Analisis Berita Instaforex Cnn

Analisa teknikal EURUSD untuk 29 Desember 2015 Ketika pasar Eropa dibuka, tidak ada berita ekonomi yang akan dirilis, namun AS akan mengungkap data ekonomi mengenai Keyakinan Konsumen CB, SampPCS Composite-20 HPI yy, dan Trade Balance Goods. Jadi di tengah laporan tersebut, EURUSD akan bergerak dengan volatilitas rendah hingga sedang selama hari ini. TINGKAT TEKNIS HARI INI: Breakout BUY Level: 1.1032. Original Resistance: 1.015. Inner Sell Area: 1.1004. Targetkan Area Batin: 1.0980. Inner Buy Area: 1.0954. Dukungan Asli: 1.0943. Dukungan Kuat: 1.0932. Breakout SELL Level: 1.0926. Penafian: Forex Trading (valuta asing) pada margin membawa tingkat risiko tinggi, dan mungkin tidak sesuai untuk semua investor. Tingkat leverage yang tinggi dapat bekerja melawan Anda dan juga untuk Anda. Sebelum memutuskan untuk berinvestasi dalam valuta asing Anda harus mempertimbangkan secara hati-hati tujuan investasi, tingkat pengalaman, dan selera risiko Anda. Kemungkinan ada bahwa Anda dapat mempertahankan kehilangan sebagian atau seluruh investasi awal Anda dan oleh karena itu Anda seharusnya tidak menginvestasikan uang yang tidak dapat Anda rugi. Anda harus menyadari semua risiko yang terkait dengan perdagangan valuta asing, dan mencari saran dari penasihat keuangan independen jika Anda ragu. Analisis teknis EURUSD untuk 30 Desember 2015 Menurut peristiwa sebelumnya, pasangan EURUSD masih melakukan perdagangan antara level 1,0930 dan 1,0842. Resistensi kuat akan terbentuk pada level 1,0930 memberikan sinyal yang jelas untuk transaksi jual dengan target yang terlihat di 1.0872 dan 1.0842. Stop loss akan ditempatkan di atas 1.01018. Dalam jangka pendek, support kuat akan terbentuk di level 1.0791 memberikan sinyal jelas untuk transaksi beli dengan target kecil terlihat di 1.0903 untuk mendapatkan kembali support. Kami memperkirakan kisaran sekitar 105 pips hari ini. Risiko 70 pips harus menghasilkan keuntungan 105 pips. Level 1.0931 akan mengkonfirmasi pasar bearish. Volatilitas adalah 117,50. Sebagai aturan, pasar sangat fluktuatif jika hari sebelumnya memiliki volatilitas yang sangat besar. Analisa teknikal USDJPY untuk tanggal 05 Januari 2016 Di Asia, Jepang akan merilis datanya pada Lelang Lelang Moneter 10-y dan Base Moneter (yy). Amerika Serikat akan melaporkan Total Vehicle Sales. Jadi ada kemungkinan besar pasangan USDJPY akan bergerak dengan volatilitas rendah sampai menengah saat ini. TINGKAT TEKNIS UNTUK HARI INI: Resistance. 3: 120.11. Perlawanan. 2: 119.87. Perlawanan. 1: 119.64. Mendukung. 1: 119.35. Mendukung. 2: 119.12. Mendukung. 3: 118.88. Penafian: Forex Trading (valuta asing) pada margin membawa tingkat risiko tinggi, dan mungkin tidak sesuai untuk semua investor. Tingkat leverage yang tinggi dapat bekerja melawan Anda dan juga untuk Anda. Sebelum memutuskan untuk berinvestasi dalam valuta asing Anda harus mempertimbangkan secara hati-hati tujuan investasi, tingkat pengalaman, dan selera risiko Anda. Kemungkinan ada bahwa Anda dapat mempertahankan kehilangan sebagian atau seluruh investasi awal Anda dan oleh karena itu Anda seharusnya tidak menginvestasikan uang yang tidak dapat Anda rugi. Anda harus menyadari semua risiko yang terkait dengan perdagangan valuta asing, dan meminta saran dari penasihat keuangan independen jika Anda ragu. Bergabung di: 14-Oktober 14 Anggota No. 525.681 Analisa teknikal USDJPY untuk 06 Januari 2016 Di Asia, Jepang tidak akan merilis data ekonomi apapun namun AS akan merilis beberapa data ekonomi seperti FOMC Meeting Minutes, Crude Oil Inventory, Factory Orders mm , PMI Non-Manufaktur ISM, Layanan Final PMI, Neraca Perdagangan, Perubahan Ketenagakerjaan ADP ADP. Jadi ada kemungkinan besar USDJPY akan bergerak dengan volatilitas rendah selama sesi Asia, namun dengan volatilitas rendah sampai menengah selama sesi AS. TINGKAT TEKNIS HARI INI: Resistance. 3: 119.15. Perlawanan. 2: 118,92. Perlawanan. 1: 118.69. Mendukung. 1: 118.41. Mendukung. 2: 118,17. Mendukung. 3: 117.94. Penafian: Forex Trading (valuta asing) pada margin membawa tingkat risiko tinggi, dan mungkin tidak sesuai untuk semua investor. Tingkat leverage yang tinggi dapat bekerja melawan Anda dan juga untuk Anda. Sebelum memutuskan untuk berinvestasi dalam valuta asing Anda harus mempertimbangkan secara hati-hati tujuan investasi, tingkat pengalaman, dan selera risiko Anda. Kemungkinan ada bahwa Anda dapat mempertahankan kehilangan sebagian atau seluruh investasi awal Anda dan oleh karena itu Anda seharusnya tidak menginvestasikan uang yang tidak dapat Anda rugi. Anda harus menyadari semua risiko yang terkait dengan perdagangan valuta asing, dan mencari saran dari penasihat keuangan independen jika Anda ragu. Trading plan untuk EURUSD untuk 15 Februari 2017 Tampilan grafik 4H menunjukkan bahwa EURUSD telah mengkonfirmasi leg pertamanya terhadap tren turun yang lebih besar dan bergerak menuju level paritas bergerak maju. Seperti yang terlihat di sini, penurunan dari level 1,0829 telah dilipat menjadi impuls dan terlihat lengkap. Selanjutnya, level support 1.0580 juga telah diambil oleh para beruang, mendaftarkan diri untuk mendorong lebih rendah. Secara struktural, pasangan tersebut harus menghasilkan rally countertrend menuju 1.0650 dan kemudian level 1.070020 yang juga resistance Fibonacci 0.618 seperti yang ditunjukkan di sini. Pasangan ini harus menghasilkan reli jangka pendek melalui level di atas dan kemudian berbalik turun menuju tren yang lebih besar bergerak menuju level 1.0000 dalam beberapa minggu ke depan. Hitungan gelombang jangka pendek juga telah ditunjukkan di sini pada grafik per jam untuk kejernihan gelombang yang lebih baik. Penyiapan perdagangan yang agresif dapat dimulai dengan rintangan ketat di bawah posisi terendah hari ini, yang menargetkan tingkat yang lebih tinggi seperti yang digambarkan di atas. Di sisi lain strategi perdagangan yang lebih konservatif mungkin tetap datar untuk saat ini, menunggu untuk menjual lebih tinggi. Agresif: Lama sekarang, berhenti di 1,0490, dan target 1,0650 dan 1,0720. Konservatif: Datar sekarang. Menjual lebih tinggi di 1.072030, berhenti di 1.0850, dan target 1.0000. Prospek fundamental: USD Consumer Price Index diperkirakan di 2,4 berbanding 2,1 tahun-ke-tahun. Ini dijadwalkan pukul 08.30 EST hari ini. Ini harus memiliki dampak menengah terhadap berat pada pasangan. Good luck33Group: Moderators Tulisan: 725 Bergabung: 13-Agustus 09 Anggota No. 100 Imbalan kerja: Bill dapat membantu lebih dari 1 juta orang pengangguran NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - Lebih dari satu juta orang dapat menerima tambahan 13 minggu tunjangan pengangguran di bawah Sebuah RUU yang akan dihuni DPR pada hari Selasa. RUU tersebut akan memberikan keuntungan bagi mereka yang tinggal di negara bagian dengan tingkat pengangguran lebih tinggi dari 8,5. Sebanyak 27 negara bagian, ditambah dengan District of Columbia dan Puerto Riko, masuk dalam kategori ini. Tingkat pengangguran nasional mencapai 9,7 pada bulan Agustus, tertinggi dalam 26 tahun. Manfaat tambahan akan berlaku untuk sekitar 314.000 orang yang berencana untuk melunasi keuntungan mereka pada akhir bulan dan lebih dari satu juta orang yang akan berhenti menerima cek pada akhir tahun, menurut Komite Cara dan Saran DPR. Pekerja di negara bagian lain dapat memenuhi syarat jika negara mereka diperkirakan akan mencapai tingkat pengangguran 8,5 segera atau memenuhi kriteria lainnya. Orang Amerika yang bekerja keras dari North Carolina ke California telah menghubungi kantor saya untuk memberi tahu saya bahwa mereka masih belum dapat menemukan pekerjaan setelah satu tahun atau lebih setelah menjadi pengangguran dan mereka memerlukan bantuan tambahan untuk menjaga agar kepala mereka tetap di atas air, kata Jim. McDermott, D-Wash. Saat dia memperkenalkan undang-undang awal bulan ini. Diperkirakan 400.000 orang diperkirakan akan kehilangan cek mereka pada akhir bulan ini dan 1,4 juta pada akhir tahun, menurut Proyek Hukum Ketenagakerjaan Nasional. McDermott mengatakan akan mendorong undang-undang yang lebih komprehensif dalam waktu dekat. Di kebanyakan negara bagian, orang yang menganggur menerima manfaat dana selama 26 minggu. Bergantung pada tempat tinggal mereka, mereka bisa mendapatkan ekstensi yang didanai pemerintah federal selama total 79 minggu. Tagihan akan dilacak cepat meski DPR, dimana diharapkan bisa lewat dengan mudah. Demokrat Senat mengatakan mereka akan mencoba untuk mengatasi tindakan tersebut segera setelah DPR memilih. Seorang juru bicara anggota Senat tidak dapat dihubungi untuk memberikan komentar, meski setidaknya satu anggota parlemen mengatakan bahwa dia mendukung undang-undang tersebut. Biaya manfaat tambahan akan diimbangi dengan memperpanjang satu tahun pajak pengangguran federal yang dibayar majikan yang telah ada selama tiga dekade terakhir, dan dengan mewajibkan pelaporan karyawan baru yang dipekerjakan termasuk tanggal mulai, yang akan mengurangi tingkat pengangguran Lebih bayar asuransi. Panggilan untuk memperpanjang tunjangan Selama tahun lalu, Kongres telah dua kali memberikan suara untuk memberikan keuntungan. Namun, tekanan telah dibangun di Capitol Hill untuk memperpanjangnya lagi karena resesi dan pengangguran terus meningkat. Gubernur dari 22 negara bagian tersebut mengajukan banding ke pemimpin kongres pekan lalu untuk segera memberikan manfaat tambahan. Sebuah catatan 50,7 dari pengangguran gagal untuk menemukan pekerjaan dalam waktu enam bulan setelah menerima manfaat, menurut Proyek Hukum Ketenagakerjaan Nasional. Sekarang ada lebih dari enam pekerja potensial untuk setiap pembukaan, naik dari 1,7 pada Desember 2007. Memperluas manfaat sangat penting karena pengangguran sering terus meningkat bahkan setelah ekonomi mulai berbalik, kata Chad Stone, kepala ekonom untuk Pusat Anggaran dan Prioritas Kebijakan, yang mendukung pekerja. Selain itu, memperpanjang manfaat membantu meningkatkan ekonomi karena pengangguran biasanya menghabiskan cek mereka. RUU ini ditargetkan dengan baik karena akan berlaku untuk lebih dari 80 orang yang akan menghabiskan keuntungan mereka, kata Stone. Mereka kemungkinan akan terus memiliki waktu terberat untuk menemukan pekerjaan baru. Negara bagian dengan tingkat pengangguran lebih besar dari 8,5 adalah Alabama, Arizona, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Riko, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington, Wisconsin dan West Virginia. G-20: Apakah KTT global penting Pemimpin ekonomi terbesar dunia bertemu lagi. Mereka akan meminta penguatan sistem keuangan yang ambruk - seperti yang mereka lakukan dua kali sebelumnya. WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) - Ayo coba ini lagi Ketika pemimpin Kelompok 20 bertemu di Pittsburgh minggu ini, mereka akan meminta upaya global terkoordinasi untuk memperketat peraturan keuangan guna mencegah keruntuhan keuangan di masa depan. Kedengarannya sangat mirip dengan yang mereka katakan pada dua pertemuan sebelumnya yang mereka rasakan selama tahun lalu di bulan April dan November lalu. Kami akan membahas beberapa langkah yang diperlukan untuk melindungi sistem keuangan global kami dan menutup kesenjangan dalam peraturan di seluruh dunia - kesenjangan yang memungkinkan pengambilan risiko tanpa risiko dan tidak bertanggung jawab yang menyebabkan krisis tersebut, kata Presiden Obama minggu lalu. Pemimpin mungkin akan pergi dari pertemuan puncak Pittsburgh dengan sebuah kesepakatan umum mengenai setidaknya dua prioritas: Meminta bank untuk membangun jaring pengaman yang lebih kuat untuk neraca mereka dan semakin ketat pada gaji eksekutif untuk mengekang praktik berisiko. Mereka bahkan mungkin menetapkan beberapa tenggat waktu - seperti tahun depan atau beberapa tahun dari sekarang. Tidak ada yang bisa Anda harapkan dari pertemuan seperti ini, "kata Benn Steill, direktur Ekonomi Internasional di Council of Foreign Relations. Bahkan saya merasa sedikit tidak nyaman dengan mereka yang berusaha melakukan lebih banyak, karena kita adalah cara yang jauh dari konsensus di dalam negeri mengenai jumlah yang seharusnya. Perhatian Eropa terhadap laju perubahan Seorang penasihat senior Gedung Putih, yang berbicara dengan wartawan minggu lalu, membela G -20 kemajuan dalam reformasi peraturan global. Untuk satu hal, negara-negara telah berfokus pada tugas yang lebih cepat untuk menstabilkan ekonomi mereka. Jika Anda bertanya kepada orang-orang, bagaimana keadaan mereka pada bulan September, mereka mungkin mengira akan lebih buruk dari sekarang, kata Michael Froman, wakil penasihat keamanan nasional untuk urusan ekonomi internasional. Froman juga menekankan bahwa membuat semua negara sepakat mengenai prinsip-prinsip reformasi regulasi adalah sebuah prestasi. Quot Kita tidak harus meremehkan apa pentingnya negara-negara berkumpul dan berkata, 39Mengingat pelajaran dari krisis ini, berikut adalah kebijakan yang kita sepakati untuk terus maju, beberapa di antaranya memerlukan penyesuaian dalam pendekatan kita terhadap kebijakan ekonomi kita, 39 kutipan Froman mengatakan . Ini adalah inovasi yang cukup signifikan dalam kerja sama internasional. quot Namun, beberapa pejabat Eropa khawatir dengan apa yang mereka lihat sebagai kurangnya kemajuan. Sekelompok regulator dan akademisi yang disebut European Criminal Regulatory Committee mengirimkan surat G-20 pada sebuah surat minggu ini yang memperingatkan bahwa proposal di atas meja mengutip tidak mungkin mengurangi kemungkinan krisis di masa depan. quot quotKita khawatir bahwa tidak cukup yang telah dilakukan , Kata Harald Benink, seorang profesor perbankan di Tilburg University di Belanda yang memimpin kelompok tersebut. Apa yang akan mereka lakukan Awal bulan ini, Menteri Keuangan A. S. Tim Geithner melobi menteri keuangan G-20 untuk mendukung upaya reformasi kunci: Meminta lebih banyak subsidi modal di perusahaan keuangan. Cadangan tersebut dapat melindungi bank dari kerugian dan dianggap penting untuk mencegah krisis keuangan lainnya. Idenya adalah di antara yang ada di daftar teratas untuk pertemuan Pittsburgh. Sementara negara-negara sepakat tentang kebutuhan untuk meningkatkan cadangan, perdebatan kemungkinan akan berpusat pada bagaimana cara terbaik untuk melakukannya. Pertanyaan yang lebih kontroversial tentang bagaimana cadangan modal yang besar seharusnya tidak diputuskan diputuskan. Amerika Serikat lebih memilih untuk mematuhi peraturan permodalannya sendiri dan meminta negara lain mengikutinya, kata Eswar Prasad, ekonom internasional di Cornell University. Orang-orang Eropa lebih memilih proses multi-nasional dengan semua negara bekerja sama, kurang lebih sama, setara. Orang-orang Eropa ingin sangat terlibat dalam pengembangan standar tersebut, jadi mereka tidak akan antusias seperti mereka, kata Prasad. Proposal peraturan yang lebih tinggi akan melebihi gaji eksekutif - dan bagaimana mengatasinya. Orang Prancis, antara lain, telah meminta topi global untuk membayar eksekutif, namun pemerintahan Obama tidak bergerak dalam masalah itu. Saya pikir presiden cukup jelas bahwa dia mendukung pendekatan yang kuat terhadap kompensasi eksekutif, namun enggan untuk menetapkan tingkat kompensasi individual, kata Froman. Pakar internasional mengatakan mereka tidak mengharapkan G-20 menyetujui kenaikan gaji. Sebaliknya, para pemimpin cenderung memberi anggukan pada seperangkat prinsip yang akan mendorong negara-negara untuk memisahkan bonus dari perilaku berisiko, sambil menambahkan lebih banyak pengungkapan gaji kepada regulator atau pemegang saham. Morris Goldstein dari Institut Peterson untuk Ekonomi Internasional mengatakan bahwa G-20 dapat menciptakan kompromi yang memenuhi semua anggota dengan menghubungkan masalah gaji eksekutif dengan persyaratan modal yang lebih kuat. Jika perusahaan keuangan dipaksa untuk meningkatkan kebutuhan modal, berarti mereka memiliki keuntungan lebih sedikit, dan kurang tersedia untuk bonus yang terkait dengan keuntungan. Para ahli juga mengatakan bahwa G-20 juga akan berbicara tentang perlunya regulasi terkoordinasi beberapa jenis produk keuangan kompleks yang dijual Lehman Brothers dan AIG (AIG, Fortune 500). Namun, negara-negara tersebut tidak mungkin mencapai kesepakatan bagaimana melakukannya. Akhirnya, para ahli percaya bahwa pertemuan di Pittsburgh akan menampilkan diskusi tentang isu-isu rumit dan rumit tentang menyeimbangkan kembali berbagai negara anggota G-20 yang berbeda. Amerika Serikat ingin China menghabiskan lebih banyak dan tidak bergantung pada ekspor, dan negara-negara lain ingin Amerika Serikat berhenti untuk hidup dengan hutang. Namun pertemuan tersebut diperkirakan tidak akan menghasilkan rencana konkret untuk merundingkan ketidakseimbangan. Kelompok: Moderator Tulisan: 725 Bergabung: 13-Agustus 09 Anggota No. 100 Teka-teki dolar Fed Bank sentral telah membanjiri dunia dengan dolar untuk mencegah keruntuhan dan memulai pemulihan. Tapi bagaimana jika ekonomi A. S. tidak menuai ganjaran NEW YORK (Fortune) - Pemulihan siapa yang Fed rangsang, bagaimanapun Setahun setelah jatuhnya pasar keuangan, ekonomi global telah stabil. Kerugian pekerjaan telah melambat dan saham telah membukukan unjuk rasa yang tajam. Namun, para skeptis memperingatkan bahwa pendorong utama pemulihan di pasar saham dan obligasi - sebuah putaran pencetakan uang darurat yang belum pernah terjadi sebelumnya oleh Federal Reserve - sebenarnya dapat memperlambat pemulihan ekonomi riil. Dalam pandangan ini, keputusan Fed untuk mempertahankan suku bunga jangka pendek mendekati nol untuk sementara menghidupkan kembali pasar keuangan tanpa mengatasi masalah mendasar ekonomi. Bahayanya adalah bahwa dengan pinjaman bank yang tersisa, neraca konsumen dan konsumen masih membengkak, tingkat suku bunga A. S. yang rendah dapat mendukung pertumbuhan luar negeri tanpa memperkuat kesehatan domestik. Anda akhirnya membiayai ekspansi orang lain kecuali keinginan Anda sendiri, kata Howard Simons, ahli strategi Bianco Research di Chicago. Kritikus berfokus pada fakta bahwa suku bunga A. S. yang rendah memungkinkan investor di seluruh dunia untuk meminjam dolar untuk apa-apa dan menginvestasikannya di tempat lain dengan harga lebih tinggi. Taruhan ini - yang dikenal sebagai carry trade dolar - tampaknya merupakan salah satu kekuatan yang mendorong turunnya nilai dolar. Meskipun ada beberapa angka yang dapat diandalkan mengenai ukuran carry trade, tren dolar jelas turun karena pasar saham dan obligasi kembali pulih. Dolar baru-baru ini diperdagangkan pada level terendah terhadap euro dalam satu tahun, sementara indeks dolar tertimbang perdagangan telah turun 14 sejak Maret. Aliran investasi yang dihasilkan berpotensi tidak stabil, mendorong terjadinya gelembung harga aset baru - terutama komoditas seperti minyak dan emas, dan ekonomi pasar berkembang yang tumbuh lebih cepat. Kedengarannya seperti pengaturan yang tidak menyenangkan, tapi orang Amerika mungkin sudah terbiasa dengannya. The Fed, yang diperkirakan akan mempertahankan suku bunga stabil saat membungkus pertemuan dua hari pada hari Rabu, telah mengatakan bahwa pihaknya memperkirakan tingkat suku bunga fed fund mendekati nol untuk periode yang diperpanjang. Itu bisa berarti berbulan-bulan mengalami depresiasi mata uang, pertumbuhan-stunting membawa perdagangan - gema pengalaman Jepang selama dua dekade suku bunga bebas, off-again lagi. Bisa saja lebih buruk - tapi yang benar-benar bermanfaat Tentu saja, dunia ini berbeda tempat itu. Pada 1990-an dan awal dekade ini, negara-negara kaya lainnya menunjukkan pertumbuhan yang solid. Sekarang, pemerintah lain - terutama orang-orang Inggris - mengikuti dasarnya sama dengan buku pedoman belanja karena orang-orang A. S. quotEveryone melakukan hal bodoh yang sama sekarang, kata Simons. Jika semua orang tidak bertanggung jawab, Anda akhirnya berpacu untuk menjadi yang paling tidak bertanggung jawab. Tidak ada yang berarti bahwa kepala Fed Ben Bernanke dan pembuat kebijakan lainnya memiliki banyak pilihan bagus saat mereka menurunkan suku bunga hingga nol dan mulai membeli obligasi dalam bentuk Tawaran untuk membuat kredit lebih tersedia. Sektor keuangan berada di ambang bencana setelah bertahun-tahun kebijakan uang mudah menyebabkan lonjakan kredit macet dan pelarian modal dari pasar pendanaan grosir. Menghadapi kehancuran total, para pejabat memberlakukan program yang mendukung pasar hipotek dan menstabilkan sistem perbankan. Bahwa keputusan itu mahal dan memberi kontribusi pada melonjaknya belanja pemerintah. Tapi tanpa mereka, A. S. bisa menghadapi replay of the Great Depression, ketika pengangguran di atas 20. quotHow jauh lebih buruk. Akan kondisi untuk rata-rata Amerika telah tanpa handoutquot mengatakan Tim Duy, seorang profesor ekonomi di University of Oregon. Ini pertanyaan yang relevan. Namun, perdebatan mengenai siapa yang menuai keuntungan terbesar dari penyelamatan finansial bukanlah hal yang baru. Yang paling menonjol, Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) - perusahaan sekuritas yang menerima 03610 miliar modal Treasury pada musim gugur yang lalu di bawah Troubled Asset Relief Programme dan sejak itu telah mengeluarkan hampir 03622 miliar utang yang didukung pemerintah - telah pulih dengan sangat kuat sehingga Ini pada kecepatan untuk membayar bonus setara dengan tahun-tahun booming. Sementara itu, dua bentuk penciptaan kredit paling relevan bagi konsumen dan usaha kecil - sekuritisasi dan pinjaman bank - belum bangkit kembali. Kredit konsumen turun pada tingkat tahunan 10,5% pada bulan Juli, Federal Reserve mengatakan, dan pinjaman bank komersial turun pada tingkat tahunan 036392 miliar di kuartal kedua. Ini bukan hasil pemulihan domestik yang kuat, kata Michael Pento, kepala ekonom di penasihat investasi Delta Global Advisors. Orang-orang yang mencari pemulihan berbentuk V tinggal di Candyland, "katanya. QuotOne hari ini kita harus berhenti mencoba untuk meningkatkan cara kita keluar. quot Group: Moderators Tulisan: 725 Bergabung: 13-Agustus 09 Anggota No. 100 Masalah bailout bank: Tidak ada jawaban mudah FDIC memiliki keputusan untuk membuat: Bagaimana cara Mengisi kembali dana asuransinya Dengan kegagalan pemasangan dan bank yang mengeluh tentang biaya, pinjaman dari Paman Sam mungkin merupakan jalan keluar terbaik. NEW YORK (Fortune) - Saatnya bagi Sheila Bair untuk berhenti mencemaskan politik bailout dan memukul Paman Sam dengan adonan. Bair adalah ketua Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. agen federal yang mengelola dana asuransi yang berada di belakang penghematan jutaan orang Amerika. Dana tersebut dibayarkan oleh bank-bank yang mendapat keuntungan darinya, namun telah habis oleh gelombang kegagalan bank yang diperkirakan akan mereda dalam waktu dekat. Dewan FDIC dijadwalkan bertemu Selasa untuk membahas bagaimana mengumpulkan uang untuk mengisi kembali dana tersebut. Tidak banyak pilihan bagus. Bair dapat dengan mudah meminjam uang dari Treasury, di mana FDIC memiliki jalur kredit berdiri. Tapi agensi belum melakukannya hampir dalam 20 tahun, sejak palungan krisis perbankan terakhir. Dan dengan kemarahan bailout yang masih ada di udara, Bair telah menjelaskan bahwa dia tidak ingin melanggar preseden tersebut. Dia mengatakan pekan lalu bahwa apakah akan memanfaatkan jalur kredit Treasury adalah kuota kuotilosofi bagi bankir dan regulator mereka. Isu utama: Apakah Departemen Keuangan terdepan di sana untuk kerugian yang dapat diperkirakan atau untuk keadaan darurat yang diperkirakan terjadi Komentar itu mengingatkan pendengar bahwa seberat beban FDIC - 94 bank telah gagal tahun ini, di atas 25 tahun lalu - agensi masih Waspada tentang kemungkinan runtuhnya sebuah lembaga raksasa bernilai miliaran dolar. Tapi bahaya lain adalah jika FDIC gagal melakukan tindakan segera dan transparan, masyarakat kembali dapat kehilangan kepercayaan pada sistem keuangan - pada saat kabar buruk tentang kegagalan bank dipastikan akan berlanjut. Saya tidak mengerti mengapa Sheila tidak menggunakan jalur Treasury-nya untuk merekapitalisasi dana tersebut dengan cara yang sama seperti dia mendorong bank dalam situasi yang sama untuk merekapitalisasi mereka sendiri, kata Ken Thomas, seorang konsultan perbankan berbasis Miami yang telah memberi kesaksian di depan Kongres mengenai asuransi deposito Dana. Dengan melakukan ini, Thomas menambahkan, dia akan mengakhiri semua ketidakpastian yang berkembang dan meresahkan mengenai dana menyusut ini, yang tidak mengurangi kepercayaan FDIC yang menjadi perhatian paling penting. quot Apa yang lebih suka dilakukan Bair adalah Apa yang biasanya dilakukan agensi - mengumpulkan dana langsung dari bank - atau beralih ke apa yang dia gambarkan sebagai alat lain, seperti mengumpulkan uang dengan mengeluarkan hutang ke bank. FDIC telah memperingatkan bank bahwa mereka mungkin harus menaikkan biaya khusus lain untuk mendukung dana asuransi, yang keseimbangannya turun ke level terendah 17 tahun di tahun 03610 miliar pada musim panas ini. Namun, bank-bank yang telah mendapat socked dengan satu biaya khusus tahun ini, memperingatkan bahwa pajak atas keuntungan mereka yang sudah lemah dapat mendorong sejumlah dari mereka melewati batas dan menghentikan pemulihan ekonomi yang telah dipegang dengan hati-hati sejak musim semi. Dan untuk sekali ini, mereka mungkin tidak hanya meniup asap. Industri ini mencatat kerugian 0363,7 miliar di kuartal kedua, ketika satu dari empat institusi tidak menguntungkan. FDIC mengklasifikasikan lebih dari 400 institusi - hampir 5 anggotanya - seperti bermasalah. Apapun masalah industri, banyak komentator telah menolak prospek FDIC menggunakan jalur kredit Treasury sebagai bailout lainnya. Badan ini memiliki garis kredit berdiri senilai 036100 miliar dengan Treasury - dan, berkat undang-undang yang disahkan tahun ini, kewenangan untuk meminjam sebanyak 036500 miliar sampai 2010 dalam keadaan darurat. Mengingat bahwa industri yang dibayar pada dasarnya tidak memiliki premi asuransi selama satu dekade, mudah untuk melihat mengapa mungkin ada beberapa kebencian atas permintaan baru untuk dana pembayar pajak. Antara tahun 1997 dan 2006, industri ini menghasilkan laba operasi sebelum pajak sebesar 1.361,28 triliun, menurut data FDIC. Selama periode tersebut, berkat undang-undang tahun 1996 yang melarang agen tersebut untuk menilai bank dengan kapitalisasi yang baik, bank tersebut membayar hanya 036672 juta premi asuransi. Namun mengingat masalah bank saat ini - dan undang-undang federal yang mewajibkan industri tersebut untuk, dari waktu ke waktu, melunasi sepenuhnya semua pinjaman Treasury - opsi untuk menarik jalur kredit adalah mendapatkan dukungan di tempat yang tidak terduga. Rep Barney Frank, D-Mass, ketua komite Layanan Keuangan DPR, mengatakan pekan ini bahwa dia percaya dengan menggunakan jalur kredit adalah cara yang paling tepat untuk menyelesaikan masalah pendanaan FDIC. Dan Thomas - yang dua kali dekade lalu mengusulkan untuk menaikkan ukuran minimum dana asuransi deposito, sehingga dana FDIC tidak akan pernah mengulangi sikatnya dengan kebangkrutan pada awal 1990an - menolak pembicaraan bailout sebagai ikan merah. Kutipan ini bahwa dia tidak ingin pergi ke Departemen Keuangan karena persepsi tentang tindakan keras federal tidak masuk akal, karena semua orang tahu bahwa FDIC pada akhirnya didukung oleh kepercayaan dan kepercayaan penuh dari A. S., kata Thomas. Apa pun yang dipikirkan orang luar, dewan FDIC - yang dipimpin oleh Bair dan dikelola oleh dua anggota FDIC dan dua regulator perbankan federal lainnya - akan segera memutuskan. Seorang juru bicara FDIC mengatakan kemungkinan agen tersebut akan mengajukan beberapa proposal untuk komentar publik pada hari Selasa, daripada membuat keputusan di tempat. Perdebatan yang berubah tampaknya bahkan membuat ketua politik yang cerdas sedikit bingung. Dinamika politik dalam hal ini menarik, kata Bair bulan ini setelah berpidato di Universitas Georgetown. QuotPeople bergeser dari tidak ingin ini pergi ke pembayar pajak untuk menginginkannya pergi ke pembayar pajak. quot Group: Moderators Posts: 725 Bergabung: 13-August 09 Anggota No. 100 Chrysler: Periksa mesin sekarang Dari kebangkrutan tapi tidak keluar dari hutan , Pembuat mobil sedang berjuang dengan lini produk basi dan tidak banyak yang baru terlihat. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - Tiga bulan setelah melewati kebangkrutan yang didanai pemerintah federal, Chrysler Group yang baru masih menghadapi masalah serius tanpa solusi cepat yang terlihat. Pembuat mobil mungkin telah diberi neraca baru yang ramping dan mengkilap, namun produk di lantai showroom adalah mobil basi dan truk yang sama dari sebelumnya dan tidak banyak yang bisa dinanti-nantikan. Di pasar mobil Amerika yang hiper-kompetitif, pipa produk kosong berpotensi menimbulkan bencana. Mobil dan truk yang baru dirancang dan direkayasa adalah yang membuat produsen mobil tetap dalam permainan. Ini adalah hal yang paling penting, analis industri Jesse Toprak dari Truecar mengatakan tentang penawaran produk baru. Ini adalah garis hidup. quot Selain versi tugas berat dari pick-up Dodge Ram yang dipasarkan dengan baik yang dijual sekarang, tidak ada yang baru dari merek Chrysler Group manapun sebelum pertengahan tahun depan. Saya pikir mereka akan kehabisan tenaga dengan cepat, kata Matt Stone, editor eksekutif majalah Motor Trend, dari Chrysler Group. Berapa lama mereka bisa menopangnya dengan perubahan warna dan insentif Satu atau dua tahun lagi, mungkin. Model mobil dan truk baru penting karena konsumen selalu tertarik dengan barang terbaru, kata Toprak, namun semua produk baru dengan teknik dan teknik terbaru. Desain paling trendi membutuhkan waktu bertahun-tahun untuk berkembang - waktu yang menurut banyak ahli tidak dimiliki Chrysler. Untuk mencoba mengubah situasi sendiri sebelum terlambat, Chrysler Group diperkirakan akan merilis rencana revitalisasi baru pada bulan November. Wawancara yang baru-baru ini diterbitkan oleh surat kabar industri Automotive News memberikan beberapa wawasan tentang apa yang mungkin dipikirkan oleh eksekutif Chrysler Group. Dengan rencana baru tersebut, baik merek Chrysler dan Dodge akan mengalami makeover gambar yang serius. Dodge akan terus menjadi merek berorientasi kinerja namun sekarang lebih fokus pada kualitas fun-to-drive daripada pada kekuatan mesin mentah. Chrysler, sementara itu, akan bergerak kelas atas. Way kelas atas, menetapkan pandangannya untuk bersaing dengan Cadillac, BMW dan Mercedes. Juru bicara Chrysler tidak akan secara resmi mengkonfirmasi apapun yang dikatakan dalam laporan Automotive News. Ketika ditekan oleh reporter di Frankfurt Motor Show baru-baru ini tentang pipa produk kering Chrysler Group, CEO Fiat dan Chrysler Sergio Marchionne menjawab quotWho mengatakan kepada saya dan mengatakan kepada wartawan untuk menunggu sampai November. quot Petunjuk baru: Agar bisa mengeluarkan produk baru dengan cepat, Chrysler kemungkinan akan Tergantung pada Fiat untuk sebagian besar rekayasa kendaraan yang dibutuhkan. CEO mobil Italia itu sekarang menjalankan pertunjukan di Detroit setelah mengambil 20 saham kepemilikan di Chrysler Group yang baru. Citra baru Dodge sebagai merek mobil yang lebih hemat bahan bakar, namun tetap sporty, bisa mendapatkan keuntungan dari rekayasa Fiat, kata James Bell, analis industri di situs KBB. Fiat terkenal karena hanya membangun produk semacam itu dan Dodge hanya akan mengikuti tren yang lebih besar di A. S. jauh dari mobil besar dan mesin besar. Saya pikir di situlah bisnis ini akan pergi, toh, katanya. Sementara dia setuju strategi ini bisa bekerja untuk Dodge, Motor Trends Stone berpikir jalan yang lebih cepat untuk mendapatkan keuntungan bagi Dodge hanya akan membuang mobil sama sekali. QuotI masih berpikir strategi terbaik untuk Dodge masih akan menjadi divisi all-truck, "katanya. Gary Fong, yang mengepalai merek Chrysler, serta menangani penjualan untuk semua merek Chrysler Group, mengatakan kepada Automotive News bahwa dia ingin merek Chrysler menjangkau pasar mobil mewah kelas atas. Dia menggambarkan gol tersebut sebagai kuota takik di atas Cadillac, takik di atas Lincoln. quot Gagasan itu lebih kontroversial. QuotChrysler memang dulu adalah merek kelas atas, tapi sejarahnya begitu kuno, kata Michelle Krebs, seorang analis industri senior di situs otomotif Edmunds. Bahkan pada masa itu, Motor Trends Stone mengatakan, Chrysler sebenarnya berada di liga besar yang mewah. Kembali di tahun 1950an, 3960an dan 3970an - ingat Ricardo Montalban membual dari kulit pohon kuweft Corinthian - itu lebih merupakan alternatif yang berorientasi pada nilai. Itu sesuatu yang bisa dipecat Chrysler lagi, katanya, seperti yang terjadi pada Chrysler 300 saat ini, sebuah mobil yang menawarkan mobil mewah mencari uang pasar massal. Saya pikir ada orang yang membuktikan ada ruang di tempat itu, "katanya. Hyundai, misalnya, berhasil dengan sedan Genesis barunya. Dalam situasi terbaik, merek Chrysler yang mewah akan membutuhkan waktu lama untuk dibangun, kata Bell. QuotTo melakukan apa yang mereka lakukan di sini minimal proyek satu dekade, katakan padanya, dan itu dengan produk pembunuh. Masalah lain adalah Fiat tidak banyak membantu Chrysler membangun mobil mewah yang nyata, kata Stone. Bahkan merek Eropa kelas atas Fiat seperti Alfa-Romeo dan Lancia tidak memiliki mobil yang bisa dengan mudah diubah menjadi kapal penjelajah mewah bergaya Amerika, katanya. Chrysler harus memulai dari nol. Gary Dilts, wakil presiden senior operasi otomotif global di JD Power and Associates, melihat aspirasi mewah untuk mobil merek Chrysler karena lebih merupakan target jangka panjang yang kabur daripada sesuatu yang secara realistis diharapkan dalam waktu dekat. . QuotThat doesnnt 't berarti Anda tidak harus menembak untuk itu, kata dia. Jika ada waktu untuk keluar dari penjara, itu sekarang, kata Dilts. Kelompok: Moderator Posts: 725 Bergabung: 13-Agustus 09 Anggota No. 100 Australia mendapat denda untuk menuntut dewan Lehman Town dan investor lainnya di Australia dapat mengajukan klaim finansial terhadap bank investasi A. S., menurut sebuah perusahaan yang mewakili 60 pengadu. SYDNEY (Reuters) - Pengadilan Australia telah memutuskan bahwa pemerintah daerah dapat mengajukan tuntutan finansial terhadap bank investasi A. S. Lehman Brothers di Australia dan tempat lain, sebuah perusahaan yang mendanai proses pengadilan tersebut mengatakan pada hari Senin. IMF (Australia) Ltd. mengatakan bahwa Pengadilan Federal memutuskan pada hari Jumat untuk mendukung dewan kota dan pihak lain yang telah kehilangan uang dalam hutang yang dijaminkan dipasarkan dan dikeluarkan oleh Lehman, membuka pintu bagi tuntutan hukum untuk memulihkan kerugian mereka. Namun, keputusan tersebut tidak menjadi preseden bagi banyak investor dan kreditur Lehman lainnya di seluruh dunia yang mencari ratusan juta dolar dari kekayaan bank yang bangkrut, kata Susanna Khouri, manajer investasi di IMF. QuotThis tidak memiliki implikasi di luar hukum Australia. Ini tidak akan menjadi preseden bagi kreditur untuk entitas Lehman lainnya di seluruh dunia, "kata Khouri kepada Reuters. Perusahaan tersebut mengatakan dalam sebuah pernyataan singkat ke bursa efek bahwa pengadilan telah menemukan bukti validitas Akta Pengaturan Perusahaan yang telah mencegah dewan tersebut dan pihak-pihak lain untuk mengajukan klaim terhadap entitas Lehman dan melakukan pembayaran dengan berbagai polis asuransi. quotIMF will now fund those councils and other parties in litigation to recover monies lost when they invested in collateralized debt obligations arranged, issued and promoted by those Lehman entities, quot the statement said. IMF is representing about 60 clients. Lawsuits abound. Lehman39s estate is facing a slew of claims from creditors worldwide, including bondholders, derivatives counterparties, states, towns and individuals. Administrators of the London arm of Lehman Brothers said last month the claims it is handling against the collapsed Wall Street bank could total as much as 036100 billion. Lehman39s demise a year ago brought the global financial system to the brink of collapse, and accountants and lawyers expect to have to work for years to sort out billions of dollars worth of assets left locked in its accounts. About 35 councils in Australia invested 03622 million in Federation CDO, a long-term, synthetic instrument based on a list of 40 residential mortgage-backed securities linked to the U. S. subprime market, financial magazine the Government News said in a report in April. Group: Moderators Posts: 725 Joined: 13-August 09 Member No. 100 The last bank left standing for small businesses As other major players fell away, Wells Fargo has remained a stalwart, increasing its lending this year through SBA programs. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The landscape of lenders willing to work with small business owners has changed dramatically in the last year, but one bank -- Wells Fargo -- has emerged stronger than ever. While other financiers that were historically major players took a knee, Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) increased its lending, emerging as the new number-one lender through the Small Business Administration39s loan programs. CIT Group (CIT, Fortune 500), JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), Banco Popular of North America and others that once held top spots have cut their SBA lending by more than 70 this year. Meanwhile, Wells Fargo upped its loan volume 4, from 036583.4 million in 2008 to 036605 million this year. Some of that gain may be fueled by Wells Fargo39s late-2008 acquisition of Wachovia, another bank that traditionally made many SBA-backed small business loans. The acquisition closed three months into the 2009 fiscal year (which the SBA began Oct. 1), leading Wachovia and Wells Fargo to report their loans separately through part of the year. Taken together, the two banks lent 036742.3 million this year -- down 24 from what they collectively lent as independent banks last year, but still far more than any other bank put into the small business market. The next runner-up, U. S. Bank (USB, Fortune 500), made 036249.5 million in loans through the SBA39s flagship lending program. Given the retraction of a number of key lenders, Wells Fargo39s leap to the top is not a major surprise. quotI don39t see anything shocking with Wells Fargo being number one, quot says Bob Coleman, editor of the Coleman Report, which monitors small business lending trends. What Wells Fargo did right: Wells Fargo39s ascendance isn39t solely due to its competition39s collapse. The bank made two key strategic decisions that turned into major advantages. First, Wells Fargo doesn39t resell its loans on the secondary market, where many banks unload bundles of the SBA-backed loans that they39ve made. That market froze last fall after Lehman Brothers39 collapse, leaving many banks unable to find buyers for their loans -- and without those sales, the banks lacked the capital to make new small business loans. Second, Wells Fargo focuses on making traditional 7(a) loans, which can total as much as 0362 million each. The Small Business Administration guarantees a portion of its 7(a) loans -- if the business owner defaults, the government pays the bank back for the insured portion. But the SBA also offers a variety of quotExpressquot loan programs, which involve lower loan amounts, lower government guarantees, and less paperwork. Because banks scrutinize those loans less, they39re more prone to go bad when the economy gets rough. Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), in particular, has been hit hard on that front. The bank made 3,296 SBA loans last year, making it the fourth most-active SBA lender based on the number of loans made. But most of those loans were Express loans, with an average loan size of just over 03631,000 each. And many have begun defaulting. A year ago, CEO Ken Lewis called his bank39s small business loan portfolio a quotdamn disaster. quot Bank of America reacted by sharply pulling back on its SBA lending. So far this year, the bank has made just 303 loans, 269 of which were Express loans. quotWells Fargo is more of a traditional 7(a) lender. Their loans are larger and there is collateral behind them, quot says industry observer Coleman. quotThey do a more extensive underwriting analysis than the SBA Express lenders, which makes them feel more comfortable in assuming risk. For some lenders, the model is broken for those smaller Express markets, and so they have backed out of the market. quot The new lending scene: Tom Burke, Wells Fargo39s senior vice president of SBA lending, sees his bank39s new leading role on the lending scene as a validation of what it has been doing all along. While Wells Fargo never before held the number-one spot, it has routinely been in the top two or three. quotWe have been consistent. Our portfolio performs consistently, quot Burke says. quotWe always said that we are a player in the market. It is part of our DNA to help our small business customers. quot Wells Fargo plans to press its advantage. quotWe are increasing staff to take advantage of gaps in the marketplace, quot Burke says. quotWe saw weakness in our competitors, and we decided to take advantage of what was going on in the marketplace. quot One new small business owner is grateful that Wells Fargo is still actively lending. Jennifer Braun obtained an SBA loan from Wells Fargo in June to purchase a five-year old event-planning business called Festivities. Located in Medina, Minn. just outside of Minneapolis, the small business has seven fulltime staffers and a handful of part-timers who work weekends to cover events. Previously employed at an event-planning firm, Braun knew it was risky to change careers in a recession: quotAll along, I kept thinking this is the worst time to quit my high-paying corporate job, as the primary breadwinner in our house. quot But her doubts didn39t stop her from following her instincts. quotI just kept having the gut feeling that this was the time to act, quot she says. quotYou see a trend in downturns that a lot of companies are looking for mergers or consolidations, and that just seemed like something that I needed to capture -- to get a great business at a great price, because everyone is so scared, they are not moving forward on it. quot Braun started her research by Googling quotHow do I get a business loanquot and ended up being directed to Wells Fargo by a broker. Both Braun and her husband quit their jobs and currently devote all of their energy to growing Festivities. She39s optimistic that the economy is on the rebound: quotI have had a strong belief in next year, quot she says. Without the loan from Wells Fargo, Braun wouldn39t have been able to take the entrepreneurial leap. quotI would still be working at my corporate job, quot she says. quotIt would have been a dead dream for now. quot The future: Next week, the government wraps up its 2009 fiscal year, and the SBA numbers are likely to be grim. To try to revive the market, Congress allocated funds in February39s Recovery Act to temporarily eliminate fees for SBA loans and increase to up to 90 the percentage of the loan that is insured against default. Those moves have had some effect: quotIf you look in terms of all the government programs that are out there -- increasing that 7(a) guarantee to the bank has made the greatest impact to getting money to Main Street, in my opinion, quot says Coleman. quotThis is a good time to be making SBA loans, quot Wells Fargo39s Burke says of the added incentives. Even with the stimulus cash, the number of 7(a) loans made this year is on track to drop 38 from last year, to just over 40,000 loans. The total amount lent is also down sharply: Though mid-September, loans totaled 0368.7 billion, down 28 from the same time last year. But Wells Fargo, at least, expects its coffers to remain open to small business borrowers. quotWe are in it for the long term, quot Burke says. quotWe would love to continue to be the top SBA performer. quot For new banks, starting up is hard to do Would-be bankers are finding plenty of regulatory resistance, particularly in hard-hit regions of the country. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- What39s harder than running a bank these days Try starting one of your own. Even as enterprising bankers try to benefit from a less competitive industry landscape and Americans39 new-found love for Main Street banks, many industry hopefuls have had their dreams deferred. Nearly a year ago, Cindy Delaparte, a veteran of the Florida banking community, had visions of striking out on her own, establishing a de novo, or new bank, in the suburbs of Jacksonville. Things started out smoothly enough as she and her partner quickly raised the roughly 03612 million in start-up capital for their new venture: St. John39s Bank. But with costs mounting by the day and no indications that their business plan would be approved anytime soon by federal and state regulators, Delaparte withdrew her application in March. quotWe still believe it would have worked, quot she said. Starting a new bank has never been a simple undertaking. Would-be bankers not only have to secure millions of dollars from investors and find a management team with years of experience, but they also have to undergo significant scrutiny from both state and federal regulators. From start to finish, the entire process has known to take two years or more in some instances. So given the backdrop of the current crisis, industry experts suggest that regulatory scrutiny over prospective banks is as high as it has ever been. Would-be bankers in states where the local economy has suffered greatly or endured a rash of bank troubles now face a particularly tough time in securing new charters, notes Jerry Blanchard, a partner in the financial institutions practice at the Atlanta offices of the law firm Bryan Cave. Georgia, for example, was once a virtual boom town for new banks, averaging 14 per year between 2006 and 2008, according to FDIC data. After becoming the nation39s leader in bank failures during the crisis, regulators have placed a virtual moratorium on new banks in the state. quotRegulators are trying to figure out what went wrong, quot he said. But regulators have put the brakes on new banks in other ways. For example, experts believe the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which has the final say on new ventures by choosing whether to extend deposit insurance, has demanded that new lenders raise more capital than they might have in previous years. Officials have also been vigilant about firms intending to accept brokered deposits or building much of their business through commercial real estate loans, practices that have been problematic. quotYou have to have a very solid business plan, quot said Carey Richardson, director of sales for the Dallas-based Bankmark, which consults de novo banks. quotRegulators want to see that an institution is profitable by the end of its second year. quot Tougher scrutiny In a sign of just how reluctant regulators have been to sign off on new banks, about two thirds of the 32 firms that applied to the FDIC for deposit insurance have had their application rejected, according to the most recent agency data. Compare that to the pre-crisis environment of 2006 and 2007, when four out of every five new bank applications were approved. Faced with such grim statistics, some bankers have gotten creative in an effort to launch their business. When plans to open last year came unraveled because of the economic and regulatory environment, Richmond, Va.-based Xenith Bank agreed in May to a merger with First Bankshares (SUFB), which already operated institutions. What helps keep so many would-be bankers interested, according to experts, is that new institutions can choose to make loans that are safer and more lucrative, particularly as credit remains tough to come by. That prospect has also helped bring in plenty of private capital to banks looking to launch in the future. In just three short months of fundraising, Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Paradise Valley National Bank has raised 03611 million of the 03615 million to 03617 million the firm hoped to raise, said company CEO Gary Hickel. For Hickel, a long-time Arizona banker, this will be the second bank he has launched, the first coming in the mid-1990s. If all goes according to plan, his new venture, which will offer a variety of business, real estate and consumer loans, will launch this spring. quotIt is different today than it was back then, quot he said when comparing his two efforts to launch banks. quotWe are still meeting with a lot of receptivity, so that is encouraging. quot Group: Moderators Posts: 725 Joined: 13-August 09 Member No. 100 Chrysler39s credibility challenge The carmaker has to convince suppliers, dealers, and customers that it can be competitive again. Semoga berhasil. NEW YORK (Fortune) -- An auto company high executive who shall remain unnamed chuckled when asked about the competitive prospects of Chrysler: quotWhat39s their market share, 7 And what do they have to sell for the next two years besides the Ram pickup truck and the minivan Their first new car after that will be the Fiat 500 How many of those are they going to sell Fiat hasn39t sold so much as a bicycle here for 20 years. quot Though harsh and a bit off the mark (Chrysler39s market share is closer to 9 nine percent), the executive39s comments neatly summarized the challenge faced by CEO Sergio Marchionne and his executive team as they try to reestablish Chrysler as a credible choice for consumers in the U. S. market. It won39t be easy. Turning around car companies takes time -- three years to develop a new model -- and money -- up to 0361 billion for a new car or truck and the tools and machinery to build it with. Chrysler has little of either. Former owner Daimler hollowed out Chrysler39s technical capabilities and scrimped on its products to meet corporate financial targets. Then its last owner Cerberus severed critical operations and crammed distribution channels with unwanted vehicles in a desperate attempt to generate cash and stave off bankruptcy. Marchionne, who spends half his time in Italy running Fiat, Chrysler39s 20 owner, is said to enjoy the challenge of putting Chrysler39s pieces back together. He has promised to unveil a five-year plan for Chrysler in November. That39s no small task -- especially since Chrysler sometimes seems to be confused about what it wants to do. At the same time that workers were protesting the decision to close the plant where the underwhelming Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger are made, reports were published that Chrysler now intends to give the cars a facelift and keep the plant open for another two years. Chrysler will also need a more convincing story in order to convince suppliers to do business with it and dealers to stock its cars. But the atmosphere currently is one of mistrust. Suppliers have taken a beating lately because industry volumes have been so much lower than anticipated. Making fewer parts with the same overhead crushes profit margins. And dealers got burned in the weeks before bankruptcy when Chrysler begged them to keep taking more cars in the face of slumping sales. Some dealers did so, only to see their franchise agreements terminated, leaving them with lots full of unsold merchandise. At least Marchionne appears to be a realist. He39s admitted to being surprised by how little product development had been done at Chrysler in the two years before he arrived in June. And he promised that his five-year plan will show quothow we39re going to come out of this. quot The whole auto industry will be watching. Including one particularly skeptical high executive. Group: Moderators Posts: 725 Joined: 13-August 09 Member No. 100 Starbucks instant coffee unveiled The home of the upscale lattes launches a new brand of instant coffee called Via. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Starbucks unveiled a brand of instant coffee Tuesday that the high-end chain says quotwill change the way people drink coffee. quot The Seattle-based company will begin selling a quotready brewquot coffee called Via at all of its U. S. locations in a move designed to tap a growing market for instant coffee. quotWith a 03621 billion global instant coffee business, and instant coffee representing 40 of overall global coffee sales, we believe Starbucks is uniquely positioned to capture a significant share of this market, quot said Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz, in a statement. Starbucks has struggled to compete with lower-priced rivals such as Dunkin Donuts and McDonald39s (MCD, Fortune 500) as consumers have become more price-conscious amid the weak economy. However, the company could face resistance from coffee purists who generally see instant coffee as inferior to brewed. Starbucks (SBUX, Fortune 500) said Via is made with 100 natural roasted arabica coffee and that it took 20 years to develop quota proprietary, U. S. patent-pending microgrind technologyquot that preserves the taste of fresh coffee. To help get Via off the ground, Starbucks said it will offer customers the chance to taste it at U. S. stores from Oct. 2 to Oct. 5. Customers will also be given a coupon for a cup of brewed coffee on their next visit and 0361 off on a purchase of the instant brew. Via is sold in packs of three cup-sized servings for 0362.95 or 0369.95 for a 12 pack. That makes for a cost of 0361 per cup, which is Starbucks39 cheapest option. Starbucks has partnered with a number of other companies that could benefit from Via39s portability. The instant brew will be available on United Airlines (UAUA, Fortune 500) flights of more than two hours, and at Omni and Marriott (MAR, Fortune 500) hotels, as well as through outdoor gear retailer REI. Group: Moderators Posts: 725 Joined: 13-August 09 Member No. 100 FDIC asks banks for help The agency raised its estimated bank failure tab and wants banks to kick in 03645 billion to shore up the deposit insurance fund. NEW YORK (Fortune) -- The banking bust is getting mighty costly. Bank regulators on Tuesday sharply raised their estimate of the cost of cleaning up after bank failures -- and proposed sending the industry a 03645 billion tab to shore up the dwindling deposit insurance fund. The staff of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said it expects expenses tied to failed banks to surge to 036100 billion over five years -- up 43 from the agency39s last estimate in May. As a result of the rising costs and the pressures on the agency39s cash position, the FDIC proposed that banks prepay their deposit insurance premiums for the next three years at the end of December. The move would head off a cash crunch at the fund that stands behind consumers39 bank deposits. Under FDIC guidelines, bankers and others will have a month to comment on the proposal before it becomes a rule. The FDIC said the fund, under strain from 95 bank failures this year, will have a negative balance when the third quarter ends Wednesday and could run out of cash by the end of the first quarter next year. Over the past year, the deposit insurance fund balance has dropped to 03610 billion from 03645 billion. As a result, there is a need for banks to pony up cash on hand now to support the fund, which supports more than 0364 trillion in insured deposits. The FDIC said the banks mostly will be able to make the payments out of reserves, so it won39t unduly strain their finances or reduce lending. quotOur analysis suggests the industry can step up, so that39s what we are asking them to do, quot said FDIC chief Sheila Bair. The agency said the banking industry has quotsubstantial liquidity, quot with some 0361.3 trillion in liquid balances -- up 22 from a year ago. Because the banks won39t have to account for their payments to the FDIC all at once, the plan proposed Tuesday quotwill put the industry39s liquid balances to good use in conserving capital and helping to maintain the capacity of banks to lend while they rebuildquot the fund, the FDIC said. The industry, which had been lobbying against another option open to the FDIC -- levying a so-called special assessment on banks, as it did earlier this year -- generally praised the prepayment decision. quotAt this critical time, when the economy is just beginning its recovery, looking to options that are less pro-cyclical and that spread the cost over time is the right policy, quot the American Bankers Association said in a statement. The FDIC said it wouldn39t make any further special assessments on banks for the rest of the year, and ruled out raising the premiums it levies on banks till 2011. Tuesday39s proposal highlights how much money the banks have made over the past decade, while until recently contributing little to the insurance fund. In the seven years leading up to the bloodbath of 2008, when banking industry profits tumbled 78 as the credit bubble collapsed, FDIC-insured commercial banks made an average pretax operating profit of 036142 billion, according to agency data. Over the same period, the industry paid out just 036170 million a year, on average, in deposit insurance premiums, thanks largely to a 1996 law backed by the bankers39 friends in Congress. In 2006, President Bush signed into law a measure that restored the FDIC39s right to assess premiums on well-capitalized banks. Since the markets melted down two summers ago, the FDIC has been playing catch-up. It booked 036643 million in net assessments in 2007 and 0363 billion last year -- and is on track to bring in some 03617 billion over the course of 2009. The FDIC does have some other options to shore up the fund. For instance, it could borrow cash from the Treasury Department. The agency has a 036100 billion standing credit line with Treasury -- and, thanks to a law passed this year, the authority to borrow as much as 036500 billion through 2010 in an emergency. But Bair has been reluctant to tap into this line of credit. She and other officials said Tuesday they prefer to leave the Treasury credit line untapped unless there is what they call an emergency situation -- such as the failure of a massive institution. quotI think that the American people would prefer to see an end to policies that look to the federal balance sheet as a remedy to every problem, quot Bair said. quotThat is especially the case with an industry that has the resources to deal with the problem. quot Group: Moderators Posts: 725 Joined: 13-August 09 Member No. 100 Private sector still losing lots of jobs Payroll-processing firm says 254,000 jobs were lost in September, more than expected but down slightly from August. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Private sector employment fell more than expected in September, but the pace of job losses continued to slow, according to a report released Wednesday. Automatic Data Processing, a payroll-processing firm, said private-sector employers cut 254,000 jobs in September, down from a revised 277,000 in August. It was the smallest monthly total since July 2008. The decline was greater than the 200,000 loss economists surveyed by Briefing had forecast. But the difference was quotnot statistically meaningful, quot according to Joel Prakken, an ADP spokesman and chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, LLC. quotThe pattern of improvement in headline number is undeniable at this point, quot Prakken said. Private sector payrolls will continue to decline at a slowing rate for the next few months before modest job growth resumes quotin the first few months of 2010,quot he added. Large businesses, those with 500 or more workers, let 61,000 workers go. Medium-sized businesses, with between 50 and 499 workers, shed 93,000 jobs. And small businesses, those with less than 50 workers, reduced payrolls by 100,000. Small businesses held will continue to shed more workers than larger and medium-sized firms, Prakken said. That39s because large businesses started shrinking payrolls earlier and therefore will recover sooner, he explained. The goods-producing sector cut 151,000 jobs in September, while the service sector shed 103,000 jobs. Employment in the manufacturing sector dropped by 74,000 jobs. The pattern of gradual improvement in the job market has been quotfairly wide spread, quot Prakken said. But employment in the construction and manufacturing sectors will remain weaker than the service sector, he added. Public sector employment, which ADP excludes from its report, is expected to decline significantly due to quotpressure on states to cut costs and meet budgets, quot Prakken said. ADP based its report on payroll data from about 500,000 employers across a broad range of industries. The report is seen as a precursor to Friday39s closely watched jobs report from the U. S. Labor Department. That report is expected to show that the economy shed 180,000 jobs in September, down from the 216,000 reported for August, according to a consensus estimate of economists compiled by Briefing. The unemployment rate is predicted to rise to 9.8 from 9.7. Group: Moderators Posts: 725 Joined: 13-August 09 Member No. 100 Bailout cop on the prowl for perps Neil Barofsky39s job is to root out fraud in the 036700 billion rescue program. So far, he has put only one bad guy behind bars. But he says: Stay tuned. WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) -- Bailout cop Neil Barofsky is on the lookout for Censoredmers and thieves. The special inspector general will soon release results of an audit of the money given to the nine largest banks, with a focus on the Bank of America-Merrill Lynch merger. He39s also involved in a criminal investigation into that merger. In addition, Barofsky is investigating a now-defunct Alabama bank that applied for but never received bailout funds under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. In all, he has 35 ongoing criminal and civil investigations underway. But if you measure an investigator39s success by notches in his gunbelt, Barofsky has a ways to go. His biggest win came in August, when he helped put behind bars for 10 years an investment manager who conned investors into buying quotTARP-backed securities. quot Barofsky is not worried about counting wins. His team is going after complex cases like securities and accounting fraud, even if indictments are years away. quotThe cases most important to our mission are those where we investigate those who try to steal money from Treasury, quot Barofsky said in an interview with CNNMoney. quotBut that means they39re complex and take awhile. quot And he has time for in-depth investigations. His office, which was established by the 2008 bailout law, exists as long as the Treasury Department still owns assets paid with TARP dollars. Even as new funding winds down next year, some TARP programs are expected to own assets for another 8 to 10 years. Investigating fraud Barofsky is one of several watchdogs lurking over the 036700 billion federal bailout program. quotAt SigTARP, they really do carry a gun and a badge, quot said Elizabeth Warren, chairwoman of Congressional Oversight Panel, which also oversees the bailout. quotThey audit the books. They make sure that when a check has been made out to the First National Banks of Sallisaw, Oklahoma, that it really got cashed and the money went into that bank39s coffers. quot Warren39s panel looks at policy and big picture questions about how taxpayer dollars are spent and whether they39re helping the economy. Barofsky39s job is different. He focuses on fraud. Yet, he says the loose nature of the TARP law gives banks leeway in how they use the funds that wouldn39t be considered fraud. quotThey39re so few conditions on how they can use the money, quot he said. quotThey could use it to support ACORN. They could use it to make a million-dollar contribution to the American Nazi Party or bet all the money on black. quot Barofsky is looking beyond the banks that have received funding and is probing companies that may have lied on their bailout applications or used the TARP name to rip off consumers. quotIf those numbers are cooked, then there39s accounting fraud going on, and there is securities fraud going on, that39s a large part of our work, quot he said. Dancing with Treasury Barofsky, 39, a former federal prosecutor from New York, was tapped as bailout overseer by President George W. Bush last December. His ultimate boss is President Obama, who has the power to dismiss him. But, unlike most federal inspectors general, Barofsky reports to Congress and not the head of the agency he reviews. Treasury had challenged the question of who Barofsky reports to until dropping the issue in late August. quotYou can never rest on your laurels, quot Barofsky said about his apparent victory in affirming his office39s independence. quotThis challenge has been met and turned away, but we need to stay vigilant. quot The question of SigTARP39s independence was only the latest of several awkward moments between Treasury and SigTARP, although both sides maintain they have a cordial and professional relationship. In July, Barofsky made headlines when he said that 03623.7 trillion had been committed for all federal rescue programs. Republicans seized on the number and redoubled their criticisms of the TARP-keepers in the Obama administration. Treasury officials said the figure was inflated. Indeed, Barofsky39s calculation included several programs that the government is no longer on the hook for, as well as bailouts that banks paid back. But Barofsky stood by his figure. A more nuanced punch, counter-punch happened again last week before the Senate Banking Committee over what Barofsky called Treasury39s quotgreat failingquot -- its lack of transparency in how it39s handling TARP. Treasury39s TARP chief, Herb Allison, told lawmakers that the department had implemented the quotvast majorityquot of recommendations made by Barofsky and other watchdogs about reporting bank lending data and other activities. Barofsky didn39t see it that way. quotWith all due respect to Mr. Allison, the things that he39s described and that they39re doing falls far, far short of meeting this basic level of transparency, quot he said. Treasury spokeswoman Meg Reilly said that when Treasury has declined to implement a SigTARP recommendation, it has nonetheless tried different ways to meet the recommendation39s goal. What39s next Barofsky39s office has kicked into action. He has a staff of 86, on its way to 160. He has drawn investigators from the FBI, Secret Service, homeland security, energy and housing agencies. A team recently went to Texas for an audit on mortgage servicers. More than half of its investigations come from tips from a telephone hotline, which has had 7,000 inquiries, or over the Internet. The office39s Web site has gotten 26 million hits. The rest come from a combination of referrals from other agencies and follow-ups on reports in the news media and on blogs. In the meantime, he said his office is investigating fraud and Censoreds. Earlier this year, it worked with the Federal Trade Commission to shut down an Internet company purporting to be the government Web site for a program to help modify home mortgages. Barofsky said he expects his office to produce a quotlot more activityquot going after home mortgage modification fraud. quotWe39ve got a pretty good number of investigations underway, quot he said. Group: Moderators Posts: 725 Joined: 13-August 09 Member No. 100 Auto sales fall as Clunkers rush ends Without the popular government program and low inventories, Ford39s sales slip 5, while Chrysler and GM sales plunge more than 40. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The end of the government39s popular Cash for Clunkers program and low inventories of vehicles led to drops in sales at the top U. S. automakers, although the declines generally were in line with forecasts. Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) reported the best results of Detroit39s Big Three Thursday. Its sales slipped only 5 from a year earlier, although they were off 37 from the rush it got from the popular Cash for Clunkers program in August. Still Ford39s results were better than the 10 year-over-year drop forecast by sales tracker Edmunds. Rival General Motors reported a 45 drop in sales compared to a year ago, and a 37 drop from August. Edmunds had forecast a 46 decline for the nation39s largest automaker. quotSeptember was a tough transitional month for the industry, and a difficult year-over-year comparison for GM, quot said Mark LaNeve, vice president of U. S. sales for GM, in a statement. quotFortunately, the fourth quarter looks brighter. quot Chrysler39s sales plunged 42 from a year ago, and 33 from August. Chrysler, with a heavier reliance on trucks than other automakers, did not get as much of a sales lift from the Clunkers program. But Edmunds had expected an even worse year-over-year drop of 48. quotWe believe the remainder of 2009 will continue to be a challenge for the U. S. automotive market, quot said Peter Fong, the lead sales executive for the Chrysler Group in a statement. quotCredit markets have thawed slightly, but still remain tight, and consumer confidence, as we saw in September, is tenuous. quot Cash for Clunkers, which paid buyers up to 0364,500 for their used cars when they purchased more fuel efficient models, spurred strong sales from late July through the end of the program on Aug. 24. But it likely pulled ahead sales that might have taken place in September and left dealers with limited supplies of vehicles to sell coming into the fall. With low inventories, automakers also scaled back on incentive offers to buyers. quotThere were a lot of things working against sales in September, and very little wind at their back, quot said Jeff Schuster, director of global forecasting for auto consultant J. D. Power amp Associates. The firm estimates that industrywide sales in September would be cut by more than 50,000 vehicles because of sales that got pulled into August due to the Clunkers program. Ford and other automakers have ramped up production to try to replenish supplies, but inventories remained low throughout September. George Pipas, director of sales analysis for Ford, said the company had an inventory of about 300,000 vehicles at the end of the month, up about 60,000 from the end of August. But he added that was an historic low and that some of those vehicles are still in transit to dealerships. Edmunds forecasts that industrywide sales will be off 23 from a year ago, while J. D. Power expects September sales will come in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 9.2 million, down about 26 from last year. Group: Moderators Posts: 725 Joined: 13-August 09 Member No. 100 TD Bank customers hit by tech glitch Overnight postings delayed for third time this week as bank combines systems with Commerce Bank. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- For a third time this week, TD Bank customers cannot see real-time updates on their account transactions and balances. In a statement released Thursday, TD Bank (TD) said U. S. customers can only see their account balance and transactions as of Wednesday evening because the bank is quotexperiencing an unusual delay in its overnight batch postings. quot TD Bank said it expects to complete processing transactions and have current balances later in the day, and will reverse fees, charges or interest incurred because of the disruption. The system first malfunctioned Monday night when the Toronto-based bank tried to integrate its operating system with New Jersey-based Commerce bank, which it acquired last year. TD Bank said the problem was resolved Tuesday, resurfaced Tuesday night, was resolved again Wednesday, and then recurred. TD Bank spokeswoman Jennifer Carlson said that quothigher-than-normal transaction volumes are compounding and having to play catch upquot and ultimately causing a quotcomputer glitch. quot Carlson said the bank is quotposting transactions as fast as we can using the system we have in placequot and hopes customers will be able to see real-time transactions and balances later Thursday. While customers temporarily cannot access online banking, Carlson assured that they can still access their funds and continue to make transactions. Less than a week ago, the bank39s New England and upstate New York branches changed their name from TD Banknorth to TD Bank, bringing more than 1,000 of its units between Maine and Florida under the same name. Lauren Ventola, 23, who started using the bank seven years ago when it was still called Commerce Bank, hasn39t found the bank to be as convenient as its quotAmerica39s Most Convenient Bankquot slogan. As a medical student on the Caribbean island of Grenada, she relies on online banking to manage her finances. quotWith the TD Bank Web site down I can39t check statements, make sure rent money has cleared or determine my credit card balance, quot Ventola said. Group: Moderators Posts: 725 Joined: 13-August 09 Member No. 100 The dark side of merger talk Investors need to be wary of getting burned by unsubstantiated takeover chatter. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Psst. Did you hear who Microsoft is going to buy next No Me neither. But that hasn39t stopped traders from gossiping. Mergers are starting to make a comeback as the economy and stock market show signs of life. But there is a dark side to the pickup in deals. Takeover rumors with little to no basis in fact have also returned. Last week, for example, Wall Street and Silicon Valley were awash with the rumor that Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) was in talks to buy video game publisher Electronic Arts (ERTS). Shares of EA spiked as much as 9.6 on the chatter. A deal for EA wouldn39t have been preposterous. Microsoft, after all, has a big interest in gaming with its Xbox franchise, and EA has been frequently cited as a potential acquisition target in the past few years. But the takeover talk turned out to be just that: talk. Microsoft spokespeople and executives quickly denied the rumors and EA39s stock took a hit as a result. The Microsoft-EA quottakeoverquot is just one example of investors getting their hopes up only to have them dashed. Earlier this week, The New York Post reported that hedge fund wunderkind John Paulson, who made gobs of money last year shorting financial stocks and is now sifting through the rubble for bargains, was pushing to merge troubled small business lender CIT Group (CIT, Fortune 500) with OneWestBank, the failed mortgage lender previously known as IndyMac. Paulson39s firm is an investor in CIT39s debt and was part of a group that bought IndyMac from the FDIC this year. Shares of CIT unsurprisingly shot up on the quotnews. quot But this chatter also turned out to be untrue. Reuters later reported from an unnamed source that talk of an IndyMac-CIT merger was quotjust wrong. quot CIT39s stock promptly sunk, plunging 45 Wednesday. It now appears that the company is considering a prepackaged bankruptcy. Ouch. But neither of those bogus MampA stories can hold a candle to the curious case of big screen move theater operator IMAX. On Wednesday morning, a press release began to float around the Internet saying that IMAX (IMAX) had agreed to be purchased by Walt Disney (DIS, Fortune 500) for 0361.5 billion, a handsome premium. IMAX39s stock rose more than 7 Tuesday and was up about 6 in pre-market trading Wednesday. So it seems that some investors believed the reports. But upon further inspection, there were some things that didn39t make sense. While Disney does have an agreement with IMAX where several Disney films will be shown in IMAX theaters, an outright purchase of the company would not really fit Disney39s strategy. Plus, Disney just announced a few weeks ago that it was spending 0364 billion to buy comic book publisher Marvel Entertainment. Well guess what The IMAX press release turned out to be a fake -- and a bad one at that. It was a classic cut and paste job, with mentions of the Marvel deal scattered throughout. Still, IMAX felt compelled to issue its own legitimate press release shortly after the market opened Wednesday to point out that it had not been acquired and was not in discussions to be bought by Disney. IMAX39s stock was flat Wednesday but fell nearly 2 Thursday morning. Of course, not every fake merger will be a case of someone acting fraudulently and making something up out of thin air as was the case with the IMAX rumor. Is it possible that Microsoft and EA held talks about a deal at some point Sure. But that39s not the same thing as having a signed merger agreement that39s going to be imminently announced. Just look at all the hullabaloo Thursday about Comcast and NBC Universal. According to a story that surfaced Wednesday evening on TheWrap, a Web site focusing on the entertainment business, Comcast is in advanced discussions to purchase NBC Universal from General Electric for 03635 billion. Considering that the cable giant made a bold, unsolicited 03654 billion takeover for Disney back in 2004, it39s not entirely shocking that Comcast would be interested in NBC Universal. But a Comcast spokeswoman denied this later Wednesday night, saying that quotthe report that Comcast has a deal to purchase NBC Universal is inaccurate. quot Other reports suggest that Comcast (CMCSA, Fortune 500) is trying to purchase a stake in NBC Universal, not the whole thing. And the Comcast spokeswoman simply said that Comcast does not have a deal to purchase NBC Universal. So there probably is something to the notion that Comcast and GE (GE, Fortune 500) are talking. It just doesn39t seem as if Comcast is about to ink a deal to buy all of NBC Universal. There will probably be many more stories and rumors of takeovers that are at best slightly off the mark, and at worst just flat-out wrong. It comes with the territory now that companies are showing a willingness to make deals again. It just goes to show that investors need to be wary of believing everything they read and hear, lest they get burned. Group: Moderators Posts: 725 Joined: 13-August 09 Member No. 100 Jobless claims report is setback to recovery Initial claims jump 17,000 to 551,000 after three straight weeks of declines, but easing is still seen. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The number of first-time filers for unemployment insurance jumped last week, according to a government report issued Thursday, with the increase exceeding economists39 forecasts. There were 551,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended Sept. 26, up 17,000 from an upwardly revised 534,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said in a weekly report. A consensus estimate of economists surveyed by Briefing expected 535,000 new claims. quotWe39ve been holding in a similar pattern the past few weeks, and this could dash some hopes of a quicker recovery, quot said Adam York, analyst at Wells Fargo. Ian Shepherdson of High Frequency Economics wrote in a research note that quota correction was overduequot after three consecutive declines in initial claims. quotProgress is slow, quot Shepherdson said. quotThere is still no sign of a near-term stabilization in employment. quot The 4-week moving average of initial claims was 548,000, down 6,250 from the previous week39s revised average of 554,250. Continuing claims: The government said 6,090,000 people filed continuing claims in the week ended Sept. 19, the most recent data available. That was down 70,000 from the preceding week39s ongoing claims. The 4-week moving average for ongoing claims fell by 39,250 to 6,154,500 from the prior week39s revised average of 6,193,750. The initial claims number identifies those filing for their first week of unemployment benefits. Continuing claims reflect people filing each week after their initial claim until the end of their standard benefits, which usually last 26 weeks. The figures do not include those who have moved to state or federal extensions, nor people whose benefits have expired. State-by-state data: Two states reported a decline in initial claims of more than 1,000 for the week ended Sept. 19, the most recent data available. Claims in Kansas fell by 1,545, while Wisconsin39s fell by 1,258. A total of 12 states said that claims increased by more than 1,000. California reported the most new claims at 5,112. Fewer layoffs: A separate report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray amp Christmas said its data showed stabilization in the job market. Monthly layoff announcements fell in September to 66,404 job cuts, down 13 from August. That39s the lowest level since March 2008, and the September figure was 30 lower than the same month a year ago, when employers announced 95,094 job cuts. It was the fourth consecutive month in which job cuts declined from the year-ago level. Outlook: Thursday39s government report quotshows we still have job losses to come this year, quot said Wells Fargo39s York. The rest of 200939s job losses won39t come near the levels seen during mass layoffs in January and February, York said, and initial claims could fall below the 500,000 mark by year39s end. High Frequency Economics39 Shepherdson wrote that better economic data in the third quarter should boost the job market. quotIt would be very surprising not to see claims falling now, quot he said. Group: Moderators Posts: 725 Joined: 13-August 09 Member No. 100 Dollar rises as on jobs data Safe-haven greenback gets a boost after data show a bigger-than-expected decline in payrolls in September. NEW YORK (Reuters) -- The dollar gained against the euro Friday after bigger-than-expected U. S. job losses in September rekindled demand for the greenback as a safe haven. The Labor Department said U. S. job losses last month totaled 263,000 with the unemployment rate rising to 9.8, the highest rate since June 1983. Markets were expecting payroll declines of 180,000. quotA very ugly read. But the reaction today is going to be a serious push and pull between two primary themes, quot said Boris Schlossberg, director of FX research, at GFT in New York. quotOn one hand, there39s risk aversion, which should help the dollar. quot But on the other hand, Schlossberg said, the report could pressure the dollar as markets realize that the United States is quotbecoming the laggard in the G-20 as far as recovery goes. quot The euro fell to session lows against the dollar to 0361.4481 from 0361.4539 before the data. It was last at 0361.4515, down 0.1. The dollar slipped against the yen to 89.18, down 0.4. Nick39Otin View Member Profile Oct 2 2009, 10:00 PM Group: Moderators Posts: 725 Joined: 13-August 09 Member No. 100 U. S. broadband lags Asian nations South Korea edges out Japan for providing top quality broadband service in 2009 study. The U. S. didn39t even make the top 10. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- South Korea leads the world in providing broadband services, according to a study released on Thursday. The United States did not make the top 10. South Korea dramatically improved the speed, quality and availability of its Internet service in 2009, pushing past Japan, the former worldwide leader, according to a team of business students from the University of Oxford in England and the University of Oviedo in Spain. The study, sponsored by Cisco (CSCO, Fortune 500), examined 66 countries and 240 cities. Broadband leadership was measured by various factors, including the number of wired households, where South Korea scored 97. Hong Kong, which was rated number three in overall broadband leadership, had an even higher penetration, at 99. In terms of overall leadership, Hong Kong was followed by Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Singapore, Luxembourg, Denmark and Norway. The United States did not make the list39s top 10, even though it made quotsignificant, above average improvementsquot in quality, the study said. In terms of broadband Internet quality, the U. S. lags behind not only Sweden, which leads Europe, but the island nations of Malta and Iceland, and the former Soviet Bloc country of Lithuania. The top three cities with the best overall broadband services -- Yokohama, Nagoya and Sapporo -- were all in Japan, the study said. Japan also led the way for providing quality services outside major cities. But the study showed that the biggest digital quality divide between urban and rural areas was in Lithuania, Russia and Latvia. quotThe Broadband Quality Study shows us which countries have made real moves towards the Internet of the future, quot said Professor Maria Rosalia Vicente of the University of Oviedo, in a written statement. quotIt also provides fresh evidence of the urban-versus-rural quality divide. The challenge for countries now is to bridge this quality divide. quot The study39s researchers judged broadband quality by measuring upload and download speeds, network latency and capacity. For their benchmarking, they tested out typical applications used today such as video streaming, Web browsing and social networking. But they also took a look at which countries have the broadband quality necessary for handling future applications, like high definition Internet television and video communications, which they expect to become common in the next three to five years. That list features nine countries, including the leaders South Korea, Japan and Sweden, as well as former Soviet nations Lithuania, Bulgaria and Latvia. The U. S. didn39t make the cut. Group: Moderators Posts: 725 Joined: 13-August 09 Member No. 100 Chicago loses Olympic bid to Rio The Windy City would have faced a tough financial challenge experts say. It already spent an estimated 036100 million in its failed effort. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Chicago lost its bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics Friday to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The news was announced by Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, at a meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark. quotLike in every competition, there can be only one winner, quot said Rogge, just prior to announcing Rio as the host city. With help from hometown heroes like the Obamas, the Windy City was aggressively lobbying to host the games. The upside to the rejection is that Chicago possibly saved money, as making the Olympics profitable would not have been an easy win. Chicago was competing with Tokyo, Madrid, Spain and Rio de Janeiro in wooing the International Olympic Committee in Copenhagen. The IOC also rejected Tokyo and Madrid Friday. Chicago 2016, the organization leading the effort to host the games, had projected a cost of 0363.8 billion, including a quotrainy dayquot fund of 036450 million in case of unforeseen increases if the city won the bid. But there was good reason to be skeptical of that projection, said Robert Livingstone, producer of GamesBids and a leading expert in the Olympic selection process. Host cities routinely overrun their Olympic budgets, he said. quotIt39s going to be more expensive than we think it39s going to be, because it typically is, quot Livingstone said, before the decision was made Friday. quotI think every host city is going to lose money. It39s not an efficient event. quot The bidding process alone cost Chicago about 036100 million, Livingstone estimated. An argument often made by host city advocates is that presenting the international spectacle is good for a local economy. But such quottrickle-down effects, quot like benefits to local businesses, are quotalmost impossible to measure, quot Livingstone said. quotI think a lot of people look at the Olympics, and they try to justify it by how much money it adds to the economy, quot said Livingstone. quotBut if you39re in this to make money and improve your economy, you39re in it for the wrong reasons. quot A Chicago 2016 spokesman, who asked not be named, had stood by the 0363.8 billion projection. quotOur numbers are completely feasible thanks to the infrastructure already in place, the number of venues already built and the temporary nature of the majority of those we39re planning to build, quot he wrote, in an e-mail prior to the IOC rejection.