Sharp drop in new claims for unemployment: Dropped 29,000 last week …

Stock edge higher after unemployment claims fall May 19, 2011, 10:25 a.m. EDT Associated Press Journal By Calvin Lee Ledsome Sr., Owner and Founder of: http://www.LedSomeBioMetrics.com Hello Reader, What Party Do You Want Running The US Government 2013? Selection Poll B.O.Page! NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks opened slightly higher Thursday, extending Wednesday’s gains, after a government report showed a sharp drop in new claims for unemployment benefits. Weaker reports on home sales and economic expectations kept the gains in check. Shares of social-networking company LinkedIn Corp. jumped 81 percent to $81.76 on their first day of trading. It is the largest U.S. Internet IPO since Google Inc. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 26 points, or 0.2 percent, at 12,586 in early trading. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 2, or 0.2 percent, to 1,343. The Nasdaq composite index added 4, or 0.1 percent, to 2,819. The Department of Labor reported that applications for unemployment dropped 29,000 last week, more than expected, to 409,000. Two other reports raised doubts about the strength of the housing recovery and the overall direction of U.S. growth. The National Association of Realtors said fewer people purchased previously occupied homes in April. The number of homes sold in foreclosure also declined. The Conference Board reported that expectations for future economic activity decreased, based on its index of leading indicators. The private research group said the index fell 0.3 percent in April, the first decline since June 2010. In a sign that the U.S. consumer recovery remains uneven, Big Lots Inc. fell 9 percent to $34.31 after news reports that it decided not to sell itself. The Wall Street Journal said late Wednesday that the company received bids from two private-equity groups that were lower than it had hoped. Sears Holding Corp. reported softer sales at its Kmart and Sears stores, causing a first-quarter loss of $1.58 per share, worse than analysts expected. The stock fell 3.2 percent to $73.31. _________________________________________________________ Video Section: _________________________________________________________________ Calvin Ledsome Sr., Owner and Founder of:  http://PublicBlogNewsPostingServices.com https://economicnewsblog.wordpress.com http://USAPolitics2012.wordpress.com  http://www.imaginemakingrealmoneyonline.com http://digitaldownloadable-electronicbooks.blogspot.com Checkout The Lastest Polical Ticker Hosted By CNN Thank you for visiting, do come back for more news… Warmest regards, PS., Hello Reader, What Party Do You Want Running The US Government 2013? Make Your Selection Below!

The US government has maxed out its credit card. Setting up 11-week fight to raise the threshold or …

US hits credit limit, setting up 11-week fight May 16, 2011, 6:28 p.m. EDT Associated Press Journal By Calvin Lee Ledsome Sr., Owner and Founder of: http://www.LedSomeBioMetrics.com Hello Reader, What Party Do You Want Running The US Government 2013? Selection Poll B.O.Page! WASHINGTON (AP) — The government has maxed out its credit card. The United States reached its $14.3 trillion limit on federal borrowing Monday, leaving Congress 11 weeks to raise the threshold or risk a financial panic or another recession. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner formally notified Congress that the government would halt its investments in two federal pension plans so it won’t exceed the borrowing limit. Geithner said the government could get by with bookkeeping maneuvers like that through Aug. 2. After that, the government could default on its debt for the first time, threatening the national credit rating and the dollar. Geithner sent Congress a letter saying he would be unable to make the pension investments in full. He urged Congress to raise the debt limit “in order to protect the full faith and credit of the United States and avoid catastrophic economic consequences for citizens.” Republican leaders in the House have said they won’t raise the debt limit unless the Obama administration first agrees to big spending cuts or to steps to lower the debt over the long run. House Speaker John Boehner repeated the pledge in a statement Monday. The statement did not address Geithner’s warning about what would happen if the limit were not raised. “Americans understand we simply can’t keep spending money we don’t have,” Boehner said. “There will be no debt limit increase without serious budget reforms and significant spending cuts.” Republicans have also ruled out any tax increases, including any plans to end tax cuts for high earners enacted in 2001 and 2003. “We need to have a vote to lift the debt ceiling because the consequences of not doing so would be quite serious,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. “And those who suggest otherwise are whistling past the graveyard.” If it doesn’t raise the limit, Congress would have to come up with $738 billion to make up for what it planned to borrow through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. The options are drastic: Cut 40 percent of the budget through September, which might mean defaulting on payments to investors in government bonds; raise taxes immediately; or some combination of the two. “In the economic area, this is the equivalent of nuclear war,” says Edward Knight, who was the Treasury Department‘s general counsel during a standoff over the debt ceiling in the mid-1990s. Here are some questions and answers about the federal debt limit: Q: What is the debt ceiling? A: It’s a legal limit on how much debt the government can pile up. The government accumulates debt two ways: It borrows money from investors by issuing Treasury bonds, and it borrows from itself, mostly from Social Security revenue. In 2010, Congress raised the limit to nearly $14.3 trillion from $12.4 trillion. Three decades ago, the national debt was $908 billion. But Washington spent more than it took in, and the debt rose steadily — surpassing $1 trillion in 1982, then $5 trillion in 1996. It reached $10 trillion in 2008 as the financial crisis and recession dried up tax revenue and as the government spent more on unemployment benefits and other programs. Congress created the debt limit in 1917. It’s unique to the United States. Most countries let their debts rise automatically when government spending outpaces tax revenue. Raising the debt ceiling doesn’t usually create much of a stir. Congress has raised it 10 times since 2001. A refusal to raise the debt ceiling wouldn’t mean that Congress had begun to solve the nation’s budget problems. It would just mean that lawmakers were refusing to let the government borrow more money to finance programs and tax cuts already approved. “Having voted to run up the bill, it is utterly irresponsible to prohibit the government from borrowing the money to pay it,” writes Howard Gleckman, resident fellow at the Urban Institute. ___(equals) Q: What is the federal debt, and how does it differ from the deficit? A: The deficit is how much government spending exceeds tax revenue during a year. The government is expected to run a record $1.5 trillion deficit in the current fiscal year. The debt is the sum of deficits past and present. If Congress raises the limit, the debt will reach $15.5 trillion by Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. The huge deficits and debt reflect tax cuts, wars, the Obama administration’s stimulus program, higher costs of federal health care programs and the recession, which shrank tax revenue and led the government to spend more on social programs. ___(equals) Q: What happens now that Treasury has hit its debt limit? A: It can free up $232 billion by taking what Geithner calls “extraordinary measures.” Besides suspending contributions to federal employee pension funds, the government can halt payments to a government fund that buys and sells foreign currencies. The most serious debt-ceiling showdown was in 1995. At the time, the debt limit was just $4.9 trillion. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin used gimmicks and juggled the government’s books to keep government finances afloat for four and a half months before Congress and the Clinton White House reached a deal to end the impasse. Geithner’s Treasury Department won’t have as much cushion because the debt is growing much faster than in the mid-1990s. Geithner estimates he’ll run out of options Aug. 2. ___(equals) Q: What would happen if Congress doesn’t raise the debt ceiling by Aug. 2 or whenever Treasury exhausts all its short-options? A: Things would get ugly fast. “When bills became due, we could not pay all of them,” says Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Budget, a bipartisan group that advocates cutting the debt. “If that happens, you shake up markets as you’ve never seen before. … It’s inconceivable we would willingly walk ourselves over the cliff.” The government needs to borrow $738 billion to get through the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, according to the Congressional Research Service. Somehow, it would have to close that gap. It could: — Cut government spending dramatically. To put things in context, $738 billion is equal to 40 percent of the $1.7 trillion that the government is expected to spend in the last six months of the fiscal year. Everything from military salaries to Medicare and Social Security benefits to interest payments on the debt would be vulnerable. — Come up with $738 billion in new tax revenue, increasing by 66 percent the $1.1 trillion the government is expected to collect in taxes in the second half of the fiscal year. — Choose a combination of draconian spending cuts and tax increases. If investors become convinced the U.S. will renege on its debts, they’ll sell Treasurys to avoid the risk that the government might not make good on them. That would drive Treasury prices down and push interest rates up, raising the borrowing costs on everything from mortgages to cars. Higher rates would likely slow the economy. So far, bond investors are taking the threat in stride; the yield on 10-year Treasury notes remains low at 3.17 percent. U.S. Treasurys are still considered perhaps the safest available investment, a haven for investors worldwide. As Aug. 2 approaches, there’s a bigger risk that investors will become nervous. “It would tell the world that the U.S. can’t get its act together, that this is basically a circus,” says William Gross, an influential investor who is managing director of the world’s biggest bond fund, Pimco. “Investors ultimately won’t want to be held hostage by a bunch of clowns.” ___(equals) Q: If the consequences are so dire, why is Congress suggesting it might not raise the limit? A: As the political divide between Republicans and Democrats has widened, the debt ceiling has emerged as a divisive issue. In recent years, the party that doesn’t control the White House has used the issue to whack the party that does. In 2006, for instance, Senate Democrats voted unanimously against raising the debt limit for President George W. Bush to protest his tax cuts and the invasion of Iraq — a vote that President Barack Obama, then a senator, says he regrets. The situation reversed in 2010: No Senate Republicans supported a higher debt limit for Obama, accusing him of reckless government spending. Congress approved the higher limit anyway because Democrats had a majority in both the House and Senate. Congress has always ended up raising the debt ceiling before a financial crackup. Republicans, many of them elected in November on a pledge to slash spending, are betting that the debt-ceiling deadline offers leverage to demand deep budget cuts from the Obama administration. Obama wants to narrow the federal gaps and reduce debts, in part by reducing spending, in part by ending tax cuts for higher-income Americans enacted under President George W. Bush. But Republican lawmakers say they refuse to consider tax hikes. _________________________________________________________ Video Section: _________________________________________________________________ Calvin Ledsome Sr., Owner and Founder of:  http://PublicBlogNewsPostingServices.com https://economicnewsblog.wordpress.com http://USAPolitics2012.wordpress.com  http://www.imaginemakingrealmoneyonline.com http://digitaldownloadable-electronicbooks.blogspot.com Thank you for visiting, do come back for more news… Warmest regards, PS., Hello Reader, What Party Do You Want Running The US Government 2013? Make Your Selection Below!

China is using high-level meetings to urge the United States to allow more technology exports

China urges US to lift controls on hi-tech exports
May 10, 2011, 6:49 a.m. EDT
Associated Press

Journal By Calvin Lee Ledsome Sr.,

Owner and Founder of: http://www.LedSomeBioMetrics.com

Hello Reader, What Party Do You Want Running The US Government 2013? Selection Poll Below!

WASHINGTON (AP) — China is using high-level meetings to urge the United States to allow more technology exports into the booming Chinese economy as a way of balancing trade.

The United States, meanwhile, has criticized the communist-led nation’s latest crackdown on democracy advocates, arguing that long-term stability depends on respecting human rights.

Both sides issued familiar grievances at the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, which began in Washington on Monday, but they took pains to stress a generally positive track in relations between the two economic superpowers.

State Councilor Dai Bingguo said common interests between the world’s two largest economies now make them “inseparable” and destined to grow more interdependent.

The annual two-day round of talks brings together leaders on economics, foreign policy and security. The meetings, involving scores of officials, wrap up Tuesday with news conferences.

President Barack Obama met Dai and Chinese delegation leader Vice Premier Wang Qishan after Monday’s deliberations. He encouraged China to implement policies to support “balanced global growth as well as a more balanced bilateral economic relationship.” On human rights, he underscored his support for freedom of expression and political participation, a White House statement said.

This year’s dialogue follows a January state visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao that helped eased tensions over the U.S. arms sales to self-governing Taiwan, which Beijing regards as part of Chinese territory. The U.S. and China also have been at odds over China’s intervention in currency markets, which the U.S. says has kept the value of the yuan low against the dollar, giving an unfair advantage to Chinese exporters.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday softened the long-standing U.S. criticism of China’s economic policies, possibly in a belief that the outside pressure was proving counterproductive.

Geithner praised China’s efforts, which include a decision last June to resume allowing the yuan to rise in value against the dollar after freezing the currency’s value for two years during the height of the financial crisis. The yuan has risen by about 5 percent against the dollar since last summer. American manufacturers contend the yuan is still undervalued by as much as 40 percent.

The U.S. Treasury chief still urged China to allow its currency to appreciate at a faster rate and to allow Chinese consumer interest rates to rise. Both steps could help boost domestic demand and help lower America’s trade deficit, which hit an all-time high with China last year.

A Chinese official, however, blamed U.S. policies for the ballooning trade gap. Commerce Minister Chen Deming told a news conference that China’s currency appreciation was being carried out in a “very healthy manner.” He said the United States needed to change its own policies on high-tech sales and investment as a way to spur American manufacturing.

He took aim at the U.S. screening of Chinese foreign investment proposals, contending it was neither fair nor transparent. Most recently, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States rejected a takeover by private Chinese technology giant Huawei of a small U.S. computer company, 3Leaf, on national security grounds.

“We hope the United States can treat Chinese investment, including by state-owned enterprises, in a fair manner,” he said.

U.S. companies have their own long list of complaints: limited access to Chinese markets, theft of intellectual property, widespread use in China of counterfeit software and problems in seeking redress through China’s legal system.

At the ceremonial opening of the talks on Monday, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton offered blunt criticism of China’s human rights record, which Beijing regards as an internal matter. Clinton later had “very candid and honest” private discussions on the issue with Dai, U.S. officials said.

Since February, Chinese authorities have questioned or detained hundreds of lawyers, activists, journalists and bloggers after anonymous calls were made on the Internet for protests emulating those that have challenged and toppled authoritarian governments in the Middle East and North Africa. No such protests have taken place in China.

“We know over the long arc of history that societies that work toward respecting human rights are going to be more prosperous, stable and successful. That has certainly been proven time and time again, but most particularly in the last months,” Clinton said.

Dai said China had made progress in the area of human rights, but he did not mention the recent crackdown.

In Beijing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said, “No country is perfect in its human rights record and there is no one-size-fits-all human rights policy.”

In unusually mild comments on a subject that Beijing is highly sensitive about, Jiang said, “China and the U.S. have different opinions in the area of human rights and we believe we can use dialogue to increase mutual understanding and mutual trust.”

This year’s talks for the first time included high-level military leaders from both nations, a move seen as a way to increase understanding between military commanders and reduce the risk of conflict. China’s military has expanded rapidly in the past 15 years, deploying missiles and naval assets that could challenge American supremacy in the region.

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Video Section:

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Calvin Ledsome Sr.,

Owner and Founder of:

http://PublicBlogNewsPostingServices.com
https://economicnewsblog.wordpress.com
http://USAPolitics2012.wordpress.com
http://www.imaginemakingrealmoneyonline.com
http://digitaldownloadable-electronicbooks.blogspot.com

Thank you for visiting, do come back for more news…
Warmest regards,

PS., Hello Reader, What Party Do You Want Running The US Government 2013? Make Your Selection Below!

Jobs in April, the biggest hiring spree in five years …

Economy adds 244k  jobs, rate ticks up to 9 pct.
May 6, 2011, 8:33 a.m. EDT

Journal By Calvin Lee Ledsome Sr.,

Owner and Founder of: http://www.LedSomeBioMetrics.com

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Employers added more than 200,000 jobs in April for the third straight month, the biggest hiring spree in five years. But the unemployment rate rose to 9 percent in part because some people resumed looking for work.

The Labor Department says the economy added 244,000 jobs last month. Private employers shrugged off high gas prices and created 268,000 jobs — the most since February 2006.

The gains were widespread. Retailers, factories, financial companies, education and health care and even construction companies all added jobs. Federal, state and local governments cut jobs.

The data suggests businesses are confidence in the economy despite weak growth earlier this year.

Still, unemployment increased slightly from the 8.8 percent in March. It was the first increase since November.

_________________________________________________________

Video Section:

_________________________________________________________________

Calvin Ledsome Sr.,

Owner and Founder of: 

• http://PublicBlogNewsPostingServices.com
• https://economicnewsblog.wordpress.com
• http://USAPolitics2012.wordpress.com 
• http://www.imaginemakingrealmoneyonline.com
• http://digitaldownloadable-electronicbooks.blogspot.com

Thank you for visiting, do come back for more news…
Warmest regards,

PS., Hello Reader, What Party Do You Want Running The US Government 2013? Make Your Selection Below!