Archive for December, 2009

31
Dec

No 2009 cash bonuses for top Wells Fargo execs

By alfredlester Closed
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Wells Fargo said Thursday that four top executives won’t get 2009 cash bonuses.

Wells became the latest financial institution to change its compensation policies in the wake of a national uproar over executive pay this year.

The four executives, including Chief Executive John Stumpf and Chief Financial Officer Howard Atkins, will be getting restricted stock currently worth a total of roughly $25 million, Wells added.

Steve Sanger, who chairs the Human Resource Committee of Wells board of directors, said the stock was granted to the executives to encourage them to stay at the bank to help integrate its acquisition of Wachovia and steer the company out of the recent recession.

“Given the current challenges impacting the banking industry, Wells Fargo executives, at all levels, are being increasingly and aggressively recruited by competitors,” Sanger said in a statement. “Retaining them, along with our entire senior management team, is clearly in the best interest of our Company and its shareholders.”

Wells was among the first group of large U.S. financial institutions to get tens of billions of dollars in government money via the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, in the midst of the financial crisis last year.

The bank was reluctant to take the money and became more uncomfortable with the program as it became clearer that tough compensation limits would accompany government support.

Wells said as recently as September that it would repay TARP without selling new stock and further diluting shareholders’ stakes. The bank argued that it was generating enough capital internally to exit the program.

However, on Dec. 18, Wells ended up selling 489.9 million new shares of common stock at $25 each, raising $12.25 billion to help repay government support. Last week, Wells exited TARP, freeing itself from government limits on compensation loan till payday. See full story.

Despite that, Wells and other institutions have been under pressure to change executive compensation practices, after some experts blamed excessive pay for helping fuel the credit market boom and subsequent bust. See MarketWatch.com special report on CEO Pay.

Goldman said recently that its 30-person management committee will be getting bonuses for 2009 in the form of “shares at risk” instead of cash. The shares cannot be sold for five years. The firm, which was the first major institution to exit TARP, also gave shareholders an annual vote on its pay practices. Read about recent pay changes at financial institutions.

Morgan Stanley is planning to defer more compensation for top executives over time and benchmark pay against rivals, the Wall Street Journal reported recently. See complete article on Morgan Stanley’s compensation overhaul at WSJ.com.

Wells said Thursday that Stumpf will get 379,600 shares, currently worth about $10 million.

CFO Atkins; Dave Hoyt, head of wholesale banking; and Mark Oman, who runs the bank’s Home and Consumer Finance unit, will get 189,800 shares, worth roughly $5 million, Wells added.

The bank said these shares aren’t cash compensation or a form of annual incentive bonus. The stock will be forfeited if the executives leave the company to work for a rival, Wells explained.

The shares vest after three years only if the company meets specific performance targets. After that, the stock is covered by a “long-standing” policy that a portion of all shares earned by executives as compensation must be held for as long as they work at the company, Wells added.

No 2009 cash bonuses for top Wells Fargo execs

30
Dec

Panel Rejects French Carbon Tax

By alfredlester Closed
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BRUSSELS — France’s Constitutional Council has rejected a tax on carbon emissions strongly backed by President Nicolas Sarkozy that was to take effect Friday. But his ruling conservative party said the measure would be redrafted so it could be passed into law next year.

The council ruled late Tuesday that the bill contained too many exemptions for polluters, broke with past practices and threatened to make tax collection unfair.

The ruling is a blow to Mr. Sarkozy, who has sought to burnish his green credentials by holding international talks next year to seek agreement on emission cuts following the Copenhagen climate conference. Environmental groups have said they expect the talks to be held in Paris.

The Copenhagen conference, which ended without a timetable to reach a binding global agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions, represented a humiliation for European Union leaders seeking to lead global efforts to tackle climate change.

Mr. Sarkozy said he strongly favored the tax, scheduled to go into force on the first day of the new year, as a way to shift France onto a low-carbon path and modify the way the state collects revenue.

The tax was set at €17 for each ton of carbon dioxide.

Members of opposition Socialist party, many of whom said the tax would damage citizens’ purchasing power, said the defeat was personal one for Mr. Sarkozy because he had cultivated an image of aggressively on fighting emissions on the international stage but was unable to put in place workable policies at home.

Members of the French Green party said the defeat would force the government to come forward with a bill that would be more effective in helping to curb France’s contribution to global warming.

A number of Scandinavian countries already have similar taxes, which raise the cost of fuel for motorists and for household heating.

But in its ruling, the French council said the tax was flawed because it would have primarily raised the cost of fuel for vehicles and heating even though there are many other sources of emissions cash advance to savings account.

Senior members of Mr. Sarkozy’s party immediately said the government would amend the text of the bill, taking into account the objections of the council, and present a new text for approval by the country’s council of ministers on Jan. 20.

But it remains unclear how the bill could be modified to meet the demands of the council without fierce objections from French industry.

A move to subject heavy industries to the tax would be opposed by French companies that already complain the costs of doing business in the country make it difficult for them to compete in Europe and elsewhere.

France has backed efforts to introduce an E.U.-wide carbon tax that could overcome some of those objections. But many countries like Britain strongly oppose moving such fiscal decision-making from national capitals to Brussels.

Mr. Sarkozy also has promoted so-called border taxes at the E.U.’s frontiers to protect the competitiveness of European industry. But those taxes could provoke a trade war with key partners like China and the United States.

The European Union has operated an Emissions Trading System since 2005 that requires large polluters like cement manufacturers, steelworks and electricity utilities to hold a certain quota of permits to emit greenhouse gases.

Those companies must buy additional permits if they exceed their quota.

But the price of those permits has never been high enough for long enough to push utilities to adopt lasting changes. The French carbon tax was envisaged as a means to nudge industry toward systemic change by pushing up the cost of using products and services based on fossil fuels.

Panel Rejects French Carbon Tax

29
Dec

Wall Street Can’t Hold on to Its Gains

By alfredlester Closed
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Wall Street could not hold onto its slim gains Monday afternoon, moving lower in afternoon trading.

Shares had gotten some lift earlier in the trading day from reports of an improvement in holiday sales for the nation’s retailers and signs of economic growth in Asia.

In afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 9.6 points, the Standard & Poor’s broader 500-stock index declined 0.21 percent or 2.3 points, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq dropped 0.11 percent in light trading.

A report showing that holiday sales in the United States were up 2.6 percent — compared with a 2.3 percent drop a year ago — helped lift shares. Still, the results were not surprising enough to sway the market during what is traditionally a sleepy week. Excluding an extra day of shopping this year, the gain was about 1 percent compared with last year, in line with expectations.

“We’re not seeing the end of the world situation that was with us last year,” said Bill J. Schultz, chief investment officer for McQueen, Ball. “The holiday sales numbers give investors reason to think that maybe things are not getting worse. The question now is, ‘are things actually getting better?’ “

Bank shares were among the losers on Monday.

Trying to take some of the $1 trillion in excess reserves out of the banking system, the Federal Reserve proposed a program Monday to sell term deposits to banks. The proposal, subject to a 30-day comment period, “has no implications for monetary policy decisions in the near term,” the central bank said in a statement.

The Fed chairman Ben S. Bernanke is preparing tools and strategies to shrink or neutralize the inflationary impact from the biggest monetary expansion in history. Central bankers are also conducting tests of reverse repurchase agreements and discussing the possibility of asset sales easy fast payday loans.

The Fed has expanded its balance sheet to $2.2 trillion through several liquidity programs, including purchases of $1.25 trillion in mortgage-backed securities. Excess reserves constitute cash held by banks in excess of what they are required to hold against deposits. The Fed proposal says the term deposits could be sold in an auction or through a formula.

In Europe, the CAC-40 in France closed up 0.88 percent or 34.42 points to 3,947.15, inching closer to the 4,000-point threshold it last crossed in October 2008. The DAX in Germany climbed 0.76 percent, or 45.48 points, to 6,002.92. The London exchange was closed for Boxing Day.

Overnight, the Nikkei in Japan closed 1.33 percent higher. Japanese officials reported that factory output was up 2.6 percent in November — the ninth consecutive month of gains — helped by strong overseas demand for goods like car parts and flat-panel televisions, Reuters reported. The Japanese economy, second only to the United States, has struggled with deflation and a strong yen, and growth in exports there could help speed up the global recovery.

Last week, China reported that its economy grew 9.6 percent in 2008, rather than the 9 percent originally reported.

Airline stocks in the United States were lower on Monday, as the federal government attempted to explain why security officers had failed to catch a Nigerian man whom the authorities said was planning to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day. Shares of Delta Air Lines, which operated the flight, fell 3.7 percent.

The price of oil climbed to $78.90 a barrel, helping drive up shares of energy companies, including Exxon Mobil.

The dollar weakened against other currencies, trading at $1.438 against the euro.

Wall Street Can’t Hold on to Its Gains

28
Dec

Japan retail sales down 1.0% in Nov.

By alfredlester Closed
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TOKYO, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) — Japanese retail sales fell 1.0 percent in November to 11.39 billion yen from a year earlier, less than a median market forecast for a 1.2 percent decline, according to preliminary data released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) on Monday.

The overall Preliminary Report on the Current Survey of Commerce, also revealed Monday that commercial sales in November had fallen 14.6 percent to 40.67 billion yen from a year earlier.

Additionally, wholesale figures for November plummeted 18.7 percent to 29.63 billion yen and sales from large retail stores were also down on year, by a seasonally adjusted 9 companies making payday loans.6 percent to 1.62 billion yen, the report showed.

The survey of commerce aims to clarify trends in business activities of establishments including department stores, chain stores, supermarkets, other large-scale stores and convenience stores. (1 U.S. dollar equals about 91 yen) Special Report: Global Financial Crisis

Japan retail sales down 1.0% in Nov.

27
Dec

Christmas and Boxing Day shoppers defy British recession

By alfredlester Closed
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By Peter Barker

LONDON, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) — Despite the continuing recession, shoppers in Britain took to the Internet on Christmas Day and the High Street on Boxing Day in the search for bargains.

On Christmas Day all shops, banks and transport were shut, but the first shopping days after Christmas now see big discounts from high street retailers large and small, known as the Sales.

Up until the late 1990s virtually no high street chains were open on Boxing Day, December 26. After that retailers quickly seized the opportunity to be open for customers keen to find bargains.

This year supermarket chains like Tesco and Sainsbury’s opened stores, but other famous chains like Marks & Spencer and Waitrose remained shut. Some household names, like Debenhams and Next, opened earlier than usual, at 8 a.m..

The Guardian newspaper reported on its website that in London, hundreds of people queued outside Selfridges’ flagship store before the doors opened at 9 a.m.. When the doors opened shoppers rushed for bargains and stewards were used to control the crowd.

Richard Brasher, Tesco’s commercial and trading director, said in a statement: “Boxing Day is a key time for customers looking to save on electrical items, homeware and clothing. We will cut prices on big brand homeware and electricals.”

Online retail is an area which barely existed 10 years ago, but with the greater penetration of broadband and the increasing e-retail awareness of businesses, it is fast becoming an important source of income and is breaking down the old tradition that Christmas Day was a day when no shopping was done.

Internet retailing is driven by infrastructure and demand. According to the Office of National Statistics, at the end of 2008,the last period statistics are available for, 95.1 percent of all Internet connections were broadband, with 59.6 percent at speeds of more than 2 Mbps (megabytes per second).

Advertisers recognize this, and in 2008 the Internet took 23.2 percent of total ad spend, according to Ofcom, the communications industry regulator in Britain. This was beaten only by newspapers (28.4 percent) and TV (26.4 percent). The proportion of ad spend on the Internet in Britain was far higher than in any other major developed nation, with France and Germany next on 15.6 percent and15.3 percent respectively.

Robin Goad, research director at Experian Hitwise, said: “Last year Christmas Day was the seventh busiest online day of the year for online retailers, while Boxing Day was the busiest Same day payday loans.

“Over the last few years the importance of these two days has been increasing, and we see no reason for it to be any different this Christmas. We have already seen that shoppers are willing to hold out longer for a bargain this year, with ‘Cyber Monday’ moving a week closer to Christmas.

“This behavior is likely to carry through to the post-Christmas period, with people logging on after Christmas lunch to find the best discounts before hitting the high street and shopping malls the following day (Boxing Day).”

Cyber Monday is the name given to the busiest Internet shopping day of the year, usually the first Monday in December as customers place orders for their Christmas presents in time for them to be delivered.

E-retail industry body IMRG estimated that on Christmas Day 4.3million shoppers went on-line - spending 120 million pounds (about191.5 million U.S. dollars), at an average of 27.90 pounds each.

The year-on-year growth in sales value for December is expected to be around 14 percent, with around 5.2 billion pounds (about 8.3billion U.S. dollars) expected to be spent online this month.

Christmas Day sales online are boosted by the presents given earlier in the day.

David Smith, director at IMRG, described what happens. He said: “A lot of purchases are for downloads be it films or computer games. If you have received a games console or computer for Christmas one of the first things you want to do is download something.”

Brian McBride, managing director of Amazon.co.uk Ltd, said: “In2008, we saw a 150 percent increase in sales on Christmas Day compared to the previous year. One of the great things about the advent of Internet shopping is that you now have stores that are open 24/7, every single day of the year.

“We saw high volumes of gift certificates being redeemed on Christmas Day as well as a substantial number of MP3 tracks being purchased, with people presumably logging on to get content for the MP3 player that they had received as a gift earlier that day.”

McBride said that when the figures for Christmas Day 2009 were known, he expected them to be even better.

Christmas and Boxing Day shoppers defy British recession

25
Dec

Weekend Investor: How to keep your finances on track in 2010

By alfredlester Closed
Categories: business, economic, life, money and world
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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — There’s no way to put a positive spin on what happened to most investors’ retirement portfolios in 2008 and early this year. Simply put, the losses were brutal, and in some cases ruined long-held retirement plans.

Yet if there’s any consolation to be taken from the past 18 months, it’s that many people now pay more attention to their total financial picture — not just stock and bond investments, but saving and spending habits as well.

Buckle up for 2010 markets

A dozen experts weigh in with their 2010 predictions for stocks, bonds and the economy. Barron’s Clare McKeen reports.

“There’s no silver bullet that can undo what happened last year,” said Richard Hisey, president of AARP Financial Inc. “There’s no guarantee [that losses won't happen again] but that’s no reason to not take steps [to improve finances].”

There are basic financial measures that all investors should be aware of, Hisey said, such as being disciplined about spending and keeping a watchful eye on an investment portfolio’s asset allocation.

“If anyone takes an objective look at their finances and how they can improve them, it’s surprising how [much] they can make improvements by having a budget and sticking to it,” Hisey said.

“People don’t have time to focus on their saving as much as they should,” he added. “By keeping the message simple and encouraging work on basic things, it’s easier to get through.”

As the new year approaches, here are some steps to get your finances back on track:

1. Be practical. Inventory all of your assets and liabilities and take it even further by looking at the different types of liabilities. Use some assets — savings in a cash account that yields practically zero, for instance — to repay certain types of debt, such as the balance on a credit card that’s charging 15% interest a year.

2. Revisit retirement goals. For many people, retirement means days of fishing or playing golf, or lying on a beach sipping cocktails. In truth, it may be time to shelve those dreams and prepare for a retirement that includes some sacrifices.

This realization can be difficult for baby boomers, who often have a disconnect between how they envision retirement and how they’ve actually prepared for it, Hisey said.

For example, you might have to move to a smaller house or apartment. And many people at retirement age will have to accept that they’ll still be working, if only part-time, Hisey said.

3. Don’t ignore inflation. The impact of inflation on a nest egg is difficult to grasp, especially since inflation lately has been relatively tame.

One way to imagine the sting of inflation, Hisey said, is to compare what basic goods and services cost a couple of decades ago with their prices today instant payday loan. Gasoline is a good example, Hisey said: “Remember when you paid less than $1 a gallon for gas, and then think about paying $4 a gallon recently.”

4. Save, save, save. It’s often-quoted advice, but saving as much money as possible — and starting early — can make a huge difference in the quality of your later years. Some investment companies recommend stashing away 10% or even 15% of gross salary, but Hisey didn’t want to put a set number on it. Even 2%, if that’s all one can afford, should be set aside — but always with a view to increasing that amount.

5. Be smart about insurance. Get strategic about what insurance to take and when to take it. For instance, for a younger person with a young family, full life insurance makes sense. But once the children have left and are making their own money — and as the infirmities of old age creep in — it might be worth drawing down the life insurance and increasing disability insurance so that illness doesn’t mean the loss of income.

There’s also the matter of having the right type of insurance. Hisey spoke of one family whose house burned down who turned to their insurer only to discover that their insurance payout had a limit. The family was forced to tap retirement savings to buy another house.

“People should look at their finances the way companies do,” Hisey said. “There are assets such as hard assets and also human capital — the value of your work — and you need to protect those assets. Look as hard at your insurance portfolio as you would your investment portfolio.”

6. Don’t let panic dictate investment choices. Last year’s losses have led many investors to change their asset allocation and diversification strategies. In some cases, this is the result of deliberate decisions taken in light of the changed market. But all too often it’s the reaction of a panicked or fearful investor.

Regardless of what the market is doing, sticking with an allocation that matches an investor’s principles, especially when it comes to risk, is most important, said Hisey.

7. Get help if you need it. AARP encourages investors to work with financial professionals when it comes to making their financial and investing decisions. The organization believes these professionals can provide valuable guidance, particularly in times of crisis.

“Make sure you find somebody you can trust,” Hisey said. “It should be a relationship like the one you have with your doctor — get second opinions if want them and keep asking questions. If they can’t explain things in ways that you understand, move on.”

Weekend Investor: How to keep your finances on track in 2010

24
Dec

Personal spending and income rise in November

By alfredlester Closed
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Consumer spending rose for a second straight month in November as incomes recorded their biggest gain in six months, data showed on Wednesday, boosting hopes of a self-sustaining economic recovery.

The Commerce Department said spending increased 0.5 percent after rising by a slightly downwardly revised 0.6 percent in October. Consumer spending in October was previously reported to have increased 0.7 percent.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected consumer spending, which normally accounts for over two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, to rise 0.6 percent last month.

The data was the latest evidence that households were starting to feel comfortable enough to spend after a long period of restraint following the most painful U.S. recession in 70 years.

Data early this month showed a strong rise in retail sales in November, with gains spread across nearly all categories.

Wednesday's report showed spending adjusted for inflation rose 0.2 percent in November, adding to the prior month's 0 business card.4 percent gain. Personal income increased 0.4 percent last month, the largest increase since May, after rising 0.3 percent in October. That was a touch below market expectations for a 0.5 percent increase.

Real disposable income climbed 0.2 percent in November after rising by the same margin in October. The rise in income saw savings increasing to an annual rate of $525.1 billion, but the savings rate was unchanged at 4.7 percent from the prior month.

Commerce Department data also showed the personal consumption expenditures price index, excluding food and energy, rising 1.4 percent from a year ago in November. The index, which is a key inflation gauge monitored by the U.S. Federal Reserve, increased 1.4 percent in October.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Personal spending and income rise in November

24
Dec

Reuters Breakingviews: A Tepid Outlook For 2010 Mergers

By alfredlester Closed
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Ask an investment banker about mergers and acquisitions in 2010, and the optimism is infectious. Except that it seems that few corporate bosses have caught the fever.

The bankers think they could use a break. Global mergers and acquisitions hit a five-year low of $1.97 trillion in 2009, 53 percent below the high reached in 2007. But now that financing is not as squeezed, confidence is supposedly returning and business conditions are apparently improving.

Privately, the bosses tell a different story. They are not nearly as bullish as some of their budding advisers think.

To start, the recession has left the bosses in something like a state of shock. After one painful shift from thinking about growth to worrying about shrinkage, there’s little rush to make another big mental transition.

Financing remains a challenge. Even when credit is available, managers and shareholders want to preserve credit ratings. Major cash takeovers will be rare. And after the stock markets’ gyrations in the last year, it’s especially hard to agree on price.

Finally, the economy is not exactly flying. For many companies, the only certainty is that it will be tough to increase revenue. Cost-cutting and margin improvement are more urgent priorities than big corporate deals.

Still, bankers should find more than a few crumbs of business. Corporate caution may be their biggest ally. The Italian utility Enel intends to raise $7 billion from asset sales to cut debt and keep its credit rating. Kraft might want to do the same should its bid for Cadbury succeed. A healthier banking system could also help, if lenders are willing to take the losses that come with overhauls.

Governments will be sellers as the equity investments of the crisis are reversed. Private equity firms are probably on both sides; buyers as they try to deploy the big cash hoards built up before the crisis, and sellers as they try to lock in some gains on older deals.

Investment bankers looking for work might want to carefully study the global automobile industry. There’s overcapacity in developed markets, rapid growth in developing markets and governments that would like to cut back on support.

China is another promising, although well-known, prospect. There have been auto and mining deals, but the really big numbers would come from the deployment of some of the country’s gargantuan foreign currency reserves payday loan companies.

All in all, 2010 will probably be a better year for mergers and acquisitions bankers than 2009. But those expecting the real deal will be disappointed.

An Emerging Market

Chinese automakers’ interest in Volvo and Saab will not transform the industry overnight. But those deals, while small, will make a substantial contribution to raising China’s game in this sector.

Beijing Automotive Industrial Holding’s $200 million payment for the technology of General Motors’ Swedish Saab unit may look tiny, but it could save the Chinese car group five years of development and help generate billions of dollars in incremental revenue. For the first time, a Chinese automaker is getting both full access to Western technology and support from the vendor to help integrate the technology into Beijing Automotive’s cars.

The technology itself may be dated — it belonged to Saab before its acquisition by G.M. — and doesn’t overlap with that of other G.M. cars. But it is still ahead of what Beijing Automotive had. The cost of licensing similar technology could have been up to 600 million renminbi ($88 million) a year, based on company estimates.

Geely’s likely $2 billion bet on Volvo, being sold by Ford Motor, is bolder. A deal is expected within weeks. Volvo has a reasonably strong brand, based on its reputation for safety. But it lost $1.5 billion last year and Volvo’s technology is shared with other Ford models. That puts Geely in a tricky relationship with Ford. By contrast, G.M. is likely to be more relaxed about Beijing Automotive’s acquisition of what it must see as antique technology.

These moves may not be revolutionary. Beijing Automotive’s deal seems reasonably cautious, although Geely’s interest in Volvo looks more ambitious. But with Chinese carmakers seen as a buyer of last resort, the developments underscore the changing dynamics of the global auto industry. It will take time for the Chinese to match the competitive threat posed by the Koreans and Japanese in autos. But that moment is drawing nearer.

For more independent financial commentary and analysis, visit www.breakingviews.com.

Reuters Breakingviews: A Tepid Outlook For 2010 Mergers

23
Dec

BlackBerry Internet Service Disrupted Again

By alfredlester Closed
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OTTAWA — For the second time in a week, BlackBerry users found themselves without e-mail and Internet service, refreshing their screens in futility on Tuesday night as they languished in an agonizing information vacuum.

Some BlackBerry users continued to experience intermittent service disruptions on Wednesday after a major failure shut down the popular wireless e-mail service throughout North and South America.

The users — often called CrackBerries for the devotion — were vocal in their complaints. Many used Twitter to express outrage over the latest interruption. “Never Again BlackBerry,” read one tweet, while another said the best way to remove the frustration was to leave the BlackBerry at home.

The shutdown appears to have started at about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and service was generally restored by 2:45 a.m. Wednesday. The failure started on the West Coast, according to reports, and then spread.

It was the second disruption in less than a week. Like other shutdowns in the past, it appeared to be an unintended consequence of a software upgrade to the system.

In a statement, Research In Motion, the Canadian company that makes the BlackBerry, said that its preliminary analysis showed that two recent versions of its BlackBerry Messenger instant messaging software “caused an unanticipated database issue within the BlackBerry infrastructure.”

The company urged customers who have upgraded their BlackBerry Messenger software since Dec. 14 to download a new version that it believed would resolve the current problem.

According to the company, the shutdown did not affect the ability of BlackBerry users to make telephone calls or sent text messages.

As service was restored, many users joked about the end of their addiction withdrawal while some expressed a desire to change devices. “How many times do you have to be burned by BlackBerry to consider your options?” read one Tweet.

Eric Miller, an e-commerce consultant in Philadelphia, said he was not aware of the outage as he spent three hours trying to “debug” his wife’s BlackBerry on Tuesday night. He thought it was a problem with her phone. He learned of the problem Wednesday morning.

“As a consultant, my time is money and those three hours could have bought her a new iPhone and plan,” Mr. Miller wrote in an e-mail message. For businesses around the country, the service interruption was both a distraction and a warning sign.

Sparkplug, a wireless broadband service provider based in Scottsdale, Ariz., experienced a shutdown of the company’s automated alert service when BlackBerry’s system failed.

According to Joel Payne, Sparkplug’s vice president for engineering, technicians were unable to receive automatic alerts as they spent the night trying to restore weather-related network problems in places like Mount Ord and Crown King in Arizona inferred heaters. The technicians still had phone service, but that meant they had to be called individually to find out if they needed to be dispatched for repairs. A manager worked through the night to monitor their progress.

“We were O.K., but it was problematic,” Mr. Payne said in an interview, adding that the service interruption caused him to re-evaluate contingency plans. “People are trying to figure out a way to diversify for this,” he said. “It creates an inconvenience and causes us to change how we do business.”

Nick Agostino, an analyst with Research Capital in Toronto, said that despite the disruptions, BlackBerry e-mail service was still more reliable and secure than any other wireless offering.

While the e-mail services offered on other smart phones are more prone to failure, their decentralized nature means that their problems do not result in highly publicized system outages.

He said the shutdowns over the last week will only become an issue for R.I.M. if they start occurring on a regular basis.

“We’re no where near seeing the frustrations that come with being an iPhone user on the AT&T network,” Mr. Agostino said.

Debra Lewis, a spokeswoman for Verizon Wireless, said the current shutdown appeared to be more widespread than a disruption on Dec. 17.

Last week’s problems appeared to only affect only users who rely on BlackBerry Internet Service, which is mostly sold to individuals. Tuesday’s problems, she said, extended to customers whose BlackBerries are linked to corporate accounts that rely on BlackBerry Enterprise Servers.

The last major disruption to BlackBerry service was about 18 months ago and, as appears to be the case in the current situation, came from a flawed software upgrade.

The BlackBerry e-mail service is highly centralized, which is both its strength and weakness. All of the world’s BlackBerry messages pass through one of three networking operating centers operated by R.I.M., which can offer a high level of security and, in theory, greater reliability.

But that structure also means that few users escape the effects of problems within that centralized structure.

Ian Austen reported from Ottawa and Liz Robbins from New York.

BlackBerry Internet Service Disrupted Again

22
Dec

Wall Street gains on optimism after home sales jump

By alfredlester Closed
Categories: Free blog Tips, news, online, power and world
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NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks logged another 14-month high on Tuesday as a surge in existing home sales indicated more stabilization in housing and boosted optimism about the economic recovery.

Housing stocks led the way up with the Dow Jones U.S. home construction index (.DJUSHB) up 3.9 percent following data that

showed U.S. existing home sales rose in November at the fastest pace since February 2007.

Shares of D.R. Horton Inc (DHI.N) rose 3.8 percent to $11.15, while Toll Brothers Inc (TOL.N) gained 4.5 percent to $19.21.

"We definitely had a positive reaction off the housing numbers," said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati.

Any sign of stabilization in housing lends a big boost to investor sentiment. It was the fallout from that sector's downturn that recently drove the economy into its worst recession since the 1930s and propelled the U.S. unemployment rate above 10 percent to a 26-year high.

"The housing numbers were very, very strong," Detrick added, "and that's what we've been seeing for several months."

Technology bellwethers also underpinned the market and helped the Nasdaq log a fresh 15-month high. International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) shot up 1 percent to $129.93 on the NYSE after the blue-chip company scored a 10-year outsourcing deal valued at $83 million. Among the Nasdaq's main advancers, Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) was up 1 percent at $30.81.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) rose 50.79 points, or 0.49 percent, to end at 10,464.93. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) added 3.97 points, or 0.36 percent, to 1,118.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index ( saving account payday loan.IXIC) gained 15.01 points, or 0.67 percent, to close at 2,252.67.

The CBOE Volatility Index (.VIX) or VIX, Wall Street's favorite barometer of investor fear, fell below a key psychological level of 20 to its lowest level since August 2008. The Vix slid 4.6 percent to close at 19.54.

Earlier in the session, the S&P 500 (.SPX) hit a technical milestone, surging to an intraday high of 1,120.27. The index failed to hold that level, but it did reach a 14-month closing high.

Year-end window dressing — where portfolio managers sell laggards and buy shares that have gained recently — gave an extra boost to stocks that have led the rally.

Market technicians have said a breakout in the S&P 500 above the 1,120 level would signal more gains for the broader market and could help the S&P 500 take aim at the 1,200 level.

The S&P 500 has risen 65.3 percent since hitting a 12-year closing low on March 9. For the year, the S&P 500 is up 23.8 percent.

Apple Inc (AAPL.O), which has surged 134.8 percent this year, was up 1.1 percent at $200.36, not far below its 52-week high set on October 21.

Boeing Co (BA.N) gave the Dow one of its biggest lifts, rising 1.5 percent to $55.10 after it bought a stake in a U.S. plant that assembles the fuselage for its 787 Dreamliner.

A separate economic report that gave the final estimate of gross domestic product showed that GDP grew at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the third quarter — below the forecast for a gain of 2.8 percent.

(Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Jan Paschal)

Wall Street gains on optimism after home sales jump

Hot News: Brett Arends ROI: Money for nothing, farewell to the decade

21
Dec

Analyst lifts Dicks Sporting Goods rating

By alfredlester Closed
Categories: blog, life, news, power and world
Tags: , , , ,

NEW YORK – Shares of Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. climbed Monday as an analyst said the sporting goods retailer is likely to top its conservative fourth-quarter earnings forecast on solid traffic and raised its rating and price target.

“Our channel checks indicate both traffic and conversion have been surprisingly strong heading into the holidays. We believe the recent cold weather in the Northeast and Midwest has been favorable for apparel sales and winter related categories,” Camilo Lyon of Wedbush wrote in a client note.

The analyst also suspects that golf clearance is tapering off, with leaner inventories heading into 2010 easy to get unsecured personal loans.

Dick’s, based in Pittsburgh, anticipates fourth-quarter earnings of about 41 cents to 46 cents per share.

Lyon boosted Dick’s to “Outperform” from “Neutral” and increased its price target to $29 from $24.

The company’s stock added $1.09, or 4.6 percent, to $24.76 in morning trading. The shares have traded between $10.26 and $26 over the last year.

Analyst lifts Dick’s Sporting Goods rating

18
Dec

Wall St sinks as dollar soars, FedEx loses altitude

By alfredlester Closed
Categories: economic, news, online, power and world
Tags: , , , ,

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks fell on Thursday as the dollar's rebound spurred a safe-haven trade, cutting demand for riskier assets, while a soft profit outlook from economic bellwether FedEx sank transportation shares.

Financial services stocks took a beating after influential banking analyst Meredith Whitney cut her earnings estimates on Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N).

The U.S. dollar index (.DXY), which measures the greenback's performance against a basket of major currencies, rose nearly 1 percent — hitting its highest level in more than three months.

In recent months, stocks have risen sharply while the greenback dropped, as investors took advantage of the inexpensive currency to buy higher-yielding assets.

"The dollar is starting to spook the market here a little bit," said Terry Morris, senior vice president and senior equity manager for National Penn Investors Trust Company in Reading, Pennsylvania.

An unexpected increase in new claims for jobless benefits in the latest week illustrated the bumpy road for the U.S. economic recovery. The jobless claims offered a sharp contrast to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, whose index showed factory activity accelerated rapidly in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region in December.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) dropped 132.86 points, or 1.27 percent, to end at 10,308.26. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) fell 13.10 points, or 1.18 percent, to 1,096.08. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) lost 26.86 points, or 1.22 percent, to close at 2,180.05.

The market shuddered after FedEx Corp (FDX.N) forecast third-quarter profit below analysts' expectations, pushing its stock down 6.1 percent to $84.47. The Dow Jones Transportation Average (.DJT) lost 1.2 percent.

Whitney trimmed earnings estimates for Goldman and Morgan for 2010 and 2011 auto loans for people with bad credit. Goldman Sachs shares dropped 2.5 percent to $160.93, while Morgan Stanley shed 4 percent to $29.12.

The S&P Financial Index (.GSPF) slid 1.8 percent, while the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index (.XBD) fell 2 percent.

Citigroup Inc (C.N) tumbled 7.3 percent to $3.20 after the bank's stock and bond offering attracted weak demand and priced much lower than expected, prompting the U.S. Treasury to delay a plan to sell its Citigroup stake, sometime within the next 12 months.

RIM FLIES AFTER THE BELL

Research In Motion's (RIM.TO)(RIMM.O) stock jumped 10.8 percent to $70.40 in extended trade on Nasdaq after the BlackBerry maker reported better-than-expected quarterly results.

Software maker Oracle Corp (ORCL.O) gained 4.2 percent to $23.84 in after-hours trade after posting adjusted earnings that topped Wall Street's estimates.

During the regular session, the dollar's spike coincided with a slide of nearly 3 percent in the price of gold. The sell-off in gold futures hurt the shares of U.S.-listed gold miners. The Arca Gold Bugs index (.HUI), which measures the performance of 15 gold miners with U.S-traded shares, tumbled 5.9 percent.

The U.S. Senate Banking Committee approved the nomination of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke for a second term, sending it to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. Stocks were relatively unaffected after the vote.

Among other factors influencing the market's mood, analysts

pointed to the impact of Friday's quarterly expiration and settlement of December options and futures, also known as quadruple witching. This often adds high levels of volatility as players adjust and/or exercise their derivatives positions.

(Editing by Jan Paschal)

Wall St sinks as dollar soars, FedEx loses altitude

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