MID-DAY UPDATE: Power rations in Japan, TARP couldn’t end ‘Too big to fail’
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Here are today’s headlines from Marketplace Morning Report and around the web.
Marketplace continued its coverage of Japan’s recovery from the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that rocked the country last week. Many Japanese citizen are coping with power rations this week as the country attempts to conserve energy resources in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster. Many ex-pats are being evacuated out of Tokyo as concerns rise over the spread of potential radiation.
German carmaker BMW and car part maker Continental were among companies moving employees out of Japan completely. You can read Marketplace’s coverage here.
Stocks are finally on the rebound this morning. Tokyo shares are up more than 5 percent after yesterday’s 10 percent drop. Here‘s our story.
Looks like we may have a federal budget — for another few weeks. Here‘s our story.
Another ratings downgrade in Europe. This time, it’s Portugal. Moody’s has dropped Portuguese debt by two notches. More from Marketplace.
Here at home, six of the country’s biggest credit card issuers say late payments were down in February.
American home builders started construction on fewer homes last month than at any time in the last 27 years.
Applications for U.S. home mortgages dipped last week despite increased refinancing, an industry report said Wednesday, suggesting still-stunted demand as the spring selling season nears.
U.S. businesses sold more industrial supplies, chemicals and farm products in the final three months of last year, pushing the deficit in the broadest measure of foreign trade to the lowest level in a year.
A snapshot on wholesale inflation is out today. The Producer Price Index, showed an increase in food and energy costs — i.e. gas. But aside from those things, inflation is still relatively tame. Here‘s our coverage.
The big bank bailout from a couple years back kept the country’s economy from going into depression. That’s according to regulators of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. We spoke to Former Senator Ted Kaufman about it today.
An Ohio teenager has come up with a new line of candles for an under-served market. His new line of “man-cans” is geared toward men. With fragrances like New York style pizza… Mmm. Bacon, fresh leather baseball mitt… and sawdust. Each candle goes for 5 bucks a pop, and the candle maker says he’s sold more than 500.
If I told you that 80 percent of Americans went on the Internet once a week you’d probably think that number was low. But what if I told you that 80 percent of Americans under the age of 5 are on the Internet once a week? That is the finding from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and Sesame Workshop. All I can say is Marketplace.org is always kid-friendly — as long as the kids like quantitative easing.
A businessman in China just paid gobs of money for a red Tibetan Mastiff puppy named “Big Splash” — making it the world’s most expensive dog. In China, Tibetan Mastiffs have become something of a status symbol. And the coal baron who bought Big Splash paid $1.5 million for that status. You gotta ask, who’s walking whom? Want to see what a Tibetan Mastiff looks like? Check out our News In Brief blog.
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