Financial News

From David Nicklaus’ Mound City Money blog. STLtoday.com/moundcitymoney

Unanimity is rare in surveys of businesspeople, but the St. Louis Fed found it among area car dealers. The Fed’s latest Burgundy Book survey says all the dealers it talked to expect lower sales this year. Other retailers aren’t quite as pessimistic, but half expect sales to fall and only one-third expect sales to rise.

If Kansas City’s leaders want to learn about the economics of a 1,000-room convention hotel, they could drive 250 miles east and talk to the folks who recently foreclosed on the Renaissance Hotel in downtown St. Louis. Instead, they’re spending $500,000 for a feasibility study. According to the Kansas City Star’s Kevin Collison, our neighbors to the west are also establishing a 20-member steering committee to think about the idea.

We St. Louisans could save them plenty of time and money. Here are three pieces of free feasibility advice:
— It won’t work without a huge public subsidy.

— It won’t magically generate more convention business

— Even with a huge subsidy, it might not succeed.

The ESOP Association estimates that 10 million U.S. workers, about 10 percent of the private-sector work force, participate in employee stock ownership plans at 11,500 companies. Many people would look at those numbers and see upbeat, motivated employees, their incentives fully aligned with the employers’ goals compare car insurance prices.

Sean Anderson, a visiting law professor at the University of Illinois, looks at ESOPs and sees a disaster waiting to happen. In an upcoming article, he says Congress should ban employer stock from all company-sponsored retirement plans. Here’s an Anderson quote, from a U of I News Bureau summary of the article that will appear in the Loyola University Chicago Law Journal. :

"ESOPs have a lot of intuitive appeal — the idea of having workers own a piece of the company they’re working for. But they’re Enron on steroids. At the end of the day, they put workers at terrible risk and more often than not work as a tool that benefits the company, not employees."

ESOPs prevent workers from diversifying their retirement savings, and workers don’t even control the price at which they invest.

My guess is that any proposal to abolish ESOPs would run into a firestorm of criticism from many of those 10 million employee-owners. I’ve talked with people who get a special sense of pride from working at an employee-owned company such as Graybar Electric or McBride & Son Homes. Any reformer would also have to contend with the ghost of Louis O. Kelso, the Cold-War-era thinker who conceived of ESOPs as a way to keep workers engaged with capitalism and opposed to communism.

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<credit-solo/>Guarantee Electrical

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The Toronto stock market closed higher yesterday, clawing back a tiny part of the previous day’s 4.4 per cent plunge, in large part because of energy stocks rising alongside oil prices.

The main S&P/TSX composite index closed up 62.54 points to 9,896.72 after a 454-point selloff sparked by a World Bank report that warned the world economy will shrink 2.9 per cent in 2009 not its previously forecast 1.7 per cent.

Grim as the World Bank report was, analysts say investors were looking for an excuse to take some profits from the spring rally that started in mid-March and boosted the TSX as much as 41 per cent.

"We needed to see a bit of a pullback," said Don Reed, president of Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. and manager of the Templeton International Stock Fund.

"We’re in an environment where we see big moves both ways."

Since hitting a high on June 11, the TSX has lost about 7.5 per cent.

Yesterday, the TSX energy sector clawed back a chunk of Monday’s slide of more than 6 per cent, rising 1.5 per cent as the August crude contract in New York rose $1.74 (U.S.) to $69.24 after falling $2.62 on Monday. Suncor Inc. gained 97 cents (Canadian) to $33.16.

The financial sector was the biggest weight on the TSX, down 1.55 per cent, with Royal Bank of Canada off $1.04 to $44.06.

The Canadian dollar was a fifth of a cent higher to 86.96 cents (U.S.). The TSX Venture Exchange was down 4.48 points to 1,074 affordable new jersey health insurance.18.

U.S. markets were weak with the Dow Jones industrial average down 16.1 points to 8,322.91 after slumping 2.4 per cent Monday, weighed down by Boeing after it again delayed the first test flight of its long-awaited 787 jetliner.

In the tech sector, MySpace announced 300 overseas job cuts. The News Corp. unit’s shares rose two cents to $9.07 on Nasdaq yesterday. Oracle’s fiscal fourth quarter and full-year results beat Wall Street estimates. Its stock was up 51 cents, or 2.6 per cent, to $20.38 in after-hours trading after closing down 10 cents at $19.87 in regular trading.

The Nasdaq edged 1.27 points lower to 1,764.92 as the S&P 500 index rose 2.06 points to 895.10.

The U.S. Federal Reserve started its two-day meeting on monetary policy yesterday. The Fed is widely expected to keep its key rate near zero, but investors are unsure whether the central bank is optimistic about the economy or considering raising rates later this year to curb inflation.

On the TSX, the base metals sector was up 1 per cent after sliding 9 per cent Monday. Copper prices rose seven cents to $2.20 a pound. Teck Resources rose $1.08 (Canadian) to $17.84.

The August bullion contract in New York rose $3.30 (U.S.) to $924.30 and the TSX gold index was the biggest percentage gainer, up 4 per cent.

The Canadian Press

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Toronto’s stock market took a nasty tumble yesterday along with oil prices and the Canadian dollar after a World Bank report dashed hopes of an early "green-shoots" recovery from the current economic storm.

Led by energy and materials stocks, the S&P/TSX composite index fell 4.4 per cent, or 453.77 points to 9,834.18 – its biggest point drop since Dec. 1 – while crude oil slid more than $2 (U.S.) a barrel, cutting short the spring rally that investors have enjoyed of late.

"There’s a bit of a reality check going on," said Craig Wright, RBC Financial Group’s chief economist.

"There was a fairly significant rally recently, but the markets have been getting ahead of themselves in our opinion, and we’re seeing a retracing of that."

Stock markets and commodities took a hit after yesterday’s World Bank report said the global economy will contract more than previously thought. The bank said the globe’s economy will shrink 2.9 per cent this year – an estimate far worse than its previous forecast for a 1.7 per cent decline.

"I think as we go through this year volatility and uncertainty are going to remain quite elevated," Wright added.

"Some people might be locking in some of the profits that they made over the last three months," said Bruce Latimer, a trader at Dundee Securities.

"It was selling right across the board and they didn’t even try to rally the market at all, so we might be in for a few more days of this."

"People continue to be worried about the overall economy," said Royden Richardson, vice-chairman of Richardson Partners Financial Ltd. in Toronto, which oversees $7 billion (Canadian) of client assets.

"Stocks got a bit ahead of themselves. You just can’t get back to normal that quickly."

The loonie continued its downward slide, falling 1.34 cents (U.S.) to 86.76 cents against a stronger greenback.

All of the TSX’s 10 main sectors ended down, led by a 6.5 per cent drop in the energy group and a 5.97 per cent sell-off in materials.

The pullback follows a considerable rally since the index hit a five-year low in March. At one point this month it was up 43 per cent from the March trench cash advance no faxing. Yesterday’s retreat was the TSX’s lowest close since May 15, taking it below the 10,000 mark.

Gold mining shares also fell as the bullion price shed $15 to close at $920.60 in New York.

And burgeoning supplies of crude and gasoline finally appeared to grab hold of energy prices that since early May have appeared to shake off market fundamentals.

Benchmark crude for July delivery dropped $2.62 to settle at $66.93 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The July contract expired later yesterday, and most of the trading already has shifted to the August contract, which lost $2.52 to settle at $67.50.

The TSX Venture Exchange gave back 40.14 points to 1,078.66.

U.S. markets were also lower.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 200.72 points to 8,339.01, after giving up almost 3 per cent last week. The Nasdaq composite index lost 61.28 points to close at 1,766.19, while the S&P 500 dropped 28.19 points to 893.04.

On the Nasdaq, big-cap technology stocks led the decline.

Apple Inc.’s stock fell 1.5 per cent to $137.37 even as it said it had sold more than one million of its newest iPhone in the first three days of its launch, beating expectations. The company statement also quoted chief executive Steve Jobs, leading at least one analyst to speculate he was back from medical leave.

The Toronto base metals sector was down more than 9 per cent as the price of copper in New York fell 11.85 cents to $2.132 a pound.

Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at brokerage house Avalon Partners Inc. in New York, said investors want to see stability in commodity prices – not a surge or a tumble. A sharp rise in commodity prices hurts consumers, while a sharp drop is sign of weak demand.

Teck Resources Ltd. shares were down $2.07 (Canadian) to $16.76 even though Teck said Friday it expects its 2009 coal sales to be at the upper end of its guidance.

The financial sector fell 3.5 per cent, with Royal Bank of Canada down 90 cents to $45.10.

With files from the Star’s wire services

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NEW YORK–Moody’s Investors Service yesterday placed California’s general obligation debt on alert for a possible multi-notch downgrade, citing the state’s strained public finances.

The agency rates California at A2, its sixth-highest investment grade and the lowest rating of any state in the United States. Leasing debt and other state-related debt are also on review, affecting a total of $72 billion (U.S.) of debt, Moody’s said in a statement.

The action reflects an expected budget gap for fiscal 2010 of more than $20 billion, or more than 20 per cent of the general fund budget; the announcements by the state controller that without solutions California will not be able to meet all its financial obligations in July; a continued political stalemate and the limited options available, said the agency. "If the legislature does not take action quickly, the state’s cash situation will deteriorate to the point where the controller will have to delay most non-priority payments in July," the agency said free business card.

"Lack of action could result in a multi-notch downgrade."

The A2 rating is just five notches above speculative, or "junk" status.

Standard & Poor’s on Monday placed California on review for a possible downgrade, also citing concerns about the state’s fiscal stress.

Spreads on California’s GO bonds have widened as the budget crisis has worsened and may widen further with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers debating how to plug the deficit.

Since May 1, the yield on the five-year California GO scale is up 92 basis points, compared with a rise of 41 basis points for the five-year benchmark Municipal Market Data triple-A scale.

Reuters News Agency

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United States Steel Corp. will recall nearly half of its Granite City work force in the next few weeks, and steel production could start early next month, a union official said late Friday.

The steelmaker tried this week to get about 590 workers processed to return to work, said Dan Simmons, president of United Steelworkers Local 1899, who represents most hourly workers at the facility. That’s on top of about 100 workers recalled this week.

Simmons wasn’t sure how many workers were processed by late Friday or a total number of those who had started work in the plant this week.

This marks yet another swift, positive step for Granite City Works, where steel production has been idled since December because of plunging steel demand. Just a week ago, local union officials said U.S. Steel told them it would begin preparing the facility to reopen.

"It’s a great step in the right direction," Simmons said. "It’s a good chaos … the more, the merrier."

U.S. Steel spokeswoman Erin DiPietro declined to comment.

Preparations to return to work include physicals and safety classes for the workers, Simmons said.

Including the recalls starting last week, about 800 workers will be processed and able to work by the end of next week, Simmons estimated.

Additional workers will return in the following weeks, until U.S. Steel believes it has enough people for steelmaking, Simmons said. He wasn’t sure what that number will be.

Some workers have started preparing a blast furnace to go online, said Jason Chism, president of USW Local 50, which represents workers in the coke and iron-making facility.

The blast furnace is an important part of the steelmaking process. Coke, iron ore and lime are fed into a blast furnace to extract iron, the basic ingredient for steel. The molten iron, with other ingredients, is used to make raw steel pay day loans.

Simmons said the target date for sending molten iron to the steelmaking operations is July 8.

The restart schedule is a welcome relief for workers at Granite City Works, one of Granite City’s largest employers.

The location makes steel used in construction, automobiles and other industries. When the recession and tough credit conditions hurt those industries, demand for steel plummeted.

U.S. Steel and other steel companies idled plants, laid off workers and slashed production. At Granite City Works, U.S. Steel halted its steelmaking operations in December and laid off about 1,600 workers.

An additional 390 union and nonunion workers were laid off in February. That’s when U.S. Steel temporarily stopped production of coke, a key steelmaking ingredient that it had been stockpiling.

In recent months, a crew of fewer than 100 workers has worked at the plant.

Other plants — not only those owned by U.S. Steel but also its competitors — have been idled, too. Capacity utilization, or how much the industry actually produces versus what it has the ability to produce, has been around 48 percent in recent weeks, according to data from the American Iron and Steel Institute in Washington.

It hovered around 90 percent in June 2008.

Simmons said he didn’t know a timetable for recalling all 2,000 or so workers at the plant.

"It’s a lot of questions yet," he said. "There’s a whole lot I can’t really answer."

But the news has alleviated fears of workers who worried when — or even if — Granite City Works would reboot.

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Sony Corp Chief Executive Howard Stringer said on Friday the Japanese electronics conglomerate’s turnaround efforts, which include job cuts, plant closures and a management reshuffle, are advancing well.

“We are seeing steady progress and are working to reduce costs throughout the Sony group by more than 300 billion yen ($3 billion) in fiscal year 2009, compared to fiscal year 2008,” Stringer said, repeating the cost cut target unveiled earlier this year.

Stringer was talking at Sony’s annual shareholders’ meeting.

Sony, which competes with Samsung Electronics Co Ltd in LCD TVs and Canon Inc in digital cameras, last month forecast a second straight year of losses as the global recession batters demand for consumer electronics no fax cash advance.

In an effort to put the company back on the growth path, Sony is implementing far-reaching restructuring steps such as a head count reduction of about 16,000 people and closure of eight of its 57 manufacturing sites.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

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Covidien Ltd.’s Mallinckrodt Inc. unit based in Hazelwood and Nuvo Research Inc. of Canada have agreed to collaborate on developing two topical formulations of diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug used to treat pain. Covidien said Tuesday that the agreement is aimed at expanding its entry into the branded pain management market. One of the products, Pennsaid, is awaiting Food and Drug Administration approval and the second formulation, Pennsaid Plus, is in development free credit report and score. Nuvo will make the products in Varennes, Quebec, and Covidien will be responsible for marketing, selling and medical education. (Gail Appleson)

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OTTAWA – The Conference Board is naming the auto manufacturing town of Windsor, Ont., as ground zero of the economic recession.

The Ottawa-based think-tank says the slump is punishing small and medium-sized towns across Canada, but none so much as Windsor, which is expected to see its economy contract 5.6 per cent this year.

By contrast, most economists estimate the national economy will shrink by about 2.5 per cent in 2009 compared with last year.

In its analysis of 14 small and medium-sized cities, the Conference Board says Ontario's manufacturing communities are suffering the most.

Among the eight hardest hit, seven are in Ontario. The exception is St. John's, N.L., which will experience a 3.6 per cent gross domestic product retreat this year due to sharply reduced oil production everyone approved 1 hour payday loans.

The other members of the slumping eight are Sudbury, Ont., at minus 4.0 per cent, Thunder Bay, Ont., minus 3.1, London, Ont., at minus 2.8 per cent, St. Catharines-Niagara, Ont., minus 2.7 per cent, Kitchener, Ont., minus 2.6 per cent and Oshawa, minus 2.5 per cent.

Of the 14 cities studied nationally, only Saint John, N.B., will experience growth this year, although modest 0.9 per cent.

The Conference board says all 14 communities will return to growth over the next four years, led by Oshawa with a four per cent gross domestic product advance.

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