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Sunday, 28 February 2010 |
I’m pretty sure that there are countless of students who took the government educational loan, to pay for their education’s fees. Generally, with the economic downturn hitting consumers hard, there are countless of people who lost their jobs, and unable to repay their student’s loan which they took many years ago.
Nevertheless, it seems that the Connecticut government has made a new breakthrough, whereby they will introduce a program that will help waive the student’s loan, whenever the applicant applies for green jobs in the government. Basically, the Connecticut government is planning to forgive as much as 5% of the student’s loan, in which can be translated into $2,500 in federal and state education loan. In fact, such moves are inline with President Barack Obama’s goal in creating more green jobs in the country, whereby he has pledge to create as many as 17,000 green jobs in the country.
Personally, I find such moves to be beneficial for citizens living in Connecticut, as surely, this will help alleviate problems associated with the economic turmoil.
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Thursday, 25 February 2010 |
Verizon Communications Inc. has disclosed that they will be listed in the Nasdaq alongside with their existing New York Stock Exchange listing. Verizon which can be identified with their VZ symbol, has approximately 2.5 million in shareholders, while the company has already issued 2.8 billion shares since its listing in the stock exchange.
And with the company’s plans to be listed in the Nasdaq, the company shares fell 14 cents to $29.70. Personally, I find Verizon’s move to be listed in Nasdaq to be very shocking. Surely, this will reduce the overall value for stocks associated with the company, don’t you agree?
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Tuesday, 23 February 2010 |
Financially strapped Portugal, has recently issued $1.34 billion worth of government bond, whereby the country hopes to raise as much as Euro$990 million, with hopes of easing concerns over the government’s capability to pay off its high debts. Basically, the government has already received bids worth $1.58 billion for the April bonds, whereby 2021 of these bonds will be issued at a rate of 4.17 percent into the market.
Personally, I don’t think that the government should issue so many bonds for the market. Clearly, issuing such bonds will eventually increase the government’s debt even higher. Surely, the government will need to pay interest rates for the bonds that they have issued, and with so many bonds already issued in the past, surely the upcoming bonds will be used to cover up their previous debts – that’s pretty unwise for the government right?
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Saturday, 20 February 2010 |
The World Trade Organization has earlier ruled in June 2008 that the subsidies which were given to US cotton producers, were somewhat discriminatory. In fact, the WTO has already issued a go-ahead for the Brazilian government to impose sanctions on US products, whereby such sanctions amounted to a whopping 829.3 million dollars.
Generally, the US has responded, simply by sending US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to talk to the Brazilian government, with hopes that both nations could avert a trade war.
Personally, I believe that such trade wars are beneficial for consumers, as this would surely drive the price of goods much lower. However, with the fragile US economy at hand, I believe that Gary Locke is determined to make sure that such trade wars don’t happen.
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Thursday, 18 February 2010 |
Surely, speculators have gained a rather notorious fame over the years, whereby the infamous 1997 recession caused by these speculators has created widespread pandemonium across the globe. Nevertheless, it also seems that there’s yet another speculative bubble which is developing over the European currency, whereby speculators are already betting on the currency union.
According to leaders from the European Union, they have already begun taking necessary steps to curb speculative trading. In fact, leaders from EU are already urging the United States to join in the efforts to curb such speculative trading over the currency. In fact, the EU is already planning to impose some default credit swap, with hopes of curbing these speculators from destabilizing the entire economy.
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Monday, 15 February 2010 |
With the US government bailing out countless of companies from declaring bankruptcy, I’m pretty sure that these companies were pretty battered up in the recent economic recession. Nevertheless, it also seems that the stocks for these companies surged, whereby speculators are saying that there will be mass sale for money making assets from these companies, as well as cheap valuations which will definitely help the company to go on a road to recovery.
Generally, Citibank’s stocks went up by 8.4 percent, American International Group Inc rose by 19.6 percent higher, then closed at 12.6 percent higher later. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae stocks went up 18.5 and 15 percent respectively.
Do you think that such stock market rally is justifiable and might fuel a speculative bubble?
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Friday, 12 February 2010 |
The recent data released by top economists around the world, suggested that the manufacturing sector is indeed leading the way for a global financial recovery. Generally, factories around the world are already seeing higher demands for their goods, whereby most of these factories are already increasing their capacity, in order to meet global demands.
According to the European Markit's Purchasing Managers' Index, it seems that the index jumped marginally higher up to 54.2 in February, which is seen as a positive growth for the European economy. The US Institute for Supply Management on the other hand, has capped their index at 56.5 in February, which also shows favorable growth.
Do you think that the manufacturing sector will continue to lead the economic recovery?
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Monday, 08 February 2010 |
Citigroup Inc. CEO Vikram Pandit has recently issued a statement that Citibank has changed, since the last financial crisis which has hit the bank. Generally, Vikram Pandit has mentioned that the bank is now fundamentally different, whereby top decision makers in the bank has devised plans to revive the bank from the slump. Nevertheless, Citibank has taken up to $45 billion in financial aid from the government during the last financial crisis, with the bid to avert bankruptcy.
Personally, I believe that Citibank should show concrete evidence that they have fundamentally changed. Surely, the bank has yet to pay back the government in full when it comes to the financial bailout money. If Citibank has changed, I’d be the first one to believe, when they have successfully paid back the multi-billion dollars in financial aid.
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Saturday, 06 February 2010 |
It seems Phillips-Van Heusen, a world renowned clothing maker, has decided to acquire Tommy Hilfiger for $3 billion. In fact, Phillips-Van Heusen Corp has disclosed that the acquisition deal will involve both cash and stock, in which the total value will sum up to $3 billion. Generally, Phillips-Van Heusen Corp. also owns Calvin Klein, and should the takeover succeeds, Tommy Hilfiger will be placed inline as the same owner as Calvin Klein.
Phillips-Van Heusen Corp share prices rose 12 percent after the company announced the decision to takeover Tommy Hilfiger. And with the acquisition in place, Phillips-Van Heusen Corp overall revenue will be boosted to a whopping $4.6 billion dollars.
Do you think that the Tommy Hilfiger takeover will create synergy for both the companies?
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Wednesday, 03 February 2010 |
With the country falling into one of the coldest winters in history, the price of gas has increased steadily over the past couple of months, due to the fact that majority of the American households burn fuel in order to stay warm inside their home. Nevertheless, with the cold winter behind, the price of gas has continued its increasing trend, whereby analysts are forecasting that the price might be increased to as much as $3 per gallon.
Basically, the price of gasoline in the country has already increased to 0.6 cents recently, whereby gas stations across the nation are generally retailing at $2.753 per gallon. Energy Information Administration has also placed their strong predictions that price of gas will reach $3 this spring.
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