Weekly Wrap Up
In corporate news, Google (GOOG: Charts, News, Offers)confirmed Friday the Federal Trade Commission is investigating their search engine business. Also, Wal-Mart (WMT: Charts, News, Offers) won a highly publicized discrimination case in the Supreme Court. More Market News
Economic News
The central bank is betting that, even without additional monetary or fiscal stimulus, U.S. economic growth will pick up sharply in the latter part of the year after a disappointing first half. But in adopting a kind of wait-and-see policy, the Fed faces increasing risk of antagonizing politicians from the right and the left, as well as investors.
In a news conference after the Fed’s regular policy meeting Wednesday, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said that at least part of the recent slump was caused by what he believes are temporary factors, such as inflated energy prices that hurt consumer purchasing and the Japanese earthquake and tsunami that disrupted businesses, particularly in the auto industry. (Source: LA Times) Click here to read the full article
Sour reports Thursday on the number of people who sought unemployment benefits and buyers of new homes illustrate what Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke acknowledged Wednesday: Many factors weighing on the economy are proving to be more chronic than first imagined.
Applications for unemployment benefits rose to a seasonally adjusted 429,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the biggest jump in a month and marked the 11th straight week that applications have been above 400,000. Elevated unemployment benefit claims signal a worsening job market. (Source: Yahoo News) Click here to read the full article
Business News
In its decision for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. v. Betty Dukes et al., the court found that within the class – which could have included more than 1 million women workers – there was an absence of “glue holding together the alleged reasons” for millions of employment decisions. Also, the court said there wasn’t “significant proof” that the company “operated under a general policy of discrimination.
Wal-Mart’s (WMT: Charts, News, Offers) announced policy forbids sex discrimination, and the company has penalties for denials of equal opportunity, according to the court’s decision. (Source: New York Times) Click here to read the full article
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM: Charts, News, Offers) has agreed to pay $153.6 million to settle civil fraud charges that it misled buyers of complex mortgage investments just as the housing market was collapsing.
J.P. Morgan Securities, a division of the powerful Wall Street bank, failed to tell investors that a hedge fund helped select the investment portfolio and then bet that the portfolio would fail, the Securities and Exchange Commission said. (Source: New York Times) Click here to read the full article
Technology Focus
Google Inc. (GOOG: Charts, News, Offers) acknowledged Friday that it has received notice from the Federal Trade Commission that the antitrust regulator has begun an investigation of the firm’s Internet search and advertising businesses.
However, Google said in a posting on a company website that, “It’s still unclear exactly what the FTC’s concerns are.” (Source: Market Watch) Click here to read the full article
Videographers take note: $299 will now get you one of the most powerful video editing suites in the whole wide world. Apple AAPL Final Cut Pro X includes a new magnetic timeline, content auto-analysis, improved import features, and background rendering.
What is this Magnetic Timeline you ask? (Source: Crunch Gear) Click here to read the full article
Your Money
Tomorrow sees the NBA Draft – since 1950 the means of bringing the cream of college basketball talent into the professional ranks. Pro teams take views and stake fortunes on those college kids most likely to step up successfully.
In 1998, Briton Michael Olowokandi was first pick, drafted to the L.A. Clippers. His selection was big news — not because the soccer-obsessed Britons had finally produced a basketball talent, but because he had only been playing the game for five years, since 1993. Although Olowokandi had only played basketball in the U.K. for two years before his freshman year, coaches at Pacific University were intrigued by his seven foot frame and recruited him. He had no game to speak of, but huge potential. It was unclear until very late in his college career that he was NBA material, let alone a potential number one pick. (Source: HBR Blog) Click here to read the full article
We might not like rude people, but we respect them. That’s one unsettling conclusion that could be drawn from a new study by a team of researchers from the University of Amsterdam, who asked people to give their impressions of others who were ill-behaved. (Source: Business Insider) Click here to read the full article
