The economy, is it good or bad. (Page 81/181) 84Bill NOV 01, 10:15 PM quote Originally posted by aceman: 11/1/2007 Dow Closes at 13,567 That over 3 months into the future. I guess the Dow is steady even to up. I'll give you that. Lets see what it looks like three months from now. If volume is down another 500 or so in 3 months or less would you still think everything is fine fine fine? aceman NOV 01, 10:19 PM quote Originally posted by 84Bill: I'll give you that. Lets see what it looks like three months from now. If volume is down another 500 or so in 3 months or less would you still think everything is fine fine fine? Bill, if it plummeted 1,000 points and consistently stayed at 12,500 I would be concerned. 84Bill NOV 01, 10:35 PM After Dow Jones Breaks 12,500, Stocks Fall to End 2006 Trading Associated Press Saturday, December 30, 2006; Okay... We have lost 500 in 1 month. BTW Crude oil rose 52 cents to settle at $61.05 84Bill NOV 03, 10:17 AM Coming to Wall Street - a $10B hit Deutsche Bank analyst sees mortgage fallout affecting earnings through end of year; Merrill, Citi to be hit hardest. LONDON (CNNMoney.com) -- Banks are likely to mark down another $10 billion of mortgage assets in the fourth quarter, according to one analyst's estimates. Deutsche Bank analyst Michael Mayo said in a note Thursday that banks and brokerages are likely to see their earnings pressured through the rest of 2007. More problems ahead for Citigroup The troubled banking giant is reportedly holding an emergency meeting this weekend and CEO Prince is expected to resign. So what's next for Citigroup? Fortune's Peter Eavis takes a look Red88FF NOV 03, 11:27 AM You know, I do not feel sorry for the banks. WAMU for instance is in big trouble for, I think it is for fraudulently inflating home appraisals for loan purposes. I won 311 bucks on a pull tab last night and due to the excitement forgot to buy the paper on the way home. The 3.34 bucks a gallon for mid range gas didn't help either. WAMU has been screwing me and others on insurance issues for years in regards to our mortgage. This will be dealt with as soon as flood season is over this year. I will bet dollars to donuts that they are not the only banks that have been doing this. We'll see. Really in this case they did it to themselves, unlike the S&L crisis that was caused by the democrats taking away second home loan interest write offs that caused all the banks debit credit sheets to go into the red. 84Bill NOV 07, 07:22 AM GM loss far worse than expected No. 1 U.S. automaker sees much bigger operating loss than forecast as huge charge results in $39 billion net loss in period. November 7 2007: 7:14 AM EST NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors reported a huge net loss Wednesday due to a $39 billion charge, along with a large operating loss that was far worse than Wall Street expectations. The nation's No. 1 automaker, which was hit with a soft auto market and a two-day strike by the United Auto Workers union during the quarter, lost $1.6 billion, or $2.80 a share, excluding special items. Oil continues march toward $100 Record high above $98 as expectations of tight inventories and pipeline attack in Yemen drive prices higher. November 7 2007: 6:12 AM EST SINGAPORE (AP) -- Oil prices jumped to a new trading record above $98 a barrel Wednesday amid expectations of declining U.S. supplies and following news of an attack on a Yemeni oil pipeline. "The oil market sentiment remains bullish ... there is an overall upward trend toward the $100 level," said Victor Shum, energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "Meanwhile, we can expect extreme volatility where on the one hand some traders will take profit while others will buy back positions." Light, sweet crude for December delivery added $1.31 to $98.01 a barrel by late afternoon in Singapore, after rising as high as $98.62 a barrel - an all-time futures trading record - in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract hit a high of $97.10 Tuesday before settling at $96.70 a barrel, a record settlement 66 percent higher than the close on the first trading day of the year. Wednesday's trading record is 96.7 percent higher than this year's trading low of $49.90, set Jan. 18. Traders remain worried about whether supplies will be adequate to meet demand for heating fuel in the approaching Northern Hemisphere winter. News of an attack Monday on an oil pipeline in Yemen added to those concerns. Figures to be released later Wednesday by the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration are expected to show crude supplies dropped last week. Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires predict, on average, that crude oil inventories fell by 1.6 million barrels. "The price rise is really driven by expectations of drawdowns in crude oil and distillate stocks inventories in the U.S. inventory report," said Shum. "Some cold weather reports out of the U.S. and Europe serve as a reminder that winter is coming and that there are still supply concerns." aceman NOV 07, 07:37 AM I'll see your bad news and counter you with good news: ___________________________________________________ Time Warner revenue rises No. 1 media conglomerate posts earnings in line with forecasts as revenue tops target; reaffirms guidance and announces acquisition by AOL. November 7 2007: 7:02 AM EST NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Time Warner, the world's largest media conglomerate, reported earnings that met Wall Street expectations on better than expected revenue, as it reaffirmed its outlook for the rest of the year and announced an acquisition for its online unit. Time Warner (Charts, Fortune 500) shares fell 2 percent in Frankfurt trading. The company, whose holdings including television networks, movie studios, magazine publishers and America Online, as well as CNNMoney.com, reported revenue rose 9 percent to $11.7 billion, topping forecasts of $11.4 billion. Adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization was $3.24 billion, roughly in line with the forecast of $3.23 billion, and up from $2.82 billion a year earlier. The company is looking for percentage growth in that measure of earnings in the mid to high teens, which it said is in line with its previous guidance. The company earned $900 million, or 24 cents a share, from continuing operations, excluding special items. That met the forecasts of analysts surveyed by earnings tracker Thomson First Call, although it was down from the $1.3 billion, or 33 cents a share it earned on that basis a year earlier. Net income fell to $1.1 billion, or 29 cents a share, from $2.3 billion, or 57 cents a share, a year earlier. The company also announced that its AOL unit would purchase Quigo, which it described as a leading site and content-targeted advertising company. Terms of the deal were not announced. Earlier this week, Time Warner announced that chief operating officer Jeff Bewkes will succeed Richard Parsons as CEO on Jan. 1. Parsons will continue as chairman. Top of page _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Toyota earnings climb, forecast raised Japan's top automaker said overseas sales drove quarterly profits up 11%. November 7 2007: 6:39 AM EST TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's top automaker Toyota said Wednesday its July-September quarter profit rose 11 percent on solid overseas sales and raised its earnings forecast for the full year. Soaring gasoline prices have boosted the appeal of Toyota's (Charts) hybrid Prius and fuel-efficient models, such as the Camry and Corolla. Although sales were stagnant in Japan, Toyota sales were strong in North America, Europe, Asia and emerging markets. Video More video Oil at record high Hans Redeker of BNP Paribas joins CNN to discuss Ben Bernanke and the state of the U.S. economy. Play video Toyota Motor Corp.'s net profit for the fiscal second quarter rose to $4 billion from $3.58 billion the same period the previous year. Sales increased 11 percent to $57 billion, the company said in a statement. The automaker posted record sales and profit for the fiscal first-half, and its immediate future looks promising too. The company has raised its forecasts for profit, revenue and vehicle sales for the full financial year. Toyota, which has already beaten General Motors (Charts, Fortune 500) in profitability, is believed to be on track to surpass GM in annual vehicle sales soon. "We posted record results in both revenues and profits" for the first-half, Toyota Executive Vice President Mitsuo Kinoshita said in a statement. "We believe our efforts to build a globally balanced operational foundation contributed to these results." Toyota lifted its forecast for vehicles sold this fiscal year to 8.93 million from the 8.89 million it projected in May. For the full year through March, Toyota projects net income of $14.9 billion, better than an earlier projection of $14.5 billion, and sales of $224 billion, up from $220 billion. Toyota unveils redesigned Corolla Weakness in the yen, which makes overseas vehicles more competitive and boosts foreign income when converted back to yen, also benefited the company, adding $1.32 billion during the six-month period. Cost cutting boosted profit by another $440 million. "Toyota's first-half results are excellent," said Lehman Brothers auto analyst Tsuyoshi Mochimaru. "First, it has succeeded in reducing costs at a time when material costs are rising. Second, its global sales are growing." Toyota sold 1.5 million vehicles in North America during the first six months of fiscal 2007, up 2.3 percent from 1.464 million a year earlier on robust demand for the Tundra pickup and the Prius. In Europe, strong sales of the Corolla, Lexus luxury models and the Camry helped boost vehicle sales to 635,000 vehicles, up nearly 8 percent from 589,000 a year ago. Sales in Asia burgeoned 18 percent from the previous year to 452,000 vehicles, with Indonesia and China posting particularly healthy numbers. For the fiscal half-year, net profit rose 21.3 percent to $8.3 billion while sales increased 13.4 percent on year to $114. During the six months, Toyota sold a record high 4.3 million vehicles worldwide, up 3.8 percent from the same period a year earlier. Top of page _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This is for Steve, who feels that GM is stupid for still focusing on SUVs............... _________________________________________________________________________ What oil shock? Truck sales gain, cars fall Most automakers post better sales of light trucks, weaker sales of car models, as GM opens lead on Japanese rival Toyota. By Chris Isidore, CNNMoney.com senior writer November 1 2007: 3:51 PM EDT NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- In a weak month for auto sales, Americans turned back to light truck models in October rather than the car models that had been gaining ground - a shift that helped to lift the sales of General Motors ahead of its leading Japanese rival Toyota. Some of the gain in truck sales was due to the growing popularity, and new introductions, of so-called crossover vehicles, a version of the SUV that has a more car-like ride, and better fuel efficiency, than a traditional crossover. GM's Buick Enclave and the Ford Edge are two vehicles in that category that were not available a year ago, and have seen strong sales. Video More video Smartcar in the U.S.A. CNN's Maggie Lake test-drives the European Smartcar that debuts next year in the U.S. as the smallest car on the market. Play video And some of the drop in car sales is due to a deliberate decision by the U.S. automakers to cut back on less profitable fleet sales to businesses, particularly rental car companies. But while some fuel-efficient cars, such as the Toyota Prius, posted strong gains helped by increased production, others, such as the the Toyota Yaris, saw sales fall. And buyers also bumped up sales of some models with relatively poor fuel efficiency - because of the convenience Americans have traditionally sought in makes like the new minivans from Chrysler LLC and new full-size pickups from Toyota as well as the Yukon and Tahoe SUV's from GM. Overall GM (Charts, Fortune 500) posted a 3.4 percent gain in passenger vehicle sales compared to a year earlier, helped by an extra sales day this year. GM saw a 5.8 percent jump in sales of its light truck models, such as pickups, SUV's and crossovers. That helped overcome a 0.7 percent drop in car models. While GM sales were slightly below the forecast of sales tracker Edmunds.com, the sales trend toward strong light truck sales was a good one for GM, which depends far more on light truck models for its sales and profits than does its Japanese rivals. Toyota reported essentially flat October sales. It sold 197,592 vehicles, a gain of 0.5 percent. Edmunds had been looking for a 6 percent gain at the Japanese automaker. Car models, which make up a majority of Toyota's U.S. sales, saw a 1.2 percent drop in vehicles sold. But light trucks posted a 2.8 percent gain, led by a 20 percent jump in pickup sales due to strong sales of its Tundra pickup - its first full-size offering in that category. Still even the essentially flat sales were enough to keep Toyota No. 2 in U.S. sales, ahead of Ford (Charts, Fortune 500), where sales fell 9.5 percent in the month. The sales at Ford were not a disaster for the troubled automaker. It had seen much deeper sales declines in recent months. Sales tracker Edmunds .com had been expecting Ford to post a nearly 16 percent decline in the latest period. In October, Ford reported it sold 195,462 vehicles. Sales of truck models edged up 0.9 percent, helped by strong sales of its crossover models. Meanwhile sales of its F-Series pickup truck, a favorite of contractors that had seen sales hammered by the downturn in home building, were off 7.5 percent, but that was less of a decline than seen in August and September. Sales of car models at Ford plunged 26 percent. Part of that decline was due to a strategy at Ford of cutting back on less profitable fleet sales to businesses, particularly rental car companies. Chrysler bucked the trend in the month, as it saw its truck sales fall 14.4 percent, while car models saw a 12.2 percent gain. That left Chrysler's overall sales down 8.9 percent - or roughly twice the decline forecast by Edmunds. But much of the shift at Chrysler was due to the timing of new models. The rollout of the new design of the Sebring brought that model a 138 percent jump in sales from a year earlier, when much of sales were limited to rental car companies. In addition, the Dodge Avenger, which was not available a year earlier, saw sales of 6,268. But most of its light truck models were relatively old in the product cycle and have seen declining sales for some time. The company announced earlier Thursday it would halt production of the Dodge Magnum and the Chrysler Pacifica, crossover models that have long suffered from disappointing sales, along with the convertible model of the PT Cruiser. Chrysler also announced earlier in the day it would cut up to 12,000 jobs as it eliminated shifts at some factories in an effort to bring its capacity more in line with demand for its products. Ford and Chrysler continued to lose ground to other import rivals other than just Toyota. Honda Motor (Charts) posted a 3.8 percent gain in sales. It bucked the industry-wide trend in U.S. sales by posting a 14 percent gain in sales of car models, but its light truck sales fell by 7.6 percent. Nissan (Charts) reported a 13 percent jump in sales, led by strong sales in car models and a modest rise in light truck sales. But even with those gains, both Honda and Nissan came in a bit below Edmunds' sales forecasts for the month. Top of page aceman NOV 07, 11:13 AM Damn that falling dollar! It's just killing our economy for small businessmen! Catching the falling dollar Europe is lowering the boom on the greenback - and that's great news for many small U.S. companies. By Renuka Rayasam, FSB magazine November 7 2007: 10:36 AM EST (Washington, D.C.) -- When Peter Bowe first went to Iraq, his Baltimore Dredge Enterprises only narrowly beat out European rivals to sell dredges the government needed to desilt dams on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and maintain dry docks near Basra. By the time the company started shipping its machines in 2006, a weakening dollar had made its price more competitive. And this summer Baltimore Dredge won another big contract on a bid that came in 50% lower than those of Dutch and German competitors - thanks to the increasingly favorable shift in exchange rates. "It's really simple math," says Bowe, 51. "As the dollar moves down, it makes our prices more attractive." More from FSB Catch the falling dollar Save your stuff! The next Iron Chef: Episode 5 Current Issue The greenback's decline - in the third quarter it depreciated 3% against seven major currencies, hit an all-time low against the euro, and reached parity with the Canadian dollar for the first time in more than 30 years - represents a boon to many U.S. businesses facing tough competition. Small exporters are benefiting disproportionately, as their ranks have swelled in recent years. U.S. companies up against imports are also profiting as their prices become more attractive compared with those of foreign competitors. One exception: U.S. companies that vie mostly with rivals in China. They are enjoying little relief because Beijing keeps the yuan artificially low relative to the dollar. Another exception: energy-intensive businesses, for which the weak dollar helps push up the cost of oil imports. For a growing share of U.S. entrepreneurs, however, today's exchange rates - driven by falling U.S. interest rates, among other factors - offer "a great opportunity to begin building trade relationships, so they have trusted buyers for the future," says James Lambright, chairman of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, which provides export loans, about 85% of which go to small businesses. When Mike and Amy Cerny launched Fit Couture in Houston four years ago, they tried without success to expand sales of their custom exercise clothing to online customers in Canada. But since the sliding dollar has effectively lowered Fit Couture's prices, "we're seeing sales from places we didn't used to see," says Mike Cerny, 38. Over the next year he expects to add about 1,000 Canadian buyers and 200 from Europe. He's confident that once they try his goods, they'll become repeat customers. Small companies that don't export - but do compete against imports - are also cashing in. Gilded Age, based in New York City, makes high-end casual clothing and has been growing steadily since it started in 2005. But in the past year sales have doubled. "A part of that is being driven by retailers looking to do more business here rather than with the Italian import lines," says CEO Mike Doyle, 46. Brad Habansky, owner of Chicago men's wear boutique Guise, which carries Gilded Age, confirms that he is stocking more domestic clothing to offset the rising costs of European imports. Three years ago 85% of Guise's inventory came from Europe. Now it's about 50%. "I have to mark the products up so much it's almost out of range for most of my clients," says Habansky, 35. "I love the Swedish stuff right now, but we can get stuff that's very close in the U.S." The dollar drop that's good for Gilded, however, is bad news for small companies that sell imports. Dutch Bicycle Co., based in St. Augustine, Fla., brings in handmade bikes from the Netherlands and pays more for them as the greenback falls. Owner Dan Sorger, 40, has been seeing strong customer demand for the bikes he peddles for $1,000 to $2,750. But he worries that sales could be dampened by his recent 10% price hike. That was his second increase this year, and it still doesn't cover his escalating costs. "It's not so much even about maintaining a profitable level as stopping the bleeding," Sorger says. Baltimore Dredge has experienced both sides of the currency cycle, having seen the dollar rise sharply in the late 1980s. "It was very, very hard for us," says owner Bowe. "We tightened our belts and suffered." And now comes the payoff. He expects his 112-year-old firm's exports to be up 20% over the next two years. He is building a third U.S. plant in New Richmond, Wis., and adding about 30 workers to his staff of 120. Pyrthian NOV 07, 11:28 AM quote Originally posted by aceman: ..... thats all well and good - but, this is the front of the wave. the lower value dollar also means that people have to soon ask more for their product/service, which will put their product/service right back where it was. it just means they may lose money or break even on the contract, if they need to buy stuff to complete the project, and the stuff they need to buy costs more now, due to the lower value dollar. but, fear not everybody - this is just the $$$ shift to put min wage back where it was. everyone told you this is exactly what would happen - and there we go - it did. surprise. this also help social security stay working. sit down, shut up, hang on. the ride has almost came to a complete stop. this has been a worse recession than the 81' recession. yes, it has. but, is it almost over or just getting wound up? aceman NOV 07, 11:43 AM quote Originally posted by Pyrthian: thats all well and good - but, this is the front of the wave. the lower value dollar also means that people have to soon ask more for their product/service, which will put their product/service right back where it was. it just means they may lose money or break even on the contract, if they need to buy stuff to complete the project, and the stuff they need to buy costs more now, due to the lower value dollar. but, fear not everybody - this is just the $$$ shift to put min wage back where it was. everyone told you this is exactly what would happen - and there we go - it did. surprise. this also help social security stay working. sit down, shut up, hang on. the ride has almost came to a complete stop. this has been a worse recession than the 81' recession. yes, it has. but, is it almost over or just getting wound up? Ummmm, Cam you find ONE article or expert that says we are or have been in a recession recently? Bet you can't! Their products won't go up as long as their supplies to complete the project are all bought in the U.S.