It took David Jeffrey more than a year to get back on his feet after losing his job at Sallie Mae. As of February, he is witness to the factory rebound that has boosted confidence among American men.
Japan’s quarterly central bank survey shows no improvement in business confidence from the previous quarter. The worse-than-expected result reflects a deteriorating outlook among medium and smaller manufacturers despite easing worries over the crisis in Europe.
The Bank of Japan’s quarterly “tankan,” released Monday, showed the main index for big manufacturers was at minus 4 for the January-March quarter, unchanged from the last quarter of 2011. Many analysts had forecast an improvement to minus 1 faxless pay day loans.
A negative reading indicates greater pessimism than optimism among those surveyed.
Data released last week showed weaker than expected factory production in February, underscoring the fragility of the economic recovery as growth in Asia slows.
Government data show Japan’s factory production fell in February in its first decline in three months, as demand for exports weakened.
The 1.2 percent decline in industrial output reported Friday was worse than expected.
The data show production was weaker in the transport equipment, electronics components and machinery industries. Output of cell phones, large passenger cars and liquid crystal devices fell.
Stock futures are falling as financial turmoil grips Spain and before a U.S. report that is expected to show a slight rise unemployment benefit applications.
Dow Jones industrial futures are down 26 points to 13,027 and the Standard & Poor’s 500 futures are down 3.3 points to 1,396.9. The Nasdaq composite futures are down 5.75 points to 2,762.25.
Protesters flooded the streets of Madrid on Thursday and there are clashes with police a day before massive spending cuts and tax hikes are expected to be revealed.
European markets are down with investors keeping an eye on events at home and in Asia, where Chinese economic indicators are compounding fears of a broader economic slowdown.
The U.S. Labor Department will release its latest unemployment claims numbers at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.
Bentley Motors Ltd. and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd. are preparing to be occupied by India
The U.S. economy needs to grow more quickly if it is to produce enough jobs to bring down the unemployment rate further, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Monday.
Bernanke said the recent decline in jobless rate, which dropped from 9.1 percent last summer to 8.3 percent in February, was “somewhat out of sync” with the rather modest pace of economic growth.
U.S. gross domestic product grew 3 percent in the fourth quarter, but is expected to have slowed to just below 2 percent in the first three months of this year.
“Further significant improvements in the unemployment rate will likely require a more rapid expansion of production and demand from consumers and businesses, a process that can be supported by continued accommodative policies,” Bernanke told a gathering of the National Association for Business Economics paydayloan.
Bernanke reiterated his concern about long-term unemployment, but argued against the notion that much of the problem is due to structural factors that monetary policy could not address.
“The continued weakness in aggregate demand is likely the predominant factor. Consequently, the Federal Reserve’s accommodative monetary policies, by providing support for demand and for the recovery, should help, over time, to reduce long-term unemployment as well,” he said.
Hong Kong picks its new chief executive today, after a campaign marked by personal scandals, public discontent over a widening wealth gap and protests for greater democracy.
A 1,193-member committee of billionaires, including Hong Kong
ST. LOUIS • A developer is pouring $30 million into renovating a Cupples Station building downtown, while in the same complex of 19th-century warehouses a similar structure continues to sit empty and in danger of collapse.
It’s a tale of different buildings and different owners with starkly different approaches. Both buildings are within a city historic district and are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Cupples 9, a seven-story warehouse built in 1894, had been empty for years when an affiliate of the Koman Group, a Creve Coeur-based developer, bought the building out of foreclosure last spring. Clayco Inc. is Koman’s general contractor to restore the building’s red brick exterior and renovate the interior of heavy Douglas fir beams and columns as modern loft-style offices.
Koman already has two Cupples 9 tenants: Osborn & Barr, an agriculture-focused marketing firm, and Mackey Mitchell Architects, a St. Louis design firm founded in 1968.
Mackey Mitchell announced this week that it will leave its longtime home near Union Station and by late this year take over about half the fifth floor at Cupples 9, which is a block west of Busch Stadium.
The firm, begun in 1968 by Gene Mackey, plans to lease about 11,000 square feet of Cupples 9 space, about 4,000 square feet fewer than what it occupies now at Power House, an office building just south of Union Station. Mackey Mitchell designed that building, where it has rented space for 24 years.
Dan Mitchell, the firm’s president, said Mackey Mitchell plans to retain all 45 employees when it moves Cupples 9, which has 12-foot ceilings, large windows and exposed brick walls. The firm is planning “a more linear” seating arrangement to enhance employee communication, creativity and collaboration, Mitchell said.
“We’ll have a kind of bench-style configuration with more community space or team space dispersed through the studio,” he said.
Mackey Mitchell chose Cupples 9 after examining numerous buildings downtown, in the Central West End and near St. Louis University before opting to remain downtown, said Mitchell, adding that the firm’s Power House lease expires next February.
Osborn & Barr, as Cupples 9’s anchor tenant, will occupy floors two through four.
Dan Farris, Koman’s senior investments manager, declined Thursday to discuss details of the Cupples 9 redevelopment. He said more information about the project will be announced in about two weeks.
A block west of Cupples 9 on Spruce Street is Cupples 7, which has experienced only decay since 2005, when developer McGowan/Walsh bought the building and announced plans to convert it to lofts and commercial space. The project never got off the ground.
Ballpark Lofts III LLC, the building’s current owner, applied last year for a demolition permit, which the city’s cultural resources officer, Betsy Bradley, denied. The city’s Preservation Board upheld Bradley’s decision. Pending in St. Louis Circuit Court is Ballpark Lofts’ appeal of the Preservation Board’s ruling. A hearing on the appeal is scheduled for Thursday.
Joining the appeal is Montgomery Bank, which lent Ballpark Lofts more than $1 million to buy Cupples 7. The loan is in default. The bank has an agreement with the St. Louis treasurer’s office, which would pay off the loan, then work out a payback agreement with Ballpark Lofts. Such a transaction would occur only if Cupples 7 is demolished first.
The treasurer owns a parking garage next to Cupples 7 and is concerned the garage would be damaged if the old warehouse collapses. Barricades the city put up around the building in September impedes access to the garage, the treasurer office’s lawyer has said.
Much of the building’s roof has collapsed and most of the interior is in ruins. A structural engineer hired by the owner told the Preservation Board last year the brick walls are unstable. Bracing the walls and “mothballing” the building for possible redevelopment later could cost $8 million to $10 million, officials said.
Osborn & Barr’s move to Cupples 9 will result in a two-floor vacancy at Cupples 8, another of the old warehouses that McGowan/Walsh renovated as offices and condos.
U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne will need to claw back about 5 billion pounds ($8 billion) a year, largely from the wealthy, to fund giveaways he
With more money sitting in their bank account than some companies are worth, Silicon Valley giant Apple finally decided it was time to pay a dividend.
Tim Cook, CEO of the maker of iPhones, iPads, iPods and Mac computers announced Monday the company would be using some of its $98 billion cash on hand to pay out a dividend for the first time since 1995, as well as buy back stock.
In an industry where paying out a dividend is sometimes seen as a sign that a company is past its innovative best, Cook insisted the $2.65 quarterly dividend will still leave plenty of cash for the company to develop new products, as well as giving it a war-chest to use for takeover opportunities.
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