Economy Watch: September 20, 2009 - September 26, 2009
G-20 Must Focus on Climate Change, Group Says
World leaders meeting in Pittsburgh today are tackling banker pay, financial trading and trade imbalances. That’s not enough, according to the Center for American Progress, the liberal think tank with close ties to the Obama administration. The center released an...
By
Frank Ahrens
|
September 25, 2009; 1:15 PM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (5)
Categories:
The Ticker
Save & Share:
As Focus Shifts, Canada Still to Host G-8 Summit
Hosting a global summit of world leaders – even though it usually draws protesters – is usually a symbol of prestige for any nation. Canada just learned that its plan next June to host the G-8, the big eight industrialized...
By
Frank Ahrens
|
September 25, 2009; 12:30 PM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (0)
Categories:
The Ticker
Save & Share:
G-20 Communique to Spell Out Global Economic Principles
Reuters has a good roundup on the state-of-play when it comes to the communique being drafted by G-20 nations regarding economic and financial policymaking. A formal communique -- a statement of goals and principles -- is expected before the summit...
By
Frank Ahrens
|
September 25, 2009; 11:30 AM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (0)
Save & Share:
G-20 Blogs and Tweets, Too
It has to be hard to coordinate global economy activity. It has to be even harder to coordinate blogging and tweeting about global economy activity. In any event, it seems the Pittsburgh Summit has done both. It has a blog,...
By
Frank Ahrens
|
September 25, 2009; 10:15 AM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (0)
Categories:
The Ticker
Save & Share:
Developing Countries Join Economic Powerhouses
In one of the most notable and perhaps enduring legacies of the financial crisis, world leaders will announce today that the Group of 20, a consortium of powerful economies but also developing countries, is permanently replacing the G-8 as the...
By
Frank Ahrens
|
September 25, 2009; 9:45 AM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (1)
Categories:
The Ticker
Save & Share:
The Frightening Spike in the Price of Gold
The price of gold has been hanging near its historic highs, selling for more than $1,000 per ounce. In times of crisis -- the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the collapse of Bear Stearns in spring 2008 -- gold...
By
Frank Ahrens
|
September 24, 2009; 12:27 PM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (24)
Categories:
The Ticker
| Tags: Fed, Federal Reserve, gold
Save & Share:
Aug. Existing Home Sales Drop Unexpectedly
Sales of existing homes dropped 2.7 percent in August compared with July, the National Association of Realtors said moments ago, well missing expectations. Forecasters expected existing home sales to rise 2 percent in August. The markets responded by turning negative,...
By
Frank Ahrens
|
September 24, 2009; 10:35 AM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (17)
Categories:
The Ticker
| Tags: National Association of Realtors, home sales
Save & Share:
Wall Street Opens Up After Jobs News
Wall Street opened up following the weekly jobless claims numbers released this morning. Futures had been pointing to a down opening, following yesterday's sell-off, but they turned on a dime after the Labor Department's 8:30 a.m. release of new jobless...
By
Frank Ahrens
|
September 24, 2009; 9:50 AM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (0)
Categories:
The Ticker
| Tags: Dow Jones, jobless claims, nasdaq, s&p 500
Save & Share:
New Weekly Jobless Claims Down 21,000
New jobless claims filed last week came in at 530,000, a figure that is 21,000 lower than than the week before. Continuing claims -- people who have been on unemployment for some time -- decreased last week to 6.14 million...
By
Frank Ahrens
|
September 24, 2009; 8:43 AM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (3)
Categories:
The Ticker
| Tags: jobless claims, unemployment
Save & Share:
Stimulus Scorecard: Most 2009 Spending for States, Localities Completed
Nearly all of the stimulus spending scheduled for fiscal 2009 aimed at states and localities is out the door, according to a regular report card on the $787 billion government stimulus issued moments ago by the Government Accountability Office. The...
By
Frank Ahrens
|
September 23, 2009; 11:15 AM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (0)
Categories:
The Ticker
| Tags: GAO, stimulus
Save & Share:
Geithner: Taxpayer Cannot Bear Burden of Future Bailouts
Protecting American taxpayers from bearing the burden of future financial crisis (see: AIG, Fannie/Freddie, Detroit bailouts) is the goal of regulatory reform, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee underway right now. Financial regulatory...
By
Frank Ahrens
|
September 23, 2009; 10:51 AM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (1)
Categories:
The Ticker
| Tags: Tim Geithner, financial system, regulatory reform
Save & Share:
Wall Street Opens Flat Ahead of Fed
Wall Street opened flat this morning in anticipation of the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates due out this afternoon. In the first 15 minutes of trading, the Dow is flat, as is the broader S&P 500. The tech-heavy Nasdaq...
By
Frank Ahrens
|
September 23, 2009; 9:54 AM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (0)
Categories:
The Ticker
| Tags: Dow Jones, Fed, Federal Reserve, nasdaq, s&p 500
Save & Share:
GM To Add Shifts At Three Plants
General Motors said Tuesday that it's ramping up production at three factories to rebuild inventory sold down during the cash-for-clunkers program and -- in a hopeful view -- satisfy what it believes is coming demand. Starting in January at GM's...
By
Frank Ahrens
|
September 22, 2009; 4:30 PM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (1)
Categories:
The Ticker
| Tags: GM, General Motors
Save & Share:
Government: Home Prices Rose 0.3% in July
Home prices rose 0.3 percent from June to July, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said this morning, a promising uptick but one that failed to meet expectations. Compared with July 2008, home prices were down 4.2 percent, the FHFA said,...
By
Frank Ahrens
|
September 22, 2009; 11:46 AM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (1)
Categories:
The Ticker
| Tags: FHFA, home prices, housing prices
Save & Share:
Markets Open Slightly Up After Yesterday's Sell-Off
Wall Street opened a little higher this morning, following a global rebound overnight and ahead of the Fed's two-day meeting, which traders hope will give some clarity on the future of the economy. In the first 30 minutes of trading,...
By
Frank Ahrens
|
September 22, 2009; 10:16 AM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (0)
Categories:
The Ticker
| Tags: Dow Jones, Federal Reserve, nasdaq, s&p 500
Save & Share:
GAO: AIG May Never Pay Back Taxpayer Billions
Been holding your breath waiting for government-owned insurance giant AIG to pay back the $120.7 billion taxpayer bailout money? You may want to exhale. In a report issued Monday from the Government Accountability Office, AIG is making "some progress" to...
By
Frank Ahrens
|
September 21, 2009; 3:45 PM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (1)
Categories:
The Ticker
| Tags: AIG, Hank Greenberg
Save & Share:
Obama: We Need More College Graduates
President Obama said in a speech Monday that his administration wants to expand opportunities for higher education, saying it is key to America's technological competitiveness in this century. There wasn't a lot of new red meat in this remarks at...
By
Frank Ahrens
|
September 21, 2009; 12:35 PM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (1)
Categories:
Obama
,
The Ticker
| Tags: Obama, economy
Save & Share:
Index of Leading Economic Indicators Rises for Fifth Straight Month
An index that combines leading economic indicators rose for the fifth straight month, albeit modestly, giving optimists hope that the recession has bottomed. According to the Conference Board, a nonprofit group that collects and distributes data about the marketplace and...
By
Frank Ahrens
|
September 21, 2009; 11:11 AM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (0)
Categories:
The Ticker
| Tags: Conference Board
Save & Share:
September 21, 2009
The Washington Post staff share their picks for reading around the Web. Overcoming America's Debt Overhang: The Case for Inflation The New America Foundation | Could a little bit of inflation be just what the doctor ordered for America's...
By
Sarah Halzack
|
September 21, 2009; 10:11 AM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (0)
Categories:
Neil Irwin's Must Reads
Save & Share:
Markets Down at Opening
Wall Street took a pause from its recent rise to open the trading week, following a global pullback. In the first 15 minutes of trading, the Dow is down half of 1 percent. The broader S&P 500 is down slightly...
By
Frank Ahrens
|
September 21, 2009; 9:55 AM ET |
Permalink |
Comments (0)
Categories:
The Ticker
| Tags: Dow Jones, nasdaq, s&p 500
Save & Share:
