Financial Freedom. Best business news.

Stock markets are up sharply since March. The recent batch of economic data has not looked as dire as feared. The U.S. Federal Reserve is finding fewer takers for its loan auctions. A fine-art sale drew a record $86 million price for a Francis Bacon painting.

So is the U.S. recession off? So far, so good — or at least not so bad. However, there are still quite a few dark clouds on the horizon.

“Although GDP has been stagnant, the economy does not look to have slipped into an outright contraction during the first half of the year,” said Bruce Kasman, chief economist with JPMorgan in New York.

While that is not exactly a ringing endorsement, it is certainly a vast improvement from the bleak projections that were the norm just a few weeks ago, when markets were braced for economic disaster.

With euro zone growth coming in stronger than expected for the first quarter and emerging markets showing resilience to the slowdown in the developed world, the financial doom and gloom has given way to a renewed sense of optimism.

“The general picture that emerges is that while global growth is clearly slowing, so far it has not slowed as dramatically as many had expected,” said Goldman Sachs global economist Peter Berezin.

“What will ultimately matter most is whether the better-than-expected growth momentum in the first quarter persists into the rest of the year quick payday loan. Here, the evidence is more worrisome,” he added, pointing to the still-strained U.S. housing market, sluggish consumer demand and cautious spending on the part of businesses.

HIGH ON THE HOG 

Read more

Developers PN Hoffman Inc. and Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse impressed members of the D.C. Council with their plans for redeveloping the Southwest waterfront Friday, but the District's chief financial officer expressed concerns about the impact of a proposed $198 million subsidy on the city's debt level.

Monty Hoffman, chief executive officer of D.C.-based PN Hoffman, told the Finance Committee that the $1.5 billion project will create 770 housing units, 700,000 square feet of offices, three hotels, 280,000 square feet of retail and 150,000 square feet of cultural attractions, as well as parks and four new piers. He said the project needs $198 million in tax increment financing and payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, to pay for utilities, roads, parks, a new bulkhead and other infrastructure.

Deputy Mayor Neil Albert has agreed to the subsidy, and council members Jack Evans, D-Ward 2, Tommy Wells, D-Ward 6 and Marion Barry, D-Ward 8 gave their support.

Wells, whose ward includes Southwest, called it a "once-in-a-lifetime type of project" that he hoped would bring much needed amenities to the neighborhood, create a center for public transportation and be a model for environmentally friendly development.The District needs to fund development of the area "and not leave it to the next generation," he said.

But John Ross, a senior adviser to District CFO Natwar Gandhi, said there is no way to know what level of subsidy the project needs until the plans are more advanced payday loan online. The Hoffman-Struever team agreed not to receive public money until after certain portions of construction are completed, but even so, D.C. would be investing about $95 million in land value upfront, Ross cautioned. "We already are a vested partner from the get-go on this."

Ross also reiterated a concern he raised about the District's overall debt level when Mayor Adrian Fenty agreed to the subsidy. Should D.C. issue the $198 million Southwest waterfront subsidy and an additional $40 million or so for the O Street Market project by Roadside Development LLC, it will have very little wiggle room for future projects, Ross said. "We're getting real close to what we can comfortably support."

Evans asked briefly about the whether the development team would meet a required 20 percent ownership by small and local businesses. Desa Sealy Ruffin, president of Gotham Development — one of the small business investors — said she was confident that it would. Councilman Kwame Brown, D-at large, who has repeatedly expressed concern about small business investment in the project, appeared only briefly and asked no questions.

A vote on the subsidy could come before the council enters summer recess in July. Construction on the Southwest waterfront could start in the summer of 2010 and be finished by 2017.

Source

ABX Holdings Inc.’s recently acquired Cargo Holdings International Inc. gave its revenues a lift during the first quarter, but costs to acquire the company took earnings down a notch.

ABX posted net income of $3.8 million, or 6 cents per share, compared to $4.3 million, or 7 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenues grew to $382 million from $288 million.

The Cargo Holdings International business, which includes two airlines and a leasing company, contributed about 80 percent of the year over year increase in ABX’s revenues, the company said in a news release fastcash.

A $4.6 million jump in net interest expense from the financing of the acquisitions and additional aircraft was responsible for the earnings decline, ABX said.

ABX (NASDAQ: ABXA) is a cargo airline company headquartered in Wilmington.

Source

The Bank of Japan is focusing on the risk that the global slowdown and financial-market turbulence will hurt the economy's longest postwar expansion, Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said.

“Right now we must focus our attention on the downside risks'' to the economy, Shirakawa said today in a speech at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo. It's “not appropriate to predetermine the future policy direction'' because “uncertainty about the economic outlook is high,'' he said.

The central bank last month cut its growth forecast and raised its inflation estimate in a report that omitted a call for increasing interest rates for the first time in two years. Shirakawa said the economy will probably pick up after slowing “for some time'' and keeping interest rates “extremely low'' could prompt companies and consumers to make excessive investments and misallocate resources.

“Governor Shirakawa probably intends to hold the key overnight lending rate at 0.5 percent through the current fiscal year, waiting for the economy's uncertainty to fade, and then raise it in the middle of the following year,'' said Hideo Kumano, a former central bank official and now chief economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute.

Investors see a 34 percent chance of a rate increase by December, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. calculations using overnight interest-rate swaps.

Slower Growth

The world's second-largest economy will grow 1.5 percent in the year ending March 2009, less than the October projection of 2.1 percent, the central bank said in the semi-annual outlook published on April 30.

“We're facing a variety of risks right now,'' Shirakawa said payday loans. “We don't have any predetermined direction for policy now, either upside or downside,'' he added, echoing language used in the outlook. He said the so-called virtuous cycle of higher production feeding into income and spending has been weakening.

Japan's economy probably grew an annualized 2.5 percent in the first quarter as demand from emerging markets made up for a decline in exports to the U.S., according to the median estimate of 32 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

That would be slower than the 3.5 percent expansion in the final three months of 2007, though still faster than the potential growth rate, which the bank estimates at between 1.5 percent and 2 percent. Potential growth is the pace achievable when most of the country's labor and capacity is used.

`Extremely Low'

“The central bank must bear in mind that real interest rates are currently near zero, which is extremely low,'' the governor said. “Therefore the level of interest rates needs to be adjusted'' as the economy extends its expansion under stable prices, he said.

Core consumer prices will rise 1.1 percent this fiscal year, faster than the 0.4 percent earlier estimated, the central bank said in the outlook. Board members said core prices, which exclude fresh food, won't deviate much from the zero to 2 percent range at which they consider them to be stable.

Core prices rose 1.2 percent in March from a year earlier, the fastest pace in a decade, driven by oil and food. Crude oil hit a record of $126.27 a barrel on May 9.

Source

Hawaii’s oldest food distribution company, Y. Hata, announced Friday that CEO and President Laurence Vogel is retiring.

Russell Hata, son of Frank Hata and grandson of founder Yoichi Hata, has been named chairman of the board, replacing Frank Hata, and interim president and CEO payday advance.

The company said it will conduct a search for a new top executive.

Russell Hata previously served as managing director.

Source

Japan's economy may slow as cooling export growth prompts companies to cut output, the government's broadest outlook indicator showed.

The leading index, derived from 12 statistics including production and stock prices, fell to 20 percent in March from 54.5 the previous month, signaling growth will slow over the next two quarters, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo. The index has been below 50 in nine of the past 12 months.

Cooling demand for Japanese goods overseas prompted companies to cut production at the fastest pace in five years in March. Toyota Motor Corp., the world's second-largest automaker, yesterday posted its first quarterly profit drop in almost three years because of a stronger yen and a U.S. sales slump.

“Production is increasingly becoming a cause of concern for Japan's economy,'' said Junko Nishioka, a senior economist at ABN Amro Securities in Tokyo. “We're going to enter a slowdown as the U.S. slowdown hurts foreign demand.''

Slumps in output have coincided with Japan's three recessions since 1991.

Sentiment among the country's largest manufacturers fell to its lowest level in four years in March as higher oil prices and the yen's 8 percent gain against the dollar this year ate into profits http://abc-cashadvance.com.

“Japan is at a crucial point in terms of whether it will fall into a recession or not,'' Yoshiki Shinke, a senior economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute in Tokyo. “How much exports will slow because of a U.S. slowdown and how much that will affect factory output is key.''

Bearing the Burden

Crude oil touched a record $124.61 yesterday, indicating companies and consumers will have to keep bearing the burden of higher energy costs in coming months. Japan's regular gasoline prices set a record high this week, according to the Oil Information Center.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than a half of the economy, is unlikely to spur economic growth and compensate for the manufacturing slump because higher energy costs are discouraging spending.

The coincident index fell to 33.3 percent in March from 70 in February, today's report showed.

Source

Portland General Electric Co. on Tuesday said it received approval from the Oregon Public Utility Commission to install more than 850,000 so-called "smart meters" over the next two years.

While typical mechanical meters measure electricity use and must be read manually, smart meters' technology will provide PGE (NYSE: POR) with two-way communications that allow for such things as remote activation and deactivation for customers moving their home or business.

"We're pleased the OPUC agreed that smart meters deliver long-term benefits for our customers," Peggy Fowler, CEO and president of PGE, said in a news release. "This technology is a key part of the foundation we're laying to meet Oregon's future energy needs."

PGE said the smart meters also allow for quicker and more accurate outage and restoration response, as well as lower labor costs due to the use of wireless data transfer rather than manual meter reading.

Fowler, in the news release, said eliminating the need for manual meter reading will allow PGE to take 114 cars and trucks off the road, saving about 80,000 gallons of gas per year and reducing emissions of about 1.4 million pounds of carbon dioxide http://easy-quick-payday-loans.com.

The new system is also expected to support the future development of demand response and direct load control programs that will improve energy efficiency and reduce the need for new power plants.

And eventually, the meters will allow customers to access information on their daily energy use via the Internet.

PGE expects the capital costs for the project to be between $130-135 million, with annual operating savings projected to be $18 million as of 2011, the first full year of operation of the new system.

PGE signed contracts in September to purchase and install the new meters. Installation will begin with systems testing this summer, which should be completed in late 2008. The utility will then proceed with large-scale installation of the new meters in 2009 and 2010.

Beginning June 1, the smart meter project costs will be reflected in customers' bills, resulting in an increase of less than 1 percent.

Source

Downtown developers Hank Cowles and Barbara Cowles cleared the last hurdles to reopen The Corkscrew at 511 S. Front.

The Center City Development Corp. board voted unanimously to subordinate its loan to the Cowleses, who own the building where the liquor and wine store is locating, to the Bank of Bartlett, which is also extending a loan.

The CCDC's $35,500 loan originated in March 2000.

The couple still owes $22,000 on that loan.

Bank of Bartlett is extending them $250,000, contingent on the CCDC subordinating its loan freecreditscore.

This clears the couple to open The Corkscrew later this week in one bay of the building.

The Blue Monkey is set to open in the remaining two bays, which formerly held Blue Sky Couriers and Alice's Urban Market.

aashby@bizjournals.com | 259-1732

Source

AirTran Airways' April traffic jumped 5.7 percent to more than 1.5 billion revenue passenger miles based on a 9.9 percent increase in capacity.

However, the number of passengers the subsidiary of Orlando, Fla.-based AirTran Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AAI) flew last month was down 0.4 percent to 1,988,265.

"As expected, April load factors were impacted by the earlier Easter and Passover holidays," said Kevin Healy, senior vice president of marketing and planning for AirTran Airways free credit report without a credit card. "Summer demand continues to book very well."

AirTran hubs at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The low fare carrier offers more than 700 flights to 58 destinations in the United States.

Source

The former CEO of RightStar Hawaii Management, the one-time operator of cemeteries and funeral homes on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island, was arrested in Oregon and will be returned to Hawaii.

Attorney General Mark Bennett announced Wednesday that John Dooley had been arrested by the Polk County Sheriff's Office in Oregon on April 27 on a grand jury bench warrant that was issued in Honolulu on Dec. 12, 2006. The bench warrant was based on an indictment that accuses Dooley of theft in the first degree, a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine, Bennett said.

Dooley allegedly stole money from Dec. 29, 2003 through Jan. 6, 2004 that belonged to a number of customers of his RightStar Corp., which was formed by Dooley in 2001 and which took over several Hawaii cemeteries and funeral homes in bankruptcy cash til payday loan.

They included the Valley of the Temples on Oahu, Homelani and Kona Memorial Parks on the Big Island and Maui Memorial Park.

A civil and criminal investigation was launched in 2004, when financial troubles at those facilities were revealed.

Dooley was fired from RightStar in February 2005.

Bennett said the memorial parks are now under the supervision of the state.

Source