Archives for April 2010

April 2010 - Page 4 of 10 - Money Morning - Only the News You Can Profit From

EADS Gets a Shot at Boeing's Market Share After Europe Accuses United States of Protectionism

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Airbus SAS parent the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) said yesterday (Tuesday) that it intends to compete against The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) for a $35 billion U.S. military refueling tanker contract, continuing a ten-year battle recently plagued by protectionism claims.

This is the third act in a drama that Boeing Commercial Airplane CEO Jim Albaugh refers to as "the longest-running soap opera since 'Days of Our Lives.'"

EADS dropped out of the bidding six weeks ago when its partner in the deal, Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC), claimed the Pentagon's contract proposal had been drawn up to favor Boeing. But the Pentagon agreed to extend the bidding deadline from May 10 to July 9 after European officials claimed the situation reeked of trade protectionism.

EADS tried to find another U.S. company to pair with, but instead was forced to enter a solo bid with the help of American subcontractors. EADS said it felt compelled not to give up because its A330-based tanker is a better fit for the job than Boeing's 767-based tanker.

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World's Factories Manufacturing at Record Rates, Fueling Global Economic Recovery

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The world's factories are churning out products at record rates, fueling the global economic recovery at a faster pace than thought possible just a few months ago.

The latest figures show factory output is growing at a record rate from the United States to China to Europe and beyond. And as manufacturing expands, economists expect the world's economies to continue to expand, creating jobs and putting money in consumer pocketbooks.

As long as companies have plenty of cash to finance expansion, output from the world's factories should continue to grow, according to Money Morning Contributing Writer Shah Gilani, who recently launched the Capital Wave Forecast, a new trading service based on capital flows.

Recent surveys show U.S. companies are sitting on almost $1 trillion in cash.

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How to Profit From China's Economic Role Model: Singapore

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China's economic model has been extremely successful. But, they didn't pull it out of thin air. In fact, they had a very important role model – Singapore – that might just show investors hotter returns than the overheated Chinese stock market. Read this report to find out how to make extreme gains from Singapore.

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Question of the Week: The Lingering Sting of a Jobless Recovery

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The U.S. unemployment rate held steady at 9.7% for the third straight month in March as the world's largest economy added jobs at the fastest pace in three years – the most-certain sign yet that the worst job market in a generation is finally improving and ending the "jobless recovery," economists say.

"This recovery is for real," Chris Rupkey, an economist at The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd., said in a statement.

Still, there's cause for concern.

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Goldman's First-Quarter Profit Doubles to $3.46 Billion, Even as its Fraud Probe Takes on an International Twist

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Investment-banking giant Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) – the target of a civil fraud case filed by U.S. securities regulators – yesterday reported that its first-quarter earnings nearly doubled, even as the probe against it took on an international twist.

The New York-based Goldman said it earned reported first quarter earnings of $3.46 billion today (Tuesday), or $5.59 a share, an increase of 91% from earnings of $1.66 billion, or $3.39 a share, for the same period a year ago. The earnings report came just days after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil fraud case against the Wall Street financial heavyweight.

Goldman's earnings beat analysts' average estimates of $4.16 a share. Its investment bank income revenue rose to $12.78 billion, and its fixed-income, currency and commodities trading generated net revenue of $7.39 billion.

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We Want to Hear From You: How Do You Feel About the Status of U.S. Financial Reform?

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When the Securities and Exchange Commission announced last Friday it was slapping Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) with fraud charges, Wall Street – facing financial reform – took a big gulp of reality.

Scores of traders hurried to sell off Goldman shares, causing the stock to sharply fall 12.8%.   Meanwhile, spectators on Main Street cheered the thought of a financial giant – that has faced scrutiny for housing market investments, executive bonuses and bailout money – finally having to face the firing squad.   

Money Morning readers' comments clearly expressed their negative feelings toward Wall Street, our government and the SEC: "Crooks, political snakes, fraudsters, soulless and self-interested leaders, running a corrupt nation…"

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FREE REPORT: The "Mini Energy" Revolution

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How to Profit from the Rapidly Emerging Market for Nuclear Batteries Mini nuclear reactors have been in service for decades in the military, especially on naval vessels. And now their commercial application is officially here. Several smart companies are introducing these "nuclear batteries" to the energy market. They're designed to deliver power to smaller communities […]

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Three Ways to Profit From the World's Luckiest Country - Australia.

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When the late Donald Horne called Australia the " Lucky Country" in 1964, the professor and well-known social critic meant it as an insult: He believed that while other countries were getting rich by developing special skills and embracing new technology, Australia prospered just because it happened to sit on a pile of valuable natural resources.

Well, in the global world of 2010, skill and technology are " two-a-penny" ubiquitous in an emerging-markets world in which billions of industrious people are competing against one another. In this new reality in today's world, natural resources are the key to global wealth.

And Australia is a prime beneficiary of that new reality.

For three ways to profit from this "new reality," please read on...

Despite Talk of a Bubble, Indonesia Is Still a Profit Haven for Investors

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Several readers who know of my affinity for Indonesian stocks have sent me articles reporting that one of the country's bank officials had expressed discomfort over the Jakarta's rising stock market and raised the specter of new capital controls.

I have been investing in emerging markets for a long time, and have found that the news services often pick up these kinds of comments from random officials that are then contradicted a day later by some other random official.

And that was the case this time, too.

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China Deepens Ties with Iran and Venezuela In Spite of U.S. Consternation

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Just as the United States makes an impassioned push for tougher economic sanctions on Iran, China is reportedly increasing its gas exports to the volatile Middle East nation.

Chinaoil- the state-owned China National Petroleum Corp's (CNPC) trading unit- shipped two cargoes totaling 600,000 barrels of gasoline to Iran in exchange for $55 million, according to Reuters. The cargoes were Chinaoil's first direct sales to Iran since at least January 2009, according to Reuters data.

Additionally, Unipec- the trading arm of the China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) (NYSE ADR: SNP)- agreed to sell 250,000 barrels of gasoline to Iran.

The sales couldn't come at a worse time for the United States. Washington has spent months lobbying the international community to tighten sanctions on Iran, which is openly expanding its uranium enrichment capacity.

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