Archive for July 23rd, 2009

NEW YORK: A government watchdog raised questions about the Obama administration’s estimate that up to four million people could be helped by the president’s mortgage modification program. Also, the Government Accountability Office said Thursday the Treasury Department must develop better procedures to ensure loan servicers are equipped to participate in the 75 billion program and… »

NEW YORK (Fortune) — The Dow Jones industrials stormed past the 9,000 mark Thursday for the first time since January, as traders delighted in surprising corporate profits and a rise in housing sales. But are the markets getting ahead of themselves?Many analysts say they’re not — at least by too muchSince their lows on March… »

NEW YORK: American Express said Thursday that earnings fell by nearly half in the second quarter as a big piece of its profits were wiped out to pay back the loan it received from the government in last year’s financial sector bailout.The New York City-based credit card company said it earned 337 million in the… »

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) — Amazon.com Inc posted a quarterly net profit Thursday that fell by 10% as foreign currency fluctuations and a legal settlement hit earnings at the world’s largest online retailer, sending shares down more than 5% in after-hours trading.Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500), fresh from announcing Wednesday it would acquire online shoe store Zappos.com… »

NEW YORK: Microsoft Corp. blamed weakness in the global PC and server markets for a sharp drop in quarterly revenue that missed Wall Street’s forecasts. Sales fell 17% to 13.1 billion in the company’s fourth-quarter ended June 30, badly missing analysts’ forecasts of 14.4 billion. It was the second consecutive quarter in which sales fell… »

NEW YORK (Fortune) — Bank of New York Mellon is not a name familiar to retail customers, but its role in the financial system is important enough that it was one of the first nine banks persuaded to accept billions of dollars last October from the Troubled Asset Relief Program — in Bank of New… »

NEW YORK: They’ve been dubbed boomerang kids and a recent poll by collegegrad.com shows that 80% of 2009 college graduates moved back in with their parents. That’s up quite a bit from recent years.So whether kids are home for just an extended summer or until they find a job, its important to set up some… »

NEW YORK: Fears about what President Obama’s health care reform plan may do to the earnings of drugmakers has caused many Big Pharma stocks to come down with the sickness this year. Pfizer’s (PFE, Fortune 500) stock has fallen 10%, making it one of the more notable laggards in the Dow. Eli Lilly (LLY,… »

NEW YORK: Microsoft says Windows 7 is ready to go, and the first users will be able to download it on Aug. 6.The much-anticipated operating system was completed Wednesday, and it is on track to appear on store shelves for the general public on Oct. 22, Microsoft said in a press release. Customers will also… »

NEW YORK (Fortune) — One of the many jobs that Lee Edwards took on during his 25-year career at BP, formerly known as British Petroleum, was leading the energy giant’s effort to re-brand itself. Today as the CEO of Virent Energy Systems, a seven-year-old biofuel startup in Madison, Wis., he is truly trying to move… »