Thursday, January 14, 2010

“Business briefs - Dubuque Telegraph Herald” plus 4 more

“Business briefs - Dubuque Telegraph Herald” plus 4 more

Business briefs - Dubuque Telegraph Herald

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 07:55 AM PST

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Business inventories rise 0.4 percent in November - Yahoo Finance

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 07:05 AM PST

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Businesses boosted inventories by a bigger-than-expected amount in November, after slashing stockpiles for a prolonged period.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that business inventories rose by 0.4 percent in November, double the 0.2 percent rise that economists had expected. It was the second consecutive rise in inventories after 13 months of declines. The hope is that businesses will begin restocking their depleted shelves, helping to support the economic recovery.

The government reported that total business sales rose by 2 percent in November, the best performance in two years.

The rise in inventories was led by a 1.5 percent increase in stockpiles held by wholesalers. Inventories held by manufacturers rose by 0.2 percent while retail inventories dropped by 0.2 percent in November.

While sales were up strongly at all levels of business in November, a separate report Thursday showed that retail sales fell by a larger than expected 0.3 percent in December, underscoring that the economic recovery is proceeding in fits and starts.

The 13 consecutive declines in overall inventories was the longest stretch of weakness since a record 15 straight drops during a period that covered the last recession in 2001.

Factories hold about one-third of all inventories, wholesalers hold 25 percent and retailers hold the rest.

The overall economy grew at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the July-September quarter after falling for four consecutive quarters as the country endured the deepest recession since the 1930s.

An even stronger GDP performance is expected for the just-completed October-December quarter with much of that strength expected to stem from businesses switching to rebuilding inventories rather than cutting back. That change will mean stronger orders and rising production at the nation's factories.

The worry, however, is that the rebound could falter if consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of total economic activity, weakens in coming months as households grow discouraged by continued high levels of unemployment.

The combination of a 2 percent jump in business sales and a smaller 0.4 percent rise in inventories left the ratio of inventories to sales at 1.28 in November, down from 1.30 in October. That ratio means it would take 1.28 months to exhaust existing stockpiles at the November sales pace.

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Newtek Business Services, Inc., The Small Business Authority ... - Stockhouse

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 06:08 AM PST

NEW YORK, Jan 14, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX News Network) --

Newtek Business Services, Inc. (Nasdaq:NEWT), The Small Business Authority, has announced the introduction of its newest Ecommerce products, NewtPay(TM) and NewtPay Pro(TM), to streamline online operations for small businesses including start-ups.

In response to the needs of its small business customers, Newtek created NewtPay(TM) and NewtPay Pro(TM) to deliver a seamless, online Ecommerce solution by harnessing the knowledge and expertise of two of Newtek's primary small business services, Newtek Web Services and Newtek Merchant Processing,. Both products draw on the three core areas necessary for an effective Ecommerce product:

* accelerated approval for merchant payment processing accounts; * 48 hour availability of funds from online transactions; and * a single telephone number to call for all facets of online storefront activity including website access, hosting, gateway, shopping cart and electronic payment processing.

"In handling online, electronic storefronts as well as the brick and mortar presence for tens of thousands of business owners over the past decade, we found that most customers had similar Ecommerce needs," commented Barry Sloane, CEO and Chairman of Newtek. "NewtPay(TM) and NewtPay Pro(TM) were developed with those client demands in mind, including increased security and compliance updates which incorporate the latest directives for data center protection and PCI Compliance."

NewtPay(TM) is primarily focused on the Website Designer and Developer community as well as business owners establishing their initial online e-commerce presence to provide a competitive solution to PayPal(TM), with superior pricing, customer funds availability and Newtek's standard, superior customer service. NewtPay Pro(TM) provides features and enhanced functionality to those businesses that currently have an online presence. Given that small business owners across the U.S continue to fight through a tough economy, Newtek is in the market everyday doing what it can to help businesses reduce costs, provide needed capital and solve their Ecommerce needs.

About Newtek Business Services, Inc.

Newtek Business Services, Inc. is a direct distributor of a wide range of business services and financial products to the small- and medium-sized business market under the Newtek(TM) brand. Since 1999, Newtek has helped small- and medium-sized business owners realize their potential by providing them with the essential tools needed to manage and grow their businesses and to compete effectively in today's marketplace. Newtek provides one or more of its services to over 100,000 business accounts and has positioned the Newtek(TM) brand as a one-stop-shop provider of such business services. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, there are over 29.6 million small businesses in the United States, which in total represent 99.7% of all employer firms.

Newtek's business service lines include: 




 * Electronic Payment Processing: Ecommerce, Electronic solutions
   to accept non-cash payments, including credit and debit cards,
   check conversion, remote deposit capture, ACH processing, and
   electronic gift and loyalty card programs.
 * Web Hosting: Full-service web host which offers Ecommerce
   solutions, shared and dedicated web hosting and related services
   including domain registration and online shopping cart tools.
 * Business Lending: Broad array of lending products including
   SBA 7(a) and SBA 504 loans.
 * Insurance Services: Commercial and personal lines of insurance,
   including health and employee benefits in all 50 states, working
   with over 40 insurance carriers.
 * Web Services: Customized web design and development services.
 * Data Backup, Storage and Retrieval: Fast, secure, off-site data
   backup, storage and retrieval designed to meet the specific
   regulatory and compliance needs of any business.
 * Accounts Receivable Financing: Receivable purchasing and
   financing services.
 * Payroll: Complete payroll management and processing services.

Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Statements in this press release including statements regarding Newtek's beliefs, expectations, intentions or strategies for the future, may be "forward-looking statements" under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, intensified competition, operating problems and their impact on revenues and profit margins, anticipated future business strategies and financial performance, anticipated future number of customers, business prospects, legislative developments and similar matters. Risk factors, cautionary statements and other conditions which could cause Newtek's actual results to differ from management's current expectations are contained in Newtek's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available through http://www.sec.gov.

For more information, please visit www.newtekbusinessservices.com.

This news release was distributed by GlobeNewswire, www.globenewswire.com

SOURCE: Newtek Business Services Inc.

CONTACT: Newtek Business Services, Inc. Barry Sloane, Chairman and CEO 212-356-9500 bsloane@newtekbusinessservices.com

(C) Copyright 2010 GlobeNewswire, Inc. All rights reserved.

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November Business Inventories up More Than Expected - ABC News

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 07:12 AM PST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. business inventories rose more than expected in November, according to a government report on Thursday, supporting views of a pick-up in the economic growth pace during the fourth quarter.

The Commerce Department said inventories increased 0.4 percent after gaining 0.4 percent in October, previously reported as a 0.2 percent rise.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 0.2 percent rise in November. The rebuilding of inventories following a period of aggressive liquidation is among the factors expected to drive the economy's growth as it recovers from the most severe downturn since the 1930s.

Inventories are a critical component of gross domestic product changes over the business cycle. The economy grew at a 2.2 percent annual rate in the third quarter and analysts expect the growth pace to have exceeded 4 percent in the October-December period.

Manufacturers' inventories climbed 0.2 percent in November after rising 0.6 percent in October. Retail motor vehicle and parts inventories climbed 0.1 percent in November after rising 0.6 percent the prior month. Inventories at furniture, electronic and appliance stores fell 1.4 percent after increasing 0.9 percent in October.

Business sales surged 2 percent in November, the biggest rise in two years, after increasing 1.4 percent in October. The rise in sales left the inventory-to-sales-ratio, which measures how long it would take to clear shelves at the current sales pace, at 1.28 months' worth from 1.130 months October.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Neil Stempleman)

Copyright 2010 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Stocks rise after business inventories increase - MSNBC

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 08:16 AM PST

NEW YORK - The stock market edged higher Thursday after the government reported that businesses increased inventories by a larger-than-expected amount in November.

The gain in inventories is a welcome sign for the economy and suggests that businesses are feeling more confident that sales will pick up. It was the second straight month that stockpiles increased after a stretch of 13 monthly declines.

The positive news on inventories outbalanced weaker reports on retail sales and initial unemployment claims. The Commerce Department said business inventories rose by 0.4 percent in November, double the increase economists expected.

There was also positive news from SAP, a major business software maker based in Germany. SAP said its fourth-quarter revenue fell less than it had forecast, providing some reassurance that companies are becoming more willing to invest in technology. Investors are also watching closely to see if companies can bolster their earnings with solid revenues instead of just continuing to cut costs.

Later Thursday the market will dissect an earnings report from a key bellwether of the U.S. technology industry, leading chip maker Intel Corp. Investors see Intel's earnings as a telling sign of business and consumer demand in the overall economy.

In less encouraging news, the Labor Department reported that workers seeking unemployment benefits for the first time rose by 11,000 last week, more than the 3,000 economists had expected. The jump was due partly to typical seasonal layoffs in the retail, manufacturing and construction industries.

Investors are becoming accustomed to seeing jagged indicators on the economy and have generally not lost their cool on the occasional poor economic report. However analysts widely believe that there will need to be a meaningful pickup in job creation — the worst remaining trouble spot in the U.S. economy — if a 10-month stock rally is to continue.

In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 22.14, or 0.2 percent, to 10,702.91. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 2.35, or 0.2 percent, to 1,148.03, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 9.20, or 0.4 percent, to 2,317.10.

Demand for the safety of government debt increased. Treasury prices rose, pushing yields lower. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note fell to 3.77 percent from 3.80 percent late Wednesday.


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