Posted by Katharine Crnko
For Marketplace Morning Report, Friday June 10, 2011
Here are today’s top headlines from the Marketplace Morning Report and from around the web.
The government said this morning the prices of the things we import from other countries edged up two-tenths of a percent in May. And the prices of the things we export rose by the same amount. Analysts say this supports the view of some economists including Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that inflation is so far not a big problem.
An OPEC report suggests that world demand for its oil is outstripping the present supply.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says 2011 has been a bull market for maple syrup. Domestic production is up 43 percent and Vermont is set to top one million gallons for the first time since the 1940s.
It’s no downward facing dog for Yoga retailer Lululemon. The company says its first quarter profit jumped by more than 50 percent to $33 million.
If you can believe it, the Japanese earthquake and tsunami happened three months ago tomorrow. And Toyota said this morning it now expects a 35 percent drop in annual profit as a result of the disaster.
General Motors is recalling more than 47,000 Cadillac SRX crossover vehicles because of a problem with the side air bags.
Sharp disagreement in Europe over how to resolve the debt crisis in Greece has been pulling the euro lower. Tiny Cyprus may become the next trouble spot in the Eurozone’s debt crisis, as credit rating agencies downgrade it because of exposure to Greece and rising yields suggest investor demand for its bonds is shrinking.
Apple is giving a break to magazine and newspaper publishers who want their content read on the iPad or iPhone. Apple said yesterday it won’t require those subscriptions to be sold through its app store. Apple had initially demanded a 30 percent cut of subscription revenue plus control of subscriber data which is a key source of revenue for media companies. But publishers didn’t like those terms and conditions.
The White House says three big banks are not doing enough to help struggling home owners keep up with mortgage payments. Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo will lose millions of dollars from a federal mortgage modification program that’s been one of the Obama administration’s main tools in helping the housing market.
To suburban Chicago, where 54-year-old Robert Adams was pretty hungry for a burrito on a visit to the Senor Taco restaurant in Rolling Meadows earlier this week. But he didn’t have any cash. So he got in line at the ATM and while he was waiting to use the machine he noticed a clear plastic bag with $17,000 inside. Now, even though he probably could have upgraded to the fajitas at Senor Taco with all that cash, he turned the money in. He told the Daily Herald newspaper his parents didn’t raise him to take cash that wasn’t his.
Go ahead and suck up to the boss. It’s good for you! According to a newly-published study, fawning over the boss isn’t just an effective way to climb the career ladder, it can also help you stay healthy. The reason is simple, according to the Journal of Management Studies: Employees who ingratiate themselves with the boss — and with their co-workers, for that matter — stress out less about their job security. Which means you won’t be so tired or depressed at work.
You know Apple’s terms and conditions? The ones that are like 50 pages long that you have to accept to buy a song on iTunes? Well master thespian Richard Dreyfuss has recorded a dramatic reading of the document. Take a listen at marketplace.org.
You can read the rest of today’s stories from the Marketplace Morning Report here.
Here are the songs we played:
- Barbarism Begins at Home — The SmithsBuy
- Eveline — Nickel CreekBuy
- Happy Up Here — RoyksoppBuy
- Knights of Cydonia — MuseBuy
- Class System — Handsome Boy Modeling SchoolBuy
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