Philip Chua Business Blog

Archive for July, 2009

Upbeat corporate earnings are giving stocks another burst of energy.

President Obama says he expects Friday’s report to show the economy contracted during the second quarter of the year but says the United States has “stepped away from the precipice.”

The number of newly laid-off workers filing first-time claims for jobless benefits rose last week, the government said, though the increase was mostly due to seasonal distortions.

More than 90 percent of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas saw their unemployment rates climb in June from the previous month.

Eastman Kodak moved to a second-quarter loss as the global economic downturn hurt sales of digital cameras and other photography products.

The economy is finally beginning to show signs of stabilizing in some areas of the country, bolstering hopes of a broader-based recovery this year.

Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket durable goods plunged in June by the largest amount in five months.

PROPERTY developers are enjoying the surge in interest from buyers but they do not believe that speculation has reached a stage where the Government needs to step in.

TIMELY ADVICE

‘It’s good as a reminder so that people do not over-buy, over-chew. Developers do not want irrational exuberance.’

Cushman and… more

ALTHOUGH the Straits Times Index rebounded 32.13 points to 2,636.19 yesterday, overall trading was less buoyant and more mixed than earlier in the week, probably due to Wall Street’s recent bouts of uncertainty and China’s slide, which was brought on by fears that the Chinese government might soon introduce measures to deflate the massive speculative bubble in stocks.
The STI, which has now risen … more