|
U.S. Economy • Regulators tell banks to restrict dividends, buybacks: report
(Reuters)
Reuters - Shareholders may have to wait for months to retrieve capital after U.S. regulators told banks not to increase dividends or buy back shares amid political and economic uncertainty surrounding the financial industry, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
• GDP seen slowing, tying Fed hands on rates
(Reuters)
Reuters - After a growth spurt at the end of 2009, the U.S. economy will slow in the months ahead, keeping the Federal Reserve from raising borrowing costs until the final three months of the year, a Reuters poll showed.
• Home loan demand nudge higher in latest week
(Reuters)
<p>Reuters - U.S. mortgage applications nudged up last week, reflecting increased demand for home purchase loans even as interest rates trekked higher, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.
• Senate to pass jobless aid, business tax breaks
(AP)
AP - Legislation blending help for the jobless with popular tax breaks for businesses and individuals is slated to pass the Senate Wednesday over protests from conservatives who say it adds too much to the $12.5 trillion national debt.
• UK's Brown paves way for election with budget date
(AP)
AP - Britain's economic recovery remains fragile, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned Wednesday, as he paved the way for a national election by announcing the government's budget would be published in two weeks.
• European stocks edge ahead as investors await data
(AFP)
AFP - Europe's leading stock markets nudged higher on Wednesday as traders awaited key US economic data and assessed the latest batch of company results.
• Ahead of the Bell: February budget deficit
(AP)
AP - Economists believe that the federal budget deficit through the first five months of the budget year is running at a record-breaking pace, with the February imbalance likely to climb to the highest level this fiscal year.
• German January exports up 0.2 percent on year
(AP)
AP - Official data shows German January exports improved 0.2 percent compared with January 2009 but declined a sharp 6.3 percent from December.
• Strong China trade data point to rise in yuan
(Reuters)
<p>Reuters - Chinese exports and imports grew faster than expected in February, underlining the momentum behind the world's third-largest economy and reinforcing the case for a rise in the yuan.
• China plans new trade office as global disputes grow: sources
(Reuters)
Reuters - China is setting up a new agency to help streamline its trade negotiating bureaucracy as the world's third-largest economy faces a growing number of commercial disputes.
• Highlights of Senate jobless aid bill
(AP)
AP - Highlights of Senate legislation extending unemployment insurance and expired tax breaks:
• Brown says UK to maintain AAA credit rating
(Reuters)
<img src="http://d.yimg.com/a/p/rids/20100310/i/r2367415386.jpg?x=130&y=79&q=85&sig=PziMZ0ArEkBG0LpeuWQX2Q--" align="left" height="79" width="130" alt="Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown gestures as he bids farewell to Jordan's King Abdullah (not pictured) on the steps of 10 Downing Street central London March 9, 2010. REUTERS/Andrew Winning" border="0" />Reuters - Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday he believed Britain would maintain its coveted top credit rating and announced a pay freeze for senior civil servants and military officers to help tame a record deficit.
• Economists trim 2011 U.S. growth forecast
(Reuters)
Reuters - U.S. economists raised their forecast for economic growth in 2010 in March, the third straight monthly rise, while trimming their growth forecast for 2011, according to a survey released on Wednesday.
• US to expose trade barriers in new report
(AFP)
AFP - The United States said it would expose "troublesome" foreign trade barriers in a strategy to prise open markets for doubling American exports to ease an unemployment crisis at home.
• Gas price rises seen gentler on consumer wallets
(AP)
AP - As the economy recovers, energy prices are rising and that is placing extra strain on families' budgets.
• SEC chief economist leaving
(AP)
AP - The chief economist of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who is an expert on the financial instruments that figured largely in the 2008 crisis, is leaving his position for the private sector.
• Job openings up sharply in January to 2.7M
(AP)
</a>AP - Job openings rose sharply earlier this year, evidence that employers are slowly ramping up hiring as the economy improves.
• Texas Instruments CEO pay up 2 percent to $9.8M
(AP)
AP - Chip maker Texas Instruments Inc.'s CEO's compensation edged up in 2009, according to calculations by the Associated Press, a recession year that proved difficult for the chipmaker.
• Bristol-Myers CEO's 2009 compensation down 22 pct
(AP)
AP - The chief executive of drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., James Cornelius, received a 2009 compensation package valued by The Associated Press at $17 million, down 22 percent from 2008, due to the much lower value of his stock awards.
• Greek PM welcomes Obama backing to take on speculators
(AFP)
AFP - Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said Tuesday he had won a pledge from US President Barack Obama to take on the issue of speculators blamed for deepening Greece's economic crisis.
|
