Search results for economy
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Posted
Feb 17 2009, 06:35 PM
by
Des Toups
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Say goodbye to Saturn. And Saab and Hummer, for that matter. Pontiac, too, for all intents and purposes.
Unless buyers (a few million of us -- or maybe just a couple of really adventurous billionaires) step forward, three of General Motors’ eight brands are now destined to join Oldsmobile in the history books. A fourth will be relegated to “niche” status, says GM. The company, until last year the world’s largest automaker, announced plans Tuesday that would drastically scale back its operations in order to stay alive
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Posted
Jun 30 2008, 03:59 PM
by
Charley Blaine
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Chrysler exists because Lee Iacocca bet the company on the minivan. Now, thanks to the oil crisis, the minivan looks like it could be on its last legs.
One of the company's two minivan assembly plants will be shut indefinitely on Oct. 31, Chrysler said today. The problem is that families -- the target market for minivans -- have been particularly affected by rising gas and food prices, falling home values and more difficulty in borrowing money.
It's a humiliating development for Chrysler, which spent $1.4 billion on the redesign of its two industry-leading minivans, the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan. And then saw sales go, well, nowhere.
"Everything that a family needs is more expensive right now, and so the last thing they're looking at is, 'Do they need to replace their Honda Odyssey?'" said Rebecca Lindland, an auto analyst for Global Insight, the economic consulting firm
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Posted
Sep 02 2009, 09:06 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 Could The Wall Street Journal actually be admitting that the federal stimulus is working? That certainly seems to be the case.
"Government efforts to funnel hundreds of billions of dollars into the
U.S. economy appear to be helping the U.S. climb out of the worst
recession in decades," the newspaper reported Wednesday. I wonder how painful this admission is for the Journal, which has been sharply critical of the stimulus package. Bing: More on the economic stimulus
Economists are starting to say the worst is over, and that the economy is growing above where it would be without a stimulus. The second quarter saw a contraction of only 1%; without a stimulus, that could have been as high as 3.2%. Now, the economy looks on track for positive growth in the third quarter. Still, some critics say that other programs were more effective than the stimulus.
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Posted
Jul 08 2009, 12:04 PM
by
Catherine Holahan
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 The models lean seductively over the hood of the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro, wearing only tiny yellow underwear emblazoned with the car's logo. Grasping a wash cloth, they rub down the car until it sparkles as an unseen cameraman asks about the car.
The videos, broadcast on YouTube, use sex appeal to sell Camaros to guys. Only the models aren't women, they're men.
The racy commercials are part of a new advertising campaign targeting gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.
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Posted
Oct 21 2008, 08:28 AM
by
Charley Blaine
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Being a billionaire isn't as much fun as it used to be. Just ask investor Kirk Kerkorian, the investor and casino magnate.
Kerkorian plunked down $1 billion in Ford Motor in the spring, ending with a 6.4% stake in the automaker. In a bit more than four months, he's seen more than two thirds of the value of that investment vanish as Ford and all the automakers have struggled with high gas prices and the crummy economy.
Monday, he said "no mas." In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, he said he sold 7.3 million shares of Ford at $2.43 a share. And he may sell the rest.
Here's how the math works.
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Posted
Nov 14 2008, 06:38 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
As ironic as it may seem, the finances of OPEC members may be as bad as at any time in recent memory. They have become poor as quickly as they became rich earlier this year.
OPEC obviously expected oil prices to stay above $100 for some length of time. Government budgets in places like Iran and Venezuela depend on high crude. Now they face massive deficits and no way to handle their obligations.
In places including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait parts of the banking systems are strained and the ability of royal families to buy new Hummers and private jets has been hurt.
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Posted
Sep 25 2008, 03:14 PM
by
Charley Blaine
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Let me start by stating that CNBC's Jim Cramer can be loud, obnoxious, annoying and even -- as he would admit -- occasionally boorish.
His rant a year ago on how he thought the Federal Reserve was making a horrible mistake when it raised rates in the face of a global credit crunch is the stuff of legend. (Which is why CNBC plays it over and over and over again.)
But Cramer is a very smart guy, and he's offering the best explanation I've seen on why Congress and the White House should pass a financial rescue plan.
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Posted
May 29 2009, 02:52 PM
by
Louis Navellier
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
President Obama's nomination of federal appeals court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter heralds yet another victory for gun-makers. Yes, you read that right.
Let me explain.
While most investors have been rightly focused on the crisis in the markets and economy lately, some Americans have been focusing on other political issues, namely the Second Amendment.
They wonder, will the Obama Administration and new Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor put the right to bear arms in jeopardy? Clearly, many think so, as evidenced by an increase in gun sales and an associated rally in gun stocks.
Indeed, two of my favorite gun stocks, Sturm Ruger & Co. (RGR) and Smith & Wesson (SWHC), rallied Thursday on the news of Sotomayor's nomination. But it's not just Sotomayor's nomination that has been lifting the gun-makers. The recession has helped, too
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Posted
Jun 08 2009, 01:54 PM
by
Catherine Holahan
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 This story has been updated. Read the new one here.
Drivers are shelling out far more to fill their tanks this summer than last winter, despite the severe economic downturn. And there's likely more pain to come at the pump.
Gasoline prices have risen sharply in the past month. This week, the average price for a gallon rose to $2.67, according to automotive group AAA. That's up more than 35% since December 2008.
To be sure, gas prices are still far less than consumers paid last summer. Oil prices hit a record high of $147 per barrel on July 11, 2008, pushing the average price of regular gasoline to $4.11. But the price of crude has soared in recent weeks. Prices jumped past $72 a barrel late last week, though they fell slightly on Monday as the dollar strengthened. (A stronger dollar reduces the desire to buy commodities as a hedge against inflation.)
Speculation shares some of the blame for price hikes
The recent gasoline price increases are perhaps more difficult for consumers to bear than even last summer's soaring prices. Unlike last July's spike -- which was fueled by increasing demand due to global economic growth, as well as speculation that the good economic times would continue - this year's increase is largely due to anticipation that the worst of the recession is over and that the economy will pick up. Unfortunately for many Americans and businesses, their personal fortunes have not improved along with investors' economic outlook, leaving them ill-prepared to pay higher prices.
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Posted
May 15 2009, 03:36 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
McDonald’s (MCD) did so well with its dollar menu that Wal-Mart (WMT) decided it will create one, too. The difference is that the Wal-Mart version will be merchandise and not food.
McDonald’s philosophy of selling very inexpensive food in a clean, well-lit environment served by consistently friendly people has helped it expand its operations to 36,000 stores worldwide. Wal-Mart’s approach to retail stores is not terribly different. It may not be entirely coincidental that Wal-Mart was started in 1962 and McDonald’s began in 1955.
Millions of relatively young people, most of them parents, were only a decade removed from serving their country and not being paid a great deal for that service. It was a perfect environment for consumers to believe that something could be inexpensive and a good value at the same time
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