Archive for June 12th, 2009

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. import prices rose 1.3% in May, the Labor Department said Friday, but the gain was powered by petroleum prices and underlying import price pressures were more muted.0:00
/3:24Clunker bill motors onAnalysts had forecast import prices would rise 1.3% after a revised 1.1% rise in April, previously reported as a 1.6% increase. May’s… »

PHOENIX (Fortune) — Did you happen to see the latest home-price stats from S&P/Case-Shiller, or did you avert your eyes? Here’s what struck me: As of March 2009, every metro area in Case-Shiller’s 20-city index, without exception, has fallen double digits from its peak. Ten are down more than 30%. Eight have dropped more than… »

NEW YORK (Fortune) — There’s heavy turnover in the C-suite these days. The latest CEO transition came this week, when Robert McDonald was named the new CEO of 84 billion Procter & Gamble, the successor to nine-year chief A.G. Lafley, who will step down July 1. The announcement at one of the country’s oldest and… »

NEW YORK: Question 1. If a child or a teen who is not 18 receives a credit card in the mail and they decide to sign and use the credit card are they responsible for the payments? Jason, Indiana Bottom line is that if you’re younger than 18, the contract between you and the credit… »

LONDON (Reuters) — Oil eased toward 72 a barrel Friday, a day after reaching a near eight-month high, pressured by a firmer dollar and views that prices have risen too far despite improving economic sentiment.Light, sweet crude for July delivery fell 64 cents to settle at 72.68 a barrel. Despite Friday’s retreat, it was the… »

NEW YORK (Fortune) — Dear Annie: I know this probably sounds nutty, with so many companies cutting pay or freezing pay in order to avoid layoffs (or, further layoffs), but I’m thinking of asking for a raise. First of all, my employer has not cut or frozen anyone’s pay — at least not to my… »

BOSTON (Fortune Small Business) — John Rosenthal has a long history of social activism — and the prison record to prove it. The 52-year-old entrepreneur runs Meredith Management, a Boston-based commercial real estate development company. In the 1970s, Rosenthal joined the No Nukes movement while he was working for a California startup that built solar-powered… »

NEW YORK (Reuters) — The dollar rose Friday, rebounding from vicious selling earlier this week, while data showing a plunge in euro-zone industrial production highlighted economic weakness in the region and pushed the euro lower.Other recent top performers, including sterling and the Canadian and Australian dollars, also fell as oil prices dipped and G8… »

NEW YORK: You are tethered the office 24/7 through your CrackBerry, and as a result probably make a few (dozen?) personal calls from that phone. To the wife? The babysitter? Dinner reservations, perhaps?Odds are, you don’t pay income tax on that “perk” even though the IRS requires companies to treat personal use of a work… »

(breakingviews.com) — The U.S. Treasury bond market has been feeling distinctly unloved. A 10-year bond auction went badly on June 10 after Russia, Brazil and China said they were taking steps to diversify their foreign currency reserves.Worries that Thursday’s 11 billion auction of 30-year bonds would follow suit rattled the market. But central banks flocked… »