Archive for July 2nd, 2009

The latest twist in tracking what happened to Air France Flight 447, which tragically crashed into the Atlantic Ocean killing all 228 passengers on June 1 came on Thursday. While preliminary reports had suggested the plane had exploded in mid air, French investigators now believe the plane probably hadn’t broken up in flight but plummeted… »

Grain prices lost ground on Thursday as the market continued to absorb Tuesday’s acreage report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which showed an increase in corn plantings. A bountiful corn harvest would be a much-needed boon for food, ethanol and fertilizer companies that have swallowed increasing input costs resulting from high corn prices. Wet… »

There is a “phantom inventory” in the United States housing industry, hidden from the eyes of analysts and investors, and distorting the market’s landscape.Steven Hagenbuckle, managing principal at TerraCap Partners, a distressed real estate private equity fund, expects to see the beginning of the release of the phantom inventory in the next 90 to 180… »

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has formally proposed some guidelines for private-equity ownership of failed banks, but not everyone’s happy about it.At the FDIC board meeting Thursday, the agency said private-equity investors should maintain ownership of a bank for three years, and that private-equity firms should be capitalized at a 15% leverage ratio to buy… »

Well-capitalized global technology leaders will thrive if the economy recovers, and insulate your portfolio if it doesn’t, says Karl Mills, head of investment and portfolio management activities at Jurika, Mills & Keifer.Mills said secular trends such as increasing demand for bandwidth, diversity of content and high resolution will drive sector growth. Technology, Mills added, also… »

JPMorgan Chase nearly swept the Wall Street scorecards in the first half of the year. In the rankings known as league tables, the bank came out on top for equity and debt underwriting worldwide and placed second in merger advisory to Goldman Sachs, according to data from Dealogic. The latest league tables reflect the fallout… »

Higher-than-expected rig counts aren’t being driving by an improved appetite for oil products, making for some hefty pricing pressures that will continue to plague the oilfield services sector throughout the next several quarters. On Thursday, JPMorgan Chase analyst Michael LaMotte projected prolonged weakness in oilfield pricing, delaying his expectations for a meaningful recovery in North… »

Recent talk from Federal Reserve officials goes to show that you really get to know a person once they leave the office.Over the past week a handful of speeches have, in many ways, offered more insight into the thinking of the central bank than last week’s statement following Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting. Earlier this… »

While a national ban turned off the lights for some of Moscow’s biggest casinos on Wednesday, one Russian gambling operator refused to go dim. The Korston Group, which owns the Korston Hotel & Casino in Moscow, had already packed its slot machines and poker tables into several trucks and driven them down to Montenegro, a… »

Pub-goers seeking a refreshing pint gave British pub chain Greene King a boost as profits fell less than expected thanks to hot weather. The sunshine is likely to benefit other pub companies too.The U.K. pub chain pre-tax profits for its fiscal year fell 62% to 54.3 million pounds , after it wrote down 53.5 million… »