ECONOMY & MARKETS

US futures decline as Korean crisis weighs

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange
Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to lower opening on Tuesday after North Korea shelled a South Korean island, triggering worries that the lingering tensions between the countries could worsen.

Sandisk upgraded to 'outperform' at RW Baird

An employee of a computer shop poses with a SanDisk compact flash memory card
Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Sandisk, to 'outperform' from 'neutral', citing expectations of stable gross margin for 2011 and significantly better-than-seasonal NAND pricing for first half of 2011.
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A man walks past newspaper headlines posted on a news stand on O'Connell street, Dublin, November 19, 2010. A financial aid plan to help Ireland cope with its battered banks will be unveiled next week, EU sources said on Friday, but experts warned a rescu

EU/IMF bailout for Ireland doesn't seem to be working

The massive EU and IMF bailout for Ireland doesn't seem to be working as the euro currency, European stocks, and Irish stocks gave back early gains and closed with losses. Irish bonds are still up for the day, but not by much.
Mexico's Finance Minister Cordero attends a news conference in Mexico City

Mexico's recovery slows down

Mexico’s economy expanded by 5.3 percent on an annualized basis, significantly below the 7.6 percent growth recorded in the second quarter, the country’s INEGI statistical office INEGI showed on M
Ford

Despite the hype surrounding GM, Ford is the better buy: Analyst

Despite the hugely successful initial public offering General Motors (NYSE: GM) underwent last week, the company still has numerous questions surrounding it, particularly its huge pension liabilities. As such, David Silver, an equity research analyst at Wall Street Strategies in New York, believes that Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is the better auto company and more attractive stock right now.
Novell

Attachmate To Buy Novell In $2.2B Deal

Attachmate Corp, an investment group owned by Francisco Partners, Golden Gate Capital and Thoma Bravo, said it will buy networking solutions company Novell, Inc. for about $2.2 billion.
A Tyson Foods product is seen in a publicity photo

Tyson Foods posts Q4 profit; Shares down as sales miss Street view

Tyson Foods, one of the largest US chicken producers, reported $213 million in its fourth-quarter profit on lower goodwill impairment charges. However, the company's shares were down about 3 percent in the pre-market hours as its sales came in below market expectations.
U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about the economy at the Cuyahoga Community College West Campus in Parma, Ohio, near Cleveland, September 8, 2010.

US economy to remain sluggish next year

Growth of the U.S economy is expected to remain sluggish next year as the nation suffers from high employment, high public debt, and rising commodity prices, says a report.
Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's party is poised to lose the upcoming Nov. 20 election, adding an extra element of uncertainty to the sovereign bond market

Focus on Spain after Irish bailout deal

An unwilling Ireland finally agreed to a bailout to help prolong eurozone's jolly ride to doom, and analysts see a good chance of Portugal following suit in the coming months. However, the bigger question is if Spain, eurozone's fourth largest economy, is well insulated against a Greece- and Ireland-style crisis.
Silver up 5 pct, gold down 1.1 pct in week to Nov 19

PRECIOUS ROUNDUP - Silver, palladium post weekly gains; gold, platinum down

In an eventful week, that passed through uncertainty about Ireland's response to a bailout offer, an unexpectedly higher Chinese inflation number and its policy response and largely mixed US data, investors remained cautious about the changing 'risk-friendliness' of commodities. In a mixed precious metals segment, silver rose 5 percent in the week and palladium was up by 4.4 pct while gold fell 1.1 percent and platinum dropped by 0.9 percent from previous Friday.
Didymium oxide, a combination of neodymium and praseodymium, two rare earth elements is shown

U.S., Japanese Officials Meet To Talk Rare Earths

U.S. and Japanese officials are meeting to discuss whether the U.S. can supply rare earths to Japan. But uncertainties surrounding the American reserves remain, as there are no active mines in the U.S.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

Stocks finish wild week with a modest gain

U.S. stocks finish a volatile week with modest gains on Friday, finishing flat for the week as a whole. In the absence of major economic data in the U.S., investors focused on moves by China to rein in their inflation, while Ireland continues to negotiate a bailout arrangement from the European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

US stocks fall in early trade

S&P 500 Index slid 5.63 points, or 0.49 percent, to trade at 1,190.71 at 09:50 a.m. EST. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 44.77 points, or 0.40 percent, to trade at 11,136.46. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.44 percent to trade at 2,503.47.
Shoppers checkout at a Target store in Virginia

Commodities rally a three-way boon to US economy

An Agricultural commodity price rally in the U.S. will help the wobbly recovery in three ways - by boosting inflation a tad and narrowing the worrying trade deficit by a whisker, while not hardening enough to snuff out the fledgling recovery.
China money rate tumbles as big banks unleash cash

China inflation to stay above target as food prices surge

A surge in food prices propelled Chinese consumer prices to a 25-month high in October, despite the government's efforts to control inflation. Food prices in the world’s second largest economy went up by 10.1 percent in October year-on-year.
People fill up job application forms at a job fair in Los Angeles, California, October 13, 2010.

Michigan University forecasts sluggish economic recovery

The University of Michigan forecasts the U.S. economic recovery to be sluggish in the near term due to the weak jobs market, deleveraging, belt-tightening within state and local governments, and the still-felt impact of the housing collapse.

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