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27 May 2010 11:05

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Biz: China doesn’t do anything, and all of a sudden, stocks are happy

  • What went down: The Financial Times reported that China was thinking about ditching their European debt, which would be a huge blow for Europe’s economy. However, China denied these rumors, and reassured investors. Essentially, they stayed the course and singlehandedly turned stocks around. Not bad for doing nothing.
  • 1.7% the increase in the Dow Jones Industrial this morning
  • 2% the leap in
    the broader S&P 500
    after the news
  • 2.3% the leap in the tech-heavy Nasdaq 500 on the news source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 May 2010 11:13

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World: Debt crisis victim: Europe’s strong social welfare programs?

  • seven number of workers for every European retiree now
  • 1.3 number of workers expected for
    every retiree in 2050 source
  • » Why this is bad for Europe: Most nations in the continent have largely benefited from low military spending and as a result have given retirees some strong social welfare benefits. But a number of factors – the debt crisis, the declining birth rate, the overall growing age of the population – have started to make this model look shaky.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 May 2010 20:42

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Tech: Oops: Google Street View accidentally ganked people’s wi-fi data

Don’t mind us! It’s just Google Street View, driving through your villa. Do do do do do … hey, what’s this private wi-fi data we’re picking up? Oh crap. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 May 2010 20:56

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World: Three things Britain’s new coalition government wants to do

  • More consistent votes Create a more consistent schedule of leadership change by setting elections for parliament for every five years. The legislature can do it sooner if 55 percent of parliament votes to do so.
  • Austerity measures Like much of Europe, the coalition government plans to do something about the large amount of debt it’s built up. It won’t be quite as insane as Greece, but expect some things to get cut out of the budget.
  • Creating jobs 2.5 million Britons are unemployed, a number that might affect the strength of the coalition if they don’t do something about it. Expect Clegg’s people and Cameron’s people to be on it. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 May 2010 10:50

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Biz: Europe’s debt response gave U.S. stocks the bounceback they needed

  • 3.6% the current increase for the Dow Jones Industrial
  • 3.98% the boost for the S&P 500 thanks to Europe’s debt crisis response
  • 4.29% the current increase for the Nasdaq; this matches global markets source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 May 2010 10:08

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Biz: As expected, the market loved Europe’s response to the debt crisis

  • 3% the worldwide stock increase after Europe put its full financial might behind the debt crisis
  • 2% the amount the Euro gained on the dollar; in recent days, it had been floundering source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 May 2010 21:28

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Biz: The European Union throws a ton of money at debt crisis

  • €720B
     could get loaned to European countries greatly affected by the debt crisis
  • €440B
     the amount European countries will make available; the EU will loan €60 billion
  • €220B more could come from the Greece-helping International Monetary Fund source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

06 May 2010 11:11

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World: Greece willing to “walk it alone” on drastic austerity plans

  • We will press ahead, even if we have to walk alone, without the backing of other parties.
  • Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou • On the country’s plan to completely reboot its economy, despite large protests and heavy criticism from its citizens. If they can’t get help from its fellow European countries, they’ll do it anyway. In other news, PEOPLE DIED in these protests. Oh, and many are concerned that they will not have enough money to survive. Unfortunately, Greece is in a rock-hard place situation due to all of that debt, so widespread public concern may not be enough to shake the leadership. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

27 Apr 2010 11:22

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World: The final tally: Iceland’s volcanoes and the resulting financial cost

  • 10
    million     number of people who
    couldn’t fly for six days as a result of the clouds of volcanic ash
  • $3.3
    billion     the amount this will cost
    the airline companies, according
    to estimates source
  • » Who foots the bill?: It’s inevitable that refunds (or worse, lawsuits) will come out of this whole situation, and EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas says that the airlines should foot the bill and keep in mind the rights of consumers, but maybe with the help of European governments to soften the massive blow. Thanks again for nothing, Iceland!
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Apr 2010 10:21

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World: How bad is the Iceland volcano crisis for airline travel, anyway?

  • $200 million in losses for the airlines daily source
  • » Side effects: If the delays stretch out for weeks, not just days, experts say that the crisis could start having major side effects on the economy, such as factory supply chains. The volcano is showing no signs of letting up, by the way, and in fact may be intensifying today.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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