Archive for the ‘Financial Reviews’ Category

Meeting U.S. Debt Obligations Is The Only Plan, Lew Says

July 17th, 2011 Vanessa Williams

If the White House has a plan for how it will deal with a potential default on its bills, budget director Jacob Lew wasn’t talking about it Sunday.

“There is no plan other than meeting our obligations,” Lew told CNN’s “State of the Union” when asked how the government would spend revenues that make up about 60 percent of obligations if Congress fails to allow it to borrow more money by August 2.

President Barack Obama and congressional leaders have been negotiating a possible deficit reduction that would clear the way for congressional Republicans to back an increase in the federal debt ceiling, which has reached its $14.3 trillion legally permitted maximum.

While discussions continued over the weekend after the last full negotiating session Thursday, no significant progress has occurred and the chances for a comprehensive deficit deal sought by Obama in coming weeks appear remote.

Without a major deal, Congress would have to focus instead on a smaller agreement to raise the debt ceiling or face the unprecedented situation in 16 days of the government not having enough money to pay all its bills.

Obama warned last week that he could not guarantee older Americans will receive their Social Security checks next month if a deal is not reached. Read all post…

Tags: Lew, Plan Lew

Magicians Are Inventors, Too

July 17th, 2011 Paul Smith

When most people think of magicians, they think of the many magic tricks they perform. However, who made those tricks?

At the recent convention of the Society of American Magicians, you just need to look beyond the trick. That is when you realize some of the most innovative minds came together to create the most unique of tricks. Most like Losander are a one-man business, reports TribLive.

Losander, Master of the Art of Levitation, looks like an illusionist should look long, dramatically flowing hair, black leather vest, slight German accent. He nonchalantly asked for one patrons soul apparently, it was hanging out above his left ear and put it in a small wooden box atop a small table covered with a purple cloth. Immediately, the table began to rise into the air, as Losander held onto a tiny corner of the tablecloth, slowly rotating it by switching hands to its other four corners. He then politely returned the soul intact.

This is one of my most famous inventions, says Losander, whose Levitation Tables sells for $500 to $,2500.

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Tags: Magicians, Magicians Inventors

Ecoscraps Makes Compost from Food Waste

July 17th, 2011 Paul Smith

Did you know that each year Americans throw away more than 30 million tons of food waste and that this waste accounts for nearly a quarter of all landfill waste?

Today I learned about a company that is trying to profit from this trend.

EcoScraps makes organic compost from food waste that they collect for free.

EcoScraps collects food waste, which would otherwise be thrown away, and through a completely organic process turns it into high quality soil conditioner.

According to the company, this soil conditioner has the same nutrient values as chemical based soil amendments while being organic. Our products are composed of ingredients selected and combined in scientifically determined proportions to produce ideal nutrient and organic content to the soil.

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Tags: Food Waste, Waste

North America Buoys Halliburton

July 16th, 2011 Paul Smith

Major oilfield services provider Halliburton Co. (HAL) reported better-than-anticipated second-quarter 2011 results, which were helped by the strength and sustainability of the all-important North American onshore activity levels (to which the company is heavily leveraged through its market-share-leading pressure-pumping business).

Earnings per share, excluding special items, came in at 81 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 72 cents and comfortably ahead of the year-ago profit of 52 cents.

Revenues of $5.9 billion were 35.3% greater than that achieved during the second quarter of 2010 and also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.6 billion, as sales increased across the company’s business units.

During the quarter, North America accounted for approximately 58% of Halliburton’s total revenues and 80% of its operating income.

Segmental Performance

Completion & Production Segment: Revenues for Halliburton’s Completion and Production segment were up 14.1% sequentially and 51.2% year over year to $3.6 billion, mainly reflecting sustained strength in U.S. produ

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Tags: North, North America

MBAs Choose Google Over Goldman

July 15th, 2011 Vanessa Williams

Where do B-school students most want to work? Google of course! The search star topped this year’s list of 100 Top MBA Employers for the fifth year in a row, according to research firm Universum.

Overall, the most desirable employers this year are ones that offer a challenging work environment, said Karl-Johan Hasselström, Universum’s regional manager — but are also further removed from the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

Tech and engineering firms, in particular, have climbed in the rankings this year as MBA grads vie for the most sought after career opportunities there, while financial institutions slid.

On Google’s heels, Apple climbed two spots to No. 3 this year and one notable newcomer made a grand entrance in the ranking’s top 10 (Hint: It’s now accepting friend requests).

“Facebook placed at No. 7 which is fairly high for a new company on the ranking, because there are very strong associations with challenging work and prestige,” which students find particularly important, Hasselström said.

Being competitively or intellectually challenged is the No. 1 Read all post…

Tags: Google, Google Goldman

U.S. Credit: Raising Debt Ceiling Isn’t Enough

July 15th, 2011 Vanessa Williams

If only lawmakers would raise the debt ceiling before Aug. 2, the United States will get to keep its top-notch credit rating. Right?

Yes, but not necessarily for long.

Two key ratings agencies have said they are expecting policymakers to not only raise the debt ceiling but to agree to meaningfully reduce the debt.

Moody’s Investors Services said Wednesday it would likely change its outlook on the AAA rating to “negative” from “stable” unless “substantial and credible agreement is achieved on a budget that includes long-term deficit reduction.”

Standard & Poor’s on Thursday took it a step farther, announcing there was a one-in-two chance it would downgrade the United States within 90 days.

To date, the United States has enjoyed its AAA rating in part for having always stood behind its debt and paid its bills on time. As a result, U.S. Treasury bonds are considered the world’s safe-haven investment.

President Obama told congressional leaders to decide by Friday whether they can make progress on a broad debt reduction package. Read all post…

Tags: Ceiling, Debt Ceiling
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