Good news on the job front: The service sector expanded in September. This is encouraging in an economic climate in which jobs have been lost. The expansion of the service sector is good news for those on the job hunt, since it indicates that there are some companies ready to hire. The index measuring non-manufacturing jobs moved to 50.9 in September, an improvement over the 48.4 August number.
The sector is considered to be expanding when the index reaches 50. The fact that the index has moved beyond 50 is boosting some morale. This is the second month of expansion, so …read more

One of the discussions going on at the G-20 summit happening in Philadelphia is all about the stimulus packages and exit strategies. However, the policymakers in the G-20 have agreed to keep stimulus measures in place until all of the countries involved are on their way to sustained recoveries and until exit strategies from the economic stimulus can be coordinated. (It appears as though the G-20 is about to replace the G8 as the main council for global economic coordination.)
This is an interesting point, since there are concerns that economic stimulus measures, if not lifted at the right time, could …read more

As the United States continues to move toward developing cleaner and more reliable sources of energy, President Obama’s administration has decided to give Solyndra Inc., a manufacturer of solar power systems, a $535 million loan. The money will go toward the construction of a photovoltaic power manufacturing plant which will eventually employ 1,000 people.
 
The money for the loan guarantee will come from Obama’s economic stimulus plan that was put into effect by President Obama in February. The offer was originally extended to Solyndra on the condition that the energy company would secure its own end of the financing offer and …read more

The Obama administration has set aside more than $500 million for the economic stimulus of renewable energy development projects, and Spanish company Iberdrola SA will receive the largest portion of these funds. Iberdrola SA will receive $236 million to build wind farms throughout Texas, Oregon, and Minnesota, while a Pennsylvania wind project will receive $59 million.
 
In all, twelve different projects will receive a portion of the funds, with 59 percent of the money going to Iberdrola’s various projects throughout the three states. This money, which comes from a $3 billion fund that the Obama administration set aside for economic recovery, …read more

Wells Fargo was one of the first banks to receive federal bailout money as part of the economic stimulus package and it will be one of the last to pay the government back what it borrowed. A Wells Fargo spokesperson stated that the company will return $25 billion to the government soon without selling any additional stock.
Out of the first nine huge financial institutions that received bailout money, only Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Citigroup have still not paid the government back. However, Bank of American and Citigroup both received aid on two separate occasions, with Bank of America …read more

It is no secret that we are in the middle of a fierce recession, one that the Federal Reserve has tried to combat by blitzing it with a variety of tools. One of these has been to purchase $1.25 trillion in troubled mortgages and $300 billion in government debt by printing money, a tactic that many economists say may end up ruining the economy.
 
The Federal Reserve is well aware that such a tactic could end up being fatal for the economy, which is why it decided it would only create enough money to address the problem and stop short of …read more

That’s what time it is according to G-8 finance ministers, who have already started to draft plans to retract budget cuts and bank bailouts in preparation for economic recovery. While this does not mean that the end of the recession is necessarily in sight, it does mean that economic officials know what to do when it comes.
Right now, the consensus among economic experts is to keep the mechanisms in place that are allowing the economy to grow. “It is too early to shift toward policy restraint,” according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, as such action would potentially bring us …read more

When I pressed the mental rewind button on the year 2008, many words came to mind. ”Change” tops my list since it has saturated every form of media for what seems like an eternity!  
I decided to check Merriam-Webster’s Top Ten List for “Word of the Year” and four of those terms were in heavy Palin rotation: maverick, bipartisan, socialism and rogue.

Each word brings back memories, but financially speaking how will you choose to remember 2008?  
Place your vote for Talk Stock Trading’s “Term of the Year”
Term #1: BAILOUT – Too big to fail?  Ask the government to pay your bail!  A bailout is loosely defined as a financial rescue …read more

It appears that the effects of the economic stimulus package are waning fast, as retail sales for July decreased by 0.1 percent. 
Gas sales were up 0.8 percent last month, but even higher gas prices could not bring July’s sales into positive territory.  Sales were driven down by a 2.4 percent decrease in vehicle sales.
U.S. auto sales reached a 16 year low in July, marking nine straight months of domestic sales declines.
The lackluster sales data helped the Dow shed over almost two percent this morning, but some of the morning’s losses have been reversed heading into the afternoon.

Halfway through the fiscal year, the federal deficit is at a record high of $311.4 billion, up 20.5% from this time last year. The report from the Treasury showed that revenue for the fiscal year totaled $1.146 trillion, up just 2.2% from last year. In contrast, government spending was up by a much faster 5.7%, rising to $1.457 trillion – and that doesn’t take into account those planned rebate checks!