Posted by Katharine Crnko
For Marketplace Morning Report, Wednesday May 25, 2011
Here are today’s top headlines from the Marketplace Morning Report and from around the web.
The Treasury Department sold almost $5.8 billion of shares in AIG yesterday. That brings the government’s stake in the bailed out insurance giant from 92 percent down to 77 percent.
U.S. regulators say they’ve cracked a big speculation case. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is suing two oil traders who allegedly pocketed $50 million back in 2008 right before high oil prices helped spark the global recession.
Three of the nation’s four largest banks are launching a system that lets customers transfer money from their checking accounts using only a mobile number or e-mail address. The banks say the service, called clearXchange, will make payments easier than traditional money transfers, which require a bank routing number and move through a system controlled by Federal Reserve banks.
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said Wednesday there is no reason for the Obama administration to wait until fall to propose corporate tax reform. (He also admitted he’s never read ‘Too big to fail.’)
Costco’s net income rose 6 percent in its fiscal third quarter, the company said Wednesday, with growing membership numbers pushing sales both at home and abroad.
Hormel Foods posted higher-than-expected quarterly sales and raised its full-year earnings outlook, saying cost savings and price increases are likely to offset rising expenses.
Businesses aren’t buying as many pieces of equipment of heavy machinery. Orders for durable goods in April fell by the biggest amount in six months.
Applications for home mortgages rose for the fourth week in a row last week, while rates edged up, an industry group said Wednesday.
French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said this morning she is officially throwing her hat in the ring to be the next head of the IMF.
After causing airport delays in a bunch of German cities today, the Icelandic ash cloud is slowly moving away allowing flights to resume. The volcano itself has stopped erupting.
You can read the rest of today’s stories from the Marketplace Morning Report here.
Here are the songs we played:
- Dope Crunk — Beats Antique Buy
- Musicawi Silt — The DaktarisBuy
- They Want Real — D-TensionBuy
- Landforms — Other LivesBuy
- Dye the World — The Smith WesternsBuy
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
