Fed Effort to Aid Recovery Fails to Calm Investors

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Fed Effort to Aid Recovery Fails to Calm Investors
Thursday, August 12, 2010

••• More worried about the recovery, the U.S. Federal Reserve has taken a small step to bolster the U.S. economy.

Wrapping up a one-day meeting, the Fed said it will use money from its investments in mortgage securities to buy government debt on a small scale. That could help nudge down long-term rates on mortgages and corporate debt, but wouldn’t have a dramatic impact on stimulating economic growth, economists say.

Perhaps more importantly, the largely symbolic action sends a signal that the Fed sees the recovery weakening and that it stands ready to take more aggressive action, if needed, to keep it on track.

Delivering a more downbeat assessment, the Fed now believes economic growth will be ‘more modest’ than it had anticipated at its late June meeting.

The Fed, citing ‘subdued’ inflation, said it would keep its target for a key interest rate at zero to 0.25 percent for an ‘extended period’.
Investors reacted positively to the statement. Stocks that were down sharply before the announcement made up some lost ground. The Dow Jones industrial average, down about 100 points just before the Fed decision, was down about 40 a short time later. However, the market was likely to fluctuate, as it usually does while investors pore over the Fed’s statement.

Treasury prices rose slightly as investors were pleased by the Fed’s plan to buy government debt, which would reduce the amount of Treasury securities in the market. The yield on the Treasury’s 10-year note, which moves in the opposite direction from its price, fell to 2.77 percent from 2.82 percent just before the announcement.

Economists doubt the Fed can turn around the economy on its own. Some believe additional help from Congress is needed. Others are sceptical that easier credit or even more government aid will persuade Americans to shop more and hire more. Yet others think some jobs – like in construction – will never return to pre-recession levels, as the economy makes a structural shift.
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MasterCard 2Q profit jumps 31 percent, tops view

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MasterCard 2Q profit jumps 31 percent, tops view
Wednesday, August 04, 2010

••• Anaemic consumer spending in the U.S. was offset by strong international growth to help boost MasterCard Inc’s second-quarter profit by 31 percent.

The gain topped Wall Street profit expectations, but fell short of the 38 percent leap in operating income posted by the company’s larger rival, Visa Inc., last week.

MasterCard shares slipped $1.76, to $200.70 in midday trading as the broader market sputtered.

MasterCard’s gains showed the Purchase, NY-based payment processor’s reliance on overseas use of its cards and networks. Worldwide purchasing volume rose eight per cent, while U.S. purchasing volume eked out a gain of less than 1 percent.

Worldwide, credit card use rose 10 percent, while debit card use leaped 29 percent.

Chief Financial Officer Martina Hund-Mejean said in an interview that card use was particularly strong in Latin America and Asia Pacific, which both saw double-digit growth rates.

‘Even in Europe,’ she said, alluding to the economic turmoil on the Continent in recent months. ‘We do not see any significant impact on our numbers in terms of the Europeans not spending.’

U.S. credit card use edged down 1.5 percent, continuing a two-year decline, but showing the smallest drop since the third quarter of 2008.

Debit card use edged up less than 1 percent. That reflects more frequent use of debit cards, but was held down by MasterCard’s loss of several debit card deals with banks, most notably the former Washington Mutual, which was bought by JPMorgan Chase in 2008. Hund-Mejean said US debit growth was closer to 20 percent if the banks winding down their MasterCard programs are stripped out.

U.S. spending, particularly with credit cards, picked up in April but was less robust later in the quarter, Hund-Mejean said. ‘People still feel a little careful and cautious, and I think that’s what we saw in May and June,’ she said.

Analysts noted the growth compared with a weak quarter last year. Thomas McCrohan from Janney Capital Marketssaid it is hard to read into the results to say whether they indicate any real improvement in the economy. But there was ‘nothing alarming’ in the results.

‘There’s nothing that would support a double dip’ of the recession, McCrohan said.

The number of transactions MasterCard handled was basically flat at 5.6 billion. Cross-border volume jumped 15.2 percent.

Net income rose to $458 million, or $3.49 per share, compared with $349 million, or $2.67 per share, a year ago.

Revenue rose 7 percent to $1.37 billion from $1.28 billion in the 2009 second quarter. MasterCard said the revenue increase reflected the higher cross-border volumes, higher gross dollar volume of the transactions it processed and the impact of price increases of 4 percent.

Wall Street expected earnings of $3.33 per share on revenue of $1.38 billion.

Total operating expences dropped 10 percent to $648 million. The decrease was led by a drop in severance and compensation costs as a result of layoffs in 2009.

President and CEO Ajay Banga said it is too early to tell what results MasterCard will feel from the limits on debit card fees included in the financial overhaul bill signed by President Barack Obama last month.

‘I know that everybody is eager to fully understand the impact on our business, but the truth is we just have to wait for the (Federal Reserve) to develop the regulations, and for our customers to react, before we will know the full implications both for the industry and for our company,’ he said during a conference call.

Banga noted there are a number of options for implementing the new rules, and quipped that MasterCard benefits in this case from having a smaller market share of U.S. debit than Visa.

Regardless of the new regulations, Banga said he doesn’t see the shift from cash and checks to electronic payments slowing down. He spoke enthusiastically about a number of pilot projects and overseas ventures MasterCard has to expand its network beyond card payments. Deals the company struck on mobile payments in Latin America, money transfer services in China and contactless payments in the U.S. position MasterCard for continued growth as the payments market evolves, he said.

David Parker, an analyst with Lazard Capital Markets, said it will be a few years before ‘electronic wallets’ are a reality, and there are some challenges in terms of customer and merchant adoption, but it is clear the market is moving in that direction.

MasterCard’s investments in this area could help it overcome its disadvantage in debit cards.

‘I think there is an opportunity there with mobile commerce,’ he said.
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Treasury Unveils New $ 100 Bill

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Treasury Unveils New $ 100 Bill
Wednesday, April 21, 2010

••• If you’ve wondered why Benjamin Franklin’s expression on the $100 bill never changes, it’s because he’s been getting regular botox injections. He would love to show emotion, but unfortunately he can’t. This year, he’ll be getting a little more work done, his first since 1996.

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing has created site with interactive tools that showcases the security features of the new $100 bill or you can check out their PDF explaining everything in great detail.
Here are some, but not all, of the cool new security features:

• 3-D Security Ribbon: You can’t miss it, it’s a blue ribbon that goes down the middle of the bill. When you tilt it, you will be able to see italics 100s written vertically. The ribbon is woven into the bill itself, it’s not on top of the paper.
• Inkwell: There’s a new orange inkwell near Franklin’s left shoulder. When you tilt the bill, you will see the Liberty Bell in that inkwell.
• Portrait Watermark: To the right of the Department of the Treasury Seal should be a portrait watermark, a feature that is in use on other redesigned bills.
• Color shifting 100: Finally, the orange 100 in the lower right will change colors as you tilt it, a feature that was included in all recent bill redesigns.
• Huge 100 on the Back: If you didn’t like the enormous 5 on the redesigned $5 bill, you might not like the gynormous gold 100 on the back of the new $100. Like on the $5, this was done to help those who are visually impaired.
• Microprinting: “The United States of America” is printed in tiny letters on Franklin’s collar, “USA 100″ is around the blank space of the watermark, “One Hundred USA” along the golden quill, and finally 100s on the borders of the bill.

• Source(s): NewMoney.gov
▪ THE DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY ▪ BUREAU OF ENGRAVING AND PRINTING ▪ FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD ▪ U.S. SECRET SERVICE

Barack Obama defends new consumer agency

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Barack Obama defends new consumer agency
Saturday, April 17, 2010

••• President Barack Obama on Saturday challenged opponents of tougher U.S. financial regulations, saying the U.S. is doomed to repeat the economic crisis without new rules and that American taxpayers would again be stuck with the bill.

The bill is the next major piece of legislation that Obama wants to sign into law this year.

“Every day we don’t act, the same system that led to bailouts remains in place, with the exact same loopholes and the exact same liabilities,” Obama said in his weekly radio and internet address. “And if we don’t change what led to the crisis, we’ll doom ourselves to repeat it.

“Opposing reform will leave taxpayers on the hook if a crisis like this ever happens again,” the president said.

A proposal that Senate Democrats are readying for debate creates a mechanism for liquidating large firms to avoid a meltdown. The bill also would regulate the derivatives market for the first time, create a council to detect threats to the system and establish a new consumer protection agency to police people’s dealings with financial institutions.

On Friday, Obama promised to veto the bill if it doesn’t regulate the market for derivatives, instruments such as mortgage-backed securities that contributed to the nation’s economic problems after their value plummeted during the housing crisis.

But Democrats have yet to agree on how far such regulation should go, and all Senate Republicans are solidly against the bill. That opposition complicates Democratic efforts to get the 60 votes necessary to overcome likely Republican procedural roadblocks.

Republicans contend that a provision creating a $50 billion fund for dismantling banks considered “too big to fail” would continue government bailouts of Wall Street. Obama administration officials say such a fund is unnecessary and they want Senate Democrats to remove it.

Obama criticised financial industry interests for opposing the proposed regulations and for waging a “relentless campaign to thwart even basic, common-sense rules”. He repeated his call for Republicans and Democrats to work together to overhaul the system but made it clear that Democrats are prepared to go it alone.

“One way or another, we will move forward,” he said. “This issue is too important.”

In the weekly Republican address, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor criticised government spending and climbing deficits that he said are driving taxes higher.

Cantor said Obama has enacted 25 tax increases passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress that will cost families and small businesses more than $670 billion over the next decade and create a “bleak future for our kids and grandkids”.

He urged a vote for the Republicans in the November congressional elections.

“You have to take action so that we can begin to erase our deficits and free our children from our debt,” Cantor said. “And rather than putting the squeeze on our nation’s job creators and entrepreneurs, we believe in a pro-growth strategy to create jobs and empower the American entrepreneur and small business people to thrive.”