BELLEVUE, Wash. (AP) -- Expedia Inc. swung to a first-quarter loss, but revenue climbed 12 percent and the results excluding certain costs beat expectations. The shares soared in after-hours trading.
The online travel company's stock rose 31 cents to end regular trading Thursday at $32.63. In about an hour of extended trading, they jumped up $6.06, or 18.6 percent, to $38.69, a price not seen since December.
The net loss was $3.3 million, or 2 cents per share, compared with profit of $52 million, or 37 cents per share, a year ago.
Excluding items such as acquisition-related costs and stock-based compensation expense, the company said it would have earned 26 cents per share. Analysts, who usually exclude one-time items, expected earnings of 15 cents per share, according to FactSet.
Revenue rose to $816.5 million from $727.8 million a year ago. Analyst expected $792.3 million.
Expedia handled 18 percent more transactions than a year ago, including a 24 percent jump in room nights rented, but average room rates were flat.
Average airfares rose 7 percent, and the company increased ticket sales by 5 percent mostly from the availability of American Airlines, which pulled flights off most of Expedia's offerings last year in a dispute between the airline and the travel agency over control of flight and fare information.
Besides the online travel site bearing its name, Expedia also operates Hotels.com, the corporate travel-management business Egencia and other subsidiaries.
Money market fund assets rose to $2.569 trillion - Yahoo Finance
NEW YORK (AP) -- Total U.S. money market mutual fund assets rose by $1.19 billion to $2.569 trillion for the week that ended Wednesday, the Investment Company Institute said Thursday.
Assets of the nation's retail money market mutual funds fell $1.26 billion to $889.51 billion, the Washington-based mutual fund trade group said. Assets of taxable money market funds in the retail category fell $820 million to $702.41 billion. Tax-exempt retail fund assets fell $450 million to $187.10 billion.
Meanwhile, assets of institutional money market funds rose $2.45 billion to $1.679 trillion. Among institutional funds, taxable money market fund assets rose $3.43 billion to $1.592 trillion; assets of tax-exempt funds fell $980 million to $87.06 billion.
The seven-day average yield on money market mutual funds was 0.03 percent in the week that ended Tuesday, unchanged from the previous week, said Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet Inc. in Westborough, Mass.
The 30-day average yield was also unchanged from last week at 0.03 percent. The seven-day compounded yield was flat at 0.03 percent. The 30-day compounded yield was unchanged at 0.03 percent, Money Fund Report said.
The average maturity of portfolios held by money market mutual funds was unchanged from the previous week at 45 days.
The online service Bankrate.com said its survey of 100 leading commercial banks, savings and loan associations and savings banks in the nation's 10 largest markets showed the annual percentage yield available on money market accounts was unchanged from last week at 0.13 percent.
The North Palm Beach, Fla.-based unit of Bankrate Inc. said the annual percentage yield available on interest-bearing checking accounts was unchanged from the week before at 0.06 percent.
Bankrate.com said the annual percentage yield on six-month certificates of deposit was unchanged from the previous week at 0.22 percent. The yield on one-year CDs was also unchanged at 0.33 percent. It was flat at 0.53 percent on two-and-a-half-year CDs and held steady at 1.13 percent on five-year CDs.
Power Finance Corporation Ltd. - SWOT Analysis - new company profile report - Transworld News
Power Finance Corporation Ltd. - SWOT Analysis - new company profile report
London 5/18/2012 06:14 AM GMT (TransWorldNews)
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Power Finance Corporation (PFC or 'the company') is a public sector financial services company. It offers fund and non-fund based financial services, including project term loan, lease financing, direct discounting of bills, short term loan, and financial consultancy services to the power and associated sectors. The company primarily operates in India, where it is headquartered in New Delhi, and employs around 365 people. The company recorded revenues of INR101,284.9 million ($2,221.2 million) during the financial year ended March 2011 (FY2011), an increase of 26.6% over FY2010. The operating profit of the company was INR99,680.4 million ($2,186 million) in FY2011, an increase of 25.8% over FY2010. The net profit was INR26,195.8 million ($574.5 million) in FY2011, an increase of 11.1% over FY2010.
Report Scope
- Provides all the crucial information on Power Finance Corporation Ltd. required for business and competitor intelligence needs
- Contains a study of the major internal and external factors affecting Power Finance Corporation Ltd. in the form of a SWOT analysis as well as a breakdown and examination of leading product revenue streams of Power Finance Corporation Ltd.
-Data is supplemented with details on Power Finance Corporation Ltd. history, key executives, business description, locations and subsidiaries as well as a list of products and services and the latest available statement from Power Finance Corporation Ltd.
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DEA Drug Tales: The Death of William Coyman and His Money - Opposing Views
Everyone knows how it’s supposed to go – the DEA or other policing agency catches the bad guys and seizes their stuff. The news reports about drug interdiction usually list the amount of cash taken in the arrest. It’s the norm for goods and money taken to then go to the agency involved to fund further anti-drug operations.
But what happens when there’s a counterclaim?
In what may turn out to be an important test case, the DEA seized $180,000 with the claim it was drug money and the purported owners are taking them to court to get it back.
This follows the heart attack death of William Coyman. He stepped off a train in NY and died on the platform. A search of the bag he had found $180,000 in cash. If that wasn’t suspicious enough, it turns out Mr. Coyman had previously been incarcerated for drug dealing and, at 75, was a retired union man – a union tied to organized crime.
But what is really at issue is just how the DEA determined it was drug money, since no drugs were found on the dead man. They used a drug dog who was alerted to the cash.
Further investigation found that Mr. Coyman was transporting the money for a production company in Boston. According to a report from MSNBC, the company, 180 Entertainment, is also under suspicion.
They quote Mr. Coyman’s son, speaking about his father, “The people connected to that money are probably not good people. My dad was a great man. But clearly he had a colorful history.”
The question is whether the dog’s testimony is enough to label the money as “illegal drug money” and subject to seizure. There have been no drug arrests, nor has any crime been alleged. And in 2009, CNN reported that 90% of US currency had traces of cocaine on it. How exactly does one tell, without other evidence, that money was used to purchase drugs?
How this plays out in court will be instructive. 180 Entertainment wants their money back. If they survive the assumed investigation into their activities, it will come down to a dog’s nose.
MONEY MARKETS-Cash pullout means more ECB reliance - Reuters UK
* Accelerating withdrawals point to more ECB reliance
* Another three-year LTRO seen as only short-term fix
* Demand for three-month cash could rise
By Kirsten Donovan
LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) - A scramble by savers to withdraw cash from banks as they fret about a Greek euro zone exit and the health of Spanish financial institutions may leave lenders even more reliant on the European Central Bank's cheap financing operations.
The amount of cash they take could rise at the ECB's one-week, one-month and three-month operations in the next few weeks and some analysts think the euro zone's central bank may have to plug the funding gap with more cheap longer-term loans.
But with 800 billion euros of excess liquidity already sloshing around in the banking system, money market rates are unlikely to fall much further unless banks believe the ECB will cut the 0.25 percent rate it pays on overnight deposits.
"Banks will have to replace lost deposits and so long as they've got the collateral they can go to the ECB," said RBS rate strategist Simon Peck.
"We will probably see an increasing reliance on ECB funding from banks in Spain and Italy. Those without sufficient ECB eligible collateral can turn to their national central bank via the Emergency Liquidity Assistance."
The ECB holds weekly financing operations and the next three-month tender will be held on May 30.
"The Greek elections are still four weeks away, so if the deposit flight continues to gain pace then banks will want to shore up their funding profile as much as possible, which would point to use of the three-month funding operations," Peck added.
According to minutes of Greek President Karolos Papoulias' comments to political leaders posted on the presidency's website, Greek savers withdrew at least 700 million euros from the country's banks on Monday alone..
Spain's Bankia, meanwhile, has seen its share price slump as much as 30 percent after a report - denied by the government - that customers had drained more than 1 billion euros from the partly nartionalised lender in the past week.
There was no let up in the bad news on Spanish banks, with Moody's downgrading 16 of the country's lenders late on Thursday and bad loans rising to their highest level in outstanding credit portfolios since 1994.
Investors panicked by the prospect that a political crisis in Greece could trigger a euro zone financial meltdown have pushed prices for German debt to record highs in recent days, disregarding near-zero returns as they rush for safety.
Greek bank deposits have fallen almost 30 percent since the start of 2010, according to ECB data, and Societe Generale said a similar outflow in Spain or Italy could create funding gaps of 140-280 billion euros and 200-400 billion euros respectively.
"As deposit outflows outpace de-leveraging, we need another one trillion euro LTRO," the bank's strategists said, referring to the ECB's longer-term refinancing operations in December and February, which pumped almost 1 trillion euros of three-year cash into the banking system.
Whether banks have the collateral to plug such a funding gap is another matter. A number of Greek banks are no longer able to fund themselves at the ECB, relying instead on Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) from the Bank of Greece, for which lower quality collateral can be used.
Latest ECB data, which covers the period to the end of March - before the current intensification of the crisis - showed Spanish bank deposits have been relatively stable over the last two years, while those at Italian banks have actually risen.
Top-rated, core euro zone countries such as Germany and France saw bank deposits increase by between 5 and 10 percent in the same period.
Overnight Eonia rates are pinned roughly between 0.33 and 0.35 percent, constrained from falling in much further by the ECB's 0.25 percent deposit rate, which acts as a floor.
According to BNP Paribas, markets are already pricing an "aggressive" 66 percent chance of a 12.5 basis point cut in the ECB's deposit facility rate by year-end.
A higher expectation of such a cut would be a stronger factor in pushing Eonia rates lower than a further increase in excess cash in the banking system but many analysts believe that the ECB will not take such a step.
"We don't believe that a depo rate cut could have any meaningful effect on the interbank system and the real economy at the current juncture," said strategist Matteo Regesta in a note.
"Another three-year LTRO would buy more time, but, as we have learnt by now, its effects would not be long lasting."
Campaign finance law before appeals court in Va. - RealClearPolitics
Campaign finance law before appeals court in Va.
Larry O'dellA government lawyer on Friday urged an appeals court to reverse a judge's ruling that a century-old ban on corporate campaign contributions in federal elections is unconstitutional.
Justice Department attorney Michael R. Dreeben told a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the prohibition serves the legitimate government interest of curbing corruption, and overturning it would run afoul of U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
But attorneys for two northern Virginia executives who were charged with violating the ban argued that U.S. District Judge James Cacheris got it right when he ruled last year that the ban violates corporations' free-speech rights. In his first-of-its-kind ruling, Cacheris said it was not logical for an individual to be able to donate up to $2,500 to a federal government while a corporation "cannot donate a cent."
The appeals court typically takes several weeks to rule.
The issue arose when William P. Danielczyk Jr. and Eugene R. Biagi, who both live in the Washington suburb of Oakton, Va., were charged with illegally funneling contributions to Hillary Clinton's Senate and presidential campaigns. The defendants, officers with a corporation called Galen Capital Group, allegedly persuaded dozens of individuals to contribute to Clinton's campaigns and reimbursed them with company money.
Jeffrey A. Lamken, an attorney for Danielczyk, said the government cannot explain why the wealthiest Americans are allowed to donate to federal candidates but corporations cannot.
"That may be a great argument, but I just get a little uncomfortable when you're asking me to overrule the Supreme Court," Judge William Traxler said.
Lamken denied that a decision in his client's favor would reverse the high court. In his ruling, Cacheris said the Supreme Court's landmark 2010 Citizens United decision "held that the First Amendment treats corporations and individuals equally for the purposes of political speech."
However, Dreeben noted that the Citizens United decision dealt only with corporate spending on campaign activities by independent groups not directly affiliated with a candidate.
"Citizens United did not address campaign contributions at all," Dreeben said.
Dreeben also said the ban does not implicate the First Amendment because "giving money does not express any idea."
Lee Goodman, an attorney for Biagi, argued that the government has failed to demonstrate a compelling interest for treating individuals and corporations differently.
"Just because we incorporate doesn't mean we shed the same First Amendment rights we had when we were unincorporated," he said.
___
Follow Larry O'Dell on Twitter: http://twitter.com/LarryOatAP
Trader BB Energy expands commodity finance team - Reuters UK
* Looks to syndicated loans, bonds for expansion
* Has hired senior finance executive from Trafigura
* Says will expand crude oil trading this summer
By Emma Farge
GENEVA, May 18 (Reuters) - BB Energy said on Friday it has hired three commodity finance specialists as the energy trading house seeks to tap alternative sources of funding for downstream acquisitions and its expansion in crude oil trading this summer.
Many small to mid-sized trading houses have seen their credit lines trimmed or cut in the last year as the traditional kings of commodity trade finance, the European banks, have struggled to raise dollar funding.
The diminished availability of funding has coincided with a growing appetite among energy trading houses to acquire physical assets like storage and processing plants to increase the flexibility of their trading books and boost profits.
BB Energy's head of business development, Jas Grewall, said that new banks had provided additional credit lines but the firm would need fresh sources of financing for downstream oil purchases like storage and distribution networks across Africa and the Middle East.
"The idea is to expand our credit lines by bringing in more diversified, experienced people. We're starting to look at new means of getting finance like syndications and bonds," said Grewall.
He declined to comment on the specifics of upcoming purchases.
BB Energy is a global energy trader that employs around 100 people and owns storage assets in Lebanon and Turkey.
HIRING SPREE
Originally a family-owned firm that now has trading offices in Dubai, Beirut, London and Singapore, BB Energy has added around 12 new posts over the last year.
These include a new chief financial officer, Riccardo Greco from oil trader Trafigura, as well as a new director of trade finance, Hatice Tulum, from Britain's Balli Group and Jean-Michel Karagah from BNP Paribas, the company said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
The firm, which doubled its trading volumes last year to 9 million tonnes partly due to growing trade with Libya, will need additional financing for its growing crude trading book.
Last month, BB Energy hired the head of oil trading at Eni Alessandro Liberati and on Friday it said it also hired trader Mohsin Kabir from insolvent refiner Petroplus.
The main focus of its crude oil trading activities will initially be the Mediterranean, with the possibility of future expansion into the West African market, Grewall added. (Reporting by Emma Farge)
The Business Finance Store Discusses Small Business Outsourcing - Consumer Electronics Net
May 18, 2012 --
Santa Ana, CA (PRWEB) May 18, 2012
The City of Costa Mesa, CA took the first steps this week to outsourcing jail services and street sweeping in order to save tax payers money, The Orange County Register reported. In this sense, the term outsourcing is more akin to contracting out locally rather than what the average person traditionally thinks of when they hear the term outsourcing. Despite the negative connotation of the term outsourcing, the practice can often save small business owners a fair amount of money, thus keeping their business in the black. In the recent blog post Best Countries for Outsourcing, The Business Finance Store discusses things and places to consider when thinking about outsourcing small business tasks.
While hiring within the United States is often the simplest thing to - and is still economically feasible for most established companies - companies that are trying to break into the market often need a little cost-effectiveness edge to help them maximize their limited resources. However, the process has a few difficulties that need to be considered before outsourcing work. Read more about outsourcing for small business at The Business Finance Store Blog.
The Business Finance Store is a business financing and consulting firm that offers customized Business Financial Solutions. Seasoned professionals offer assistance in a variety of financial solutions to help small businesses succeed such as: Business Financial Solutions, Legal Solutions, and Accounting Solutions.
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The staff at The Business Finance Store understands that starting and growing a business is an exciting time. They keep it exciting by taking care of some of the most difficult aspects, by providing legal advice, helping with vital responsibilities like accounting & bookkeeping, and by obtaining business finance. They can quickly and easily guide entrepreneurs through many different complicated processes and put them on the path to success.
For 10 years The Business Finance Store has been helping startups and other small businesses legally structure their companies, find the right franchises, get the funding they need, and achieve the American Dream of owning their own successful business. Since expanding nationwide in 2007, they have helped thousands of companies and have funded over $60 Million in business credit lines, not including SBA loans. The Business Finance Store sees limitless potential in the current climate, and looks forward to many strong years of growth to come. Take some time to review their services, and give them a call.
For more information, or a free, no-obligation analysis of your business needs, visit The Business Finance Store website: http://www.businessfinancestore.com. A member of their professional staff will contact you to discuss your business' short and long-term goals. Whatever you need, The Business Finance Store is there.
Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/5/prweb9521366.htm.
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Greens eagerly eye finance portfolio - National Business Review
OPENING SALVO
Next week is a job interview for Russel Norman.
The Green Party co-leader has his eye on being minister of finance in two and a half years and he wouldn’t be the first Australian or ex-communist to achieve high political office in New Zealand.
Dr Norman is very conscious that achieving his goal requires the Green s to stay well above 10% in the polls and for David Shearer, David Cunliffe and David Parker, Shane Jones and Andrew Little or Grant Robertson to have confidence that making him finance minister would not cause an immediate crash in business and economic confidence.
Although Dr Norman has no expectation of winning votes from the business community, he knows that earning Mr Shearer’s trust (or Mssrs Cunliffe’s, Parkers’ Jones’ or Little’s) depends on him mitigating public concerns that the Greens have wacky ideas about the economy.
His response to Bill English’s fourth budget will therefore be crucial.
Partnership of equals
The alternative to a John Key/Winston Peters government, which remains the most likely after 2014, is unlike any New Zealand has seen before.
Previous coalition governments have tended to consist of one overwhelmingly dominant party backed by ministerial minnows.
The closest to an equal partnership was the National/NZ First coalition of 1996 to 1998. Even in that case, though, the bigger party still contributed three quarters of government MPs.
In contrast, a Labour/Green/NZ First government post-2014 would see Labour providing only around 60% of the personnel.
Despite concerns about tails wagging dogs, New Zealand small parties have in fact been relatively temperate in their demands, making them commensurate with their popular support.
Mr Peter demanded to be made deputy prime minister and treasurer in 1996 but the size of his voting bloc arguably justified it. Similarly, Jim Anderton demanded the deputy prime ministership in 1999 but relinquished it in 2002 when his support crashed.
Based on current forecasts and polls, nobody – not even Mr Peters – has ever had as much right to demand genuine political power from their coalition partner as Dr Norman is likely to have in 2014.
After its poor treatment of the Greens over the years, shunning them whenever possible in favour of Mr Peters and Peter Dunne, Labour will have to acquiesce to their demands in 2014 or create a permanent, embittered rival on the left.
Warming to business
The proximity of real power and the overshadowing of environmental fantasies by hard economic times have moderated the Greens’ political positioning.
Back in 1996, former co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons declared trade should be discouraged for the sake of the environment. Today, Dr Norman talks about narrowing the balance of payments deficit by rebalancing the economy from consumption toward exports.
He sees particular scope for growth in exports of services, talking of Mighty River Power becoming a leading global supplier of renewable energy technology and know-how.
There is a realisation that hippy organic wineries are all very well but New Zealand needs exporters and international businesses with the scale to have global market power.
Despite leading a party of vegans, animal rights activists and foes of corporate power, Dr Norman is prepared to talk about consolidation of the meat industry.
His stance on oil exploration is to vigorously oppose it in deep water but he is softening on projects closer to shore.
On tax, Dr Norman obviously wants to sock it to the so-called rich but his emphasis will be on rebalancing the tax base away from things the Greens say they support, like wages and profits, toward things they say they opposite, including house-price inflation, carbon and oil.
Dialogue has begun with Federated Farmers, employer groups and other business networks.
Make no mistake – the Greens remain a party of the hard left whose agenda is anathema to the business community.
But if he can get messages like these out to the public next week, and over-shadow Labour’s effort in critiquing Mr English’s budget, businesspeople may need o t get themselves used to the prospect of finance minister Norman.
How To Pick the Best Personal Finance Software - 1UP.COM
The personal finance software you put to use can have a huge effect on your financial situation. The finer programs let you deal with your budget and easily see unerringly how much is coming in and going out. On the other hand, some programs are meant more for small businesses, others for investors and different ones for staying on top of a household budget. Up next are some assessments of distinguished personal finance software programs and instruction on how to pick among them.
Prior to paying for any personal finance software programs, be certain that you understand why you wish to have it. As an illustration, not all software consents you to keep an eye on your investments, so if this is something you desire, be sure that you are getting one that has this characteristic. You also may prefer an online based service rather than software you download. The plus to this is that you can have access to the program anywhere you are and you don't necessitate your computer. Online services can also give you real time information. These are some of the dynamics to remember when picking out personal finance software programs.
A popular program that you can use on any computer operating system is YNAB or You Need A Budget. YNAB is well reviewed among consumers for its ease of use and many helpful features. This isn't your average program, it's also a teacher of the basic rules of budgeting.
You can improve your financial situation, get out of debt and control your expenses with this program that revolves around the Four Rules of Cash Flow. Included with this program are live classes, and tutorials among other helpful resources and support services. Considering everything it does, YNAB is a good value for its $60 price tag.
A simple choice for a robust budgeting and money management software is Quicken Starter Edition 2011. One of the best known names in financial software, this edition of Quicken is designed for the end user who wishes to gain control over their personal finances. It lets you easily organize your household budget, and keep track of your bank accounts and credit cards. Never have a late fee again, with the convenient bill reminder. At the end of the year simply link up your system with Turbo Tax and file your taxes. Created to be simple to use, the Quicken Starter Edition 2001 has a guided setup feature to get you started quickly. Quicken Deluxe 2011 is available for those who need their software to have some more advanced features.
In summary, with all of the personal finance software programs on the market, you should be able to find one that's just right for you. There are a lot of options for online and downloaded programs available. There are even a few free options as you can see. Use these tips as a guideline for locating that perfect personal finance program for you.
How To Locate The Right Personal Finance Software For Your Needs And Your Budget., Personal Finance Software - Which One Ideal?, Keep Track of Your Money With Personal Finance Software
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