increasingly apparent that Dell (DELL), the declining PC powerhouse, cannot swim. So maybe it's time for Michael Dell (pictured) to hit the showers. The company's founder returned in January 2007, supposedly to save the company after it spent years adrift. But his performance of late has been so poor that it arguably represents a breach of his fiduciary duty to shareholders. What makes Dell's slide particularly troubling is the apparent strength of other companies in the tech sector, including makers of microchips, personal computers and enterprise servers. "We think this is a Dell-specific problem," Broadpoint AMTech analyst Brian Marshall said in an interview with CNBC. "They've had some trouble over the last few years guiding their company from a strategic perspective." Continue reading Dell in a handbasket: Should founder Michael Dell resign? Dell in a handbasket: Should founder Michael Dell resign? originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Is construction headed for a rebound? Autodesk numbers give a good clue November 20, 2009 at 12:40 pm Filed under: Technology, Economy, Investing Several years ago, when I was doing research for hedge funds, I spent a month talking to Autodesk (ADSK) resellers. Autodesk's AutoCAD software suite is the standard tool used by designers and architects in the construction trade, and it dominates its market much like Adobe's Creative Suite dominates the print, graphic and interactive design fields. Its resellers are the hundreds of consulting organizations and systems integrators that sell Autodesk licenses to customers in the construction business. Like many big software companies, Autodesk relies on a huge reseller channel for the majority of its sales volume. What my favorite resellers all told me was that they like to play construction-related stocks based on what they see happening at Autodesk, which serves all segments of the construction trade including building, civil engineering, office building design, and factory design. Roughly two-thirds of its annual revenues come from sales of software closely related to construction. The resellers claimed that Autodesk sales tend to foretell a construction rebound and will bounce off the bottom roughly six months to a year before good numbers show up at the big construction companies. Continue reading Is construction headed for a rebound? Autodesk numbers give a good clue Is construction headed for a rebound? Autodesk numbers give a good clue originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Mortgage delinquencies skyrocket, Obama's programs not helping much November 20, 2009 at 11:30 am Filed under: Economy, Investing The combined mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates hit 14.41% on a non-seasonally adjusted basis -- the highest ever on record, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Delinquency Survey released Thursday. The MBA reported that in the third quarter of 2009, loans 90 days or more past due, loans in foreclosure and foreclosures started all set new records. Only the percentage of loans 30 days past due is still below the record set in the second quarter of 1985. Continue reading Mortgage delinquencies skyrocket, Obama's programs not helping much Mortgage delinquencies skyrocket, Obama's programs not helping much originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments TARP saved the banking system, but failed at everything else November 20, 2009 at 10:40 am Filed under: Economy, Investing On the same day the Obama Administration floated a trial balloon to test the waters for extending TARP, the Congressional Oversight Panel heard from experts about TARP's effectiveness. While some of the experts did find aspects of TARP effective, they all testified to significant problems with TARP and the way it was implemented. Chairwoman Elizabeth Warren set the tone for the hearing, saying that while the Troubled Assets Relief Program had succeeded in preventing a "catastrophic collapse of the financial sector," it was not "designed really to rescue large banks. The broader long-term goals were aimed at strengthening the overall economy and dealing with the alarming number of mortgage foreclosures." How successful was TARP in meeting these larger goals? Not very. Continue reading TARP saved the banking system, but failed at everything else TARP saved the banking system, but failed at everything else originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Sarah Palin: Yahoo email hack was 'devastating' to campaign November 20, 2009 at 10:21 am Filed under: People Of all the slings and arrows Sarah Palin suffered on the campaign trail, perhaps the "most disruptive and discouraging" was having her email account hacked into, the one-time vice presidential candidate writes in her new book, Going Rogue: An American Life. She echoed that sentiment in an interview with Fox News's Sean Hannity broadcast Wednesday night. At the height of the presidential campaign, a 20-year-old University of Tennessee student hacked into Palin's Yahoo email account and posted it online. "That was quite devastating because I knew of some of the personal conversations I had that were in some inbox and I didn't know what was going to be out there," Palin told Hannity. "That caused a lot of disruption and even distrust within the campaign that was unfortunate." Continue reading Sarah Palin: Yahoo email hack was 'devastating' to campaign Sarah Palin: Yahoo email hack was 'devastating' to campaign originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Keep this in mind if you're a Goldman shareholder November 20, 2009 at 10:20 am Filed under: Investing, Goldman Sachs Nowhere are the rights of shareholders more disrespected than at publicly traded investment banks. Wall Street amply demonstrates that the interests of mutual funds and other institutional investors are hardly at the top of their list of concerns. These banks still think of themselves as private partnerships, and they see the public's role as providing liquidity to those partners. This comes to mind in evaluating the complaints of Goldman Sachs Group's (GS) biggest shareholders who want it to pay out more in dividends and less in bonuses. The Wall Street Journal reports that these whiners include AllianceBernstein, a division of State Street (STT); Wellington Management; and Vanguard Group. These shareholders are concerned that Goldman shouldn't be paying 47% of its revenues to its people. Continue reading Keep this in mind if you're a Goldman shareholder Keep this in mind if you're a Goldman shareholder originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Greentech VC Nancy Floyd: U.S. cleantech firms must go global to thrive November 20, 2009 at 9:59 am Filed under: Technology, Green Nancy Floyd was early to the greentech investing game. A prominent venture capitalist, she founded and remains the managing director of Nth Power, an early-stage venture capital fund based in San Francisco. Nth Power, a $180 million fund, has seen a number of successful exits, including companies specialized in biofuels and "smart" meters. More than a quarter century ago, Floyd founded NFC Energy, one of the country's first wind development companies. She has also been active in non-profit energy projects, such as home audits, and sat on the Vermont Public Uitlities Commision. These days, she makes bets on the future of greentech. I sat down to talk with her in San Francisco. Here's an edited transcript of our conversation: Continue reading Greentech VC Nancy Floyd: U.S. cleantech firms must go global to thrive Greentech VC Nancy Floyd: U.S. cleantech firms must go global to thrive originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Why we shouldn't audit the Federal Reserve November 20, 2009 at 9:30 am Filed under: Economy U.S. Rep. Barney Frank's (D-Mass.) House Financial Services Committee has voted in favor of a proposal to have the Government Accountability Office audit the Federal Reserve, according to the Associated Press. But in my view, auditing the Fed is a thinly veiled first step toward wiping out the Fed, or at least diminishing it through political meddling. And since going back to a world without a properly functioning U.S. central bank is not a realistic option, Fed critics need to think carefully about how we can best regulate the financial markets before they start interfering with one of our most important regulatory institutions. Before getting into why we shouldn't audit the Fed, a brief word on Rep. Frank. Last year, I appeared on a Boston-area TV program right after Frank. As I was sitting in the green room waiting to go on to the set, I was told I had to evacuate immediately. The reason? Frank wanted the green room for himself -- alone. When Frank slowly made his way onto the set, where I was sitting, he completely ignored me and made it clear he did not want to interact with anyone but the fellow interviewing him. Frank ended up taking up all but five minutes of my allotted time. To be fair, he had many interesting things to say. Continue reading Why we shouldn't audit the Federal Reserve Why we shouldn't audit the Federal Reserve originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Stocks in the news: Dell, Goldman Sachs, D.R. Horton, J.M. Smucker November 20, 2009 at 9:00 am Filed under: Company News, Investing, Dell, Ford Motor Co., Goldman Sachs , Sony, Novavax Dell (DELL) reported results late Thursday, saying its net income dropped 54% in the latest quarter amid signs the company isn't fully benefiting from the computer industry's fledgling recovery. Dell's results missed Wall Street's estimates. Shares fell over 6.5% ahead of the bell. Goldman Sachs Group's (GS) shareholders finally found a voice. Some of the largest shareholders have asked the company to cut the size of its bonus pool and pass along more of its profits to investors, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation. Continue reading Stocks in the news: Dell, Goldman Sachs, D.R. Horton, J.M. Smucker Stocks in the news: Dell, Goldman Sachs, D.R. Horton, J.M. Smucker originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Bull market or bubble? History suggests brace for the 'pop' November 20, 2009 at 8:30 am Filed under: Investing Investors, analysts and strategists forever debate whether the equity markets are properly valued. That's the whole point of investing, after all, to figure out whether an asset is cheap, and thus poised to go higher, or too expensive, and so set for a fall. There's a bull and a bear case for pretty much any security, but this magical mystery rally has put the debate in especially sharp relief these days. As DailyFinance has noted, stocks look topped out on a technical basis and overpriced to dot-com bubble heights, but also perhaps reasonably valued or even, yes, cheap if you look at price relative to sales. Mark Twain famously said that history doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme. (If it didn't, technical analysis wouldn't work at all.) It also makes comparing today's bull market to that of 1982 an ear-splitting and scary exercise. As the second nastiest recession since World War II -- and the last time we had 10.2% unemployment -- one might think comparing 1982 to 2009 would offer insights into share prices. Barry Ritholtz certainly thinks so. The CEO and director of research at FusionIQ put together such a comparison Thursday, setting the 1982 rally against today's, and it ain't pretty. Continue reading Bull market or bubble? History suggests brace for the 'pop' Bull market or bubble? History suggests brace for the 'pop' originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Dell's disappointing earnings depress stock futures November 20, 2009 at 8:00 am Filed under: Economy, Investing U.S. stocks are set for yet another lower open Friday morning after two consecutive days of declines. The technology sector will remain in the spotlight after Dell's (DELL) worse-than-expected earnings reported late Thursday. As a whole, investors may be moving toward safer securities in the absence of confidence in the strength of the economic recovery. Meanwhile, overseas, Asian markets finished lower and European shares erased their earlier gains after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said the ECB will gradually withdraw emergency cash. Banks and energy stocks slipped. More here: Before the bell: Futures lower on Dell's earnings, ECB move Dell's disappointing earnings depress stock futures originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Daily Blogwatch: Why isn't Buffett investing in gold? November 20, 2009 at 7:30 am Filed under: People, Investing, Media Crossing Wall Street shows that value investing is the best policy. ____________ What historically happens to the markets around Thanksgiving Day? ____________ Since Warren Buffett thinks inflation is going to happen, why isn't he investing in gold? ____________ Continue reading Daily Blogwatch: Why isn't Buffett investing in gold? Daily Blogwatch: Why isn't Buffett investing in gold? originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments After 25 years, TV talk queen Oprah to move to cable November 20, 2009 at 6:30 am Filed under: People, Media Oprah Winfrey made herself famous on broadcast TV and now she is walking away from the medium. Harpo, her production company, sent a letter to the 214 stations that carry her show saying that "The Oprah Winfrey Show" will air its last program on Sept. 9, 2011. CBS (CBS) syndicates the show, so it will lose a large source of revenue. Many ABC stations air her program, so this will be a blow to them as well. A number of newspapers and news websites reported that Oprah is well along in creating her own cable channel. She is a billionaire, according to knowledgeable sources, so the risk of moving to cable is one she can afford. The new venture will be called OWN and will be partially owned by Discovery Communications (DISCA). Continue reading After 25 years, TV talk queen Oprah to move to cable After 25 years, TV talk queen Oprah to move to cable originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments   This email was sent to gatdemit001@gmail.com.  Create Your Account Don't want to receive this feed any longer? Unsubscribe here.