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Carbon prices dropped sharply on Monday in response to disappointment at the outcome of the United Nations climate conference in Copenhagen, which ended with an agreement that fell well short of its goals for significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, reports FT. European Union allowances for December 2010 delivery, the benchmark contract for pricing European carbon emissions, dropped 8.7 per cent to €12.40 a ton in early trading before recovering slightly to trade 5.7 per cent lower at €12.80 a ton. UN-backed certified emissions reductions for December 2010 delivery fell 6.6 per cent to €11.05 a ton, their lowest level...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Plans from Wells Fargo & Co and Citigroup to repay taxpayer funds will put the U.S. government on track to reduce its bailout investments in banks by more than 75 percent, while earning a healthy profit for the U.S., U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Monday. "With the recent announcements on repayments, we are now on track to reduce TARP bank investments by more than 75 percent, while earning a healthy profit on that commitment," Geithner said in a statement after Wells Fargo announced it will repay the $25 billion it received from the government under...

The recent revelations of misrepresentation by CRU scientists about research on climate change should come as no surprise. Scientists, like all human beings, are sometimes tempted to lie or cheat and occasionally they succumb to those temptations. Actually, scientists don't do too badly. According to a recent analysis of surveys of scientific misconduct: "In surveys asking about the behavior of colleagues, fabrication, falsification, and modification [of data] had been observed, on average, by over 14% of respondents, and other questionable practices [such as 'dropping data points based on a gut feeling', and 'changing the design, methodology or results of a...

“Profit” and the “profit motive” have successfully been reclassified by the American political Left as a dirty word...

Second straight quarterly gain for insurer. merican International Group, the insurance giant whose near-collapse last year prompted a massive federal bailout, on Friday posted its second consecutive quarterly profit as some of its units continued to stabilize and improved financial markets boosted the company's bottom line. The New York-based insurer reported a third-quarter profit of $455 million, or 68 cents a share, compared with a $24.47 billion loss, or $181.02 a share, during the same period last year, according to a regulatory filing. For the second straight quarter, AIG elected not to hold an investor call to discuss its results....

BMW profit skids 74% By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- BMW Tuesday reported a 74% decline in third-quarter net profit, as the recession deterred buyers of luxury cars. Third-quarter net profit dropped 74% to 78 million euros ($115 million) from the same period a year ago. Revenue fell by 6.6% to 11.76 billion euros. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected a profit of 39 million euros on sales of 11.97 billion euros.

FACT CHECK: Health insurers' profits 35th of 53By CALVIN WOODWARD Associated Press Writer Posted on Monday, 10.26.0 **SNIP** THE NUMBERS: Health insurers posted a 2.2 percent profit margin last year, placing them 35th of 53 industries on the Fortune 500 list. As is typical, other health sectors did much better - drugs and medical products and services were both in the top 10. The railroads brought in a 12.6 percent profit margin. Leading the list: network and other communications equipment, at 20.4 percent. HealthSpring, the best performer in the health insurance industry, posted 5.4 percent. That's a less profitable margin...

understanding, we shall go over again some of the ground already covered in chapter fifteen on the price system, but we shall view the subject from a different angle. Profits actually do not bulk large in our total economy. The net income of incorporated business in the fifteen years from 1929 to 1943, to take some illustrative figures, averaged less than percent of the total national income. Corporate profits after taxes in the five years from 1956 to 1960 averaged less than 6 percent of the national income. Corporate profits after taxes in the five years 1971 through 1977 also...

PRESIDENT Obama and con gressional Democrats are now fixing their gun sights on health insurers, but their broader, underlying goals remain unchanged: socializing costs and extending Washington's control of the health-care sector. This takes what Obama told Joe the Plumber about "spreading the wealth" a step further. Because not only do the reforms redistribute wealth by shifting costs; they also put government in charge of spending even more of the nation's money. And they can do it via a "public option" or heavy insurance regulation and mandates. Follow along: Obama is now blasting insurers, claiming they "do nothing to improve...

Why is the battle for greed winning over the battle for USA? How can there be a united states of american citizens if only handful hold power over everything we learn, read, see,...the laws by which we must abide? I swear,...it's like this whole nation has turned into a century old coal-mining town where,...us common folks are given the means merely to give back to the company that pays for our labors and takes all the money OUTSIDE our own resources. Oh,...*shrug*,...I forgot that, those companies still do that to this day: steal the labor, TAKE AND PROFIT off the...

Reading positive literature is an absolute must to help you grow into the businessperson or salesperson you want to be and the life you want. Reading, or listening to, positive literature edifies us and is a relatively small task that pays enormous dividends if done consistently and meaningfully. Unlike a physical workout that can take 1-2 hours, the brain workout only involves 10-15 minutes a day. There are two specific reasons that you will want to do so: * Reading positive literature mentally exercises our mind to process new ideas and rekindle old ones that are of value. Reading positive...

TOKYO — Honda bucked expectations of losses in the first quarter, today posting a 7.5 billion yen ($79.8 million) profit and raising forecasts for the full year on optimism auto sales will improve. The results for the April-June period were better than the flood of red ink some analysts had forecast though profit was still down 96 percent, battered by slumping car sales and a strong yen, which offset cost cuts. Honda made a net profit of 173.3 billion yen in the same period of 2008.

The healthcare and prison industries were the targets in HBO talk-show host Bill Maher’s “New Rules” segment on his Real Time program last Friday. Maher thundered how not everything should be for-profit in America: “And finally, New Rule: Not everything in America has to make a profit. You know, if conservatives get to call universal healthcare ’socialized medicine,’ I get to call private, for-profit healthcare ’soulless, vampire bastards making money off human pain.’

The Most At-Risk Sports TeamsBy Minyanville In the U.S., love of sport is fanatical. Our major-league obsessions are so intense we often forget that our favorite teams have a purpose higher than winning games: turning a profit. Pro sports franchises are businesses like any other, and sometimes businesses struggle, limp along or die off. What will it take to keep the cowbells ringing in Sacramento? Can hockey survive in the desert? Will small-market football teams have to pack their bags? Minyanville presents sports teams at risk of relocation -- or worse. And with the economy in question, saving them could...

Liberals: Are They Born That Way?July 1, 2009 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I gotta deal with something here. August 1st will be 21 years. And for about 20 of these -- maybe 21 of the 21 and-a-half years, there hasn't been a day go by that I haven't been asked, "Rush, why are liberals the way they are?" Now, you take a look at the Supreme Court decision on the Ricci case, the firefighters in New Haven, four human beings, four Americans saw no discrimination against the white firefighters in the case when it was obvious. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing for...

NORRISTOWN — When Wendy Lavin discovered that jail cell writings from her daughter's killer were for sale on the Internet, she was horrified. "I was disgusted. I felt sick to my stomach," said Lavin, whose 20-year-old daughter, Jennifer Louise Still, was stabbed to death by serial killer John Charles Eichinger in 1999. "I could not believe that after everything I had been through with the murder and trial, it was like it was happening all over again. I could not believe that something so horrific was going on and I wasn't aware of it." Lavin discovered the Web site when...

We’re all familiar with the story about the frog. If you drop him in boiling water, he’ll jump right out. But if you put him in cold water and then heat it to boiling, he’ll adjust gradually to the increasing temperature, be lulled into inaction, and die. It’s not true; the frog will eventually jump out. But as a cautionary tale, it reminds us that we should be wary of inaction in response to gradual changes in our environment. In other words, as change happens–and it happens every day–you must adapt. If not, you’ll fail to thrive … and you...

One of the more disturbing lines of argument I see when health care is discussed is the one that implies “profit” essentially equals poor care and high prices. A perfect example of that comes from an ad the liberal advocacy group MoveOn.Org ...

First Lady, Michelle Obama urged young people to forego career choices focused on making money. Instead, she counseled them to dedicate their lives to “giving money.” “The days of grubbing for the almighty dollar are past,” she declared. “A new age of giving has dawned.” The First Lady held out her husband and herself as the best models for emulation. “Barack and I have spent our lives working toward a more equitable distribution of wealth in this country,” she boasted. “Achieving this goal will be the main theme of our administration. Those who come onboard with us will be amply...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Like the virus itself, the name "swine flu" is spreading quickly. For the pork purveyors and hog farmers who make up the nation's $15 billion pork industry, that's a disaster. It doesn't seem to matter that the strain may not come entirely from pigs and cannot be spread by eating pork. Hog prices are already dropping as financial markets worry people will have second thoughts about buying "the other white meat." "It's killing our markets," said Francis Gilmore, 72, who runs a 600-hog operation in Perry, outside Des Moines, and worries his small business could...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The latest debt reduction offer by Chrysler LLC's lenders is unacceptable because it would yield the lenders an unjustified return, an Obama administration official said on Tuesday. "It is neither in the interest of Chrysler's senior lenders nor the country for them to advance a proposal that would yield them an unjustified return as Chrysler, its employees and other stakeholders are working tirelessly to help this company restructure," the official said. "Our hope and expectation is that these lenders take a more constructive position in the coming days that reflects the actual situation that they and the...

Companies Reset Goals for Bonuses By JONATHAN D. GLATER When executives have a tough time meeting their performance goals, a growing number of companies are moving the goalposts for them. Instead of paying bonuses to top executives when revenue or profits rise — less and less likely in this dark economy — companies have disclosed plans to offer awards based on other measures of success. A bonus may be more attainable if based, say, on preserving cash flow. Xerox has dropped revenue growth as a factor in determining bonuses for its executives, the company disclosed recently in regulatory filings. The...

CALABASAS, Calif. — Fairly or not, Countrywide Financial and its top executives would be on most lists of those who share blame for the nation’s economic crisis. After all, the banking behemoth made risky loans to tens of thousands of Americans, helping set off a chain of events that has the economy staggering. So it may come as a surprise that a dozen former top Countrywide executives now stand to make millions from the home mortgage mess. Stanford L. Kurland, Countrywide’s former president, and his team have been buying up delinquent home mortgages that the government took over from other...

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Target Corp. said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter profit fell 41 percent as consumer spending suffered amid high unemployment and other economic woes. The discount retailer earned $609 million, or 81 cents per share, in the quarter ended Jan. 31. That compares to $1.03 billion, or $1.23 per share, a year earlier. Revenue in the quarter fell 1.6 percent to $19.02 billion. Sales at stores open at least a year fell 5.9 percent, the company said. Sales at new stores partially offset that. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who typically exclude one-time items, had expected Target to earn...

Stock futures are pointing to a rising market Tuesday, but I still worry that the market will find a reason to go south instead. Rampant, persistent pessimism is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. The disease already spread to companies and consumers. Can't anyone see the good side of bad? Take Hershey (HSY Quote - Cramer on HSY - Stock Picks), for example. The Pennsylvania chocolate maker said sales and profit rose more than 50% in the fourth quarter as it increased advertising spending on its core brands, Reese's and Hershey's. That's good news, right? But no doubt the market will interpret...

The Big Picture: Resist the urge to jump into this sick market. Anyone looking at 2008's near 40% decline will feel tempted to jump in at these bargain-basement levels. If you reference the year 1930 (one year after the start of the Great Depression), you may think twice. Despite all the fiscal and monetary stimulus being thrown at our economic mess, the US, and the world economies will look a lot like they did in 2008. Political and Economic Predictions: * Oil falls into a range of $20-$30 where it settles for a short period. Be on the lookout for...

Top Japanese manufacturers retain hefty earnings while shedding jobs TOKYO, Dec. 23 KYODO Top Japanese manufacturers retain hefty earnings while shedding Sixteen top Japanese manufacturers including Toyota Motor Corp. and Canon Inc. built up hefty retained earnings totaling around 33.6 trillion yen at the end of September 2008, double the amount at the end of March 2002 just before the last phase in an economic upturn, a survey by Kyodo News showed Tuesday. Since April this year, these companies have shed some 40,000 jobs, many announced in recent weeks amid the financial crisis, suggesting that they are retaining earnings from...

Palin has stood up to the major oil companies, and has made utterly transparent the State of Alaska's dealings with them, but she is neither in their pocket nor a rabble-rouser who unfairly demonizes them. She's dealt with them like a responsible public servant, not a class warrior. Stephen Spruiell was generous and self-critical enough to link today on The Corner a comment I wrote to one of my own Palin posts in which I took issue with a post by my excellent friend Ed Morrissey (formerly of Captain's Quarters) at Hot Air. Basically, I thought Ed (and, inferentially, Mr....

Republicans in Congress this June united to defeat a proposed windfall tax on oil companies, deriding it as a bad idea that would discourage investment in U.S. oil exploration. Things worked out far differently in the GOP stronghold of Alaska, a state whose economic fate is closely tied to the oil industry. Over the opposition of oil companies, Republican Gov. Sarah Palin and Alaska's Legislature last year approved a major increase in taxes on the oil industry — a step that has generated stunning new wealth for the state as oil prices soared.

DAVID WEIDNER'S WRITING ON THE WALL Whoops, there goes our profit Commentary: Merrill and J.P. Morgan hint at the scale of coming damage By David Weidner, MarketWatch Last update: 12:01 a.m. EDT Aug. 14, 2008NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Big deal: the other day, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. filed its quarterly report with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Nothing unusual in that. The bank had already done the dirty work by announcing its second-quarter results on July 17. And in that report, everything was looking up. J.P. Morgan had a $2 billion profit to show. The only apparent downer was...

There's something about the oil business that turns even intelligent people into frothmouthed loons: they're raping the planet, shafting Joe Sixpack or, from the other side, insisting that the drill in every back yard is the very definition of America. I realise that in the middle of an election that the small still voice of reason isn't going to get much airplay but let's give it the old school try anyway.

NEW YORK - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. posted a 17 percent increase in second-quarter profit Thursday and raised its full-year earnings forecast, helped by cost cuts and a renewed focus on low prices that is attracting financially squeezed shoppers around the world. But the world’s largest retailer predicted slower sales growth at its established stores for the current quarter, saying it is seeing some volatility as customers find it difficult to stretch their paycheck to the next payday. The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer said it earned $3.45 billion, or 87 cents per share, in the quarter ended July 31, up from $2.95...

Do US Hospitals Harm Patients for Profit? By Clark Baker On the Massachusetts border that joins with Connecticut and Rhode Island, the green woods and blue waters of Lake Chaubunagungamaug shimmer in the summer breeze. Turning northeast along Sutton Road, it’s easy to see why America’s first colonists settled in these gently rolling hills and tilled its fields. In the fall, the thick green forests turn into a kaleidoscope of rusty yellows, reds, and browns before the first snow falls. At Nipmuck Pond, you won’t notice that Sutton Road has become Cliff Road until it changes again to Joe Jenny...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Acting quickly to prevent a run on major global financial firms, the Federal Reserve cut its discount rate by a quarter percentage point to 3.25% and offered to lend money to a longer list of firms than ever before. he extraordinary weekend moves came as J.P. Morgan Chase sealed a deal to buy Bear Stearns Cos. for just $2 a share backed by funds borrowed from the Fed. The Fed board gave its approval to that unique funding arrangement, which guarantees JP Morgan against losses from buying Bear. See full story. The Fed board also approved the...

Ethanol industry losing its momentum By Michael Hooper | MORRIS NEWS SERVICE Tuesday, March 11, 2008 Story last updated at 3/11/2008 - 2:42 am TOPEKA, Kan. - Tough times have struck the ethanol industry as profit margins have declined while corn prices have soared. Last month, Cargill suspended development of an ethanol plant near Topeka. An ethanol plant that opened last fall in Pratt, Kan., already has stopped producing ethanol. A new biofuels plant in Mead, Neb., shut down last fall. Another ethanol plant in Canton, Ill., is in bankruptcy. The industry was skyrocketing five years ago when the price...

Bill Gates may be the world's richest person — and also the most generous, as measured by amount of philanthropy — but we shouldn't assume those characteristics make him the most perspicacious.In a Jan. 24 speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Gates laid out his vision of "creative capitalism," which encourages companies to spend money on worthwhile causes or on money-losing projects that are judged to be socially desirable. According to Gates' fuzzy logic, this is "market-based social change" that does "work that eases the world's inequities." Good goals, bad strategy. Gates is not the first paragon...

One final thought regarding last night's debate keeps reverberating, and that comes from the repeated assertion from John McCain that he led for patriotism, not for profit. No one can doubt that this is true, and no one can doubt John McCain's patriotism and sacrifice for this country. He has also, in the Senate, been a leader on national issues far more than others like John Kerry, for instance; he takes very public stands on issues and drives major legislation. Regardless of what people think of those positions, he has never let an overwhelming desire to safeguard his political career...

BENTONVILLE, Ark. - A year after its worst holiday sales season ever, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. may rebound to have a good season after finding the right mix of merchandise and marketing to complement its return to a focus on low prices. A whiff of this already showed up when the nation's largest retailer posted third-quarter earnings Tuesday of $2.86 billion, an 8 percent rise that beat Wall Street expectations. The company earned 70 cents per share, up from 62 cents per share in the same period a year ago. The 70 cents includes an after-tax gain equal to 1 cent...

Travelodge Hotel Chain Switches Off its Porn TV It wants to "appeal to the ever-growing number of families" By Elizabeth O'BrienUNITED KINGDOM, August 8, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Travelodge, one of the largest UK hotel chains, has decided to cut out its pornography option and replace the "adult" channels with family friendly material in order to encourage the growing number of parents and children who stay at its budget hotels. With branches in Spain, Ireland and the United Kingdom, Travelodge is the fastest growing and most recognized UK budget hotel chain, boasting a total of 20,000 bedrooms. The company recently announced...

The Sixteenth Amendment DID NOT authorize the federal government to tax your PERSONALLY earned wages, but only that part of your wages that is PROFIT, or GAIN above and beyond what you gave up in order to receive them. Can you say what part of your wages are above and beyond your personal investment in earning them? Neither can the government. So it LIES to you by saying in PUBLICATIONS, like its Form 1040 Instructions, (WHICH ARE NOT LAW) that you must report and pay taxes on ALL of your wages . . . even that part that is...

Clinton's Golden Voice Bill Clinton earned $31 million in speaking fees between 2001 and 2005, as disclosed in his wife's Senate ethics reports. This page lists information about each speech and the amount the former president earned. Related: See the map of speeches and read the Post story

All too often today we hear condemnations of the profit motive as destructive and uncaring. But is it really? Or is the profit motive one of the noblest forces that can impel a man to act? To understand whether the profit motive is desirable, we must first grasp the goals of a life properly lived. These goals are twofold; on the first level, survival is the goal of sustaining one's biological existence and preventing one's downward slide toward poverty, ruination, and death. On the second level, flourishing is the extension of one's control over the external reality-the ability to harness...

Per FR excerpt policy, Bloomberg is link only.Read article here.

High gas prices and strong oil company earnings have generated a rash of new tax proposals in recent months. Some lawmakers have called for new “windfall profits” taxes—similar to the one signed into federal law in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter—that would tax the profits of major oil companies at a rate of 50 percent. Meanwhile, many commentators have voiced support for the idea of increasing gas taxes to keep the price of gasoline at post-Katrina highs, thereby reducing gas consumption. However, often ignored in this debate is the fact that oil industry profits are highly cyclical, making them just...

Boeing Co. is showing early signs of turning company-record orders for jetliners into profits. After raking in 1,044 new orders in 2006, on top of 1,002 orders in 2005, Boeing's Commercial Airplanes unit has about six years of production on its books at current rates, valued at $174 billion. As the company ramps up production, its ability to profitably produce the airplanes on order will test its commitment to efficient manufacturing, and it should have a greater influence on Boeing's stock performance than the usual practice of keeping track of the yearly order race against rival Airbus. "If you add...

New Mexico's use of jails run by companies is the highest in the country -- and rising -- but do they live up to their promises?New Mexico leads the nation on another list: We're No. 1 in using private prisons to house inmates. The latest U.S. Justice Department statistics, published in a study called Prisons in 2005, showed 43 percent of New Mexico prisoners were in private lockups. That's well ahead of the 6 percent national rate for privately held state prison inmates. And the percentage in New Mexico is bound to rise even higher in the near future. Cells...

All too often today we hear condemnations of the profit motive as destructive and uncaring. But is it really? Or is the profit motive one of the noblest forces that can impel a man to act? To understand whether the profit motive is desirable, we must first grasp the goals of a life properly lived. These goals are twofold; on the first level, survival is the goal of sustaining one's biological existence and preventing one's downward slide toward poverty, ruination, and death. On the second level, flourishing is the extension of one's control over the external reality—the ability to harness...

WASHINGTON, July 12 (UPI) -- Hundreds of novel anti-cancer agents have entered clinical trials in the first six months of this year, according to a report released Wednesday by a firm that tracks drug development. Katie Siafaca, spokeswoman for New Medicine, which released the report, said there has been a dramatic rise in the number of drugs being developed for treating cancer in recent years. "It's a tremendous increase in the last five or six years," Siafaca told United Press International, noting there are 100 compounds in phase 1 clinical development alone. "Everything has increased dramatically." The compounds in development...

Apollo Group is the biggest of the ForPro education groups. It owns the University of Phoenix. Yesterday its stock fell 2 percent after reporting lower third-quarter profits because of higher costs. Corinthian Colleges is another of the big players. It, too, reported a loss of 3 cents/share. DeVry lost 15 cents, and Educational Services lost 3 cents/share as well. Everybody's trading down, albeit down very little. Does this mean that the quality of education provided by these groups has also dipped? Are students losing out 2% on their classes? or 3 cents/dollar they spend on their tuition? Hardly. One of...

While US airlines cut and slash service -- care and feeding -- of their travelers, the Asian airlines have been buying new planes, installing elaborate entertainment systems, and allowing passengers in-flight e-mail and web surfing options. Add to that plush seats and meals created by celebrity chefs, and the result is that America doesn't know service. Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines services beat all American carriers, hands down. On the long-haul flights, choices of movies, frequent meals (America doesn't need this) -- Western or Asian style -- and friendly service are the standard. Not only are the US airlines behind,...