Space in the city

WHAT RESPONDENTS ARE SAYING ... "Customer inventory burn is complete and real demand has reappeared." (Machinery) "... a lot of people are requoting old business and using favorable pricing to negotiate with their current suppliers." (Computer & Electronic Products) "Banks are reluctant to lend to businesses, and until this changes the economy will continue to be weak." (Fabricated Metal Products) "Slow June, but firm large orders in July, August and September." (Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products) "Market appears to have bottomed out as aftermarket has picked up slightly over the past month." (Transportation Equipment) MANUFACTURING AT A GLANCE JUNE 2009 Index Series Index June Series Index May Percentage Point Change Direction Rate of Change Trend* (Months) PMI 44.8 42.8 +2.0 Contracting Slower 17 New Orders 49.2 51.1 -1.9 Contracting From Growing 1 Production 52.5 46.0 +6....

Economic activity in the manufacturing sector contracted  (any number below 50 percent indicates contraction ). The consensus range for this index was from 41 to 47.5.  ISM's manufacturing index for the month of June 2009 was 44.8%, may 2009 PMI was 42.8%.

U.S. stock futures are pointing to a higher opening Wednesday as investors await data on the manufacturing and housing industries. Futures are reflecting gains in European markets, which rose after upbeat reports on manufacturing activity in both Britain and the 16 countries that share the euro currency. Later Wednesday morning, investors will get a reading on manufacturing activity in the U.S. Economists expect activity to have declined in June for the 17th straight month, but at the slowest pace since last August.

Sales of existing homes showed another gain in May, benefiting from favorable affordability conditions and a first-time buyer tax credit, according to the National Association of Realtors®. May's increase was the first back-to-back monthly gain since September 2005. Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 2.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate 1 of 4.77 million units in May from a downwardly revised level of 4.66 million units in April, but remained 3.6 percent below the 4.95 million-unit pace in May 2008.

Dollar stays up as ongoing jobless claims improve - MarketWatch Posted using ShareThis

Initial Claims of unemployment up by 0.49%  better than average analyst estimate of 610K (bloomberg est). In the week ending June 13, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 608,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 605,000. The 4-week moving average was 615,750, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised average of 622,750.

As per bloomberg the Jobless claims to rise to 610K (concensus est). Read more...

Mortgage Housing series update Though housing construction make up 3% of US economy, but acts as a economic bellwether. So what does housing start jump in May 2009 reflect. To understand more about it read the article " Are housing starts a sign of the bottom ? " Bloomberg report that U.S. MBA Mortgage Applications Index Fell 16 Percent Last Week - Mortgage applications in the U.S. fell last week to the lowest level since November as the jump in borrowing costs over the last month caused refinancing to plunge further. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of applications to purchase a home or refinance a loan dropped 16 percent to 514.4 in the week ended June 12, from 611 the prior week. The group’s refinancing gauge declined 23 percent, while the purchase index fell 3.5 percent. Futures & CPI Marketwatch reports U.S. stock futures were trading in a tight range Wednesday, with FedEx's gloomy outlook keeping markets under pressure after two sessions of heavy loss...

U.S. May housing starts jump 17.2% to 532,000 rate - MarketWatch Posted using ShareThis

June 15 (Bloomberg) -- The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may limp on its way toward a so-called golden cross as trading volume decreases, according to a technical analyst at RBC Capital Markets. The major stock indexes “are back above their 200-day averages, and it’s increasingly tempting to conclude that a new bull market is underway,” Toronto-based Ray Hanson wrote in a report dated June 12. However, the S&P 500 “has not yet achieved a golden cross” and “the steadily declining volume since early May suggests caution,” he said. Read More at Bloomberg

Bloomberg Reports : Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in September decreased 1 percent to 931 at 8:44 a.m. New York time, after the benchmark index climbed 40 percent from a 12-year low March 9. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 1.1 percent to 8,643 and Nasdaq- 100 Index futures fell 0.8 percent to 1,473.5. Stocks also retreated in Europe and Asia. “There is general concern that the three-month rally in equities means that stock prices have got ahead of reality,” said David Morrison, a London-based market strategist at GFT. “Oil and metals are sharply lower this morning and there is a growing realization that China is not yet ready to drag the global economy out of recession.” Marketwatch Reports In G8 meeting over the weekend - Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin reportedly said Russia has confidence in the U.S. currency. Upbeat dollar comments deflated commodity prices, hitting markets across Europe and Asia. Crude-oil futures fell 70 cents a barrel and silver and platinum futu...

Summary 321,480 properties in May 2009 had foreclosure filing initiated (default notice or auctions). As of May, one (1) in every 398 Mortgage got a foreclosure filing Foreclosure filings dipped 6 percent in the month but increased 18 percent from May 2008, marking the third highest month on record. one million foreclosure filings in a three-month period (March, April & May) Temporary freezes on foreclosure activity ended in March. RealtyTrac forecasts about 4 million foreclosure filings will be made this year on about 3.1 million households with loans. Last year, there was a record 3.1 million filings on about 2.4 million households. Read complete report... In another article titled "Mortgage Rates Head for 6 percent: 5 Reasons They Might Retreat" , you can sense that the next week's job numbers is going to decide the trajectory of the market. Data dive: The relative improvement of recent economic data--which has fueled optimism for a recovery--is also partly respon...

Fortune.com has posted its list of 40 stock that you can retire with. link to the list of stocks

Consumer sentiment rises to 69 in June - MarketWatch WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. consumer sentiment rose in June, but remained at relatively low levels, according to media reports of a survey released Friday by the University of Michigan and Reuters. The consumer sentiment index rose to 69 in mid-June from 68.7 in May. Economists were looking for a June result of 71. The index hit a 28-year low of 55.3 in November, and has averaged 88.2 over the last 10 years. Recent readings have been boosted by consumers' expectations that the end of the recession is approaching. Posted using ShareThis

U.S. stock futures signal slightly weaker start - MarketWatch Posted using ShareThis

Third-party business fuels Amazon's overall growth - MarketWatch Posted using ShareThis

Low price/earnings ratios are usually easy to find, even when the broad market seems expensive. For example, the S&P 500-stock index has climbed more than 30% in three months and now trades at 22 times trailing earnings, well above stocks' 137-year average trailing P/E of 15. Still, one out of every eight index members has a P/E in single digits. Not all low-P/E stocks are bargains, though. Modest valuations often mean earnings are expected to decline, and some declines suggest long-term decay. Others are simply temporary swings in consumer spending or raw materials prices. Shares of companies that trade cheaply because of expected, temporary earnings stumbles might be just the thing for investors worried that the broad market is priced for disappointment. For the humbly priced stocks to follow, a certain amount of anticipated disappointment is already priced in. Chevron 's earnings are expected to plunge this year but rebound sharply next year. My sympat...

Bloomberg Reports that "Treasuries fell, pushing 10-year yields to the highest level since November, as the government prepared to sell $19 billion in the securities and Russia said it may switch some of its reserves from U.S. debt. Thirty-year bond yields reached the most in a year after a Russian central bank official said the nation may buy International Monetary Fund bonds. The Federal Reserve bought $3.5 billion in debt maturing in 2019 through 2026. Today’s auction is the second of three sales this week that will raise $65 billion, part of the U.S.’s record borrowing program." Read More ...

U.S. and China optimism lifts stock futures - MarketWatch Posted using ShareThis

-- Read More at Bloomberg... June 8 (Bloomberg) -- American common equity is increasing for the first time in five years, threatening to dilute corporate profits as companies sell a record amount of stock and cut dividends the most since 1938. Wells Fargo & Co., ProLogis and more than 150 other companies raised $82.2 billion this quarter, beating the record pace at the height of the technology bubble in 2000, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The combination of adding shares and restricting dividends will reduce annual equity returns as much as 4.1 percent, the data show. Offerings since March 31 will increase outstanding shares in the S&P 500 by 3.4 percent on an annualized basis, adjusting for the market values of companies selling stock, data from Bloomberg and S&P show. The rise is based on S&P’s calculation of shares added or removed from the index through sales, buybacks and takeovers, known as the divisor. The annualized increase in the S&P 500’s shar...

U.S. stock futures point to weaker start - MarketWatch Posted using ShareThis

U.S. chicken producers on the mend - MarketWatch Posted using ShareThis

No chemicals just tap water - Bottle costs $300 The Activeion hand-held sprayer transforms tap water into a powerful cleaner that works as well as or better than other general-purpose, commercial chemical and "green" cleaning products. Using an advanced technology, the Activeion hand-held sprayer is a general-purpose, daily-use cleaner that can be used on both hard (i.e., marble/granite and stainless steel) and soft surfaces (i.e., carpet and clothing), freeing consumers and professionals from harmful chemicals and toxins. The versatility of the product allows the user to replace many of today's most common daily-use cleaners. More video The science of Activeion The science that now frees you from chemicals has been used for decades in the food processing, industrial technology, and health-related industries. We’ve just taken the technology and integrated it into a sprayer for the cleaning industry. 1. Charging A water cell applies a slight electrical charge to the tap w...

Ran Lerner Design PSM (HK) Co Ltd Plastarch Material ("PSM") , which is a revolutionary ecological material; is a combination of "plastic functional characteristics and starch biodegradable advantages"; and can be use for a large variety of manufacturing processes such as film blowing, injection molding, sheet extrusion, thermoforming and foaming. PSM has become part of the substitution products on plastic in which it has a very competitive price and excellent product performance in terms of durable and totally degradable under compost conditions and by incineration as well. PSM is a polymer that is derived from the natural source of corn starch. Corn starch is a kind of polysaccharide polymer which consists of glucoses. It has two separate forms of linear and branched molecules, named as amylose and amylopectin respectively. During the modification process, corn starch is mixed with cellulose and enzymes in a large stirrer where condensation and polymerization hap...

Using Moving Averages to Find Winning Stocks Shared via AddThis

US Stock Rally Evaporates After Commodity Prices Turn Lower - MarketWatch Posted using ShareThis

A number of highly leveraged firms are now breaching the leverage ratios, fixed-charge coverage ratios, and net-worth minimums that were set in stronger, more-liquid markets. According to Standard & Poor's Leveraged Commentary & Data, there were 98 covenant amendments (publicly disclosed ones, that is) to high-yield corporate loan agreements in the first quarter of 2009, up from 62 in the previous quarter. Experts expect just as many, if not more, in the second quarter. Other, less-leveraged companies will also be talking to their lenders about amending covenants. (According to one academic study, between a quarter and a third of all public companies will trip a loan covenant over a 10-year period.) And the conversations may not be pleasant. When credit was abundant, many banks felt they were taken advantage of, says Steven Bavaria, managing director of leveraged finance at credit-rating agency DBRS. "The gun was at their heads to reduce fees and spreads," he says...

U.S. stock futures waver as recovery debated - MarketWatch Posted using ShareThis

A little-noticed Federal Housing Administration program will let first-time home buyers use their $8,000 tax credit for down payments or closing costs The days of home buying with little or no money down may be back—this time thanks to Uncle Sam. Blamed for contributing to the housing bubble, zero-down-payment loans largely vanished when the market crashed and Congress blocked seller financing for government-backed loans. Now the federal government will be forking over cash at closing. Read more

Worse-than-expected data on factor orders (orders rose just 0.7 percent in April when analysts had called for a 0.9 percent increase) and services industry triggered a sell-off in stocks following 4 weeks of gain. There was also profit booking transaction that move the market. Keep a close eye on any rise in Treasury yields and a sign of weakness in dollar On Tuesday stocks extended a rally into a fourth day following an unexpectedly big spike in pending home sales, the latest sign that the battered housing market is starting to turn around. U.S. stocks slipped early Wednesday as new jobs data beat expectations but neverthelesss showed a continued hemorrhage of jobs in the U.S. economy. Read more ...

U.S. stock futures pause after Monday's rally - MarketWatch Posted using ShareThis

US Stocks Higher On Global Data Pointing To Recovery - MarketWatch Posted using ShareThis

June 1 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock futures advanced, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may extend gains from the first-three month winning stretch since its 2007 record, as growth in Chinese manufacturing boosted confidence the global economy is recovering. Alcoa Inc. , the largest U.S. aluminum producer, Freeport- McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and Barrick Gold Corp. climbed with higher metals prices. Exxon Mobil Corp. , the biggest U.S. oil company, and ConocoPhillips gained as crude rallied and China increased prices of gasoline and diesel by as much as 8 percent. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in June added 1.6 percent to 932.5 at 9 a.m. in New York, even after General Motors Corp. filed for bankruptcy. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 1.3 percent to 8,598. Nasdaq-100 Index futures climbed 1.1 percent to 1,451. “Investors are reacting to increased optimism surrounding economic numbers,” sai...

Read on Bloomberg " GM to Name Al Koch to Top Restructuring Position, WSJ Reports " Also on marketwatch " GM set to file Ch. 11 Monday morning " Who is AL Koch? Albert A. Koch, a turnaround specialist and managing director at the advisory company AlixPartners LLP , was a partner with Ernst & Young for 14 years, including seven years as Managing Partner of the firm's Detroit office. He holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Elizabethtown College, and is a member of several professional associations. He is a Certified Turnaround Professional and a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy , its Treasurer and a member of its Board of Directors. He also is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute , and the American Institute of CPAs . Mr. Koch served as interim Chief Financial Officer of Kmart Corporation . In this position, he provided executive leadership and led the development of a multi-year operating business plan, as well as dri...

" Robot Suit HAL " is a cyborg-type robot that can expand and improve physical capability. Photo essay on Cyberdyne's Real Robot at Time.com

On 29 may 2009 market moved up towards the end of the market after a choppy day. From Marketwatch.com U.S. stocks post firm gains for the month of May NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks finished the week and the month of May on a high note, as rallying commodities led the market to higher ground on Friday and helped give the broad market a 5.3% gain for the month. After a late rally on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ( INDU 8,500 , +96.69 , +1.15% ) gained 96 points, or 1.1%, to end at 8,500. Shares of General Motors Corp. ( GM 0.78 , +0.03 , +4.00% ) still slumped 33% as markets braced for the auto giant's bankruptcy. The S&P 500 index ( SPX 919.14 , +12.31 , +1.36% ) rose 12 points, or 1.4%, to 919, while the Nasdaq Composite ( COMP 1,774 , +22.54 , +1.29% ) rose 22 points, or 1.3%, to 1,774. For the week, the Dow gained 2.7%, the S&P rose 3.6%, and the Nasdaq gained 4.9%....

US Stocks Slightly Higher In Choppy Trade; Materials Up - MarketWatch Posted using ShareThis

Came across an article on nextbigfuture.com about Google Wave , a new model for communication and collaboration on the web

Weight: Ultra light. At 115g just one third the average weight of current eBook readers Display size: Large 5" display, 16 greyscales Device size: The only pocket sized eReader Battery life: 30 hours of continuous reading Connectivity: Global wireless connectivity, with the greatest coverage of any eReader (Tri Band/3.5G HSDPA) Supporting ActiveSync and USB mass storage (USB FS) Communication with accessories and other devices (Bluetooth 2.0) Processor: Powerful processing engine (ARM11 400MHz) Storage: Flexible, today commercially available up to 8GB (High Capacity Micro SD) User Interface: Just 8 SimpleTouch Buttons

New E Reader Amazon Kindle alternative Watch this report on Cool-er Reader by David Pogue. Coolreaders specification click here Alexander Wolfe in his blog did make a good point The deal is, ebook competitors can come up with platforms which slice bread and take you out dancing. It won't matter. Amazon has become the iTunes of the electronic book world, and its competitors are destined to fates comparable to those of the iPod's mp3-player alternatives. Namely, miniscule market shares. But this new product, which already is making buzz in the electronic world, is more about the technology than the content in its library. Plastic Logic has made a reader using plastic screen thereby reducing weight. Hopefully Amazon can incorporate it in the next version Kindle 3.0. Here is what Technology Review wrote about this new product Plastic Logic's Touch-Screen E-Reader The company hopes to carve out a niche with its touch-based interface. As with both the Kindle and the Sony Rea...

GasBuddy - 50 Best Websites 2008 - TIME Shared via AddThis

Sorting the Jewels from the Junk in the iTunes Store - Top 11 iPhone Applications - TIME Shared via AddThis

Stocks cling to gains after sentiment uptick - MarketWatch Posted using ShareThis

Microsoft Bing: The Full Press Release Posted using ShareThis

U.S. stocks pointing higher with data, GM in view - MarketWatch Posted using ShareThis S&P Futures up 4.5 (0.5%), Nasday Futures up 4.25 points (0.3%) and Dow futures up 37 points (0.44%) on June 09 contracts. (9.08 AM)

John Dvorak's Second Opinion: The good news and bad news on Bing - MarketWatch Posted using ShareThis

Stocks regain pace after Treasury auction - MarketWatch Posted using ShareThis

Lazy to do another print screen. In slide show related to today's (05/28) PC magazine article " Hands On with Microsoft's Bing Search " you can see a Microsoft outlook notification at the bottom of the screen from Sascha Segan.

US Stocks Turn Lower On New Home Sales Data - MarketWatch Posted using ShareThis

U.S. stocks turn negative after housing data - MarketWatch Posted using ShareThis

The S&P 500 Jun 08 is up 4.5 (0.50%) Nasdaq 100 Jun 09 up 6.5 points (0.46%) and Dow Jones Futures is up 47 points (0.57%) at9.28 AM (28 May 2009) Futures edge higher after strong durable goods data Auto sector remains in focus; Time Warner to spin off AOL unit US Census Bureau New Orders New orders for manufactured durable goods in April increased $3.0 billion or 1.9 percent to $161.5 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This was the second increase in the last three months and followed a 2.1 percent March decrease. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.8 percent. Excluding defense, new orders also increased 1.0 percent. Shipments Shipments of manufactured durable goods in April, down nine consecutive months, decreased $0.3 billion or 0.2 percent to $174.2 billion. This was the longest streak of consecutive monthly decreases since the series was first published on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 1.9 percent March decrease. Unfilled Orders Unfilled orde...

Twenty-one FDIC-insured institutions failed during the first quarter, the largest number since the fourth quarter in 1992. The FDIC's "Problem List" grew during the quarter from 252 to 305 institutions, and total assets of problem institutions increased from $159 billion to $220 billion. Not Generating enough cash/profits? Three out of five insured institutions reported lower net income in the first quarter and one in five was unprofitable. Commercial banks and savings institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) reported net income of $7.6 billion in the first quarter of 2009, a decline of $11.7 billion (60.8 percent) from the $19.3 billion that the industry earned in the first quarter of 2008. Read the full press release

This list includes banks which have failed since October 1, 2000 . Bank Name CERT # Closing Date Updated Date Citizens National Bank, Macomb, IL 5757 May 22 2009 May 27 2009 Strategic Capital Bank, Champaign, IL 35175 May 22 2009 May 27 2009 BankUnited, FSB, Coral Gables, FL 32247 May 21 2009 May 27, 2009 Westsound Bank, Bremerton, WA 34843 May 8, 2009 May 12, 2009 America West Bank, Layton, UT 35461 May 1, 2009 May 18, 2009 Citizens Community Bank, Ridgewood, NJ 57563 May 1, 2009 May 7, 2009 Silverton Bank, N.A., Atlanta, GA 26535 May 1, 2009 May 7, 2009 First Bank of Idaho, Ketchum, ID 34396 April 24, 2009 May 18, 2009 First Bank of Beverly Hills, Calabasas, CA 32069 April 24, 2009 May 18, 2009 Michigan Heritage Bank, Farmington Hills, MI 34369 April 24, 2009 May 7, 2009 American Southern Bank, Kennesaw, GA 57943 April 24, 2009 May 7, 2009 Great Basin Bank of Nevada, Elko, NV 33824 April 17, 2009 May 18, 2009 American Sterling Bank, Sugar Creek, MO 8266 April 17, 2009 May 7, 2009 New...