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LyrArc brings in selected articles from many of the world's top publications.

Articles are selected by experts and you can see the gist of the important articles.

Cities Adapt With Mixed Results

1 Links 14 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 09.27.2011 Original article ›
Justin Lahart, Justin, Lahart
LyrArc Article Gist
Some manufacturing towns have done worse than others during this period of a surge in Chinese imports. Dunn, North Carolina is one of these towns. It is 40 miles south of Raleigh. In the 10 counties clustered around Raleigh factory employment declined by 40% between 1990 and 2007. Per capita cost of government payments for benefits such as unemployment insurance, food stamps, increased by 74%. Cleveland by contrast was relatively insulated and adapted to the imports by moving into areas of manufacturing that required more technology and complexity. Autor and Hanson studied 722 county clusters throughout the U.S. to discern the impact of the surge in imports and free trade.
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Economy Adds 163,000 Jobs

1 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 08.03.2012 Original article ›
Jeffrey Sparshott, Jeffrey, Sparshott, Tom Barkley, Tom, Barkley
LyrArc Article Gist
The Labor Department reported U.S. payrolls increased by a seasonally adjusted 163,000 jobs in July 2012. A survey of U.S. households showed unemployment edging higher to 8.3%, up by 0.1%. Private companies accounted for all the job additions of 172,000. Governments reduced jobs by 9000 and the federal government reduced jobs by 2000. Manufacturing added 25,000 jobs. Professional and business services added 49,000 jobs, with temporary help and computer systems design being the largest sources of jobs in this area. The health care sector added 12,000 jobs. A broader measure of unemployment including job seekers and part time workers is at 15%, up 0.1% from the prior month.
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Big Income Losses for Those Nearing Retirement

3 Links 8 Groups   
New York Times - 08.23.2012 Original article ›
Catherine Rampell, Catherine, Rampell
LyrArc Article Gist
A study by Sentier Research from Census data shows people in the U.S. age 55-64 years make 10% less in June 2012 compared to June 2009. Every demographic has suffered income losses in this period. Median household income declined by 4.8% in these three years. Using December 2007 as astarting point shows a decline of 7.2%- $50,964 vs. $54,916. Blacks, those with some education like a high school diploma but no degree, the older Americans, and younger Americans were hit hard. Long term unemployment was the cause of the decline among older Americans. Even college graduates suffered a decline of 5.9% from $88,570 to $83,378.
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A Look at Case-Shiller, by Metro Area

  
Wall Street Journal - 09.25.2012 Original article ›
Phil Izzo, Phil, Izzo
LyrArc Article Gist
A careful examination of the Case-Shiller 20 City Index shows that even though housing prices increased by 5.9% year to date through July 2012, when looked at year over prior year only 2 cities Minneapolis and Detroit show an increase over 6%, other than Pheonix at 16%. It increased only 1.2% over the prior year in July 2012. Sixteen cities showed increases, Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas and New York showed declines. For this reason the interpretation of this one month data should be done cautiously as it can be skewed by unusual factors such as lower short and foreclosure sales according to experts.
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H-P Disappoints Beyond Autonomy Mess

6 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 11.22.2012 Original article ›
Ben Worthen, Ben, Worthen
LyrArc Article Gist
H-P sales and profits continue to decline in its core printer and PC businesses. Sales in the printer group were down 5% in the third quarter 2012. Sales in the PC business in the third quarter 2012 declined 14% over the prior year quarter. Sales in the services business declined 6%. Add to this the large charge for $8.8 billion for Autonomy Inc. and investor response was "no mas" for H-P shares. CEO Meg Whitman promised to focus on the core businesses and not let the Autonomy business become a distraction, as Autonomy represents less than 1% of the H-P sales.
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Mark J. Carney Seeks Greater Challenges at Bank of England

3 Groups   
New York Times - 11.26.2012 Original article ›
Ian Austen, Ian, Austen
LyrArc Article Gist
Mark Carney, chief of the central bank of Canada, was chosen to be the next Governor of the Bank of England, succeeding Mervyn King. Carney's private sector experience with Goldman Sachs has given him contacts with people in the city of London and in British industry. He also studied at Oxford for a doctorate in economics. He helped Canada strengthen the economic reforms made in the previous 15-20 years, in his position as head of the Bank of Canada, say experts. This helped Canada withstand the 2008 financial crisis better than other countries. He says he can "play a constructive role in relaunching this institution with its new responsibilities."
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Banker Will Lead Spanish Crisis Fight

  
Wall Street Journal - 12.22.2011 Original article ›
Jonathan House, Jonathan, House, David Román, David, Román
LyrArc Article Gist
Spain's newly elected prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, appointed Luis de Guindos, a former deputy finance minister in the governments of prime minister Jose Maria Aznar during 1996-2004, to be the new finance minister. Guindos is not a member of the governing Partido Popular, and is perceived as independent in Spain. A new Budget ministry was added, to be headed by the Partido Popular's economic spokesman, Cristobal Montoro. Montoro was formerly a budget minister in the Aznar government. Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, member of the European parliament for 17 years, will head the Foreign Ministry. Madrid's mayor, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, who has wide appeal, will be the new Justice minister.
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RIM’s New Boss: The Analysts React

4 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 01.23.2012 Original article ›
David Benoit, David, Benoit
LyrArc Article Gist
RIM's management change with new CEO Thorsten Heins is received positively by analysts as the co-CEO arrangement was not considered responsive enough to losses in market share- RIM's share in the smartphone market dropped below 10% in 2011. However the statement by Heins that there would be no "seismic" change at RIM was received with caution. One analyst pointed to the need for fresh thinking and thought it would have been better to bring in someone from the outside, though Heins only joined in 2007 and worked for 23 years at Siemens. The need for a new Chief Marketing Officer was pointed out.
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Apple's New Math On Textbook Pricing

2 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 01.20.2012 Original article ›
Peter Kafka, Peter, Kafka
LyrArc Article Gist
Apple's senior vice president Eddy Cue, says all of the textbooks on the iPad will be priced at $14.99. The way this works is that McGraw Hill instead of selling the textbooks to public schools for $75, will sell the book to a student for $15 for one year. At which point he can keep the digital copy but cannot resell it or pass it along to another student. New students will have to buy a new digital copy. Apple will get a cut on sales which could be about 30%, some of this will be made up from the absence of printing and distribution costs for McGraw Hill.
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Sclerosis in China's Economic Veins

1 Links 1 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 11.23.2010 Original article ›
Wsj Online, Wsj, Online
LyrArc Article Gist
Derek Scissors writes that the effects of stimulus weakens over time, even in economies like China's that are only partly market based. And he says China has used stimulus for years. He says that in 2001, fixed investment was at 38% of GDP, investment growth 12% and revised GDP growth 8%. In the first 3 quarters of 2010, GDP growth was 10.6%, but this required investment growth of 24% and that was with fixed investment now equal to 72% of GDP. These figures suggest the difficulty of getting growth at higher and higher levels of investment. His view is that more likely than a crisis is a stalling economy.
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Fed's Lubke to Goldman

3 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 12.15.2010 Original article ›
Liz Rappaport, Liz, Rappaport
LyrArc Article Gist
Theo Lubke was head of the Financial Infrastructure Department in the Banking Supervision Group, and was a key member working for reforms in the derivatives market. He oversaw efforts at the Fed to have Wall Street centrally clear trades in credit default swaps, which helps control the risk of a firm's failure. Lubke will join Goldman Sachs as a managing director in the securities division, and will help Goldman implement the facets of regulatory reform legislation. Prior to his 15 years at the New York Fed, Lubke worked on the staff of the National Economic Council under President Clinton, and worked as an investment-banking analyst at Lehman Brothers.
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Russia Seeks Foreign Investment to Fill Budget Gap

8 Groups   
New York Times - 01.24.2011 Original article ›
Andrew E. Kramer, Andrew, E., Kramer
LyrArc Article Gist
To meet the budget deficit Russia plans to issue $50 billion worth of ruble denominated bonds and privatize $10 billion in state assets every year until 2014. Russia is also changing its policy to attract foreign investment. For the first time since the 1998 financial crisis Russia will turn to international banks and pension funds in the US and Europe to maintain financing for a whole range of activities- from modernizing the military to paying high public sector wages. Russia is planning the sale of a stake in state bank VTB. And shares in oil companies, hydroelectric dams and shipping lines are also expected to go on the market.
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Lexus, a Toyota Brand, Avoids Taint From Recalls

1 Links 2 Groups   
New York Times - 03.11.2010 Original article ›
Nick Bunkley, Nick, Bunkley
LyrArc Article Gist
Lexus sales overall are up 5% in 2010 compared with 2009 which is about the average for luxury brands. And Lexus residual values have held steady. This as the sales of Toyota cars are falling and residual values declining slightly. About 500,000 Lexus cars were recalled compared to 8 million Toyota cars. So does this mean that Lexus is unaffected especially with the highly publicized accident on aSanDiego Freway of aLexus ES350 with unintended acceleration? Sales of Lexus ES and IS series recalled for faulty accelerator pedal are down 6%, while sales of other Lexus models are up 12% compensating for the recalled Lexus models.
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In Ireland, a Picture of the Cost of Austerity

1 Groups   
New York Times - 06.28.2010 Original article ›
Liz Alderman, Liz, Alderman
LyrArc Article Gist
Unemployment is at 13% in Ireland. The economy shrank 7.1% in 2009. The budget showed adeficit of 14.3% in 2009, and debt is expected to reach 77% of GDP in 2010. Ireland is facing severe cuts and austerity measures, in its effort to cut the deficit to 3% of GDP by 2014. Nearly $37 billion is being used to support banks like Anglo-Irish. A former chief economist at the IMF says its a pathway that avoids default, but it has its own costs. An export revival that the government hopes will occur, will not reduce the jobless rate by much. And young Irish people are immigrating to other countries.
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U.S. Financial System Still at Risk, Says IMF

  
Wall Street Journal - 07.29.2010 Original article ›
Bob Davis, Bob, Davis, Ian Talley, Ian, Talley
LyrArc Article Gist
The IMF's own stress test of U.S. banks shows that the banks would need $76 billion to create the capital cushion needed. In particular regional and smaller banks have an exposure to commercial real estate loans. In an adverse scenario these banks would have to raise $8 to $13 billion. The IMF review pointed to the issue of coordinating action for the bank regulation, with the Fed, FDIC and state regulators needing to coordinate action. The CFTC and the SEC need to coordinate for regulating futures markets. The IMF's Christopher Towe says Congress failed to provide clear regulatory authority and left the system with overlapping authority.
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Stocks Face Dark Side of Gridlock in Capital

3 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 11.01.2010 Original article ›
E.S. Browning, E.S., Browning
LyrArc Article Gist
The Dow Jones Average in the US went up by 11.3% since August 26, 2010, in anticipation of the Fed's quantitative easing, and the Republican win in the House and a filibuster capable 41 seats in the Senate. But on the eve of the midterm election in the first week of November 2010, the mood is changing. There is considerable concern that the Dow Jones average may have gone too far. Experts question the advantages of gridlock in Washington, especially when strong government action may be necessary in a crisis. And there are questions on how effective the Fed can be this time when the interest rates are already near zero.
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Best Buy Swings to Loss on Heavy Charges; to Close 50 Stores

1 Links 3 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 03.29.2012 Original article ›
Mia Lamar, Mia, Lamar
LyrArc Article Gist
Best Buy electronics retail chain plans to close 50 big box stores in 2012 and open 100 mobile small format, stand alone stores. This is part of a strategy to reduce costs by $800 million by fiscal 2015. Total sales at stores open at least 14 months declined 2.4%. Best Buy competes with online retailers like Amazon.com and discounters such as WalMart. Best Buy's response was to increase online and mobile options for purchases and discounting efforts of its own. This has put pressure on its profits, with a loss in fiscal fourth quarter ending March 3, 2012, of $1.7 billion, which also reflects restructuring charges.
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France Moves to Make Labor More Flexible

2 Links 12 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 05.01.2012 Original article ›
William Horobin, William, Horobin, Gabriele Parussini, Gabriele, Parussini
LyrArc Article Gist
France's CFDT trade union says both Sarkozy and Hollande have shown agreement with a plan for workers to show flexibility in wages and benefits in return for preserving jobs. This comes at a time when France's trade deficit is widening. It was 69.6 billon euros in 2011. Hourly labor costs in France are 34.20 euros, 14% higher than in Germany, where similiar wage restraint was shown by the unions during the last decade to reduce high unemployment. It is 20% higher than the euro-zone average, according to Eurostat. Now France is looking to adopt some aspects of the German model to improve competitiveness and reduce unemployment.
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India Takes New Steps to Boost Sagging Rupee

6 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 05.11.2012 Original article ›
Sudeep Jain, Sudeep, Jain
LyrArc Article Gist
India's foreign exchange reserves of $295 billion cover about 7 months of imports. This is not enough in currency reserves for India's central bank to take actions to prevent a depreciation of the Indian currency, the rupee. The central bank, RBI, has taken other actions including giving local exporters 15 days to convert half their estimated $7 billion foreign exchange holdings into rupees. Analysts say the RBI is running out of policy options and is down to micromanaging the currency. India's trade deficit was at $13.4 billion in March 2012 with rising cost of importing oil and lower exports. The rupee is close to 54 rupees to the dollar.
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Peering Over J.P. Morgan's Hedges

1 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 05.18.2012 Original article ›
David Reilly, David, Reilly
LyrArc Article Gist
David Reilly points out that using the regulatory figures JP Morgan had exposure to Italy of $87.5 billion, to Spain of $57.5 billion, and an exposure of $390 billion for France, Germany and the Netherlands. This is as of Dec. 2011. This is higher than the netted figures given out by the bank. In his chairman's letter Dimon showed bank exposure to Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain of about $15 billion with potential loss in a bad situation of $3 billion. This is if portfolio hedges work. If for some reason they did not work as anticipated, the losses could be much higher.
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Greece Rules Out Massive Layoffs

7 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 06.22.2012 Original article ›
Nektaria Stamouli, Nektaria, Stamouli, Stelios Bouras, Stelios, Bouras, Costas Paris, Costas, Paris
LyrArc Article Gist
The new coalition government of prime minister, Antonis Samaras, will ask for a two year extension for meeting deficit targets from the March 2012 deal with the IMF, EC and ECB. The new coalition will also not make any large layoffs and only reduce the size of the public sector by attrition and retirements, a key condition of the Democratic Left partner in the coalition. This is one of the demands as part of the loan package to Greece. Since the beginning of the crisis the public sector has declined by 10% in Greece to 700,000. By 2015 the public sector is expected to lose another 150,000 workers by attrition.
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Coming Soon: Japan’s First Airliner in 50 Years

6 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 10.16.2014 Original article ›
Eric Pfanner, Eric, Pfanner
LyrArc Article Gist
Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. announces a test flight of the Mitsubishi Regional Jet for the second quarter of 2015. The plane seats 76-88 passengers and is designed for short haul flights. Deliveries would begin in 2017. This is Japan's effort to develop its aircraft industry. Mitsubishi has 375 orders. Bombardier of Canada and Embraer of Brazil dominate this segment of the market in a duopoly. Embraer is expected to retain its 61% of the market and Mitsubishi is likely to take 22% on the market for No. 2, with 4000 deliveries in the period 2017-2033, according to analysts. Shareholders in the company include Japan Development Bank and Toyota Motor.
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Blackstone to Buy General Electric’s Japan Property Portfolio

2 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 11.21.2014 Original article ›
Kosaku Narioka, Kosaku, Narioka
LyrArc Article Gist
Residential property investments are showing a consistent return in Japan. In 2013 residential property investments had a total return of income plus capital gains of 8.0% vs. 9.7% in the U.S., according to Investment Property Databank Ltd. In 2009 the worst year, returns were -3.8% in Japan vs. -16.3% in the U.S. Income gains support returns for residential investments. Investment is increasing with real estate investment up to 3.5 trillion yen in year to date Sept 2014, up 13% over the same period prior year. Blackstone is buying General Electric's residential real estate properties (about 10,000 non-luxury rental units in major cities), as trends show more people moving to cities.
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Missing Its Own Goals, Germany Renews Effort to Cut Carbon Emissions

8 Groups   
New York Times - 12.03.2014 Original article ›
Melissa Eddy, Melissa, Eddy
LyrArc Article Gist
Germany generated 45% of its energy from coal and 25% from renewable energy sources in 2013, according to AG Energiebilanzen. Chancellor Merkel, who as environment minister supported the Kyoto agreement in 1997, announced a plan to cut carbon dioxide emissions by an additional 62 to 78 million tons by 2020. The cuts will rest largely on improving energy efficiency, and with a third of the cuts in the power industry. With the drive to close 17 nuclear plants in Germany, the power industry has increasingly relied on coal generated energy. This is an effort to change this situation. It is supported by German public opinion.
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Shell Chief Sets Out a New Path

5 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 01.30.2014 Original article ›
Justin Scheck, Justin, Scheck
LyrArc Article Gist
Shell's new CEO in 2014, Ben Van Beurden, says Shell needs to "sharpen its performance" after a decade of efforts to boost production and heavy spending on long term projects. Shell's 4th quarter 2013 earnings showed profit was 71% less than the prior year as spending surged. Cash flow was exceeded by spending on capital projects, acquisitions and dividends. He told a news conference profit was "too low" and spending too high. Big projects had in his view "convoluted" things for setting targets for cash flow and production. He says Shell will suspend plans to drill in the Arctic and will not drill in Alaska.
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