By Jason Simpkins Staff Writer Fed policymakers – concerned the credit crunch and housing slump could take a heavy toll on economic growth – voted unanimously to cut interest rates by half a percentage point at their Sept. 18 meeting. Fed policymakers unanimously agreed to slash interest rates by one-half percentage point to 4.75 percent, […]
Category
U.S. Economy
Minsheng Becomes First Mainland China Bank to Invest in a U.S. Bank
By Keith Fitz-Gerald And William Patalon III Money Morning In a trendsetting deal that gives U.S. investors a direct play on mainland China’s fast-growing financial muscle, China Minsheng Banking Corp. Ltd. will acquire a 9.9% stake in San Francisco’s UCBH Holdings Inc. (UCBH), making this the first Chinese investment in a U.S. bank. The deal […]
Insiders Say Chrysler LLC Will Cut Jobs in Lieu of Possible Strike
From Staff Reports Declining domestic auto sales may lead to Chrysler LLC, the third-largest U.S. automaker, to cut 1,500 salaried and contract jobs, Bloomberg News reported yesterday (Tuesday), citing unnamed sources close to the company’s strategy. These cuts are in addition to the 13,000 projected job cuts the newly private Chrysler already announced it would […]
Northern Rock Buys Time Before Getting Bought Out
From Staff Reports Citigroup Inc. (C) is preparing to lend Northern Rock PLC – the United Kingdom bank bailed out by the Bank of England – $20.4 billion so it can buy time for a buyout, according to news reports from both Bloomberg News and the Financial Times. Northern Rock desperately needs to refinance 14 […]
As Global Investors Profit From China's Growing Dairy Demand, Chinese Government Offers Incentives to Beef up Dairy Infrastructure.
By Mike Caggeso Staff Writer China's demand for dairy products is so strong that worldwide milk prices have spiked and fattened the wallets of farmers around the world. And yet about 30% of China's dairy farmers lost money last year, the country's National Development and Reform Commission reported. And with liquid milk consumption in China […]
Oil Prices Slip, but a Rebound Could Be On the Way
By Jason Simpkins Staff Writer With worries mounting that the global credit crunch will squeeze the worldwide demand for petroleum-based products, oil prices dropped below the $81 a barrel level yesterday (Monday), according to The Associated Press. Light, sweet crude for November delivery fell 44 cents to $80.78 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on […]
The Three Pathways to Profit as Investors Make it All About Earnings
By William Patalon III, MBA Managing Editor Money Morning/The Money Map Report In the weeks to come, it will be all about earnings. Stock prices soared to a new record high a week ago today (Monday), on a newfound belief that the subprime mortgage mess was contained. We predicted that belief would be short-lived, and […]
European Finance Minister to Study U.S. Economic Woes
From Staff Reports European Union finance ministers open two days of talks today (Monday) to discuss how key U.S. problems as a slowing economy, a super-weak dollar and a huge-and-growing trade deficit will affect the European Union, as well as the rest of the world economy. The falling dollar has made U.S. exports cheaper versus […]
Four Ways to Beat the Credit Crunch and Profit From Global Growth
By William Patalon III, MBA Managing Editor Money Morning/The Money Map Report The worldwide credit crunch isn't over after all. Just days after U.S. stocks soared to record highs – and Wall Street upgraded the embattled homebuilding sector – worldwide groups are issuing warnings that there's likely more pain to come. Investors even bid up […]
Investors Looking for 'Goldilocks' Jobs Report Today, With Room For Stocks to Resume Their Upward Advance
From Staff Reports The Labor Department will release its September jobs report early today (Friday), the first such reading since the now-infamous "shocker "August payrolls report that stunned investors, sparked a stock-market sell-off and essentially forced the central bank to slash short-term interest rates. The August jobs report, released Sept. 9, showed that the U.S. […]