Spanish stocks dropped sharply early Friday morning after ratings agency Moody’s downgraded its credit score of 16 Spanish banks in the latest blow to the troubled financial sector.
The Ibex 35 index was off more than 2 points shortly after trading began Friday. Banks were among the biggest losers.
Moody’s acted late Thursday, citing banks’ load of non-performing loans amid a recession-plagued economy, their creditworthiness and the government’s sovereign debt problems, among other woes.
Those punished included Banco Santander, SA, the eurozone’s largest bank by market capitalization.
Shares in Bankia SA, a recently nationalized bank, took a roller coaster ride Thursday, ending up sharply lower on reports depositors pulled out a (EURO)1 billion in a week.
On the bond market the interest rate on 10-year bonds was unchanged at 6.25 percent.
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Avon shares plunged 14 percent in premarket trading Tuesday after Coty dropped its $10.7 billion takeover bid for the cosmetics company.
Coty Inc., a privately held rival, had raised its original offer last week by about 6.5 percent, but set a deadline of Monday for the company to accept the bid.
Avon asked for more time to consider the bid over the weekend, but it appears that Coty would have not of it. It slammed that door shut on the troubled company Monday and investors are following suite even before the markets open Tuesday in some heavy trading.
If the current prices hold, Avon shares will be worth less than when Coty made its original offer back in April. Shares fell $3.06 to $17.90.
The big question now is what comes next for Avon?
The company is embroiled in a bribery scandal that led to the ouster of its vice chairman in January personal business card. The investigation, which initially involved executives in Asia, has spread and late last year federal regulators began looking into the New York company’s dealings with financial analysts.
Earlier this month, under the leadership of recently arrived CEO, Sherilyn McCoy, Avon reported that its first-quarter profit tumbled 82 percent, even worse that Wall Street had feared.
That has become the norm. Profits have been shrinking for three years and Avon is suffering even in places it had seen as strongholds.
Avon Products Inc. holds its shareholders meeting in two weeks.
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The U.S. trade deficit rose in March at the fastest rate in 10 months. A rise in consumer goods lifted imports to a record level, outpacing a solid gain in U.S. exports.
The Commerce Department says the trade deficit widened to $51.8 billion in March, up from $45.4 billion in February. Imports rose 5.2 percent to a record $238.6 billion, reflecting more foreign oil, autos, cell phones and clothes.
Exports increased 2.9 percent to $186 instant payday loan.8 billion. Sales to Europe reached an all-time high despite the region’s debt crisis.
Economists caution that export growth, a bright spot for the U.S. economy, could slow in coming months if more European countries fall into recession.
Ralcorp Holdings will restate its full-year 2011 and first quarter 2012 earnings related to an impairment charge from the spin-off of its Post brand cereal business that was understated.
St. Louis-based Ralcorp said today that a previously disclosed $364.8 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge related to the Post spin-off was understated by about $54 million that should have been reflected in its fourth quarter 2011 earnings report. The Post cereal business was spun off as a separate company effective Feb. 3.
Ralcorp said it is delaying the release of its second quarter 2012 earnings, which was set for May 8 payday loans in one hour. The company’s second quarter results will be released instead on May 15, and the company will hold a conference call on May 16 to discuss the results.
Ralcorp’s private label foods include cereal, pasta, crackers, cookies, frozen biscuits and other frozen bread products.
Time Warner Inc. said Wednesday that its first-quarter earnings fell 11 percent, but adjusted income beat Wall Street’s expectations on the strengths of the company’s television and movie studio businesses.
Time Warner had net income of $583 million in the first three months of the year, compared with $653 million a year earlier. Both translated to 59 cents a share because the company now has fewer shares outstanding.
Excluding one-time factors, including charges related to a decision to shut down a TV network in India, Time Warner had adjusted income of 67 cents a share. That’s better than the 64 cents expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet. The New York-based company’s adjusted income a year ago was 58 cents.
Revenue grew 4 percent to $7 billion, ahead of expectations of $6.82 billion.
Time Warner’s cable TV networks, which include CNN, TBS, TNT and HBO, saw revenue grow 3 percent to $3.6 billion. The company benefited from strong ad rates, better timing of the March Madness basketball games and higher fees collected from U cheap credit report.S. cable and satellite TV distributors to carry the channels. That was offset partly by a decrease in content revenue; last year’s quarter got a boost from licensing HBO’s “Sex and the City” to other cable outlets in the U.S.
At the Warner Bros. movie studio, a stronger slate at the box office contributed to a 7 percent revenue increase to $2.8 billion. Big performers included “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” and “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.” The division also benefited from higher licensing revenue of TV shows and the video-on-demand availability of a television series, but revenue from DVDs and other home entertainment sales fell.
Revenue at the Time Inc. magazine division fell 3 percent to $773 million. Advertising and subscription revenue both declined. Weak sales at newsstands worldwide were offset partly by higher sales of U.S. subscriptions.
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Shares of H&R Block tumbled 16% in premarket trading Thursday after the tax prep company announced significant staff cuts and office closings, and projected weaker-than-expected earnings.
The company also announced a series of changes in its top executive ranks in its after-hours statement Wednesday, including that it is looking for a new chief financial officer, and that the president of its retail tax services is leaving the company effective April 30.
Shares tumbled $2.74 to $14 ahead of the market open.
The company said it will cut about 350 full-time positions throughout its Kansas City headquarters and nationwide field organization, and close about 200 company-owned offices, which will result in a drop in seasonal temporary employment Payday Loan for Bad Credit.
The moves are expected to save the company of $85 million to $100 million a year. It will take a $30 million charge in the quarter associated with the staff reductions.
H&R Block () also expects full-year earnings of $1.09 to $1.15 a share, well below the forecasted earnings of $1.39 a share.
Senate Republicans are trying an unusual tactic to nullify new labor regulations that would speed up the time frame for unions to hold workplace elections.
The Senate will vote Tuesday on a rarely invoked measure, known as a resolution of disapproval, to overturn rules approved last year by the National Labor Relations Board.
Though the measure has little chance of passage _ it also faces a White House veto threat _ the vote forces Democrats in tough elections to take a stand on rules that have won praise from unions and sharp rebukes from business groups.
The rules simplify procedures and reduce legal delays that can hold up union elections after employees at a work site gather enough signatures to hold a unionization vote. They are set to take effect on April 30.
Unions call the changes a modest fix that would limit corporate stalling tactics, where litigation can delay elections while workers are can be subject to harassment, threats and even illegal firing.
During debate Monday, Republicans claimed the new rules would lead to “ambush” elections that barely leave company managers enough time to respond or counsel against forming a union.
“The NLRB has chosen to impose new rules to aid big labor at the expense of employees, small business employers and the jobs they would create,” said Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, top Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, called the vote “the latest chapter in an unprecedented Republican assault on unions.” Harkin, who chairs the Senate committee overseeing labor, said employers “have ample opportunity to express their views” on unions.
Business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers have designated the vote a “key vote” _ used to score members of Congress each year on their records. The AFL-CIO has also aggressively lobbied lawmakers to vote against the measure.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said she has received pledges worth about $320 billion so far in her campaign for a bigger reserve to combat threats to global growth.
Goldman Sachs more than doubled its first-quarter profits and announced plans to raise its dividend Tuesday.
The strong results masked other problems, including a 16 percent decline in revenue. To make up for that, and to propel earnings higher, Goldman turned to cost-cutting.
The storied investment bank slashed 3,000 workers over the year, or about 8 percent of its work force. It cut back on salaries, trimmed occupancy costs and paid less in brokerage fees, cutting total expenses by 14 percent.
Revenue from financial advising, where the bank advises big companies and investors on mergers and acquisitions, was one of the few areas to record a revenue gain, 37 percent.
Revenue from underwriting stock and bond sales fell 27 percent. Revenue from trading fell 14 percent, hurt by lower fees and revenue from the division that trades bonds, currencies and commodities. Total revenue fell to $9.9 billion from $11.9 billion, though that beat the $9.4 billion that analysts polled by FactSet had been expecting.
Goldman Sachs said its net income available to common shareholders rose to $2.1 billion, or $3.92 per share. That was a jump of about 128 percent from $908 million, or $1.56 per share, a year ago. The per-share earnings also beat expectations of analysts, who had been predicting $3.52.
The bank also announced it would raise its quarterly shareholder dividend to 46 cents per share from 35 cents. Though the bank didn’t say so, that’s a particular sign of strength in the current market, because it’s also a reminder that Goldman, unlike some of its peers, got permission to do so after passing the government’s most recent round of stress tests.
CEO Lloyd Blankfeink called the quarter a “solid performance.” In a prepared statement, he noted that “client activity remains relatively low in certain areas,” but said that “our mix of businesses gives the firm significant room for revenue growth as economic and market conditions continue to improve.”
For decades, Goldman has been known for beating its Wall Street competitors and churning out executives who go on to high leadership positions.
But the past few years have left it bruised. Last fall, it recorded a quarterly loss, only its second since going public in 1999. In 2010 and 2011, its net income fell year-over-year in six of the eight quarters.
Investors are trying to piece together whether the troubles are a short-term annoyance or a sign of deep-rooted problems. They wonder if the bank needs a new game plan.
Like the rest of the banking industry, Goldman has to figure out how to navigate a world of stricter government controls that will dry up some of its key revenue streams. Goldman has made big profits trading for its own account, especially when markets are volatile. But regulations taking effect this year will reduce Goldman’s ability to make those trades.
Unlike much of the banking industry, Goldman doesn’t have a large consumer banking arm to fall back on when trading and investment banking get bumpy. Its clients are largely hedge funds and multinational corporations that need to hedge their bets on foreign currencies, fluctuating interest rates and commodities.
Return on equity was about 12 percent, in line with a year ago. That was a big change from 38 percent five years ago, before the global economic meltdown.
Goldman also has public-relations problems to worry about. In the era of Occupy Wall Street, Goldman has been the target for much of the vitriol of people who blame the financial crisis on reckless practices in the banking industry. Last month, the vitriol came to a head when a mid-level executive resigned via a blistering editorial in the New York Times, where he accused the bank of losing its “moral fiber” and caring only about its own profits rather than its clients’.
The accusations are still swirling. Last week, the bank agreed to pay $22 million to settle regulators’ charges that Goldman analysts shared confidential research with favored clients. In the first quarter, the bank set aside $59 million for litigation and regulatory proceedings.
Goldman Sachs’ stock fell slightly in pre-market trading, down 73 cents to $117.
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