Economy Blog

addslashes(Will AMD and IBM Merge?

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Aussie dollar adds 1% amid further U.S. dollar weakness.…
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addslashes(Magic Johnson Deal a Slam-Dunk for Aetna

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addslashes(Top 10 Most Searched Stocks on TheStreet.com, January 24

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When big chains like Wal-Mart and Home Depot come to town, many small retailers flee to higher ground, that is, to the high end of the market. Competing on price is futile against the giants, and catering to the well-to-do seems good bet since these customers often don’t care how much they spend for a baby jumpsuit or evening bag.
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But the core-core measure remains in negative territory.…
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But downside risks loom.…
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Ever heard of Jerome Kerviel? Me neither, but he’s apparently the rogue trader behind Société Générale’s $7.4 billion trading loss. That’s more than Amaranth ($6.6 billion) and Nick Leeson ($1.4 billion).

The trades first came to management’s attention on the evening of Jan. 18, when a compliance officer found a trade that exceeded the bank’s limits, Mustier said. When Societe Generale called the counterparty, they were told the trade didn’t exist.

T…
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addslashes(Starbucks for a Buck?

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This morning, DealBook linked to a Breakingviews piece on rumors of Credit Suisse possibly buying Bear Stearns. I immediately broke into a cold sweat even considering the possibility. Why?  Because investment banking mergers are quite simply one of the most efficient ways of destroying the buyer’s shareholder value, especially when one considers the probabilities of a deal actually being successful. I can’t think of another type of M&A transaction that is fraught with more risks than the investment banking merger or acquisition. Examples of failed investment banking deals are too numerous to mention, with the 2000 acquisition of D…
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addslashes(3 Stocks I Saw On TV

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Hello my name is Tate Dwinnell, founder of SelfInvestors.com and I have losses this year.  Yeah the SelfInvestors Model Portfolio while outperforming the S&P, is still down for the year.  I'm down 7.6% this year and have not played this market meltdown well. .. and I'm fine with that.  I wish that I could [...]
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A rout on global equity markets was followed by a rebound, more or less.…
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Household income keeps improving.…
Original Source: feeds.feedburner.com/DismalcomAnalysisLatino

Just in case anyone’s curious, here’s what it says:

FEDERAL RESERVE ACT

SECTION 2A—Monetary Policy Objectives

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Open Market Committee shall maintain long run growth of the monetary and credit aggregates commensurate with the economy’s long run potential to increase production, s…
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They Just Don’t Get Capital One!

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Now celebrating 10 years of predicting the end of the world, George Soros takes a huge dive into the pool of confirmation bias:

Everything that could go wrong did. What started with subprime mortgages spread to all collateralised debt obligations, endangered municipal and mortgage insurance and reinsurance companies and threatened to unravel the multi-trillion-dollar credit default swap market. Investment banks’ commitments to leveraged buyouts became liabilities. Market-neutral hedge funds tu…
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Good morning from Sydney.…
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Volatility after the FOMC’s rate cut jolted markets worldwide.…
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After the close yesterday, Stryker (SYK) reported earnings of 66 cents a share, which was a 20% jump over last year. For 2008, the company forecasts earnings-per-share of $2.88. That means the stock is going for a P/E of 23.2. Stryker finished its seventh straight year of double-digit sales growth.

Danaher (D…
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