The outlook for hiring is improving as U.S. businesses continue to report growing demand and increased profitability, according to a survey of leading economists.
In its October industry survey, the National Association of Business Economics said Monday that employment conditions improved in the third quarter to the highest level since the start of the 2008-2009 recession.
Looking ahead, expectations for hiring over the next 6 months rose to the highest level since 2006, according to the survey.
The survey, based on responses from 74 NABE members, also showed that industry demand, corporate profits, business costs and capital spending all strengthened in the third quarter from the second quarter and last year.
William Strauss, an economist at Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, said in a statement that the survey "confirms that the U.S. recovery from the Great Recession continues, with business conditions improving."
Despite the positive developments, the recovery is still expected to be slow.
A little over half of the economists in the October survey expect gross domestic product, the broadest measure of activity, to expand by more than 2% this year, down from 67% in July.
While the overall employment picture appears to be getting better, the job market is expected to remain under pressure into next year.
Earlier this month, NABE economists forecast the unemployment rate to rise to 9.7% this year, and then fall to 9.2% by the end of 2011. Unemployment in the United States currently stands at 9.6%.
Still, the October survey showed the percent of respondents reporting a decline in employment fell to 12%, a large improvement from the 31% reporting declines a year earlier.
The survey also found that profits at U.S. companies are increasingly being driven by sales in overseas markets, suggesting the weak dollar continues to be a boon for exports.
According to the survey, more than half of respondents indicated that some portion of their firm’s sales came from operations outside the United States, while 16% said that over half of their sales came from foreign sources.
Meanwhile, a majority of respondents believe current regulatory policies and federal taxes will be a drag on business next year. However, they also expect the Federal Reserve’s move toward more easy monetary policy will support business in 2011.
The private sector is still struggling to adapt to changes in the regulatory landscape after President Obama signed a sweeping financial reform bill into law earlier this year. In addition, Congress has yet to decide the fate of tax cuts that are set to expire at the end of this year.
At the same time, the U.S. central bank is widely expected to announce additional stimulus measures next month. Fed officials, including chairman Ben Bernanke, have signaled recently that the bank is prepared to pump more money into the economy by purchasing Treasuries.
Yahoo needed a blowout quarter to silence its critics, and this wasn’t it.
Yahoo posted third-quarter earnings Tuesday that topped Wall Street expectations, but sales just missed forecasts — a result sure to disappoint investors hoping CEO Carol Bartz would pull a rabbit out of her hat.
The company said its net income for the third quarter rose 113% from last year, to $396 million. Excluding one-time gains related to selling companies — an Alibaba.com stake last year, and HotJobs earlier this year — Yahoo earned 17 cents a share in its latest quarter, up from 10 cents a year earlier.
Excluding traffic acquisition costs — revenue shared with partners — Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) had sales of $1.12 billion. That just missed forecasts from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who expected $1.13 billion.
Shares fell almost 3% in after-hours trading.
The aging Internet portal has struggled to reinvent itself as it falls behind its rivals and loses ground in major areas like display advertising. Yahoo shares are down more than 6% this year, sparking takeover rumors.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that fellow struggling Internet icon AOL was in early-stage talks with buyout firms about making a joint bid for Yahoo. But on Thursday, a New York Times report said a potential deal was "pie-in-the-sky." Fortune cast doubt on the math, pointing out that few private-equity firms have funds big enough to devour Yahoo.
On a post-earnings conference call with analysts, Bartz shot down questions about the buyout rumors: "As tempting as it is to tell you what I really think, you know I can’t comment."
Bartz, who replaced Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang in January 2009, has said she wants to streamline the company and refocus it around content.
But critics have grown louder as the Yahoo continues to languish.
Yahoo has lost market share in display advertising — once its biggest stronghold — to rivals Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) and Facebook. In the third quarter, display advertising on Yahoo’s owned and operated sites grew 17% compared with last year. But those gains were partially offset by a 7% drop in search advertising revenue.
Bartz took a defensive tone with analysts, starting off the conference call with a defense of her tenure.
"We stepped back and took a good look at the company … and we realized we had to make substantial changes," she said of the steps taken during her 21-month tenure.
Yahoo is focused on "mobile, local and social" ventures, Bartz said, citing a soon-to-be-unveiled Yahoo Mail system that will integrate photos and social networking sites like Twitter.
Yahoo has bought back more than 7% of its stock so far in 2010 because "we recognize the tremendous value of our assets," Bartz said.
The Association of Commerce and Industry of New Mexico has named its VIVA Awards winners for 2010.
VIVA stands for vision, investment, vitality and action. The awards recognize New Mexico businesses that demonstrate their unique vision or corporate philosophy, as well as their investment in company employees and the community, their vitality through the organization’s growth or financial strength and their action to make New Mexico a better place to live.
ACI will hold an awards luncheon Oct. 27 at the Embassy Suites in Albuquerque. Prior to the luncheon, there will be a seminar on campaign finance law from 9 to 11 a.m. The seminar cost is $50 for members and $75 for nonmembers. The luncheon costs $50 per person. More information is at the ACI website.
The winner for the state’s southeast region is TS & S Eateries, dba Taco Box, in Clovis. Tom Martin is the owner and has three locations. The southwest regional winner is Las Cruces Toyota, owned by Paul and Susan Vescovo. They have been in business since 1982 and support women’s volleyball at New Mexico State University, as well as cancer research, homeless families and downtown revitalization efforts.
The northwest area winner is the Three Rivers Brewing Co. in Farmington, owned by Bob and Cindy Beckley and John Silva. The restaurant and brewery opened in 1997 and was expanded in 1999. It is housed in a historical building in downtown Farmington that once housed the Farmington Drug Store and the Farmington Times-Hustler newspaper.
La Jicarita Telephone Co-Op in Mora won the VIVA award for the northeast region. It offers local and long distance service as well as Internet service through its subsidiary, Northern New Mexico Telecom.
The central region winners are The Bell Group and Ethicon Endo-Surgery, both in Albuquerque. Ethicon is a division of Johnson & Johnson. The surgical device manufacturing firm employs about 600.
The Bell Group is a jewelry manufacturer and started more than 60 years ago. The company also co-founded a nonprofit event called The Santa Fe Symposium, which provides a forum for jewelers to gather and share information on managing their businesses more successfully.
Bank of America is halting foreclosure sales in all 50 states as part of a widening investigation into flaws in the process, the company announced Friday.
The announcement came a week after the nation’s largest bank said it was freezing home foreclosures in 23 states where foreclosures must be approved by the courts.
The bank said the foreclosure process on delinquent borrowers will continue, but it will not proceed to judgment or a foreclosure sale.
"We haven’t found any problems in the foreclosure process," Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) President and CEO Brian Moynihan said in an appearance before the National Press Club in Washington. "What we are trying to do is clear the air, and say ‘We will go back and check our work one more time.’ "
The review process is likely to last a few weeks, Moynihan said.
Bank of America is not the only bank to freeze foreclosures.
PNC Financial Services Group also suspended sales of foreclosed homes on Friday, for a term of 30 days, according to media reports.
Frederick Solomon, a spokesman for PNC, declined to comment beyond saying that "PNC is reviewing its mortgage servicing procedures to make sure they comply with applicable legal requirements."
JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) announced last week that it will also halt proceedings for about 56,000 homeowners after learning that its employees may have approved foreclosures without personally reviewing loan files.
JPMorgan Chase had no comment on Friday’s announcement by Bank of America.
Ally Financial, previously known as GMAC, the finance arm of General Motors, has also paused foreclosures in the 23 states.
However, Citigroup said it is making no changes in its foreclosure procedures. "At this point, we have no reason to believe our employees haven’t been following our procedures, so we do not believe a suspension is necessary," spokesman Mark Rodgers said in an e-mailed statement.
State attorneys general have stepped up pressure on banks in recent days after it was revealed that some bank employees had signed foreclosure affidavits without verifying that the documents were accurate, a process now known as "robo-signing."
Ohio’s attorney general has filed a lawsuit against Ally Financial and its subsidiary GMAC Mortgage for allegedly submitting fraudulent documents in hundreds of foreclosure cases across the state.
Ally declined to comment Friday when asked if they would follow Bank of America and expand their freeze.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, called on major mortgage servicers to consider halting foreclosures in all fifty states in a statement released Friday.
"It is only fair to Nevada home owners to suspend foreclosures until a thorough review of foreclosure processes is completed and home owners can be assured that their documents are being analyzed properly," said Reid.
Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, announced Friday that he will hold a hearing to investigate allegations of improper mortgage servicing and foreclosure processing on Nov. 16, the day after the Senate returns from recess.
On Thursday, the White House said that President Obama won’t sign a bill that could have made it easier for courts to clear foreclosures. The bill would have required federal and state courts to recognize documents that were notarized in other states.
Long-time Northwest Pipe Co. President Brian Dunham resigned from the company Tuesday, more than six months after he stepped down as CEO amid a corporate accounting investigation.
The news was announced Thursday in a filing with the federal Securities & Exchange Commission.
The Vancouver, Wash.-based maker of large diameter pipe (NASDAQ: NWPX) in the past year has faced a probe by the SEC, class-action lawsuits from shareholders, and multiple delisting warnings from the Nasdaq exchange related to internal accounting practices.
Northwest Pipe has not filed a quarterly statement since August 2009 due to an ongoing internal probe, focused specifically on how the company has recognized revenue on its earnings reports. It’s now delinquent on three quarterly reports and its annual report.
In late July, the company said it would restate earnings going back to fiscal year 2006 because of a “material error” in its accounting practice that caused it to overstate earnings by as much as $47 million.
The company said it recognized revenue too quickly on steel pipe projects. The eventual adjustments to its financial statements will have no impact on its sales or profit levels over time, but the restatements will delay the recognition of previously reported sales and income.
Northwest Pipe was led by Dunham throughout the years in question.
Dunham joined Northwest Pipe in 1990 as chief financial officer after nine years with independent accounting firm Coopers & Lybrand LLP.
He joined the company’s board five years later, was elected president in 1998 and appointed as CEO in January 2001.
Dunham stepped down from the CEO position at the end of March, retaining his position as president and board member while focusing on the company’s day-to-day operations.
He was replaced as CEO by Richard A. Roman, a Northwest Pipe board member since 2003 and accounting expert. The company’s board on Tueseday elected to pass Dunham’s president tital to Roman as well.
According to the SEC filing, Dunham’s severance agreement will pay him an amount equal to his $570,000 base salary over the next 12 months. He has also agreed to serve as a consultant to the company when needed over the same time frame.
The company will also pay Dunham the first 12 months of premiums to continue Dunham’s health insurance coverage.
Quiznos said Tuesday it was promoting its president, Greg MacDonald, to CEO, succeeding company founder Rick Schaden.
Schaden, a large shareholder, will remain chairman of the Denver sandwich-shop franchiser but is stepping down as CEO "as he pursues new entrepreneurial and philanthropic endeavors," Quiznos said in a statement.
MacDonald has been with Quiznos since 1998, starting in senior development and marketing posts. He was named president of Quiznos Canada in 2005 and president of Quiznos worldwide in June 2009.
"Greg brings unparalleled brand and industry knowledge to this role as well as a targeted focus on company success through exemplary operations," Schaden said in a statement. "Greg has the support of Quiznos' board, shareholders and franchise owners payday loan lenders. We are confident in his ability to execute a sound strategy for even greater company success."
Schaden, who helped build the privately held chain from 18 stores in 1991 to nearly 4,000 now, returned as Quiznos CEO in February 2009, replacing Dave Deno, who resigned after less than five months in the post.
The Quiznos parent company is officially known as QIP Holder LLC.
The Quiznos news follows Monday's CEO change at another Denver-area food chain, Boston Market Corp., its third since 2007. George Michel succeeded F. Lane Cardwell at the helm of Golden-based Boston Market.
Reed Smith LLP is in early merger discussions with Dallas-based law firm Thompson & Knight, both firms confirmed Friday.
"We are in preliminary merger discussions with Texas-based Thompson & Knight," said Reed Smith Managing Partner Greg Jordan via e-mail. “The discussions are preliminary and no final agreement or partner vote has been reached or taken.”
Reed Smith is Pittsburgh’s second-largest law firm and has more than 1,500 lawyers, according to the Pittsburgh Business Times’ list of Largest Pittsburgh-Area Law Firms.
Thompson & Knight has about 350 lawyers. It has a focus on the energy industry, including oil and gas, Jordan said.
Becky Jackson, chief client services officer at Thompson & Knight, offered the following statement via e-mail:
“In today’s legal environment, Thompson & Knight’s historical presence in Texas and our outstanding energy expertise are sought after by firms. For several years, we have regularly received inquiries regarding possible mergers. We have had preliminary conversations with Reed Smith, and they are obviously a great firm, but it is premature to characterize these discussions in any detail.”
Bay State sales of single-family homes in August dropped to their lowest level in more than two decades, according to the latest report by The Warren Group.
A total of 3,659 single-family homes were sold in Massachusetts in August, the first time August sales fell below 4,000 since The Warren Group began keeping track in 1987.
Last month’s figures also represent an 18.5 percent drop from 4,492 sales in August 2009 and the second consecutive month of year-over-year sales declines.
Sales of single-family homes edged up from a month ago, when there were 3,590 sales of single-family homes. Year-to-date sales climbed 9.35 percent to 28,567, up from 26,124 a year ago.
Prices, on the other hand, saw a modest increase guaranteed payday loans.
The median price of single-family homes crept up 3.9 percent to $315,000 in August, up from $303,000 a year earlier. Median prices of single-family homes in Massachusetts dropped from a month ago, when the median price was $320,000, The Warren Group reported.
August marked the third straight month of the year that the median price exceeded $300,000, according to The Warren Group.
Condo sales also dropped in August, plummeting 23.3 percent from a year earlier. However, the median selling price was up 8.5 percent, according to the Warren Group.
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