Here come the profit reports
And yet more optimism. Great data, great optimism, great opportunities ahead to recover now that macroeconomic data shows favorable conditions. This article is good preparation for the coming week.
By Alexandra Twin, senior writerApril 11, 2010: 8:48 AM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Investors return to work this week with the Dow just short of 11,000, the Nasdaq nearing a two-year high and the first-quarter reporting period set to take off.
The blue-chip Dow crossed the 11,000 mark just before the close Friday, but ended short of that to finish at a new 18-month high. The S&P 500 also carved out another 18-month high. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq stands at its highest point since June of 2008.
But that leg of the rally occurred in a quiet week when few economic reports were released, Congress was on break and the quarterly reporting period hadn’t yet begun. This week ushers in a decidedly busier period.
“Dow 11,000 is a nice headline, but the Dow is not the economy,” said Brian Battle, vice president at Performance Trust Capital Partners. He said that continued momentum from the recent rally should carry over in the week ahead, with stocks continuing to rise after the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite have all climbed in seven of the last eight weeks.
“We’ve had a Rodney Dangerfield stock market rally, where we get no respect because no one believes it can keep going,” Battle said. “Earnings season starts next week and that’s going to be key.”
Read more at CNNMoney.com
- Consumer behavior shows recession is over
- Dow 10K Lives to Fight Another Day
- Once Again, Are Things Getting Better?
- Jobs slowly returning on Main Street
- Double dip recession: What are the odds?
Stocks rise on more signs of growth; Dow tops 11K
So here is the hard data that proves that the worst is over. For all you defeatist out there…things are getting better. I can’t believe how many people are so negative about the economy when you have such positive, factual information such as this article and the many other articles I have posted in the last week.
What’s really happening is that those who remain negative are simply pissed off that their life isn’t as grandiose as it used to be. In other words, some are still greedy that they want their 20 credit cards back and their mountain of debt via mortgages, car loans, debt, debt and more debt. The reality is that most lived in a house of cards and can’t believe it’s gone. Not only is it gone, but these naysayers want it all back so they can pay their debts. Too bad. You’re bringing us all down.
There are good hard working American businesses out there giving it the old college try because they believe they can survive despite economic challenges.
So for all you defeatists out there like Glen Beck and Bill O’Reilly, what do you say about factual economic data? Move out of the way, shut up and let hard working American business owners try as opposed to complaining and giving up.
Read this article.
Stocks rise as economy shows signs of growth; Dow briefly crosses 11,000
by Ieva M. Augstums and Stephen Bernard, AP Business Writers
NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market closed at a new 18-month high Friday, with the Dow Jones industrial average briefly touching 11,000 before retreating slightly.
The gains were driven by fresh signs that the economy continues to recover. Many analysts remain skeptical that the market’s gains are sustainable since they have come on relatively low volume, indicating that a large number of investors are still sitting on the sidelines.
The Dow very briefly touched 11,000 in the final five minutes of trading before ending with a gain of 70 points. It hadn’t crossed that level since Sept. 29, 2008, just as the worst phase of the financial crisis was beginning.
Stocks got a boost after reassuring statements from Greece’s finance minister and the head of the European Central Bank. Major European indexes closed higher, while the dollar fell against the euro.
Major indexes pulled back briefly after Fitch Ratings cut its view on Greece’s debt, but quickly recovered. Stocks have been fluctuating in recent days and the euro has weakened because of concerns that Greece might default on its debt.
Read more at YahooFinance.com
- Manufacturing, banking reports lift stocks
- Stocks climb on upbeat earnings, economic reports
- US Home Prices Seen Falling 40% Overall: Analyst
- U.S. Economy: Consumer Spending Increases as Incomes Stagnate
- U.S. private job losses down, factory orders up
Consumer behavior shows recession is over
This is another interesting article about the economy. But who do we believe? I can tell that things are OK, but things will never get back to the way they were. Some might say that the U.S. economy is done and it’s only going to get worse. Well, what do we do with articles like this one? I still believe things are getting better than they were 15 months ago.
This is a good article
By Chris Isidore, senior writer CNNMoney
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Economists have been saying for a while that the Great Recession has ended. Now, there are signs that the general public is finally starting to agree.
Though still pitifully low, consumer confidence is improving.
But some of the positive economic news of recent weeks, like the best job gains in three years, the continued stock market rally and early signs of a turnaround in home values, is starting to make people more hopeful.
It’s a growing optimism that can best be seen in consumers’ actions, not their answers to various polls.
“If you look at what they’re saying, they’re still very nervous,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “But if you look at what they’re doing, they’re more convinced that things have turned the corner.”
Read more at CNNMoney.com
- Here come the profit reports
- Where to get start-up cash now
- U.S. Economy: Consumer Spending Increases as Incomes Stagnate
- Update: Are Things Really Getting Better?
- How to Hire After the Recession
Economy getting better, but still ‘a long way to go’
By the CNN Wire Staff
Washington (CNN) — The slow but steady U.S. economic recovery appears set to continue, with underlying indicators signaling a growing strength, some of the nation’s senior economists said Sunday.
“The trend has turned,” said Lawrence Summers, director of the White House National Economic Council, on CNN’s “State of the Union” program. “But to get back to the surface, we’ve got a long way to go.”
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told ABC’s “This Week” that the recovery so far has led to conditions for compounding growth. In particular, Greenspan cited an increasing demand for inventory that spurs production as a signal of a possible significant buildup in growth.
“I suspect it’s month by month,” Greenspan said of continued economic growth, adding that “a statistical aberration is possible.”
He said he doubted there would be another drop in growth to create what economists call “double-dip recession” after the downturn of 2008-09, saying the odds were “very much against that now.”
On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the chair of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, Cristina Romer, said the recovery would have to be systemic rather than consumer-driven because, in the wake of the recession, “we’re not going to be see people maxing out their credit cards again.”
Read more CNN.com
- Greenspan predicts economic growth to hit 3 percent or higher
- U.S. Economy: Retail Sales Rebound From Year’s Biggest Drop
- Taking Stock of the Best Economic Indicators
- Consumer spending rises in June, 2nd straight gain
- Geithner: Economy healing, but deficit must go down
Economy adds jobs at fastest pace in three years
And yet another view of the same data, an optimistic view at that. This is a good read.
By Jeannine Aversa and Christopher S. Rugaber, AP Economic Writers
Economy adds 162,000 jobs for March, strong sign that recovery is finally taking hold
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation added jobs at the fastest pace in three years last month as factories, stores, hospitals and the census all brought workers on board — the surest sign yet that the worst employment market in a generation has finally snapped back.
The unemployment rate stayed at 9.7 percent for the third month in a row, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists actually consider that a hopeful sign because it means more people are encouraged and starting to look for work.
“This recovery is for real,” said Chris Rupkey, economist at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.
Overall, the economy added 162,000 jobs for the month. About a third of the gains came from the census, with much more to come: About 700,000 head-counters will be hired to tally the nation’s population this spring.
Economists took heart that even aside from the population count, the private sector added 123,000 jobs for the month, the most since May 2007.
Hiring is not expected to be robust enough anytime soon to significantly bring down the unemployment rate. Economists think unemployment will probably still be above 9 percent by the November midterm elections, making Democratic and Republican incumbents in Congress vulnerable, particularly in hard-hit states such as Michigan, Nevada and Rhode Island.
President Barack Obama seized on the positive numbers in the jobs report and took partial credit for them. But with 15 million people still out of work, he also acknowledged that the economy will be recuperating for a long time to come.
“We are beginning to turn the corner,” he told workers at a battery plant in Charlotte, N.C., that received government stimulus money. But he added: “We shouldn’t underestimate the difficulties we face.”
House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said a jobless rate near 10 percent is “no cause for celebration.” The unemployment rate peaked at 10.1 percent in October, a 26-year high.
Read more at YahooFinance.com
- Job losses slow to 247,000; jobless rate dips
- Greenspan predicts economic growth to hit 3 percent or higher
- Jobs slowly returning on Main Street
- Unemployment Fell in Nine U.S. States as Michigan Made Headway
- Drop in Unemployment Claims Indicate Market Stabilization
March jobs report shows growth
More postive news on the economic front as the U.S. economy continues to grow at a snails pace. Of course growth cannot come fast enough for some, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
I have said many times in the past that the U.S. economy will never be what is was between ‘98 and ‘07, where we all must get used to the idea that life will be moderate at best. The problem is that some of us have become too comfortable and too much in debt to muster such a slow economic rebound. I have read via blogs and have had comments from everyday Americans that the economy is not bouncing back fast enough, where I say, it never will get used to it! Our reliance on the U.S. economy bouncing back is soley to faciliate all the debt we have all accumulated. I say, manage your business better because the U.S. economy will take a significant amount of time to get back to some semblance of normallcy. Do not expect things to get as good as they were. It is mathematically impossible. Those days are over. Become better managers of your personal lives as well as your business lives. Dave Ramsey talks about it all the time…take his advice if not mine.
Read this article
By Chris Isidore, senior writerApril 2, 2010: 10:59 AM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The U.S. economy gained more jobs in March than any other month in the last three years, according to a government report released Friday.
The Labor Department said the economy gained 162,000 jobs in the month, compared to a revised reading of a 14,000 job loss in February. That makes March only the third month of gains since the recession began.
Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a gain of 184,000 jobs. But despite missing forecasts, the March number was generally not seen as a disappointment by economists, because revisions in January and February readings added a combined 62,000 additional jobs.
The unemployment rate remained stubbornly high, holding steady at 9.7%, matching economist expectations.
“The third increase in jobs in the past five months indicates that the labor market has begun to stabilize,” said Sung Won Sohn, professor at California State University Channel Islands. “However, a sustained gain in employment is some time away.”
Read more at CNNMoney.com
- Wall Street lifted by jobs report
- Jobless rate down for first time in a year
- Economy grows
- Stocks climb on upbeat earnings, economic reports
- Slowly, Americans are regaining their lost wealth
SBA small biz lending doubles
Wow, this is a very interesting article being that I am constantly preaching the need to distance ourselves from business loans. My concern is only for those businesses that are not structured to manage loans nor are they prepared to manage the responsibility of a loan, its monthly payments and its interest payments. In other words, as a process engineer, I fear that the initial need for a business loan might be based on false data, false structures requiring financing and disorganized thinking via ill-defined processes. Although the SBA is a life saver in certain circumstances, I hope that those who are taking on loans are positve they can manage the responsibility of the loan and its interest payments.
Read this data.
By Catherine Clifford, staff reporterApril 1, 2010: 6:09 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The lending market for Main Street remains pretty jammed up, but one segment of the credit landscape is recovering thanks to stimulus efforts.
The Small Business Administration’s flagship lending program backed twice as many loans in the past three months as it did in the year ago period.
In the SBA’s second fiscal quarter, which ended Wednesday, the government’s 7(a) lending program processed 16,558 loans. That is more than double the 8,205 loans it backed in the first three months of 2009, according to preliminary data the agency released Thursday.
In total, the SBA 7(a) program lent out $3.7 billion, more than double the $1.6 billion processed in the year-earlier quarter.
Read more at CNNMoney.com
- Bad Loans
- Bank Failures Threaten Small-Business Lending
- Double dip recession: What are the odds?
- Where’s my stimulus?
- SBA Chief: I Know ‘What It Will Take’
U.S. Economy: Consumer Spending Increases as Incomes Stagnate
Yet another interesting article regarding the economy and its ability to bounce back. As I have blogged before, depending on who you talk to, the U.S. is either going broke, or we are slowly recovering. Naturally the U.S. economy will never be what it was where everyone had three cars, two houses, and of course…credit/debt. We should all recognize that everything most of us had about fifteen months ago was simply a house of cards built on credit and a mountain of debt. Nowadays, the economy is slowly growing to where it should have been minus greed. But of course, everyone wants everything now, now now! Sorry, it’s not going to happen but there is a light at the end of the tunnel for those who truly understand what has occured in the economy and what will continue to occur in the economy…slow, slow, growth. But according to this article, people are spending and they are spending wisely.
Read this article.
March 29, 2010, 11:27 AM EDT
By Timothy R. Homan
March 29 (Bloomberg) — Consumer spending in the U.S. rose in February for a fifth consecutive month, a rebound that will require gains in employment to be sustained.
Best Buy Co. and Nike Inc., which have reported higher- than-anticipated profits, are among companies that may keep benefitting as the emerging recovery gives Americans the confidence to buy. The pickup in purchases has caused the household savings rate to drop to the lowest level in more than a year, underscoring the need for more jobs to ensure the recovery is maintained.
“Considering the circumstances, this is a fine performance with the job market still not strong,” said Michael Moran, chief economist at Daiwa Securities America Inc. in New York. “As the labor market comes back, we should see continued support from consumers.”
Stocks and commodities rose on signs the world’s largest economy will keep growing and as concern waned over the Greek government’s deficit. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advanced 0.6 percent to 1,173.35 at 11:22 a.m. in New York.
Read more at BusinessWeek.com
- Slowly, Americans are regaining their lost wealth
- Economy grows
- Is this the begining of the end?
- Americans Keep Racking Up Debt
- March jobs report shows growth
Why a $14/hour employee costs $20
This is a great reminder to business owners as well as employees that the costs associated with owning a business, or being employed is much more than we think. This article talks about the extra amount employers pay to keep a human employed. I call it labor burden, which is all the “other stuff” your boss has to cough up in order to keep you employed. So, the next time you (employee) feel overworked, stressed because of work, or you feel underpaid…just quit. It’s probably better for all because at the end of the day, employees are the most expensive variable expense a business has. Rather than being a pain in the ass about working conditions, try helping out more by figuring out how to cut costs, not human costs, just operation costs, how to do things better, more efficiently. Remember, at least you still have a job to complain about.
And for business owners, if labor burden gets to you, don’t just fire people, reorganize the business to make it more efficient and effective. It can be done, I do it all the time. Recognize those human costs and get your monies worth from the humans by maintaining a structured and well organized business. Be a leader.
Read this article, it’s interesting
By Catherine Clifford, staff reporterMarch 28, 2010: 9:25 AM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — You probably cost your boss a lot more than you think you do.
For Jim Garland, who owns a corporate aircraft cleaning and support services company, a $14 per hour worker has a true cost of $19.63 per hour, or about 40% more than base pay. This so-called “loaded rate” includes fixed expenses — federal and state taxes, health insurance, workman’s compensation, uniforms, and paid time off — along with soft costs like the time spent training a new hire.
Read More at CNNMoney.com
- The Cost of Your Business
- Top 5 Things to Help Your Business During These Tough Times
- Organizational Management
- 3 most important assets in your business
- 5 “must do” for your business in 2009
Where to get start-up cash now
Bank credit is scarce and investors are skittish, but that didn’t stop these 6 startups. They found creative ways to raise cash during the downturn.
This is an interesting article being that there are so many negative stories about this economy but there also are people out there starting businesses. Whether it’s in their garage or door to door, people are actually starting businesses in this economic downturn. Read these six start-up stories, they are good and positive while everyone is busy being negative.
Read more at CNNMoney.com
- Consumer behavior shows recession is over
- How to Hire After the Recession
- Google: Worst is behind us
- Housing Starts are up?
- The Economy Today