Posts Tagged ‘U.S. economy’
Citibank
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — A Congressional panel investigating the causes of the financial crisis criticized two former leaders of Citigroup on Thursday for failing to understand the risks that eventually brought the company to its knees.
In testimony before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, Charles “Chuck” Prince, former chief executive of Citigroup, apologized for his role in the crisis that roiled the U.S. economy.
Oil prices
Oil prices drifted below $82 a barrel Friday in Asia, pulling back from a monthlong rally that was fueled by mostly positive news about the U.S. economy.
Benchmark crude for April delivery was down 26 cents to $81.94 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 73 cents to settle at $82.20 on Thursday.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Toyota Motor Corp. (TM 74.53, +0.89, +1.21%) said Tuesday that February U.S. sales fell 8.7% to 100,027 units from 109,583 a year ago. Toyota branded light truck sales decreased 11.2% to 33,413 units,
Cash For Caulkers Rebates
On Tuesday, President Obama will announce his plan to stimulate the economy and create more jobs while encouraging Americans to do energy updates to their homes. The program will likely be a short term initiative, targeting 2-3 million households.
iowa appliance rebate program
Iowa Appliance Rebate Program
: About 9,000 Iowa homes will be able to save money on new appliances and power consumption with the federal state-funded rebate program, which begins Monday.Robin van Berkum, co-owner of Van Berkum home in Bella says she believes that the program of discounts which will help to stimulate sales during the typically slow period of time of the year.
mn appliance rebate
And you thought Cash for Clunkers was dead. Come March 1, a home appliance version of the stimulus program that provided cash to car-buyers trading in their old models is scheduled to start.
Designed to save consumers money for buying energy-efficient clothes washers, dishwashers, freezers and refrigerators, nearly $5 million in federal stimulus funding is designed to help Minnesota households save up to $200 for replacing their aging appliance with a qualifying Energy Star model.
The Minnesota Trade-in & Save Appliance Rebate Program, operated through the Minnesota Department of Commerce’s Office of Energy Security (OES), could enable up to 25,000 Minnesota households buy Energy Star appliances.
Hyundai
Car makers on Tuesday are expected to report disappointing U.S. sales for February, mainly due to snowstorms in the Northeast and Midwest that kept customers away from dealerships.
The quality crisis at Toyota Motor Corp. also is predicted to have hurt sales for that company by at least about 25%, according to industry forecasting firm TrueCar.
Others makers are likely to see gains, partly at the expense of Toyota, and partly because of increased sales to rental-car companies and other “fleet” customers.
February sales at Ford Motor Co., Hyundai Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. are expected to have risen by 25% or more while General Motors Co. could report an increase of 16%, according to Edmunds.com, an auto shopping and forecasting site.
In his State of the Union address last month, President Barack Obama said that “if there’s one thing that has unified Democrats and Republicans, and everybody in between, it’s that we all hated the bank bailout. … It was about as popular as a root canal.”
The bailout, in which the federal government backed major investment banks to the tune of up to $700 billion, was enacted in the fall of 2008, when the financial sector was on the verge of collapse. But the kinds of banks that were bailed out were large investment banks. Meanwhile, smaller community banks all along have had a very different business model.
Now a new online movement is encouraging people to take their money out of the big investment banks and bank locally instead. “Move Your Money” is the name given to the project, which is online at www.moveyourmoney.info.
Students at American University, in Washington, D.C., want to do something to combat the gross wealth inequality in their city. They are campaigning to move some of the school’s $312 million endowment money and put it in local financial institutions which will lend out to get local businesses and help to revitalize the community.http://moveyourmoney.info/
CKE Restaurants
U.S. stocks were mixed Friday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2 points to 10323, the Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 0.3 point to 1103 and the Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 3.5 points to 2230. Among the companies whose shares are actively trading are CKE Restaurants Inc. (CKR), American International Group Inc. (AIG) and Gap Inc. (GPS).
Private-equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners has agreed to take private CKE Restaurants ($11.18, +$2.27, +25.48%) for about $619 million, but the company will have six weeks to find a higher offer. The deal comes as the parent of the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s fast-food chains has struggled, especially Carl’s Jr. In the four weeks ended Jan. 25, same-store sales at Carl’s Jr. slid 9%. CKE has been averse to the deep discounting that some rivals have been doing to prevent sales declines. Rival restaurant owners Jack in the Box Inc. (JACK, $21.44, +$1.11, +5.46%), Sonic Corp. (SONC, $8.49, +$0.15, +1.80%) and Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. (RRGB, $20.43, +$0.57, +2.87%) also rose.