Stocks are opening slightly lower, a day after the market had its best day in two and a half years.
Another rise in applications for unemployment benefits last week set a negative tone on Wall Street. The increase is a sign of weakness in the labor market because people are still being laid off.
Minutes after the opening bell Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 29 points, or 0.2 percent, at 12,016.
The Dow had soared 490 the day before, its biggest gain since March 2009, after central banks around the world slashed borrowing costs to shore up the global financial system installment payday loans.
The S&P 500 was down 4, or 0.3 percent, at 1,243. The Nasdaq fell 7, or 0.3 percent, to 2,613.
Cyber Monday. Green Tuesday. Black Friday. Magenta Saturday.
Chances are you won’t find any of these holidays on your calendar. Yet retailers are coming up with names for just about every day of the week during the holiday shopping season.
During T-Mobile’s “Magenta Saturday,” the event named for the company’s pinkish-purple logo earlier this month offered shoppers the chance to buy cellphones and some tablets on a layaway plan. Mattel lured customers in with discounts of 60 percent off toys for girls and boys on “Pink Friday and “Blue Friday.” And outdoor retailer Gander Mountain is giving customers deals on camouflage and other gear every Thursday through December during “Camo Thursdays.”
“There are hundreds of promotions going on this time of year,” says Steve Uline, head of marketing for Gander. “We needed to do something a little bit different.”
It’s difficult to get Americans to spend money when many are struggling with job losses, underwater mortgages or dwindling retirement savings. But merchants are hoping some creative marketing will generate excitement among shoppers during the last two months of the year, a time when many of them make up to 40 percent of their annual revenue. And they know that a catchy name can make a huge difference.
“The more special you make it sound, the more you might be able to get people,” says Alan Adamson, a managing director at brand consulting firm Landor Associates. “It’s tricky to come up with something simple and sticky.”
Retailers have done it before.
“Black Friday,” the day after Thanksgiving, in the 1960s became known as the point merchants turn a profit or operate “in the black.” Later, retailers began marketing it as the start of the holiday shopping season with earlier store hours and deep discounts of up to 70 percent off.
It’s since become the busiest shopping day of the year. This past weekend, “Black Friday” sales were $11.4 billion, up 7 percent, or nearly $1 billion from the same day last year, according to a report by ShopperTrak, which gathers data from 25,000 outlets across the country. It was the largest amount ever spent on that day.
But “Black Friday” has been a blessing and a curse: In recent years, it’s become so popular that it’s become known for its big crowds, long lines, and even disorder and violence among some shoppers.
“Black Friday has become a victim of its own success,” says Adamson, the branding expert. “It has been successful to the point where it has created the opportunity that if you don’t want to deal with the madness, come out on Tuesday or some other day.”
“Cyber Monday” was coined in 2005 when a retail trade group noticed a spike in online sales on the Monday after Thanksgiving when people returned to their work computers and shopped. While more people now have Internet access at home, retailers still offer discounts and other online promotions for the day. Last year, it was the busiest online shopping day ever, with sales of more than $1 billion, according to research firm ComScore Inc online payday loans.
Marketers are hoping to strike gold again. Many are doing so by appealing to Americans who’ve become disenchanted with big business and commercialism.
Nonprofit Green America is launching “Green Tuesday” this week to encourage people to buy gifts with the environment and local communities in mind. The group is planning to push the event every Tuesday through December.
Green America, which says it aims to support society and the environment through economic programs, plans to showcase deals on its website, including jewelry made from recycled nuclear bomb equipment from online retailer Fromwartopeace.com and a self-watering system for plants by Dri Water.
“Mass culture encourages people to run out of their house, now at midnight, and go shopping,” says Todd Larsen, director of corporate responsibility for Green America, which vetted the businesses it’s highlighting on its website to ensure they meet certain environmental and ethical standards. “Why not wait another day or more and buy something that helps others?”
Last year, American Express named the Saturday after Thanksgiving “Small Business Saturday” to encourage Americans to shop at mom-and-pop shops. This year, it offered a $25 credit to cardholders who register on social media website Facebook and shop at participating stores.
The company says it launched a multibillion-dollar campaign to promote it the day. The campaign included TV ads and marketing materials for small businesses to display in stores.
The effort has worked. Small retailers that except Amex had a 28 percent increase in revenue during the daylong event last year, compared with a 9 percent rise for all retailers, according to card activity measured by American Express. The company did not disclose the dollar amount spent that day.
It’s not clear yet how small businesses fared during the event this past Saturday, but a company survey before “Small Business Saturday” showed that 89 million consumers had planned to “shop small” on the day.
“People get it; they are behind it 100 percent,” says Yabette Alfaro, owner of Swankity Swank, a San Francisco home furnishings and accessories shop that participates in “Small Business Saturday.” “Our customers don’t want to participate in Black Friday. Most of them think anyone making a stand is great.”
Lizbeth Turq, a 26-year old in Deerfield, Ill., this past weekend shopped at several local shops during “Small Business Saturday.” She ended up buying some gifts for the holidays, including one for her mother at a home decor store. Most of the items she found were 20 percent off, she says.
“It’s really not an issue of having a sale or not,” Turq says, “It’s an issue of supporting the community I live in and creating jobs, particularly in the economy we are in.”.
Royal Ahold NV, the Dutch owner of U.S. supermarket chains Giant and Stop & Shop, reported a 5 percent rise in operating profit for the third quarter, as growth in the U.S. offset a decline in the Netherlands.
Overall operating profit rose to euro300 million ($405 million), and sales were up 2.5 percent to euro6.86 billion. Net profit was up 15 percent to euro257 million ($346 million), but strongly affected by one-time items.
Margins were about unchanged overall, though the company’s performance differed sharply in the U.S. and the Netherlands.
Chief Executive Dick Boer said the company won market share in both markets. In the U.S., Ahold pursues a strategy of offering relatively low prices and relatively decent quality, which it sums up as “value for money.”
“Customers remain cautious in their spending and focus on value in an inflationary environment,” he said in a statement Thursday.
U.S. sales rose 8.5 percent to $5.8 billion, and operating margins improved to 4.1 percent of sales from 3.7 percent as the company was more than able to pass on price increases to customers. Operating profit rose $41 million to $237 million.
In the Netherlands, where Ahold operates the dominant Albert Heijn chain, the company trimmed prices and sacrificed margins in order to add to its lead as the country’s largest retailer. Sales rose 4.5 percent to euro2.3 billion, but operating margins fell to 6 cash till payday advance.4 percent from 7.1 percent and operating profit actually declined by euro7 million to euro149 million.
Albert Heijn offers top-quality produce at above-average prices.
SNS Securities analyst Richard Withagen said in a note that Ahold’s performance was better than expected, especially in the U.S., but he repeated a Hold recommendation on the shares.
The net profit figure was hit by a Nov. 4 New York Supreme Court ruling that Ahold disclosed in a footnote. Ahold said as a result of the ruling, it had taken a charge of euro94 million to resolve a lease dispute with a former subsidiary that will impact earnings through 2031. Ahold said it would appeal the ruling, though it was not immediately clear what higher court it could appeal to.
Ahold offset the charge with a tax windfall: it released a euro109 million provision it has been holding to resolve a tax issue it says dates from before 2004. The company did not say why it chose to book the gain this quarter, though it made the company’s bottom line appear more or less in line with its operating results, rather than showing a large loss.
Shares were up 1.2 percent to euro9.53 in volatile early trading in Amsterdam.
Italy’s benchmark 10-year borrowing rate has jumped above the 7 percent level widely considered unsustainable over the longer term, a day after Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi announced he would resign after Parliament passes new austerity measures.
The announcement failed to calm markets, with stocks and bonds sliding.
The 7 percent threshold is psychologically important for traders because Greece, Ireland and Portugal asked for bailouts when it became clear the rate wasn’t coming back down from that level.
Berlusconi agreed to leave office after a routine vote confirmed he’d lost his majority in Parliament. What comes next remains unclear.
Berlusconi wants new elections with his hand-picked successor as a candidate. Before that can happen, Italy’s president must decide an interim government and if it will be led by politicians or technocrats.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
ROME (AP) _ Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi confirmed he won’t run again for office and said Wednesday his hand-picked successor Angelino Alfano will be his party’s candidate when Italy holds new elections.
Italian borrowing costs jumped higher a day after Berlusconi promised to resign after Parliament passes new austerity and reform measures. While Berlusconi’s majority was hampered in pushing through reforms, the makeup of Italy’s next government remains a looming question.
Berlusconi said he would leave office after a routine vote in Parliament revealed he no longer had the majority he needs to push through policy. He said he would step aside once Parliament passes economic reforms demanded by the European Union to prevent Italy from being swept up further into Europe’s debt crisis.
No date has been set, but earlier indications suggested it would happen next week.
Despite the move, Italy’s financial markets deteriorated on Wednesday. The yield on Italy’s 10-year bonds jumped another 0.37 of a percentage point Tuesday to 6.95 percent. The main Milan stock index was trading 3.6 percent lower at 15,097. Shares in Berlusconi’s Mediaset empire were battered, trading down 9.8 percent at euro2.262.
Once Berlusconi resigns, President Giorgio Napolitano must begin consultations to form a new government _ possibly with the conservative leader from Berlusconi’s party, or if consensus can’t be reached, a technical government may be sought.
Berlusconi is pressing for new elections in early 2012.
“I won’t run, actually I feel liberated,” Berlusconi was quoted as telling the La Stampa daily. “It’s Alfano’s turn.”
Berlusconi tapped Alfano, his former justice minister, to head his People of Liberties Party a few months ago. At 41, Alfano represents a new generation of politicians after 17 years of Berlusconi leadership.
Mario Monti, a former EU competition commissioner who now heads Milan’s prestigious Bocconi University, has been widely tipped as a candidate to head a technical government.
Berlusconi conceded it was up to Napolitano to decide how to proceed once he steps down.
It’s not clear that Napolitano would want to subject Italy to elections any time soon given the need to calm markets. He may try to sound out politicians about the possibility of forming either a government of technocrats or a broad-based government that could hold a majority in parliament.
International Monetary Fund officials urged the Cyprus government to move fast with its austerity program to get a grip on its debts, after projecting that the island’s economy will contract next year.
IMF officials Wes McGrew and J. Erik Jan de Vrijer said Wednesday that the Cypriot economy will stagnate this year but shrink by one percent next year, while the fiscal deficit will grow to 7 percent of national income in 2011 before moderating to 4 percent in 2012.
Cypriot Finance Minister Kikis Kazamias disputed the IMF figures, telling told state TV late Wednesday that his ministry’s revised projections put growth next year at just above zero percent and the deficit at around 2.9 percent.
Kazamias last month forecast 1 to 1.5 percent growth next year and a deficit of around 6 to 6.5 percent in 2011 and 2.3 percent in 2012.
“A doom scenario is a lot worse than what you see here, and one of the things that we’re saying is the time to take action is now in order to avoid getting into a doom scenario,” Jan de Vrijer told a news conference at the end of a weeklong review of the island’s economy.
Buffeted by the ongoing eurozone crisis, Cyprus is finding it more expensive to borrow from international markets because of a string of credit rating agency downgrades due to the exposure of the country’s large banking sector to Greece.
That has stoked fears that the small island with a population of around 1 million and a euro17 billion ($23 billion) economy may be forced to seek a bailout from its partners in the eurozone, as Greece, Ireland and Portugal already have.
“We think that the situation at the moment is very serious. The fact that the government cannot access the capital markets is very, very serious and the risks to the banking sector compound that very much,” Jan de Vrijer said Online payday loans.
To finance its debt and stimulate growth, the Cypriot government is looking to finalize a 4 1/2 year, euro2.5 billion ($3.4 billion) loan agreement with Russia at a 4.5 percent annual interest rate. That’s much lower than markets are currently offering.
McGrew said it’s crucial that any such loan deal doesn’t weaken the resolve of the government to roll back spending and push through fiscal reforms.
Cyprus’ 2012 draft budget that Kazamias will submit to parliament late this week incorporates a euro840 million ($1.14 billion) package of spending cuts and tax increases, aimed at reducing the deficit.
Measures include slashing 1,100 public sector positions, rolling back social handouts by euro220 million ($299 million) and raising the sales tax from 15 to 17 percent for at least three years _ a move that is meeting resistance from opposition parties.
Jan de Vrijer said there is no wriggle room to discount the measures which need to be implemented fully.
“The first priority is for Cyprus to do all it can to avoid that these problems get out of hand,” he said.
“I think there is time and there is opportunity for the government to take really decisive and large action to avert the possibility of these problems getting worse and worse.”
Kazamias said there would be no hesitation to take additional austerity measures if necessary.
On Tuesday, the finance minister told lawmakers that the government is looking into opening tightly-regulated casinos to tap their revenue-generating potential, reversing it’s long-held opposition to any such move.
Sheila Mauricette was at work when a door-to-door seller came to her home. Now she
Pioneer Hi-Bred, the Dupont-owned seed maker, unveiled a new production plant about 160 miles south of St. Louis on Friday, the largest in its growing seed business.
Pioneer, based in Des Moines, Iowa, has been gaining market share in the corn and soybean business, presenting Creve Coeur-based Monsanto, the world’s largest seed company, with a growing challenge in the increasingly competitive seed market.
The production facility, which will produce genetically modified commercial soybean seed, will start off with 55 employees, eventually growing to 65 bad credit personal loan lenders. The company spent roughly $60 million on the facility’s construction, which began in May of last year.
The plant will be one of 50 Pioneer-owned commercial and “parent” seed production facilities in the U.S., and the company’s largest worldwide.
“Our strategy is to serve our customers,” said Alejandro Munoz, vice president of Pioneer’s Americas Group & Global Production. “Our market share numbers have been going up
Think of 100,000 St. Louis homeowners as hungry kids with their noses pressed against the window of a financial candy store cash advance loan no fax.
Luckier homeowners are getting something really sweet
Negotiations between General Motors Co., Chrysler Group LLC and the United Auto Workers union were expected to continue Thursday after bargainers failed to reach new deals before a Wednesday night deadline.
The union, which represents 111,000 workers at GM, Chrysler and Ford, agreed to extend the old contract and keep working, and there were signs that a GM deal was getting close.
“We are hopeful that an agreement can be reached soon,” UAW leaders said in a statement posted early Thursday on the Internet for GM workers nationwide. “While we have made significant progress, we have not been able to secure a new agreement that we would recommend for ratification.”
Chrysler, however, may be another story. Just before Wednesday’s 11:59 p.m. deadline for the contracts to end, CEO Sergio Marchionne fired off an angry letter to the UAW president saying that he failed to show up to finalize a deal.
The UAW talks will determine wages and benefits for workers at the car companies, and they also set the bar for wages at auto parts companies, U.S. factories run by foreign automakers and other manufacturers, which employ hundreds of thousands more workers. The talks are the first since GM and Chrysler needed government aid to make it through bankruptcy protection in 2009.
GM negotiators stopped talking after midnight and said they would resume at 10 a.m. EDT Thursday. Chrysler and the union also talked until after midnight, but the company would not say if they stopped or when they would restart.
In the past, workers might have gone on strike if the UAW hadn’t extended their contracts. But as part of their 2009 government bailouts, GM and Chrysler workers had to agree not to strike over wages.
The UAW extended its contract with Ford Motor Co. last week, as talks have progressed more slowly with that automaker.
Up until the deadline, the negotiations that began over the summer appeared to be proceeding without the acrimony that plagued them in the past. But then Marchionne sent the letter to UAW President Bob King.
“I know we are the smallest of the three automakers here in Detroit, but that does not make us less relevant,” Marchionne said in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press.
Marchionne said only a few mainly economic issues separate the two sides, and he told King in the letter that he would travel out of the country for business and will return next week. He said he would agree to a weeklong extension of Chrysler workers’ current contract. The UAW didn’t set a new deadline to reach agreements.
King would not comment on the letter when reached by telephone early Thursday.
Marchionne said he and King met a week ago and agreed to finish work on the new contract before the deadline. He said not meeting the deadline hurts Chrysler’s workers.
“You and I failed them today,” he wrote. “We did not accomplish what leaders who have been tasked with the turning of a new page for this industry should have done.”
King spent much of the day Thursday negotiating with GM, but it was unclear why he didn’t appear at Chrysler’s Auburn Hills, Mich., headquarters.
It’s likely that any setback is temporary, though. The union has an interest in reaching a deal that’s acceptable to both sides. A union-run trust that pays retiree health care bills owns more than 40 percent of Chrysler.
GM has taken the lead on the negotiations and its agreement may be used to set the pattern for the other two companies.
GM nearly ran out of cash and needed $49.5 billion from the government to survive, but it’s been making billions in the last two years because its debt and costs were lowered in bankruptcy and its new products have been selling well. Chrysler has turned a small profit in the first half of the year.
Under terms of both companies’ government bailouts, unresolved issues can be taken to binding arbitration, and the union’s new contracts must keep the companies’ labor costs competitive with Asian automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.
The union has been seeking bigger profit-sharing checks instead of pay raises, higher pay for entry level workers who make $14 to $16 per hour, signing bonuses and guarantees of new jobs as auto sales recover. Ford and GM want to cut their labor costs to get them closer to Honda and Toyota, while Chrysler wants to hold its costs steady. Health care costs are also an issue.
Once the contract agreements are reached, workers will vote on them.
World stock markets rose Wednesday as investors put aside concerns over flagging consumer and business confidence in developed economies to hunt for bargains.
Oil prices recovered losses, rising to near $89 a barrel. The dollar was higher against the euro but slipped against the yen.
European shares rose in early trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 was 0.7 percent higher at 5,307.08 and Germany’s DAX gained 1.3 percent to 5,714.59. In Paris, the CAC-40 rose 1.4 percent to 3,202.49.
Ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street, Dow Jones industrial futures were 0.7 percent higher at 11,572 and S&P 500 futures rose 0.8 percent to 1,214.90.
Asian markets made broad-based advances.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 logged a fifth day of gains to close narrowly up at 8,955.20 after spending part of the day in negative territory.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.6 percent to 20,534.85 and South Korea’s Kospi gained 2 percent at 1,880.11. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6 percent at 4,296.50. Benchmarks in the Philippines, Taiwan and Singapore also rose.
Share prices have been pummeled in recent months, but that has presented an opportunity for investors interested in bargains, analysts said.
“The market has been down for quite some time this summer, ever since middle of April,” said Hong Kong-based analyst Francis Lun. “The market is poised for a rebound.”
Sentiment in Japan was dampened after growth in industrial production fell far short of forecasts in July. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said industrial production edged up 0.6 percent from the previous month _ falling short of its projected 2.2 percent rise.
The persistently strong yen continued to place a drag on Japan’s powerhouse export sector, particularly consumer electronics. Panasonic Corp. lost 1.6 percent, Sony Corp. fell 1.8 percent and Toshiba Corp. dropped 2.4 percent. Copier maker Ricoh Co. lost 0.4 percent.
Separately, South Korea’s LG Electronics jumped 4.1 percent and car maker Hyundai Motor rose 3.3 percent. But gains were held in check elsewhere after South Korea reported that industrial output expanded 3.8 percent last month from a year earlier, the slowest pace since September 2010, Yonhap News agency said make quick cash.
Mainland Chinese shares were mixed, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gaining marginally to 2,567.34 after dipping almost 1 percent earlier in the day. The Shenzhen Composite Index lost 0.4 percent to 1,143.34. Shares in cement and travel-related companies advanced while shares in construction, aviation and chemicals weakened.
“Rumors say Chinese banks will have to set aside an additional 950 billion yuan ($149 billion) as reserves, which will cause a funds shortage. As funds in the market switch between different shares, it is unstable,” said Liu Kan, an analyst at Guoyuan Securities, based in Shanghai.
Chinese automaker BYD lost 3.7 percent after acknowledging reports it is planning layoffs in its sales teams, while Wuliangye Yibin Co., a famous fine spirits producer, gained 2.4 percent in expectation of stronger demand during the upcoming mid-autumn festival.
In Europe on Tuesday, stocks were hurt by a report showing consumer and business sentiment in the 17 countries that use the euro common currency was souring due to uncertainties about the future of the global economic recovery and the region’s festering debt crisis.
Wall Street, though, traded higher despite a survey showing a slump in consumer confidence in the U.S., as investors took the opportunity to buy into what they considered cheap stocks.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.2 percent to close at 11,559.95. The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 0.2 percent to 1,212.92. The Nasdaq composite index rose 0.6 percent to 2,576.11.
In currencies, the euro dropped to $1.4432 from $1.4447 late Tuesday in New York. The dollar fell to 76.57 yen from 76.72 yen.
Benchmark oil for October delivery was up 11 cents to $88.99 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude rose $1.63 to settle at $88.90 on Tuesday.
In London, Brent crude for October delivery was up 19 cents at $114.21 on the ICE Futures exchange.
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