Markets Are Sinking In Asia

Thailand Stock Exchange of Thailand SET Trader Board

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian stock markets fell Friday as strong U.S. company earnings failed to calm investor nerves in the face of economic reports that suggest the world's No. 1 economy is struggling to maintain its recovery.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.4 percent to 9,548.14, a day after Japan reported a record annual trade deficit resulting from huge imports of oil and gas in the wake of an earthquake and tsunami last year that forced nearly all of Japan's nuclear power reactors offline.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.3 percent to 20,927.64 and South Korea's Kospi lost 1.3 percent to 1,973.47.

In the U.S., strong corporate earnings from Morgan Stanley, eBay, Southwest Airlines and Bank of America weren't enough to make up for weak reports on jobs, housing and manufacturing.

The Labor Department said weekly applications for unemployment benefits were down 2,000 to 386,000 but anything above 375,000 is generally taken as a sign that hiring isn't strong enough to lower the unemployment rate.

Sales of previously owned homes fell 2.6 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.48 million. In healthier markets, sales typically are closer to 6 million. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said that manufacturing output in the mid-Atlantic region slowed a bit from the previous month.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.5 percent to close at 12,964.10. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 0.6 percent to 1,376.92. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.8 percent to 3,007.56.

In energy trading, benchmark oil for May delivery was up 27 cents to $102.54 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell by 40 cents to end at $102.27 per barrel on the Nymex on Thursday.

The euro rose to $1.3136 from $1.3130 late Thursday in New York. The dollar rose to 81.60 yen from 81.46 yen.

Please follow Money Game on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/12AbbEY2wn8/markets-are-sinking-in-asia-2012-4

best way to pay off debt business debt collection business debt consolidation loan business debt management

Argentina's Messy Politics And Economy Are Being Laid Bare With Its Latest High Drama Nationalization (YPF)

Cristina Fernandez

Argentinian president Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner's decision to nationalize YPF, by expropriating 51 percent of Repsol's 57.43 percent stake in YPF, has again kicked-off the debate about Argentina's worth as an investment destination.

Many suspect that this reinforces the worst stereotypes about Argentina. From Maplecroft:

"Although Argentina’s action was widely anticipated, the measure has nonetheless confirmed many investors’ worst fears over Argentina: that the country was an unstable investment destination whose leaders remained dangerously susceptible to unpredictable bouts of populism and economic nationalism."

A History Of Nationalism

But this isn't the first time Fernandez has expropriated private property, which is what's truly worrying investors. Back in 2008 Fernandez sent a bill to Congress that would see the state take over $30 billion in funds in its private pension system. At the time Fernandez had argued that she was acting to shelter pensions from the global financial crisis but critics said it was to help the government cover its shortfall as it was coming up on repaying its debt.

A few months later the government nationalized Aerolineas. At the time Spain's Grupo Marsans which owned Aerolineas took the case to the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. Marsans had agreed to sell a majority stake in the company, but was disagreed with Congress over the value of the airline. And when her husband was president, Nestor Kirchner nationalized the country's largest water utility and the national postal service.

While Fernandez has said she is seizing the stake in the interest of the Argentine people, many suspect otherwise. Fernandez's move comes at a time when she's losing political support at home and when the country's domestic economic crisis is growing. Citi's Joaquin Cottani says:

"We expect, however, that the initiative will be politically popular and that Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner will likely witness an uptick in her approval ratings. The initiative is likely to be a politically profitable one at a time when the economy is slowing down markedly."

YPFArgentinian Politics

Fernandez's YPF takeover also seems to be coinciding with renewed calls for sovereignty of the Falklands Islands in Argentina. From The Guardian:

"Renationalisation is aligned in the minds of Fernández supporters with the renewed demand for sovereignty over the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic claimed by Argentina as "Las Malvinas".

"The Malvinas are Argentine, so is YPF," say posters around the country and a T-shirt that artists who support Fernández have started wearing on internet campaigns in favor of the takeover. "This ends five centuries of white Spanish domination," said a supporter. Argentina was ruled by Spain until  its independence in 1816."

Is It Just A Distraction From The Economic Mess?

Argentina's economy is in shambles and some argue that such dramatic takeovers only serve as a respite for Fernandez's administration from the real problem at hand. The country is in the process of unwinding macro imbalances brought about over the past few years from a hostile international environment following its default in 2001.

Inflation is currently over 20 percent and it is widely claimed that the country misrepresents its inflation data. Remember the state was trying to file criminal charges against economists at MyS Consultores for allegedly publishing false information about the country's data. But one way or another high inflation means the country is likely to see subsidies cut, a blow to consumers.

Real GDP growth is expected to fall to 3 percent year-over-year (YoY) in 2012, from 8 percent in 2011, according to Nomura's Boris Segura:

"Rampant portfolio dollarization and a shrinking trade surplus are putting pressure on international reserves.

Growth in government primary spending is likely to slow because of the overhaul of subsidies to utilities and public transportation. Interest rates are likely to remain high, and become less negative in real terms."

While Argentina is facing growing international criticism, it is unclear what the real implications of such a move will be. More significantly though, the lack of expertise of a Western oil company will hurt the government's efforts to boost oil production. It is as John Gapper of the Financial Times writes:

"The best time to squeeze foreign companies is when the hard work of investment and exploration is over and a state-owned oil company can reap the benefits. It is not when your country has deep fiscal problems, no access to international capital markets and a looming investment challenge."

Don't Miss: Nomura - This Is Where The World Is Heading In 2012 And 2013 >

Please follow Money Game on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/A4n6wq_bfrs/argentinas-messy-politics-and-economy-2012-4

debt settlement leads debt settlement software debt settlement solution debt settlement usa

The Handyman?s Guide To Repairing Your Credit

A lot of us are inundated by all those credit repair commercials on television – a dime a dozen debt consolidation firms, for instance, are out there to help people with credit problems. While these firms can definitely be of assistance in repairing your credit, you yourself can take affirmative action to get yourself back [...]

Source: http://www.legaldebthelponline.com/2012/04/19/the-handymans-guide-to-repairing-your-credit/

debt collection rights debt consolidation agency debt consolidation blog debt consolidation canada

Will You Soon Be Filling Your Prescriptions at a Dollar Store?

--> prescription medicationIf you're taking meds for say, high cholesterol, you can now pick up your Lipitor prescription from a licensed pharmacist at a local dollar store -- if you live in the right place.

Deals, the dollar store chain that's a spin-off of Dollar Tree (DLTR), opened its first location with a pharmacy this year in West Park, Florida, The Sun Sentinel reports.

Given the store upgrades afoot at these modern day five-and-dimes, retail experts are now starting to ask: Will other dollar store chains follow suit?

The addition of pharmacy departments to dollar stores would mark the latest expression of the makeover unfolding at these deep discounters, which gained popularity during the recession, siphoning market share from mass merchants like Walmart (WMT) while winning over higher income consumers who might once have turned up their noses at the chains.

Deals dollar store

Dollar stores have spruced up their digs and added more food to their product mixes, as well as introducing more name-brand merchandise across a variety of product categories.

And they've enhanced their heath and beauty care departments, gunning for the drugstore chains, David Marcotte, senior vice president of market research for retail consultancy Kantar Retail, tells DailyFinance.

Cash-strapped shoppers would especially benefit from the addition of pharmacies to dollar stores, he says. "The dollar stores are overwhelmingly located in lower-income areas that may or may not be served by a drug store or supermarket pharmacy."

Dollar Tree considers the Deals' pharmacy store a test. The chain's "reason for being is to deliver more value to customers -- we're always looking for better ways to do just that," Timothy J. Reid, a company spokesman, tells DailyFinance. "We'll see where it leads." Should the test go well, pharmacies could roll out to Deals' other 181 stores, he says.

One industry watcher predicts pharmacies in dollar stores are almost an inevitability. "Dollar stores, like a fast-moving river, will fill all available territories," said Gene Hoffman, president and CEO of Corporate Strategies International, an investment banking firm, on RetailWire's online forum on the topic. "Thus pharmacies will likely become commonplace in many dollar stores."

But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Dollar General (DG), the nation's biggest dollar chain,"has not announced any plans" to open pharmacies, Tawn Earnest, a company spokeswoman, tells DailyFinance.

And Family Dollar (FDO), the nation's second largest dollar chain behind Dollar General, has no current plans to roll out pharmacy departments either, says Josh Braverman, communications director for the retailer.

However, he added, "We know as boomers age and come to us for more of their over the counter health-and-beauty-aid needs, there are opportunities to continue to remain relevant to our customer."

No Frills, Low Prices

To gain entree to the drugstore business, Deals partnered with PharmaGo, an independent pharmacy, to run the prescription services inside the store.

PharmaGoPharmaGo

PharmaGo offers prices competitive with Walgreens (WAG), CVS (CVS) and Walmart, and makes home deliveries, Bradley Schnur, chief operating office of PharmaGo, told The Sun Sentinel.

Shopper Michael Furey of Pembroke Pines replaced his pharmacy with PharmaGo soon after the Deals store opened close to where he lives. "I spend less money here than if I went to a big chain store," he told the paper.


But as a general proposition, will shoppers really be inclined to fill prescriptions at dollar chains, which, despite their makeovers, still largely operate no-frills stores that were once synonymous with low-quality merchandise and outdated goods from other retailers?

"There may be an image problem associated with dollar stores -- the lowest common denominator brand position may be out of sync with customer expectations," Richard Seesel, principal at In Focus LLC, said on RetailWire. "Target (TGT), Walmart and Costco (COST) don't have the same problem. Maybe Dollar Tree can make this work in its Deals format, but I'm a skeptic."

What's In a Brand?

Still, there's no denying that shopping habits have changed -- so perhaps dollar stores' low-rent image won't be an issue.

Americans have become more channel agnostic these days, and retailers are offering products and services far outside of what their store types or brands are known for. Drugstore chains like Walgreens and CVS are adding fine wine, sushi and nail salons to their stores; discounter Target sells out when it offers fresh looks from upscale designers like Missoni.

"It's about convenience, and what the store brand stands for isn't as key/essential as it once was," said David Slavick, vice president of retail consulting for Customer Communications Group, during the RetailWire forum.

Whether or not shoppers embrace the concept, dollar stores' low-cost structure would seem to preclude a wider roll-out of pharmacies to stores, retail experts say.

"The cost associated with running a pharmacy is grotesquely not in line with running a dollar store," Marcotte says. Adding a pharmacy could run a chain as much as $200,000 per store, he says.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Script | Android Forums | Wordpress Tutorials

Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/04/19/will-you-soon-be-filling-your-prescriptions-at-a-dollar-store/

debt consolidation florida debt consolidation leads debt consolidation lenders debt consolidation loan calculator

Barclays International Personal Banking

A separate brokerage account is usually advisable too, the majority of online offshore banks do not offer great brokerage facilities. I know, for example, a European-owned offshore discount brokerage house operating out of Panama that allows you instant online usage of major world markets such as New York, London and Frankfurt. So you’ve been charged [...]

Source: http://www.legaldebthelponline.com/2012/04/18/barclays-international-personal-banking/

consumer debt advocate consumer debt collection consumer debt relief consumer debt settlement

San Francisco's Newest Accelerator Will Tackle This $172 Billion Market

startup-120wide.pngWant to hear from top startups like Fab.com and Lot18? And NY's top investors? Join 800 innovation junkies at the Startup conference on May 3, 2012. Register now.

Ron Conway

There's a new accelerator in a town. This one wants to transform the $172 billion government IT market into something less bureaucratic.

It's called the Code For America Accelerator and it opened for applications on Tuesday. It will offer the startups it accepts four months of mentoring and a $25K grant, no strings attached. Plus office space in San Francisco -- which is a real find these days.

This is part of a bigger Code For America organization. It wants to change the world by changing how the government uses tech. Its does stuff like train young Web programmers, match them cities. It offers cities cool software it built for them, such as a tool for finding vacant buildings and one for creating hyper-local news sites.

Code For America is backed by some heavy hitters. Google has dropped $1.5 million into it. Other funders include the Knight Foundation, O'Reilly and Microsoft.

The accelerator program features some decent advisory talent, too, such as "super angel" Ron Conway, Caterina Fake, best known for co-founding Flickr, and Aneesh Chopra, former CTO for the White House.

If you are a patriot and an entrepreneur this could be for you. The deadline for applications is June 1, 2012.

Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/z0WYrY2Y2PQ/san-franciscos-newest-accelerator-will-tackle-this-172-billion-market-2012-4

debt harassment debt help services debt help uk debt iva