Economy | News-Opinion

TOP NEWS: Economy: September 24th, 2012

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Excerpts and More Top News and Analysis:

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 MARKETS: Money Managers Take Timeout From Stocks - WSJ
Some money managers who caught this year’s stock rally are sitting on percentage gains well into the double-digits and are considering watching the rest of 2012 from the sidelines.

MARKETS: US transport stocks signal deeper slowdown – FT
Downturn in the sector’s stocks indicates a deeper slowdown in the global economy and raises concerns share prices are vulnerable to pullback

MARKETS: MarketBeat: Stocks’ Consistency Continues – WSJ
The Dow has now gone 62 trading days without notching a single daily decline of more than 1%, according to Bespoke Investment Group..

MARKETS:  Live: Markets Pulse Stream – WSJ
U.S. stocks traded lower, putting the market on track to start yet another week with a loss, amid discord over plans for Europe’s banking system and a weak reading on business confidence in Germany.

MARKETS:  Shares Edge Lower on Wall Street – NYT
Stocks extended last week’s decline as weak European data caused investors to question the prospects for global growth.

MARKETS: Prospects for Stock and Bond Returns Are Dim – WSJ
It’s an especially confounding time to be sketching out expected returns on a portfolio, with both stock and bond markets buffeted by significant and unusual forces that could play out for many years to come.

MARKETS: Asian Shares Fall as Focus Shifts to Growth Concerns – NYT
Riskier assets fell broadly on Monday, dragging down Asian shares, copper and oil but the dollar strengthened as investors monitored progress in the euro zone debt bailout scheme.

MARKETS: Exactly Whose Money Did the London Whale Lose?  - BLOOMBERG, OPINION
WILLIAM D. COHAN – Whose $6 billion did JPMorgan Chase & Co. lose during the now-infamous London Whale debacle?

INVESTMENT: Hedge funds play long game for profits – FT
Amid volatile markets, some of the industry’s biggest names are shunning debt and short selling in favour of pursuing assets and stability

INVESTMENT: Don’t Buy the Earnings Hype - WSJ
Wall Street expects 2013 to be a stellar year for corporate earnings. There’s little evidence to support that view.

INVESTMENT: Borrowing Against Yourself - WSJ
With dirt-cheap interest rates, this might seem like an ideal time to borrow from your investment portfolio. It might also be a dangerous time.

ECONOMY:  September: Slowing Economic Growth – BROOKINGS
Recent economic reports confirm that the nation is still struggling with a slow economic recovery and high levels of joblessness.

ECONOMY: The US economy is still in a sorry state – FT, Opinion
EDWARD LUCE – It is hard to be excited by a revival based on so many ifs and buts. Even the rosiest forecasts are based on sobering assumptions.

ECONOMY: Pathways to the Middle Class: Balancing Responsibilities – BROOKINGS
Despite a strong belief among Americans in equality of opportunity, research reveals that economic success in America is not purely based on merit.

GOVERNMENT BUDGETS: Pension Crisis Looms Despite Cuts – WSJ
Almost every state in the U.S. has made cuts to its public-employee pensions, but the measures have fallen short of bridging a nearly $1 trillion funding gap.

BUDGET CUTS: O’Grady: How Canada Saved Its Bacon   -  WSJ, OPINION
Deep cuts in government spending pulled Canada back from an epic fiscal crisis in the 1990s.

BUDGET: Senate Passes $500 Billion Funding Bill – WSJ
In their last act in Washington before the Nov. 6 elections, Senate lawmakers approved a roughly $500 billion bill to fund the federal government for six months from Oct. 1.

HEALTHCARE: Health Insurers Hike Rates, Ignore Government – MARKET WATCH
In much of the country, state officials say they have little power to rein in health insurance rate hikes

HEALTHCARE: States Opposing Health Care Law Prepare for It Anyway – NYT
A handful of states whose Republican governors oppose President Obama’s health care overhaul are quietly working to have an insurance exchange ready before the deadline next month to create one.

PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP: The Internet? We Built That  - NYT, OPINION
STEVEN JOHNSON – Big Government and Big Capital, meet Big Peer Network.

HOUSING: Lennar’s Profit Quadruples – WSJ
Lennar’s quarterly profit quadrupled from a year earlier, thanks in part to a tax benefit, as more deliveries contributed to the homebuilder’s stronger-than-expected revenue.

HOUSING: How to Play the Fed’s Mortgage Move - WSJ
The Fed said it would buy mortgage-backed securities for an indefinite period to bolster the economy. That could spell an opportunity for investors.

PERSONAL FINANCE: ‘Free’ Checking Costs More Than Ever  -  WSJ
So-called free checking accounts are more expensive than ever, as the lumbering U.S. economy and new regulations squeeze bank profits.

BAILOUT/GM: Sorry, GM, It’s ’Government Motors’ Awhile Longer  - BLOOMBERG, EDITORIAL
Like a restless suitor eager to move on, General Motors Co. wants to end its four-year relationship with the U.S. government. Washington, to its credit, has no intention of playing the chump.

REMITTANCES: Migrant Workers Keep Cash Flowing - WSJ
Migrant workers abroad sent more money to their families in the developing world last year than in 2010, and they are expected to transfer even more cash home this year.

JOBS: We Need A Startup President Who Knows How Jobs Are Created – RCM, OPINION
How can the next presidential get the American job machine functioning again?

TAXES: Brown’s Tax Problem  -  WSJ, OPINION
Proponents of California Gov. Jerry Brown tax-hike initiative have out-spent opponents by a factor of 16, yet support for the plan is falling.

ENERGY: Energy stocks drag down Wall Street- FT
Homebuilders lifted by housing data.

ENERGY: Senate Snubs EU Airline-Emission Plan – WSJ
The U.S. Senate on Saturday passed a bill that could see the country’s airlines snub the European Union’s controversial plan to charge carriers for aircraft emissions on flights to and from the region.

ENERGY: Fracking: A Role for Universities - FORBES
University research can help ensure that decisions about fracking are evidence-based.

ENERGY: The Trillion-Gallon Loophole: Lax Rules for Drillers that Inject Pollutants Into the Earth  - ProPublica
As the boom in oil and gas drilling sends a surge of waste into underground injection wells, safeguards for disposing of these materials are sometimes being ignored or circumvented

SHELL: Launderers Anonymous – ECONOMIST
A study highlights how easy it is to set up untraceable companies

COMMODITIES: Commodities Unbound! – WSJ
Corn, oil, gold and other assets are no longer trading in lock step. Here’s how to separate the winners from the losers.

COMMODITIES: How High Oil Prices Will Permanently Cap Economic Growth - BLOOMBERG, OPINION
JEFF RUBIN –  For most of the last century, cheap oil powered global economic growth. But in the last decade, the price of oil has quadrupled, and that shift will permanently shackle the growth potential of the world’s economies.

ENVIRONMENTAL:  Power, Pollution and the Internet  - NYT
A yearlong examination by The New York Times has revealed that this foundation of the information industry is sharply at odds with its image of sleek efficiency and environmental friendliness.

ENVIRONMENTAL:  Why the New York Times “Power, Pollution, and the Internet” is a Sloppy Failure - FORBES
In its story published today, “Power, Pollution, and the Internet”, The New York Times failed in its mission to accurately explain the important issue of improving efficient use of power in data centers, and instead wrote a confused and incomplete article that is unworthy of its reputation.

ENERGY/INTERNET: Information’s Environmental Cost  - NYT, ROOM FOR DEBATE
Is the speed and reach of the Internet worth the energy used by data centers or should we abandon our need for any instantaneous information?

MEDIA: Internet Radio Royalty Bill Would Change Rate-Setting Standard – NYT
Internet radio services like Pandora hope legislation recently introduced in Congress will lower the rates they pay copyright holders to the levels paid by satellite radio.

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Business News and Analysis: 

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BUSINESS/APPLE: Apple: Says Weekend iPhone Sales Top 5M; Some Saw More - FORBES
Apple this morning said it sold more than 5 million iPhone 5 units in the first weekend that the new version of the company’s smart phone was for sale.

BUSINESS/APPLE: Are iPhone 5 Production Pressures Responsible For Riot At Foxconn Factory? - FORBES
Engadget reports that there has been a riot at Foxconn’s Taiyuan plant early this morning in China. The factory apparently makes the back casings of the new iPhone 5

BUSINESS/APPLE: Apple’s Feud With Google Is Now Felt on the iPhone - NYT
Once the best of friends, Google and Apple are battling in courtrooms and in the consumer marketplace, with iPhone users in the cross-fire after Apple removed Google’s maps app and YouTube.

BUSINESS/APPLE: Apple Gave Few Phones to Other Retailers - WSJ
Apple appeared to sell large numbers of its new iPhone 5 at its own stores over the weekend, but customers seemed to have little luck finding the gadget at the company’s retail partners.

BUSINESS: Foxconn Plant in China Closed After Worker Riot - NYT
A spokesman said a fight among employees on Sunday night turned into a riot that had to be broken up by thousands of police officers.

BUSINESS: Verizon To Pay Tivo At Least $250.4M To Settle Patent Suit - FORBES
TiVo this morning said that Verizon has agreed to pay the company at least $250.4 million to settle a pending patent suit.

BUSINESS: Makeover of 777 Agitates Boeing - WSJ
As it seeks to upgrade its 777 twin jet, Boeing is wrestling with one of the thorniest problems in business: How and when do you replace a successful product?

BUSINESS: U.S. Says It Complied With WTO on Boeing - WSJ
The U.S. said it has fully complied with a World Trade Organization ruling against subsidies for Boeing Co., as a seven-year trade duel with the European Union and Airbus entered an endgame.

BUSINESS: Bank of America vs Merrill Lynch: Time to Cut the Rope - FORBES
According to a CNBC report Friday, Bank of America’s (NYSE:BAC) leadership is considering stripping the name BOFA from Bank of America-Merrill Lynch.

BUSINESS: Verizon Airwave Purchase Unites Wireless and Cable - NYT
A little-noticed result of Verizon’s $3.9 billion airwave purchase is that cable companies can now use the carrier’s retail presence to sell cable packaged with phone and wireless service.

BUSINESS: You’re the Boss Blog: This Week in Small Business: $931 Billion in Cash - NYT – You’re the Boss
A positive review for the iPhone 5, China’s tantrums, and the sexiest bus commercial ever made. Do you understand how the health care overhaul will affect your business?

BUSINESS: Euro Watch: Data Show Persistent Slowdown in Euro Zone - NYT
As the Spanish government prepares to release its draft budget Friday, the closely watched Ifo index showed German business confidence slipping.

BUSINESS: BAE ready to quit deal if US ties at risk - FT
Defence contractor fears EADS deal could water down special relationship with Pentagon, which allows it to work on US national security projects

BUSINESS: Helping Ex-Criminals Develop Start-Ups - NYT
Defy Ventures, a nonprofit organization that provides entrepreneurial training to people with criminal backgrounds, held its first sales exposition on Saturday.

BUSINESS: The Cloud Factories: Data Centers in Rural Washington State Gobble Power - NYT
When Internet factories come to town, they can feel less like their sleek, clean and convenient image and more like old-time manufacturing.

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