Thursday, December 31, 2009
Flexfoil outperforms 1.5" polystyrene container
In a recent case study conducted at Polyair's laboratory in Toronto, Polyair's insulated Foil/Single Bubble/Poly Pouch outperformed a 1.5" polystyrene container.
The following was used in the test:
The Corrugate Box, Lined with Dow Polystyrene at 1.5" thick, filled with 144 Chocolate Bars (Reece's Peanut Butter Cups), Cooled to -2 degrees Fahrenheit
The second box was lined with a Flexfoil Liner (two dimensional pouch constructed from a Foil/Single Bubble/Poly substrate) and subjected to the same freezing cycle.
The two boxes were then left in a chamber that fluctuated between 90 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit. It is important to note that it is not often the case that these temperatures are reached for the entire shipping cycle and that the boxes were tested without any gel packs.
Conclusion:
Despite the slightly better performance for the Polystyrene container in the initial hours, the Flexfoil product showed dramatically better performance on average. At the 12th hour the chocolate that were inside the Flexfoil lined box showed an 8 degree difference when compared with the Polystyrene.
For more information on Polyair's Flexfoil products please visit http://www.flexfoil.com and contact your your packaging consultant at mlaubscher@polyair.com for examples of more food applications.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Food for thought.........
7-Eleven tests packaged bananas
Chain irks environmentalists as it seeks to boost its fresh food sales
Can plastic wrap boost banana sales? Convenience-store giant 7-Eleven thinks so. With the decline of its cigarette sales revenue in recent years, the company has looked to fresh food to help make up the difference and spur a reinvention of the retailer’s product line.But it faces a real problem – bananas don’t stay yellow for long, and customers don’t find brown ones appealing.
To solve the problem, 7-Eleven has turned to Fresh Del Monte, which created a plastic wrap that allows individually-sold fruit to stay fresh longer. The wrap is designed to keep oxygen and moisture out, thereby slowing respiration and resisting spoilage.
The bananas are wrapped when green, with the intent of them reaching peak ripeness in the store.
7-Eleven is testing the new wrapped bananas at 27 Dallas area locations of its nationwide convenience store chain. If testing is successful, the company could carry the wrapped bananas throughout its 5,787 stores as early as the first quarter of 2010.
That is, if environmentalists don’t have their way in the matter. The company's move toward wrapping produce is sharply criticized by many as adding a wrapper to a fruit that already has a natural wrapper.
But 7-Eleven says its working closely with Fresh Del Monte to develop a biodegradable wrapper, and the company appears eager to create a solution to the hurdles of selling fresh fruit in a convenience store.
7-Eleven increasingly sees fresh fruit as a key part of its business, and expects to sell 27 million bananas this year.By David Bellm, New-Media Editor -- Packaging Digest, October 12, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Green is ingrained in packaging, says new Packaging Digest study
Results of the 2009 SUSTAINABLITY IN PACKAGING study affirm the growing awareness of sustainability and the influential role this issue plays in packaging decisions.
By John Kalkowski, Editorial Director -- Packaging Digest, November 4, 2009
Sustainability has been a primary consideration in the packaging industry the last several years, and its influence continues to grow, according to the third annual Sustainability in Packaging study sponsored by Packaging Digest and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC).Not surprisingly, data show that sustainability awareness among packagers has reached new highs in 2009, with 41 percent of the survey's 1,012 respondents saying they are very familiar with the issues of sustainability versus 21 percent in the original 2007 survey.
The emphasis on sustainable packaging has increased in the last year, according to 68 percent of respondents, while only 4 percent say they've seen a decrease in emphasis. The fact that the number of survey participants topped 1,000 for the third consecutive time is another indicator of the high interest in sustainability among those working in packaging-related jobs.
Nearly nine out of 10 survey participants say that sustainable design has become a consideration in packaging-design decisions, although just 21 percent say it is a very important factor.
However, customers clearly drive companies' sustainable activities, as nearly two-thirds of respondents say their customer's voice–be it retailers or actual consumers–is what has the most impact on how they pursue sustainability. However, nearly half of those answering the survey claim that fewer than 10 percent of their customers are actually requiring packaging that has sustainable characteristics.
As the chart above indicates, Walmart, with 441 mentions, has had the most impact on sustainability when respondents were asked to identify corporate leaders on environmental issues. Although participants identified more than 100 companies with environmental leadership qualities, Procter & Gamble was the only company beside Walmart to garner more than 100 mentions.
Companies do expect a return on their investments in sustainable activities, according to 57 percent of respondents, up slightly from 53 percent in 2008. However, those who expect that payback in less than one year jumped to 13 percent of those in the study, up from 5 percent the previous year.
Few setting out policies
In 2009, only 21 percent of respondents say their companies have formal, written policies on sustainability, while another 22 percent say the companies have informal, unwritten guidelines and 28 percent have none at all. The most common guidelines included in these policies are recycled content specifications, bans or limits on specific material usage and new design guidelines. Still, 53 percent said their business has no measurement tool in place to evaluate performance or track the progress of company sustainability activities.
When asked what developments are most needed to achieve their company goals, 51 percent of participants cited better, new materials and improved education and training. Better collection and recovery methods, which received the most mentions in 2008, slipped to 41 percent of the vote from 49 percent. The use of recycled or recyclable materials were listed as high priorities among respondents' companies. In addition, 59 percent say that the use of recycled materials is the primary criterium their companies use to evaluate sustainable packaging.
Read the entire article here
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Bank Failure #90: Corus Bank, National Association, Chicago, Illinois
From FDIC press release:
MB Financial Bank, National Association, Chicago, Illinois, Assumes All of the Deposits of Corus Bank, National Association, Chicago, Illinois
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 11, 2009 |
Corus Bank, National Association, Chicago, Illinois, was closed today by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with MB Financial Bank, National Association, Chicago, Illinois, to assume all of the deposits of Corus Bank, N.A.
The eleven branches of Corus Bank will reopen on their next normally scheduled business day as branches of MB Financial Bank. Depositors of Corus Bank will automatically become depositors of MB Financial Bank. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship to retain their deposit insurance coverage. Customers should continue to use their existing branches until MB Financial Bank can fully integrate the deposit records of Corus Bank.
This evening and over the weekend, depositors of Corus Bank can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.
As of June 30, 2009, Corus Bank had total assets of $7 billion and total deposits of approximately $7 billion. MB Financial Bank will pay the FDIC a premium of 0.2 percent to assume all of the deposits of Corus Bank. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, MB Financial Bank agreed to purchase approximately $3 billion of the assets, comprised mainly of cash and marketable securities. The FDIC will retain the remaining assets for later disposition. The FDIC plans to sell substantially all of the remaining assets of Corus Bank in the next 30 days in a private placement transaction.
Customers who have questions about today's transaction can call the FDIC toll-free at 1-800-823-5017. The phone number will be operational this evening until 9:00 p.m., Central Daylight Time (CDT); on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., CDT; on Sunday from noon to 6:00 p.m., CDT; and thereafter from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., CDT. Interested parties can also visit the FDIC's Web site at http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/corus.html.
The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $1.7 billion. MB Financial Bank's acquisition of all the deposits was the "least costly" resolution for the FDIC's DIF compared to alternatives. Corus Bank is the 90th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the sixteenth in Illinois. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Platinum Community Bank, Rolling Meadows, on September 4, 2009.
Recovery Picks Up in China as U.S. Still Ails
WUXI, China — Just eight months ago, thousands of Chinese workers rioted outside factories closed by the global downturn.
Now many of those plants have reopened and are hiring again. Some executives are even struggling to find enough temporary staff to fill Christmas orders.
The image of laid-off workers here returning to jobs stands in sharp contrast to the United States, where even as the economy shows signs of improvement, the unemployment rate continues to march toward double digits.
In China, even the hardest-hit factories — those depending on exports to the United States and Europe — are starting to rehire workers. No one here is talking about a jobless recovery.
Even the real estate market is picking up. In this industrial town 90 miles northwest of Shanghai, prospective investors lined up one recent Saturday to buy apartments in the still-unfinished Rose Avenue complex. Many of them slept outside the sales office all night.
“The whole country’s economy is back on track,” said Shi Yingyi, a 34-year-old housewife who joined the throng. “I feel more confident now.”
The confidence stems from China’s three-pronged effort — a combination of stimulus, liberal bank lending and broad government support for exports.
The Chinese central bank said the country’s economy surged at an annualized rate of 14.9 percent in the second quarter. The United States economy shrank at an annual rate of 1 percent in that period.
“So often China and the U.S. are mixed together as being in the same situation, and that is totally wrong,” said Xu Xiaonian, an economist in Beijing with the China Europe International Business School.
That does not mean the two nations are not connected, of course. China’s rebound in growth may slow if the American economy does not pick up. China needs the United States to buy its goods, and the United States needs China to continue to buy its debt.
This mutual dependence makes it harder for either country to let the current dispute over Chinese tires and American chicken and auto parts to grow into a trade war.
But with more centralized economic planning than the United States, China has been able to disburse its stimulus much faster, turning it into new rail lines and highways.
China’s finance ministry announced in late June that half the $173 billion in central government spending had already been allocated to specific projects. The White House said in early July that a quarter of the spending authority and tax cuts in the $789 billion American stimulus had been allocated or used.
But even more key to China’s recovery, economists say, are two other government efforts that are paying big dividends: looser lending and export supports.
The state-controlled banking system here — which breezed through the global financial crisis with minimal losses as American financial institutions reeled — unleashed $1.2 trillion in extra lending to Chinese consumers and businesses in the first seven months of this year. That money is financing everything from a boom in car sales, up 82 percent in August from a year earlier, to frenzied factory construction.
Beijing also has given huge tax breaks and other assistance to exporters. They include placing broad restrictions on imports and intervening heavily in currency markets to hold down the value of the renminbi, to keep Chinese exports competitive even in a weakened global economy.
Indeed, subsidies abound at all levels of government: the Wuxi municipal government just offered up to $146,000 to each local business that increases exports in the last three months of this year.
To be sure, not all the laid off workers throughout China have been hired back.
“Some plants reduced worker numbers by 20 to 30 percent, now they hire back 10 percent,” said Stanley Lau, deputy chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, which represents export-oriented factories employing 10 million Chinese workers.
Even so, American trade data shows that imports from China only eroded 14.2 percent in the first seven months of this year while imports from the rest of the world plunged 32.6 percent. China’s trade surplus, already the world’s largest, was $108 billion for the seven-month period.
“We definitely see an upswing in sales orders in the second half of this year when compared to the first half,” said Gu Fung, the sales manager at the Wuxi Baolai Batteries Company.
China’s well-capitalized banking system allowed for rapid investment.
Chinese banks came into the crisis with enormous excess reserves, the result of three years of tight regulatory limits on lending to prevent the economy from overheating. When those limits were removed, and authorities urged bank executives to lend, the total value of loans outstanding shot up more in the first seven months of this year than in the previous 24 months.
By contrast, total loans and leases outstanding at financial institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation actually fell $249 billion, or 3.2 percent, in the first half of this year.
Though Washington has used taxpayer money to bail out American banks, it does not have Beijing’s power to force banks to lend that money to businesses and consumers.
As much as a third of the extra bank lending in China appears to have gone into real estate and stock market speculation. But the bulk has gone into investments by companies and local governments, with tangible results.
China’s currency and trade policies, though highly effective, would be hard for the United States to emulate.
For instance, government intervention in currency markets has prevented the renminbi from moving appreciably against the dollar in more than 14 months, and has pushed the renminbi down by 18 percent against the euro since March.
Government agencies have been told not to buy imported goods with money from economic stimulus programs unless no domestic alternative is available. Washington has imposed a less restrictive rule, misleadingly known as “Buy American,” requiring that construction materials for the stimulus program be bought from any of the 39 countries that have agreed to free trade in government procurement — which China has not.
Still, China’s stimulus efforts could be sowing the seeds of future distress. With so much money washing into the system so fast, regulators have voiced concerns about corruption in government investment projects.
Cheap cash has a way of inflating bubbles — just ask Wall Street — that could damage China’s economy and its banks when they pop.
“You have to imagine the rigor and due diligence” that mainland banks have been showing in rushing out so many loans, said Benjamin Hung, the chief executive of the Hong Kong unit of Standard Chartered Bank.
But such concerns are so 2008.
Hilda Wang contributed reporting to this article.California, Nevada Reach Record Unemployment Levels
Bloomberg reports:
By Timothy R. Homan
Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Unemployment rose in 27 U.S. states in August, with California and Nevada reaching record levels of joblessness.
Rhode Island rounded out the list of states with the highest level of unemployment since data began in 1976, the Labor Department reported today in Washington. California’s unemployment rate reached 12.2 percent and Nevada’s climbed to 13.2 percent.
The job market is showing signs of stabilizing as reports indicate economic growth is resuming this quarter. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News this month said the unemployment rate nationally will reach 10 percent this year, a reminder that consumers are unlikely to lead the recovery.
“There’s still a fair amount of weakness in some of the larger states,” said Steven Cochrane, director of regional economics at Moody’s Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “State finances are probably going to be among the last of all the various components of the broad economy to turn around.”
The number of states with at least 10 percent unemployment fell to 14 from 15 as Indiana’s rate dropped below that threshold. The jobless rate nationally reached a 26-year high of 9.7 percent in August, the Labor Department reported earlier this month.
Unemployment in the District of Columbia also exceeded 10 percent for a fourth consecutive month, rising to 11.1 percent from 10.6 percent.
Michigan, the heart of the U.S. auto industry, continued to surpass all states with an unemployment rate of 15.2 percent in August, up from 15 percent. Nevada was second.
To contact the reporter on this story: Timothy R. Homan in Washington at thoman1@bloomberg.net
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Gold extends push past $1,000
The Financial Times:Gold breached the $1,020 mark on Wednesday, closing in on the record price set last March as bullion was boosted by renewed dollar weakness and concerns about the outlook for inflation.
Gold rose 1.4 per cent to a high of $1,020.50 a troy ounce after settling at $1,005.90 at the end of Tuesday’s session in New York, its highest ever closing price.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
G4 takes of in North American Packaging market
Contact your packaging consultant for more information at smarterpackaging@gmail.com
Eye on the economy
Wall Street Journal reportsWeak Back-to-School Sales Spell Trouble for Holidays
Shoppers are focusing on deals and limiting buying mainly to necessities, based on August sales estimates that herald another tough holiday season for beleaguered retailers.Despite sales tax holidays in several states designed to spur sales, back-to-school spending remains lackluster, according to industry experts. Retailers' recent efforts to shake customers from deep discounts and spur buying by tightly controlling inventories are fizzling.
Now, retailers that traditionally rely on back-to-school sales as an barometer of demand for the remainder of the year face tough choices on stocking and hiring. Customers should find ever slimmer pickings and fewer clerks as stores hold ...
Australian Economic Growth Accelerates, Points to Rate Increase
Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Australia’s economic growth unexpectedly accelerated in the second quarter, driving the nation’s currency higher on expectations the central bank will raise borrowing costs from a half-century low.
Gross domestic product rose 0.6 percent, the biggest gain in more than a year, from the previous three months when it grew 0.4 percent, the Bureau of Statistics said in Sydney today. The median estimate of 20 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 0.2 percent expansion.
Today’s report confirms central bank Governor Glenn Stevens’ view that the economy has been “stronger than expected” as A$20 billion ($16.6 billion) of government cash handouts boosted spending at retailers such as Woolworths Ltd. and Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. Australia joins other developed nations, including France and Germany, that are rebounding from the deepest global recession since the Great Depression.
“Australia clearly is in a sweet spot, one that we expect to extend through to year end,” said Glenn Maguire, chief Asia- Pacific economist at Societe Generale in Hong Kong. The Reserve Bank will raise interest rates by a quarter-percentage point in November, he added.
The Australian dollar rose to 83.04 U.S. cents at 12:38 p.m. in Sydney from 82.73 cents just before the report was released. The two-year government bond yield gained 7 basis points to 4.39 percent. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index has climbed 41 percent since March 6. Read the full story here
Reuters:
Bailed-out bankers to get options windfall: study
NEW YORK (Reuters) - As shares of bailed-out banks bottomed out earlier this year, stock options were awarded to their top executives, setting them up for millions of dollars in profit as prices rebounded, according to a report released on Wednesday.The top five executives at 10 financial institutions that took some of the biggest taxpayer bailouts have seen a combined increase in the value of their stock options of nearly $90 million, the report by the Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies said.
"Not only are these executives not hurting very much from the crisis, but they might get big windfalls because of the surge in the value of some of their shares," said Sarah Anderson, lead author of the report, "America's Bailout Barons," the 16th in an annual series on executive excess. Read the full story here
Commercial Mortgage Defaults Jump for U.S. Banks
Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- The default rate on commercial mortgages held by U.S. banks more than doubled in the second quarter from a year earlier amid falling rents and occupancies for malls, office buildings and warehouses.
Loans that were 90 days or more past due climbed to 2.88 percent of outstanding balances in the second quarter, from 1.18 percent a year earlier, according to New York-based property research firm Real Estate Econometrics LLC. Defaults increased from 2.25 percent in the first quarter.
“A delinquency may have resolved itself two years ago,” said Real Estate Econometrics President and Chief Economist Sam Chandan. “Today, even one missed payment may be more indicative of an underlying problem, so banks have to be very proactive in addressing the issue.”
Banks held $1.087 trillion of commercial property loans in the quarter, up from $1.077 trillion in the previous three months. That’s almost 15 percent of all loans and leases held by banks, Real Estate Econometrics said. Defaults are rising both for lenders who hold commercial mortgages and for bondholders in the $700 billion U.S. market for securities backed by commercial mortgages.
The CMBS market accounts for about 22 percent of the nation’s $3.4 trillion in commercial real estate debt, according to the Real Estate Roundtable. Defaults and late payments on loans bundled into CMBS could surpass 7 percent by the end of this year, research firm Reis Inc. said on July 30. Read the full story here
The New York Times also posted an article:
For Commercial Real Estate, Hard Times Have Just Begun
Those in the commercial real estate market are hardly in a festive mood, despite some recent encouraging signs. Read it here
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
U.S. Economy: Companies Cut More Jobs Than Forecast in August
By Timothy R. Homan and Shobhana Chandra
Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. companies cut more jobs than forecast in August and boosted their workers’ productivity the most since 2003 in the second quarter, signaling employers are seeking to cut costs further even as the economy stabilizes.
A survey by ADP Employer Services showed businesses reduced payrolls by 298,000 after a 360,000 decline in July. The Labor Department in Washington said productivity, a measure of employee output per hour, rose at a 6.6 percent annual rate in the three months through June.
With labor costs declining and employment continuing to deteriorate, today’s reports buttress the case for the Federal Reserve to complete its plans to buy $1.75 billion of bonds and forego raising interest rates until next year. Slack in the job market helps reduce any inflationary pressures stemming from the central bank’s record liquidity injections.
“Inflation risks are minimal and the key issue they should focus on is spurring growth,” said Michael Moran, chief economist at Daiwa Securities America Inc. in New York, who accurately forecast the gain in productivity. “There’s a turn under way in the labor market, though it’s a very slow turn.”
Stock-index futures dropped after the ADP report’s release, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index opened lower; it was up 0.2 percent to 999.66 at 11:33 a.m. in New York. Treasuries erased losses, leaving yields on benchmark 10-year notes little changed from late yesterday at 3.35 percent.
Factory Orders
A separate report today showed factory orders advanced in July by the most in a year as companies sought to rebuild inventories after a record draw-down in the first part of 2009. The Commerce Department said orders increased 1.3 percent after a 0.9 percent gain in June.
The Fed later today is scheduled to release minutes of its August policy meeting, when the Federal Open Market Committee decided to complete its planned $300 billion of Treasuries purchases by the end of October. Officials in recent days have differed in their outlook for the larger $1.25 trillion program to buy mortgage-backed securities.
Following the last two recessions, the central bank waited for at least a year after the unemployment rate peaked before raising rates. The Labor Department in two days is forecast to report the jobless rate rose to 9.5 percent in August from 9.4 percent in July; economists project it will reach 10 percent in early 2010.
The ADP report, forecast to show a decline of 250,000 jobs, underscores the danger that the consumer spending that accounts for 70 percent of the economy may be slow to gain traction in coming months.
ADP Details
The report showed a drop of 152,000 workers in goods- producing industries including manufacturing and construction, while service providers cut 146,000 workers. Financial firms trimmed jobs by 19,000, ADP said, the 21st consecutive monthly drop for the industry.
Whirlpool Corp., the world’s largest appliance maker, said Aug. 28 that it will close its Evansville, Indiana, manufacturing plant, resulting in the elimination of 1,100 jobs, or 1.6 percent of the company’s workforce.
“Considering the severity of the recession and uncertainty over the strength and sustainability of the recovery, the labor market’s recuperation will be slow and painful,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania, which forecast a drop of 290,000.
Worker Productivity
Productivity of U.S. workers rose in the second quarter at the fastest pace in almost six years, the Labor Department’s data showed, as companies squeezed more out of remaining staff to boost profits. Labor costs, adjusted for the gain in efficiency, fell by a revised 5.9 percent annual pace, the most in nine years.
Lower expenses helped boost profits last quarter by the most in four years, a necessary first step in slowing firings. Productivity gains also help curb inflation.
Makers of durable goods from Intel Corp. to Rockwell Collins Inc. are among those seeing demand stabilizing as customers here and abroad, buoyed by growing profits and more accessible credit, begin to invest in new equipment.
The gain in factory orders was restrained by a decline in non-durable goods such as oil and food that masked a jump in demand for new equipment.
A rebound at automakers resulting from the government’s “cash-for-clunkers” plan may give orders an added boost in coming months as dealers restock.
‘Very Lean’
“Inventories are very lean and businesses are now going to have to increase production given the gain in orders,” said Michelle Meyer, an economist at Barclays Capital Inc. in New York.
Leaner workforces allowed companies to protect earnings while the economy shrank at a 1 percent annual rate last quarter. Corporate profits rose 5.7 percent from the prior three months, the biggest gain since the first quarter of 2005, Commerce Department data showed last week.
Dell Inc., the world’s second-biggest maker of personal computers, topped second-quarter profit and revenue estimates after slashing costs. Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell, on a quest to save $4 billion a year, has farmed out 40 percent of the Round Rock, Texas-based company’s manufacturing.
To contact the reporter on this story: Timothy R. Homan in Washington at Thoman1@bloomberg.net; Shobhana Chandra in Washington at schandra1@bloomberg.net
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Quote of the Week
"Current events form future trends." Gerald Celente
Celente is the President and CEO of the Trends Research Institute
http://www.trendsresearch.com/
Economic Update
Bloomberg:
Dollar May Surpass ‘Established Lows,’ Goldman Says
Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar may weaken through “established lows” as signs of a global economic recovery drive gains in equities and oil, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said.
“That kind of shift could easily be prompted by continued good news from the macro front and the persistently negative dollar-equity and dollar-oil correlations,” Thomas Stolper, an economist at Goldman Sachs in London, wrote in a report yesterday. “Dollar bulls could well end up disappointed. Even a short-term move beyond our three- and six-month forecasts of $1.45 per euro is getting increasingly likely.”Read the full story here
Bank insurance fund down 20 percent in 2Q
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The agency that guarantees bank deposits said Thursday there are no immediate plans to borrow money from the government to bolster its insurance fund, which has shrunk under the weight of collapsing banks.
The fund fell 20 percent to $10.4 billion in the second quarter as U.S. banks overall lost $3.7 billion, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said. That's the fund's lowest point since 1992 at the height of the savings-and-loan crisis. Some analysts have warned that the fund could fall below zero by year's end. read the full story here
San Francisco Chronicle:
Bleak financial picture at UC Berkeley
Forced to cut $150 million from his campus budget this year, Chancellor Robert Birgeneau of UC Berkeley painted a grim picture of employee layoffs and pay cuts, fewer courses and likely fee increases as thousands of students returned to school on Wednesday."These are extraordinary times," Birgeneau said during his back-to-school remarks. "And for UC administration, these are less-than-inspiring times."
Funding from the state, he said, fails to cover about 9,000 of Berkeley's 35,000 students. Put another way, he said, state funding now covers about 25 percent of the school's budget, down from about 75 percent in earlier years.
"This is not a stable situation," he said.Read more here
As Budget Deficit Grows, So Do Doubts on Dollar
LONDON -- The U.S. economy may be showing signs of recovering from the financial crisis, but the jury is still out on the future of the U.S. dollar.
While many analysts expect the dollar to strengthen in coming months as the crisis fades and the U.S. economy turns toward growth, a growing chorus of investors is expressing concern about the longer-term outlook for the greenback. Read the full story here
Reuters:
'Cash for Refrigerators' Debuts in Fall. Really.
By Joe Walsh
Before heading home to face the anger at the now infamous health care "town halls," Congress rushed through an extension to what was then considered a popular program: Cash for Clunkers. Then, like much of the August break, Cash for Clunkers went sideways as critics picked apart the program's weaknesses, consumers stopped showing up with so many clunkers, and dealers started making noise about something as simple as when they might actually get the rebate money that the government promised.
So, what do you do when you have a poorly-conceived and ill-managed project winding down (Clunkers expires at 8 p.m. eastern on August 24)? Kick off another one, even more poorly thought out, and gloss it with an equally catchy name: Cash for Refrigerators. Beginning in the fall, consumers will have access - through existing state-level energy efficiency incentive programs - $300 million in stimulus funds made available as rebates for energy efficient appliances. Read the full story here
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Eye on the Economy
Stories today from Bloomberg that caught my eye:
Pension Plans’ Private-Equity Cash Depleted as Profits Shrink
Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. pension funds contributed to the record $1.2 trillion that private-equity firms raised this decade. Three of the biggest investors, state pensions in California, Oregon and Washington, plunked down at least $53.8 billion. So far, they only have dwindling paper profits and a lot less cash to show the millions of policemen, teachers and other civil servants in their retirement plans. Read the full story here
Mortgage Delinquencies Rise to Record as U.S. Home Prices Fall
Americans fell behind on their mortgage payments at a record pace in the second quarter as job losses and falling real estate prices thwarted government efforts to stabilize the housing market.
Read the full story here
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Rose by 15,000 to 576,000
More Americans unexpectedly filed claims for jobless benefits last week, indicating companies are trying to cut costs further even as the economy stabilizes.Applications rose to 576,000 in the week ended Aug. 15 from a revised 561,000 the week before, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The number of people collecting unemployment benefits the week earlier was little changed at 6.24 million. Read the full story here
Philadelphia Area Manufacturing Unexpectedly Expands
Manufacturing in the Philadelphia region unexpectedly expanded in August for the first time in almost a year, a sign the economy is pulling out of the recession. Read the full story here
Corporate Defaults Soar to $453 Billion, S&P Reports
Corporate defaults worldwide rose in 2009, surpassing the number for the whole of 2008, Standard & Poor’s said in a report today.A total of 201 issuers defaulted through Aug. 12, affecting $453.1 billion of debt, S&P said. That’s up from 126 defaults totaling $433 billion for all of last year, the report said. Read the full story here
From Reuters:
Getting ready for the dollar’s fall, It just won’t go away, this needling worry about the U.S. dollar losing its coveted top-dog status.
No matter that there are plenty of reasonable arguments to support the dollar as the world reserve currency — namely there’s just no alternative — for perhaps decades to come.Yet, in a world where once-rock-solid assumptions quickly turn to dust, investors should keep an eye on the dollar since changing perceptions are chipping away at its cherished status as currency to the world. Read the full story here
New York Times reports:
A Surprise Increase in U.S. Jobless Claims
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly for a second consecutive week, an indication that jobs remain scarce.
Read the full story here
Please click on the Bio360 document to read all the features and benefits of this unique program launched by Polyair. Oxobiodegradable bubble packaging and mailers are now available, please contact your packaging consultant at smarterpackaging@gmail.com for more information.Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Summer Bubble Pouch/Bag Promotion!
The Summer Bubble pouch promotion is underway! If you have not inquired how to shop your way to savings, DO IT RIGHT NOW!!! Contact your packaging consultant for more information @ smarterpackaging@gmail.com.
Eye on the Economy:With Few Exceptions, Retailers Remain Weak
With consumers keeping a firm grip on their wallets, many of the best-known names in retailing said they suffered another quarter of earnings declines and were planning new ways to lure shoppers back to their stores.
Results posted by several chains in the last week beat analysts’ low expectations, but that was largely because the stores had cut costs, not because consumers had filled up their shopping carts.
Second-quarter earnings declined year over year at Home Depot, Target, Lowe’s, Nordstrom, and Macy’s. Saks, Dillard’s, J. C. Penney and Abercrombie & Fitch posted losses. And Wal-Mart, one of the most resilient chains in this economy, reported results that were about the same as last year.
A notable exception was TJX, which owns big-box discount chains, including T. J. Maxx, and reported record second-quarter sales and earnings.
Discounters continue to fare better than their midtier competitors as consumers trade down and buy only essentials. That trend, of course, has been especially troubling for luxury retailers.
Saks, the upscale department store, said Tuesday that its year-over-year loss widened. For the three months ended Aug. 1, Saks lost $54.5 million, or 39 cents a share, compared with a loss of $32.7 million, or 24 cents a share, for the period a year ago. Sales at stores open at least a year, a measure of retail health known as same-store sales, sank 15.5 percent.
To cope, Saks cut costs, shrank its inventory and made changes to its merchandising and marketing strategies. Nowadays the chain’s emphasis is on value and exclusivity.
In an example of retailers’ new plans to get consumers shopping again, Saks is introducing a private label men’s clothing collection and expanding its Off Fifth outlet business.
“Growing Off Fifth makes even more sense in this environment as customers focus on value,” Stephen I. Sadove, the chairman and chief executive of Saks, said in a call with investors on Tuesday. “There’s less than 10 percent overlap between Saks Fifth Avenue and Off Fifth customers. So we’re essentially reaching an entirely different customer base with these stores.”
In addition to opening more Off Fifth stores, Saks plans to fill them with more merchandise made exclusively for the stores, rather than fashions from earlier seasons.
The new private label menswear collection will be in Saks Fifth Avenue stores this month. Until now, Saks’s private label program included mostly sweaters and other basics, Ronald L. Frasch, Saks’s president and chief merchandising officer, told investors on Tuesday. The chain is also working with its existing designers and brands to add new products at lower prices.
Target, the chain known for chic design at low prices, has also been tweaking its strategy, offering more grocery items to lure struggling consumers. The chain said on Tuesday that its second-quarter earnings fell 6.3 percent compared with the period a year ago, though that was better than analysts expected. For the three months ended Aug. 1, Target earned $594 million, or 79 cents a share, down from $634 million, or 82 cents, last year. Sales fell 2.7 percent, to $14.6 billion.
Jason Asaeda, a retailing analyst with Standard & Poor’s Equity Research, told investors in a research note to buy Target stock because the chain is “strengthening its business with a growing assortment of value-priced consumables.”
Home Depot, the big home-improvement retailer, reported a 7 percent earnings decline for the quarter on Tuesday, also better than analysts’ expectations. The chain has focused on offering customers new repair and maintenance items, which they have been buying instead of higher-priced discretionary goods.
“This is the second consecutive quarter of positive transactions for tickets under $50,” Craig Menear, Home Depot’s executive vice president for merchandising, told investors in a conference call.
For the three months ended Aug. 2, Home Depot earned $1.1 billion, or 66 cents a share, down from $1.2 billion, or 71 cents a share, in the same quarter a year ago. Sales for the quarter fell 9.1 percent, to $19.1 billion, compared with last year. Same-store sales declined 8.5 percent for the quarter.
Bucking the trend, TJX, which owns T. J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods stores, reported on Tuesday its best-ever second quarter earnings. For the three months ended Aug. 1, the company made a profit of $262 million, or 61 cents a share, up 27 percent from last year when the company earned 48 cents a share. Same-store sales rose 4 percent.
“Our extreme values on exciting brands and fashions continue to resonate with consumers and drive extraordinary increases in customer traffic counts,” Carol Meyrowitz, the company’s president and chief executive, said in a statement.
More than a dozen retailers plan to report their earnings results in the coming days. But analysts are not expecting many of them to repeat the performance of TJX. Ken Perkins, president of the research company Retail Metrics, expects the nation’s stores to turn in a ninth consecutive quarter of declines.
And the weak sales trends are likely to continue into the third quarter. As Mr. Sadove told investors: “I don’t see the consumer appreciably changing in terms of their behavior.”
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Bottled water: industry must react to Bundanoon ban; The Australian town of Bundanoon has banned sales of bottled water
Datamonitor CommentWire, July 10, 2009 Friday 4:14 PM GMT
An Australian town situated approximately 100 miles south of Sydney in New South Wales is believed to be the first community in the world to have banned sales of bottled water. A gathering of 350 Bundanoon residents voted almost unanimously to ban sales from September 2009. Proposed replacement schemes include shops selling reusable containers that can be filled at public water fountains or, for a nominal fee, with filtered water at stores. Controversy surrounding local bottled water operations in Bundanoon may well have influenced the move.
Plans were announced to build a water extraction plant in the town, which would have taken water from Bundanoon to Sydney for processing and bottling, before some bottles would have inevitably been returned to the town for sale. The proposals provoked much anger among residents and a court battle is still being waged to determine the fate of the plant. Meanwhile, New South Wales premier Nathan Rees has also banned government officials in the state from buying bottled water, declaring that all New South Wales government departments would be switching to tap water. Bottled water has proved extremely popular in Australia, with an estimated $390m spent on the industry in 2008. For a country with a population of just under 22 million people, this represents a substantial business, and gives any bans on sale an increased significance. These recent events may not signal the death of the bottled water industry just yet, but they do serve to showcase the depth of feeling among some consumers with regards to bottled water. Other establishments could now follow the precedent set in Bundanoon, and a domino effect would be catastrophic. The industry must react to stories such as these and ensure that its operations can become cleaner and greener in the near future, in order to ensure that these incidents remain isolated. For more information on the growing sustainable packaging trend, see Datamonitor's report entitled Sustainable Packaging Trends: Consumer Perspectives and Product Opportunities, which was published in April 2009
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