The government is suspending the explosively popular “cash for clunkers” program fearing it would go broke before it could parcel out what it still owes dealers for a huge backlog of sales.
The pending suspension was confirmed by Bailey Wood, legislative director for the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), which had been called Thursday night by [...]
Archive for July, 2009
Government suspends ‘cash for clunkers’ program
July 30th, 2009 by Financial Writer
Tags: backlog, dealers, government, USA
more...The result of Deficit
July 30th, 2009 by Financial Writer
The government is spending more than it’s bringing in. A lot more. The result is a deficit. Here’s why that gap must be brought under control.
When George Bush took office at the beginning of 2001, the federal government was running a substantial budget surplus and projected rising surpluses “as far as the eye could see.” [...]
Tags: deficit, George Bush, government spend, us
Economy dominates US-China talks
July 28th, 2009 by Financial Writer
US and Chinese officials, meeting in Washington, are to discuss the need for emerging economies to have more say in the world’s financial system.
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is meeting Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan for a second day of high-level talks between the two countries.
They will also discuss the world trade system and ways [...]
Tags: Chinese officials, us, world's financial system
TSX and U.S. markets fall
July 28th, 2009 by Financial Writer
The benchmark S&P/TSX composite index was down more than 190 points in early afternoon trading Tuesday.
Every sub-index had fallen, with the biggest drops in gold, mining, materials and energy.
One month TSX trading The composite was at 10,577 at 1:30 p.m. ET. However, it had been even lower, touching 10,521 shortly before noon.
In the United States, [...]
Tags: Canada, markets fall, TSX, U.S. markets
single family homes rose 11% over May, but median price fell 3%.
July 27th, 2009 by Financial Writer
New home sales: ‘Really good news’
Sales of newly constructed single-family homes spiked 11% in June to an annualized rate of 384,000 homes, according to a report released Monday.
The gain over May was much greater than expected. A consensus of housing industry analysts had forecast seasonally adjusted sales of 352,000, according to Breifing.com.
However, sales are still [...]
Tags: home inventory, housing industry, single-family homes
OPEC Bracing For Sharp Oil Drop
July 27th, 2009 by Financial Writer
OPEC, the oil cartel, is bracing for a sharp drop in crude prices in coming weeks because huge fuel reserve continue to grow.
This concern is causing some OPEC members, who produce 40 percent of the world’s oil, to push for more output reduction.
Yet any further cuts may not have much market credibility because some OPEC [...]
Awful economic data dash recovery hopes
July 24th, 2009 by Financial Writer
Hopes of an imminent recovery for the recession-hit UK economy were dashed today by figures showing it is in deeper trouble than was thought.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that GDP shrank at a rate of 0.8% between April and June, far faster than the 0.3% economists had been expecting.
This fifth successive quarter [...]
Tags: uk economy, UK Finance
living independently becomes more expensive
July 23rd, 2009 by Financial Writer
College graduates move back home
They’ve been dubbed boomerang kids and a recent poll by collegegrad.com shows that 80% of 2009 college graduates moved back in with their parents. That’s up quite a bit from recent years.
So whether kids are home for just an extended summer or until they find a job, its important to set [...]
Tags: College graduates, living independently, us recession
State budgets in red again
July 23rd, 2009 by Financial Writer
Revenue shortfalls lead to new budget gaps only three weeks into the new fiscal year. States are forced to make more painful budget cuts.
The bad news about state budgets just keeps getting worse. Only three weeks into the new fiscal year, gaps are already opening up. And the shortfalls are only expected to grow.
“If you [...]
Tags: new fiscal year, state budgets, usa recesion
State freezes workers’ pay for July as budget impasse continues.
July 18th, 2009 by Financial Writer
Two other states have yet to approve budgets, while California closes in on deal to close $26 billion deficit.
Pennsylvania state workers’ paychecks are a little light these days.
Struggling to resolve a 17-day-old budget impasse, Pennsylvania is withholding pay for 69,000 state employees for time worked after July 1. Workers Friday received only 70% of their [...]
Tags: freezes workers' pay, Pennsylvania, us economy