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02 Jun 2011 15:45

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Biz, U.S.: Moody’s threatens U.S. credit rating downgrade over debt crisis

  • Full faith and credit: Moody’s Investors Service warns that a failure by the U.S. Congress to come to an agreement on raising the debt limit could imperil the country’s AAA credit rating: “The heightened polarization over the debt limit has increased the odds of a short-lived default. If this situation remains unchanged in coming weeks, Moody’s will place the rating under review.” You may remember a similar warning from Standard and Poor’s last April — it’s becoming increasingly clear that the debt limit struggle, in addition to the gaping chasm between what Democrats and Republicans would care to do on spending and deficit issues (such a chasm usually means gridlock), is causing angst for financial agencies. source

26 Jan 2011 10:25

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Biz: Dow Jones touches 12,000 again, analysts dancing in the streets

  • 12k the level the Dow Jones Industrial touched today – for the first time since June 2008
  • 24% the amount the stock market has gone up in the last seven months alone (wow)
  • 83% the amount it’s jumped since we hit rock bottom in March 2009 – so are we fully rehabbed? source

04 Jan 2011 10:15

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Biz: New year, new life: BP’s stock soaring today for some reason

  • 5.6% increase in BP’s troubled stock today alone source
  • » It’s at its highest level in six months. But why? Two things. First off, the cost of BP’s compensation payouts is expected to be much less than first thought, and, secondly, BP could be the target of a takeover. After the year they’ve had, it might be a respite or something.

31 Dec 2010 22:07

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Biz: Rough-and-tumble year for stocks ends on the upswing

  • 11% jump in the up-and-down stock market in 2010 source

17 Sep 2010 21:44

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Biz: Most businesses wouldn’t get nicked by Bush tax-cut reversal

  • 3% of all businesses would be affected by rescinding the high-end of the Bush tax cuts
  • 8% of non-hobby businesses would be affected, say conservative groups
  • 750k the real number of businesses that would roughly be affected by the cuts source
  • » And a possibly positive side-effect: Studies have shown that increases in tax rates at the top end can lead to more small businesses starting up because of the tax breaks offered, boosting overall growth anyway.

16 Sep 2010 10:53

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Biz: A dubious record, hit again: Home repossessions up yet again

  • 25% increase in repossessions of homes by banks source

03 Sep 2010 09:52

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Biz: Jobs grew, but the unemployment rate still rose

  • 9.6% the latest unemployment rate, which is an uptick source
  • Why the increase? Interesting reasons, actually; apparently, private-sector jobs actually increased. Unfortunately, government jobs continued to disappear.
 

30 Aug 2010 10:04

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Biz: Consumer spending up, personal incomes less so, savings down

  • 0.4% the increase in consumer spending last month
  • 0.2% the increase in personal incomes last month
  • 0.3% the decrease in savings rate last month source

15 Jul 2010 11:10

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Biz: Foreclosure filing numbers a major fail, but have a silver lining

  • 1.28% of homes were subject to foreclosure findings in the first half of 2010
  • 8% increase in foreclosure filings in the first half of 2010 from a year ago
  • 5% decrease in foreclosure filings from the last half of 2009 source

02 Jul 2010 10:04

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Biz: The Census: It’s no longer inflating job numbers, kids

  • 125k jobs disappeared in June, the first dip this year after months of increases
  • 225k Census jobs – specifically – went away in June (they inflated the numbers)
  • 9.5% the current unemployment rate, which somehow went down in June source