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NPR Topics: Business
Soaring Food Prices Threaten Progress
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:21:00 -0400
Food prices around the world have hit record highs — and that's starting to take a toll. For example, some experts worry those left hungry in Ethiopia will suffer permanent physical and mental disabilities, such as chronic illness and lower IQ.
How To Know If You're Rich
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:00:00 -0400
Pastor Rick Warren asked both presidential candidates about their definition of "rich" this weekend. They gave very different answers. Jared Bernstein of the Economic Policy Institute offers his definition of rich, middle class and upper middle class.
Fannie And Freddie Still Shaking
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:00:00 -0400
After a bail-out last month, the government-sponsored companies are still on unsteady ground. The director of macroeconomics at Moody's Economy.com examines what trouble for Fannie and Freddie means for the economy.
Latest financial news - CNNMoney.com
Circuit City still mulling sale
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:23:39 -0400
Read full story for latest details.
Hewlett-Packard beats expectations
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:22:36 -0400
Read full story for latest details.
Falling home prices: The silver lining
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:34:57 -0400
Home prices continue to tumble across the country, making homes more affordable in most U.S. cities, according to a new report released Tuesday.
The Financial Page
The Cross-eyed Queen
Rebecca Mead Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:00:00 -0000
In May, a tiny, exquisite volume went on display at the Morgan Library & Museum: a prayer book made for Queen Claude of France, who was born in the penultimate year of the fifteenth century. Claude, a near-contemporary of Anne Boleyn, who served her at the French court as a . . .
Sponsoring Recklessness
James Surowiecki Mon, 21 Jul 2008 04:00:00 -0000
When do the words “not guaranteed” actually mean “guaranteed”? Whenever the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are involved. The two companies have long been required to tell investors that their securities are not guaranteed by the federal government. But in the financial markets everyone has always assumed that . . .
Oily Speculations
James Surowiecki Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 -0000
When bad things happen, it’s always nice to have a scapegoat. So, with Americans furious about soaring oil prices, Congress has gone in search of someone to blame. There are a number of usual suspects to choose from, depending on your politics--OPEC, greedy oil companies, lily-livered environmentalists opposed . . .
Reuters: Business News
HP results top Street despite stronger dollar
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:03:11 -0400
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co results beat Wall Street targets, overcoming fears that slowing global economies and a stronger dollar would substantially weaken the world's biggest computer and printer maker.
Inflation pressures mount as home building slows
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:13:44 -0400
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. wholesale prices shot up in July at the fastest annual rate in 27 years, while home builders cut back on construction as they worked through a glut of unsold homes, government data showed on Tuesday.
Fannie, Freddie fears, inflation slam Wall St
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:03:40 -0400
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell for a second straight session on Tuesday as credit worries hit bank shares and a report showing inflation remains a threat despite slower growth stoked the market's anxiety.
ABC News: Money
Costs Soar, School Kids Go Without
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:14:18 -0400
71 percent of consumers plan to spend less on back-to-school shopping this year.
Home Building Dip to Lowest Level Since '91
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:18:04 -0400
Housing starts in July drop to lowest level in more than 17 years.
Why 401(k)s Matter to Your Job Hunt
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:23:32 -0400
A lousy 401(k) plan can leave you with hundreds of thousands less in retirement.
BBC News | Business | UK Edition
Warning from Alliance & Leicester
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:32:52 -0000
Alliance & Leicester warns of "significant external risks" if Banco Santander's takeover is rejected by shareholders.
US bank 'to fail within months'
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:46:13 -0000
A big US bank is likely to collapse within months as the global financial crisis worsens, a former IMF chief economist warns.
Supply of rental properties rises
Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:06:19 -0000
The number of properties up for rent has jumped as people who cannot sell their homes decide to let them instead.
The Economist: Business
Face value:
Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:49:44 -0000
Andrew Witty of GlaxoSmithKline has a three-part prescription for the pharmaceuticals giantIT IS a rare company boss, let alone one who has just got the top job, that can get away with likening his firm’s culture to a police state. But Andrew Witty, the new boss of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a British pharmaceuticals giant, somehow manages to pull it off. He invokes that analogy—tentatively, to be fair—to explain the cultural transformation he wants to see at GSK: away from today’s excessively regimented, rule-based approach towards the “utopia” of a simplified, values-based culture that trusts employees to do the right thing.Mr Witty gets away with it in part because he is amiable. He is certainly very different from his abrasive predecessor, Jean-Pierre Garnier, who retired in May after a tumultuous term as chief executive. Mr Witty has already set the tone for a more open style of management. Whereas J.P., as his predecessor was known, often seemed arrogant, Mr Witty began his tenure with a listening tour. J.P. controversially insisted on living in Philadelphia; Mr Witty is not only based at GSK’s headquarters in London, but he even plans to move his office next to the staff canteen so he can be more accessible. ...
Dealing with the downturn:
Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:49:44 -0000
As belts tighten, marketing teams are finding ways to do more with lessONCE the glamour and the glitz of the Olympics have faded, American marketing bosses will face a sobering reality. Although America’s advertising market is still forecast to grow this year—to $285 billion, up from $280 billion in 2007, according to Magna Global, a marketing-services firm—that is largely due to the fillip that it is getting from the games and the upcoming presidential election. When they are over, the outlook for advertising, and for the marketing budgets that pay for it, is bleak. Several industries, including banking, telecoms and consumer goods, have already made deep cuts in their marketing budgets, which are typically one of the first areas to be chopped in a downturn. In response, marketing folk are looking for ways to save money and to get more bang for their remaining bucks. ...
Food retailing in Europe:
Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:49:44 -0000
Germany’s “hard discount” model of supermarket retailing is spreading in EuropeIT IS as far from the charming ideal of French farmers’ markets and small family-owned shops as you could imagine: strip lights glare down on a narrow range of products in ugly packaging, displayed in cardboard boxes piled on the floor and on low shelves. But sales are booming at the new Lidl discount supermarket in south-west Paris. Previously, the German chain stuck to the suburbs, where poorer folk live, says Fatouh Mourad, the store’s manager. But rising food prices and widespread concern about “pouvoir d’achat”, or purchasing power, in France, has given Lidl the confidence to push inside the city’s limits.As economic prospects worsen across Europe, discounters such as Lidl—and Aldi, another German chain—are taking market share. They generally charge some 30-50% less for groceries than ordinary supermarkets. In France, according to TNS, a research firm, discounters increased their market share to 11.2% in the second quarter of this year, up from 10.5% a year ago, whereas the share fell at Carrefour, the world’s second-largest retailer. In Belgium a local discounter, Colruyt, is gaining share at the expense of Carrefour and other pricier chains. Dutch shoppers too are trading down to discounters, says TNS, and in Britain, where Aldi and Lidl struggled for years, they are now the fastest-growing grocers. ...
Business News - UPI.com
Hobbico recalls helicopter batteries
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:03:19 -0400
WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of Hobbico Inc. batteries used in radio-controlled helicopters due to a fire hazard.
Garden supply flame weeders recalled
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:00:20 -0400
WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of Gardener's Supply flame weeders because of fire and burn hazards.
UPI NewsTrack Business
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:00:00 -0400
U.S. markets down at close Tuesday ... Telemarketing petition backfires ... Airline sends first flight from Amsterdam ... Eurozone posts June trade deficit ... News from United Press International.
U.S. markets down at close Tuesday
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:33:16 -0400
NEW YORK, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Major U.S. stock indexes remained in negative territory through the close Tuesday on producer price inflation news and falling home starts.
Telemarketing petition backfires
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:44:37 -0400
WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- A petition for a rule change backfired on the U.S. telemarketing industry, the Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday.
Airline sends first flight from Amsterdam
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:05:37 -0400
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Amsterdam Airlines began its maiden flight Tuesday, sending its only plane, an Airbus 320, to Italy, the company said.
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