Before You Invest Your Money » Pace

Job-loss pace slower than expected

Before You Invest — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:11:00 +0000

The U.S. economy shed 54,000 nonfarm jobs in August, the Labor Department reported Friday, a much slower decline than economists anticipated as the health-care and temporary-staffing industries led a 67,000 expansion in private-sector employment. Though the employment report broadly painted a picture of sputtering economic growth, the payrolls decline in August wasn’t as steep as the 105,000 payroll subtraction expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch and eroded market fears of a double-dip recession.

Job-loss pace slower than expected is a post from: Before You Invest Your Money

U.S. Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index Fell to 67.8

Before You Invest — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:28:00 +0000

Confidence among U.S. consumers fell in July to the lowest level since November, posing a threat to the largest part of the economy.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment declined to 67.8 this month from 76 in June. The preliminary measure was 66.5.

Employment growth has been slow to take hold and lower home prices are depressing wealth. The lack of confidence may further restrain consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of the economy, and limit the pace of growth.

U.S. Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index Fell to 67.8 is a post from: Before You Invest Your Money

Stock Index Rollover Begins Today

Before You Invest — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:26:00 +0000

Thursday, March 11, 2010 is the start of stock index futures roll-over at both CME Group and ICE Futures U.S.

Rollover is when a new contract month becomes the dominant contract in terms of new volume, for both pit (open outcry) and electronic trading sessions. For stock index futures, rollover officially starts one week before the expiration of the nearest contract. So today, the section of the trading floor pits previously devoted to trading March contracts are now trading June, and the March indices are went to the back, or smaller section of the pit. On the trading floor, June will be is now referred to as the “front month” insofar as stock index futures trading is concerned.

We don’t have quite the same issue with electronic platforms, so the Globex and ICE platforms’ rollover is more symbolic…as we will now see day-traders increasingly focusing more of their trading in the June contracts and position traders start unwinding March positions and re-establishing them in the June.

Both CME Group and ICE now report what is referred to as the “Pace of the Roll” available online.

Stock Index Rollover Begins Today is a post from: Before You Invest Your Money

This Day in Wall Street History 1914: Ford gives minimum wage a big boost

Before You Invest — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 04:40:00 +0000

On this day in 1914, the Ford Motor Company rolled out a series of initiatives targeted at improving the lives of its workers. Along with boosting the company’s minimum wage to $5 per day, Ford also unveiled plans to trim its workday to eight hours.

Whatever the merits of these measures, they were something of a necessary corrective, designed to offset the potentially “dehumanizing” effects of Ford’s recent go to perpetually operating mode of assembly-line production.

Though the company was now able to churn out 2,000 autos a day, the quicksilver pace took a severe toll on Ford’s assembly-line workers.

Source: History.com

This Day in Wall Street History 1914: Ford gives minimum wage a big boost is a post from: Before You Invest Your Money

Record number of brokers leave Wall Street

Before You Invest — Sat, 23 May 2009 20:40:00 +0000

So far this year, 11,600 people registered as brokers have abandoned the industry, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The exodus comes as fees are declining and markets have slumped, although a recent rally might slow the pace. Experienced advisers continue to be in demand.

more at

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124156648439789537.html

Record number of brokers leave Wall Street is a post from: Before You Invest Your Money

European Data Signal Big GDP Drop

Before You Invest — Tue, 12 May 2009 03:18:00 +0000

Record slumps in French and Italian industrial production during March suggest the euro-zone economic contraction in the first three months of the year will be the sharpest ever.

Italian industrial output fell 24% in March from the same month a year earlier, while French industrial production fell 16% over the same span.

The dismal figures had economists rushing to mark down their projections for euro-zone yucky domestic product in the first quarter, which is to be officially announced Friday.

The latest forecasts point to GDP contracting by between 2% and 2.5% from the previous quarter – around three times the pace recorded in the recession of the early 1990s – and by more than 4% from the same period a year earlier.

European Data Signal Big GDP Drop is a post from: Before You Invest Your Money