Best of Today’s Business: July 27, 2009
As many of you are well aware, I read pretty much anything and everything that has to do with business and banking for at least a couple of hours a day. I usually start off with going through major sites like CNBC, CNN(money), FoxNews Business, Yahoo!Finance, Google Business, FDIC, and Federal Reserve of Atlanta. Then I move on to catching up on anything I haven’t already read on one of those sites by going through the Wall Street Journal.
I say all this to set up the new daily blog I’m going to attempt to create. I’ll house it here on FrontlineFinancials while maintaining the less regular, much more in depth posts that I try to put out on at least a weekly basis. This new series will be modeled after the Yahoo!Finance’s former “Best of Today’s Business.” If I run into any copyright issues, I’ll change it up. I’m not sure why Yahoo! decided to cancel the column, but I and many others used to begin each day with it to get a quick run down of important, influential, or downright hilarious business articles and blog posts. To that end, here’s the difference between mine and Yahoo!’s old one: I encourage you make comments and post your own favorite articles/blogs each day. I’ll update the blog throughout the day based on your comments and suggestions. So, here’s the innaugural version of the “Best of Today’s Business” (the reincarnation).
July 27,2009
A Durable Competitive What?
The “Huffington Post“ and “Business Wire” (among many other business publications) report today that billionaire Warren Buffet is teaming up with a new media group, A Squared Entertainment, LLC and AOL. They’re producing a series of financial education cartoon shorts. “The Secret Millionaires Club” debuts in Buffet’s interview on CNBC.com (click here to see the clip). It details a “proper” investment decision-making process regarding a local candy company (See’s Candy, anyone?). While the theme song isn’t exactly catchy, the short lesson provided should be on the agenda at everyone’s first day of Business School.
The “Town Hall” Approach Works for Uncle Ben, Too.
As part of his efforts to ensure that the Federal Reserve becomes more transparent and accountable, Chairman Bernanke reaches out to the general public with an “Obama-esque” town hall Q&A on Jim Lehrer’s “News Hour”. In it he details how he thinks the Fed and economy are doing, his belief that the Fed is best suited to manage both Consumer protection and systemic risk regulation, and how sickening the bailout of the financial industry has been. This is a three part series airing Monday , Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings at 6pm on PBS.
Full Article with clips: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/business/july-dec09/bernanke_07-26.html
Not a Complete Disaster = The New “Good News”
Everyone knows the housing market is in shambles, but AP’s Alan Zibel reports that the market appears to be showing new signs of life. New home sales are up 11% from May levels. Additionally, resales of existing homes were up 4%. This good news comes against the backdrop of continued downward pressure on pricing. The median home price fell 6% to $206,200 from May’s level of $219,000. Many are calling this the final bottom of the market, but with government tax subsidies running out at the end of the year, we’ll need the economy to pick up some steam in order to keep the momentum going.
Full Article: http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/27/3076052-june-new-home-sales-rise-11-percent
Blue Light Special: The United States
Reuters‘ Chris Reese writes about the impending week of Treasury debt auctions. The sheer size is shocking: over $200 Billion for this week alone. Just like everyone else in America, buyers of bonds are becoming more and more skeptical of the ability of America to meet its future payment obligations. Bond yields are moving upward while prices are (naturally) moving downward. This could create major issues for future generations if this fiscal trend is not stopped.
Full Article: http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSN2737787420090727
Noted: Jack Welch surprises America by *gasp* saying that you have to work a lot to get ahead. Click here for the shocking details!
