Dollar Watch

Crude-oil Climbs To Its Highests At $117

Elisha Sanders — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:25:00 +0000

Crude-oil has reached a record high of $116.69 per barrel after news of a sabotage on pipelines in Nigeria was released and even the fortifying dollar couldn’t stop halt the rise.

After markets closed on Friday, electronic trading saw the price rise even higher, to $117 per barrel. Delivered crude-oil for May has also risen, to $1.83, or 1.6%, which lands it at $116.69 per barrel for the New York Mercantile Exchange. This marks a 6.2% rise on oil prices for the week.

Euro Countries Bring Down Deficit

Lashan Clarke — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:20:03 +0000

Within the countries that have the Euro as their currency, it was seen that they were able to bring the country’s deficit to the European Union limit in 2007. With the growth of the European Union economically, many of the governments were able to claim the surplus of tax windfalls.

With the effect of the drop in the economy from the United States, the combined EU deficit stands at 0.6 percent what is a strong percentage to be at as the economy and the real estate industry continues to slide.

Even the countries that are commonly over the combined EU deficit - Italy and Portugal - reported a drop. Italy had a drop of three percent with a deficit at 1.9 percent, while Portugal’s deficit dropped by 3.9 percent.

Bleak Report For IMS Health

Lashan Clarke — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:44:53 +0000

The firm IMS Health has released information reflecting the state of the economy. The company participates in market research for drug and health care companies. However, IMS Health said that their 2008 first quarter profit was reduced by thirty-one percent, as compared to this time last year.

According to economic analysts, the company made about $59.2 US million, whereas last year it was earning $85.6 US million. This translates into a share value in the first quarter of 2008 equal to thrity-two cents, compared with a previous value of forty-three cents last year.

Petition Letter Sent To Release Wecht

Lashan Clarke — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:15:39 +0000

In the midst of the recent case against the pathologist Cyril Wecht, at least 33 people have sent a petition letter asking the United States Attorney General to dismiss the charges against Wecht.

Information released state that the petition letter challenges the charges that the Attorney General has made against Wecht. The letter challenged that the case was not a strong one, based on the retrial for May 27th. In the previous trial on April 8th, the jury was not able to reach either a not guilty or guilty verdict.

Many upstanding members of the community have signed the letter. For example, attorneys and a retired agent for the FBI.

Only Three Year Refund For Mining Companies

Lashan Clarke — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:37:12 +0000

In 1978, a tax on coal was placed, but this decision was vetoed within the Supreme Court about twenty years later. It was found that at least ten percent of the coal was being exported. As a result, coal exported to international countries could not be properly taxed.

However some of the mining companies continued to pay a coal tax, even after the tax was overturned. A lot of this companies were small businesses that did not keep themselves properly informed about the industry laws.

When the minin companies realised they were still pay taxes, they filed a lawsuit under the Tucker Act to dispute their right to claim back a refund for the past six years. The judge handling the case, however, decided against their six year claim and only granted the companies a three year refund. He stated that they were not eligible under the Tucker Act.

Wachovia Stocks Drop By $3.01

Lashan Clarke — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:10:14 +0000

With the rockiness of the stock market and the economy, Wachovia shares dropped during premarket.

This was in response to the bank stating that they would like to put at least seven billion of its stock up for sale. This is a consequence of reduced revenue after its first quarter, and having a lower dividend than the original.

By reducing stock amount, Wachovia will keep at least two billion dollars in savings. Wachovia is now trading at $24.80 after a drop of at ten point eight percent.

Beijing Will Allow Smoking For Olympic Games

Lashan Clarke — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:39:38 +0000

It was previously stated that Beijing would not allow people to smoke within restaurants with the new smoking ban in May 1st. However, with the unpopularity of the Summer Olympics to be held in Beijing, the government is worried that to have a complete nonsmoking ban in bars and restaurant will hurt the amount of revenue from the Games.

Therefore, smoking in restaurants is still possible, but the restaurants if the restaurant has separated into a smoking and nonsmoking area. The smoking ban will not include bars and internet cafes, as this is where the government hopes to make the most of its money.

It is estimated that over three hundred million smokers live within the country of China.

Aruba Network Shares Worsen

Lashan Clarke — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 18:13:55 +0000

A drop of about 12% of the shares that have lost their value in the first place, Aruba Network shares, as analysts evaluated, have worsened since Thursday, leaving the company without any meaningful way to be competitive despite a recent profit warning.

Shares in the Sunnyvale company increased from fifty-four cents to $ 5.23 US dollars, during the last part of March.

At the beginning of April, weak sales were responsible for a lowered earning forecasts, and even with the remaining weeks in the fiscal year for Aruba, it is not expected that there will be much change or stronger sales to compensate.

Drug Company Splits To Remain Competitive

Lashan Clarke — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:45:13 +0000

PDL Biopharma Inc announced that it will pay a dividend to any shareholder of about $4.25 US dollars after it will split the company.

This will bring the cash benefits of the new company to $375 million US dollars.

The company has an initial cash injection, as well as potential milestone payments, royalties, and sales of its cardiovascular products for the past three years.

After the company is split, it will collect revenue from existing and future royalties of all licensed products. This will distributed as profits to shareholders. The company believes it can achieve sales of more than $240 to $260 million US dollars.

These sales will be on a variety of products, including: Genentech’s cancer drug, and sales of Elan Pharmaceuticals drug Tysabri.

Wall Street Stocks Increase On Good News

Lashan Clarke — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:13:19 +0000

There was an increase of Wall Street stocks on Thursday. This information was good news to investors after succumbing to the drop in the stock market, earlier in the month. The rise in the stock market was due to an increase in sales by retailers and a decrease in unemployment claims.

Previously unemployment claims rose to a new high within the past month, but this week showed a dramatic decrease in people claiming unemployment benefits, and this strengthened the stock market.

However, many are not sure if this good news will spill into the banking industry, especially with Lehman Brothers Holdings stating they had to liquidate the assets of at least three funds.