Archive for July 11th, 2010
BUSTED: Photos Show Tony Hayward Slacking Off In A Bar, Cheering Against The USA (BP)
Five days before he had to appear before congress, the disgraced BP CEO was watching the World Cup in a Texas bar on June 12.
Here are the photos TMZ got a hold of which show Hayward next to a woman who is not his wife.
It’s not clear whether or not the woman is accompanying Tony, but his receipt says he paid for two meals – fish and chips and shrimp fajitas.
But the real question is: Why was Hayward, who was supposedly doing damage control and figuring out how to stop the leak, actually in a bar hanging out? 7,000 more gallons of oil leaked into the ocean by the time that game was over. (Rate was ~100,000 gallons per day around that time.)
And, by the way, the game was USA v England. So rather than help stop his company’s oil from spilling onto the USA’s shore and polluting the ocean at an insane rate, Hayward cheered against the USA in a sports match. Nice going.
Too bad Obama didn’t send this guy packing when he wanted to, on June 8th.
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ONS to issue final estimate of Q1 growth tomorrow
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is tomorrow expected to leave its estimate of GDP in the January to March unchanged at 0.3%.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a key measure of economic growth, is closely watched by economists as an indication of the health of the economy.
The figures were due to be released last month but [...]
UK profit warnings fall in Q2
A report by accountancy firm Ernst & Young (E&Y) has found that the number of profit warnings fell to a seven year low in the second quarter of the year to 45, from 54 in the previous quarter.
It was the first time profit warnings fell below 50 since 2003.
However, according to E&Y, measures introduced by [...]
Canada’s unemployment rate continues to fall
The Canadian economy, which only entered a mild recession last year, appears to be performing well after figures show the unemployment rate continues to fall.
Statistics Canada said on Friday that the country’s unemployment rate fell in April to 8.1%, from 8.2% in March.
The economy added a better than expected 93,000 jobs last month – exceeding [...]
It’s Not Just European Governments That Will Be Crushed By Debt Maturities, Banks Need $1.65 Trillion Very Soon
Here’s why Europe’s financial sector is in far more trouble than America’s right now.
European banks have a good $1.65 trillion of debt they need to roll over from 2010 – 2011, which is many times more than U.S. banks have to deal with, as shown by the Wall Street Journal graphic to the right. Note the difference between the light blue and red bars for each year.
As investors fret about European banks’ exposures to Greece and other financially troubled countries, those banks’ borrowing costs are rising sharply. That wouldn’t be a problem if they didn’t need to borrow, but as it happens they need to borrow quite a lot: This year and next, some $1.7 trillion in euro-area bank debt will come due, far more than among banks in the U.S., the U.K. or elsewhere.
If banks are forced to renew those borrowings at high interest rates, the resulting debt-service costs will make it still more difficult for them to earn their way out of their troubles. If they choose not to refinance, they’ll have to sell assets and cut back on lending — anathema to European economies still struggling to recover.
Thus it’s not just European government debts that have a wave of debt maturities to deal with, the banks do too, and the chart above is a key reason why Europe’s debt problems are of a far more near-term nature than America’s.
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