General Finance News

– The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Friday, as European debt fears have resurfaced amid Greece’s negotiations with its private sector creditors in a bid to avoid a default. Additionally, earnings news flow from the U.S. has been mixed. Market focus now shifts to the existing home sales report due to be released shortly after the markets open, with economists widely expecting a modest increase in sales. Given the overbought levels of the market, an extension of the recent gains is unlikely unless the housing data comes in well ahead of estimates some positive headlines concerning the European sovereign debt crisis emerge.

U.S. stocks extended their gains on Thursday, helped by multiple catalysts, including strong quarterly results from Morgan Stanley (MS) and Bank of America (BAC), positive European bond auctions and a steeper than expected drop in U.S.

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Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) managed to marginally beat earnings expectations this Tuesday morning.  This is the first of the consumer products and medical products companies to report, so this one could have a heavier impact depending on what is said. 

The company beat earnings at $1.13 EPS and sales rose almost 4% to $16.25 billion; estimates were $1.09 EPS and $16.28 billion in sales from Thomson Reuters.  The company noted that operational sales were up 4.0% and its negative currency impact was only 0.1% as domestic sales fell by 3.4% and international sales rose by just over 10% in the quarter.

For the Fiscal Year 2012, J&J sees earnings of $5.05 to $5.15 EPS and that is a bit shy of the $5.21 consensus target based upon operational growth of down slightly to as high as 5.5% and based upon a negative currency impact of around 2.5%.

J&J’s guidance is weighing on the stock.  Shares are indicated down 0.75% at $64.50 against a 52-week trading range of $57.50 to $68.05 and versus a Thomson Reuters consensus price target of $73.00.

The report has remained better than many may have guessed considering all of the product problems before.  Unfortunately, there is little driving force here that stands out as great opportunity.

The first-generation RDX small upscale SUV was something of a miss for Acura. Its turbocharged four-cylinder engine was unrefined. Its overall fuel economy of 18 mpg in our tests fell below that of many rivals V6 engines. Handling was agile, but the ride was very stiff and the cabin was narrow. Add in somewhat awkward styling and the RDX was a modest seller that was completely overshadowed by its three-row MDX big brother. Acura seeks to remedy these problems with the redesigned RDX unveiled at the Detroit auto show.

While other SUV manufacturers are moving to small-displacement turbocharged four-cylinders, Acura is retreating to a 3.5-liter V6. Despite the large-displacement engine and its 273 horsepower, Acura is claiming best-in-class fuel economy.

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There’s never a dull moment on Wall Street, especially now that 2012 is tossing us into its first earnings season. Let’s go over some of the items that will help shape the week that lies ahead.

1. Banking on a Bounce: The banking sector got off to a shaky start when JPMorgan Chase (JPM) kicked off the earnings season with a disappointing quarterly report Friday.

We’ll get a clearer picture this week when the rest of the financial services heavyweights chime in.

There’s Citigroup (C) and Wells Fargo (WFC) on Tuesday. Goldman Sachs (GS) and Bank of New York (BK) check in on Wednesday. Bank of America (BAC) is Thursday’s star on the earnings stage.

No one is holding out for a monster showing from these companies. Savers are turned off by historic low interest rates.

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Car insurance premiums could be radically reduced if the government took action to reduce spurious whiplash claims and personal injury referral fees, according to an influential panel of MPs.

The Transport Select Committee said insurers should be forced to demand more proof that claimants has suffered a whiplash injury in a car accident and not be allowed to sell on customer details to solicitors and claims management firms.

Whiplash claims currently cost the insurance industry some £2 billion a year, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI). This equates to an extra £90 being added to every driver’s annual insurance premium. The number of car passengers claiming for whiplash injuries has risen by 32% over the last three years to 570,000 annually.

There has been a 70% rise in car insurance claims in the past six years, despite a 23% fall in the number of casualties in road accidents. A g

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Nothing catches the attention of inquiring minds better than stories of doom and gloom. And for those who have been keeping a watchful eye on the ever increasing hype over how real estate social marketing will completely overtake SEO may relate to what I’m about to say

Shenanigans! That’s right, I’m totally calling their bluff. In fact, this whole movement has an eerie resemblance to the hoards of doomsday posts that I see on a continual basis whenever a new Google algorithm is launched.

So now the new theme focused around social media is that traditional keyword based search queries will at some point be obsolete. Yet when you consider the immense impact that websites like Google continue to have on our overall business, doesn’t this sound somewhat ludicrous?

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Independent advisors’ appetite for U.S. fixed income exchange-traded funds captured 54% of ETF inflows in 2011, and U.S. equity ETFs saw 33% of flows, but funds tracking international equities and commodities–and gold in particular–lost favor, says a new report released Monday by Charles Schwab.

The top 10% of registered investment advisors (RIAs) by assets under management have the bulk of their ETF assets in U.S. and international equity funds, at 62%, while smaller firms use U.S. fixed income ETFs 50% more than their larger peers, Schwab reported.

Strikingly, the report also shows that RIAs’ appetite for exchange-traded funds grew in 2011 as the overall market’s interest in ETFs declined.

RIAs held $60 billion in ETF assets at Schwab as of Nov. 30, up 5% from the end of 2010, and ETF trade volume among advisors was up 26%. This comp

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FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Banks took a huge 489 billion euros at the European Central Banks first ever offering of three-year funding on Wednesday, raising hope a credit crunch can be avoided and that the money may be used to buy Italian and Spanish bonds.

A total of 523 banks borrowed money at the tender with demand way above the 310 billion euros expected by traders polled by Reuters in the run-up to the operation.

The banks lunge for funding pushed the euro to a one-week high versus the dollar and sparked a rally in stocks.

The three-year loans are the ECBs latest bold attempt to ease the euro zones troubles. It is the most the bank has ever pumped into the financial system, topping the near 450 billion it injected with its first one-year loans back in 2009.

Its hope is that the ultra-cheap and ultra-long funding will have a range of beneficial effects, including bolstering trust in banks, easing the threat of a credit crunch and tempting banks to buy Italian and Spanish bonds, thereby calming markets and easing the currency blocs sovereign debt crisis.

“The take-up was massive … m

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