Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Scottish Power to Raise Price of Domestic Gas by 19% and Electricity by 10%
June 8th, 2011Via: Guardian: Scottish Power is to raise the price of domestic gas and electricity bills by 19% and 10% respectively from August 2011, blaming the increases on a rise in wholesale energy costs and volatility in global energy markets. The rise, which will affect 2.4m households and add £175 a year – or 48p a […]
California: SWAT Team Breaks Into Home, Detains Family Over Student Loan Default
June 8th, 2011Update: Questions, Questions News10 dissappeared the first story about this. Via: News10: A federal education official Wednesday morning offered little information as to why federal agents raided a Stockton man’s home Tuesday. The resident, Kenneth Wright, does not have a criminal record and he had no reason to believe why what he thought was a […]
Bank Not Responsible for Letting Hackers Steal $300K from Customer
June 8th, 2011Via: Wired: A judge in Maine has ruled that a bank that allowed hackers to steal more than $300,000 from a customer’s online account isn’t responsible for the lost money, saying the customer should have done more to protect the account credentials. Magistrate Judge John Rich sided with Ocean Bank in recommending that the U.S. […]
Lehman Could Escape with Just a Public Rebuke
June 7th, 2011Via: New Zealand Herald / Bloomberg: United States Securities and Exchange Commission investigators may issue a public rebuke of Lehman Brothers Holdings and its former executives instead of suing them for actions that led to the firm’s 2008 failure, say three people with knowledge of the matter. SEC enforcement lawyers, who have struggled for more […]
U.S. Funding for Future Promises Lags by Trillions
June 7th, 2011Via: USA Today: The federal government’s financial condition deteriorated rapidly last year, far beyond the $1.5 trillion in new debt taken on to finance the budget deficit, a USA TODAY analysis shows. The government added $5.3 trillion in new financial obligations in 2010, largely for retirement programs such as Medicare and Social Security. That brings […]
Dollar Index at 1-Month Low
June 7th, 2011Warning: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. The U.S. Dollar Index is working its way down again. A break below 72.696 sets up a try for the strategic 70.792 level. The index is at 73.581 right now. Via: Reuters: The dollar fell to a one-month low against a […]
North China Is Dying
June 7th, 2011Via: New York Times: North China is dying. A chronic drought is ravaging farmland. The Gobi Desert is inching south. The Yellow River, the so-called birthplace of Chinese civilization, is so polluted it can no longer supply drinking water. The rapid growth of megacities — 22 million people in Beijing and 12 million in Tianjin […]
The Secret History of Boeing’s Killer Drone
June 7th, 2011Via: Wired: When the pilotless, wing-shaped warplane lifted off a runway at California’s Edwards Air Force Base for the first time on the morning of April 27, it was like the resurrection of the dead. The Boeing Phantom Ray — one of the most advanced drones ever built — came close to never flying at […]
State, Local Governments Set to See Record Job Cuts, Layoffs
June 6th, 2011Via: CNN: Don’t look to state and local governments to prop up the job market. To the contrary, this cash-strapped sector is set to go on a record-breaking layoff binge when the new fiscal year starts on July 1. State and local governments are forecast to shed up to 110,000 jobs in the third quarter, […]
U.S. House Price Collapse Worse Than During Great Depression
June 5th, 2011Via: Independent: The ailing US housing market passed a grim milestone in the first quarter of this year, posting a further deterioration that means the fall in house prices is now greater than that suffered during the Great Depression. The brief recovery in prices in 2009, spurred by government aid to first-time buyers, has now […]
