American Railcar Q4 profit rises 39%

American Railcar Industries saw its fourth-quarter profit rise 39 percent but booked less than half the revenue it saw in the prior year’s quarter as railcar shipments fell.
For the quarter ended Dec. 31, the company reported net earnings of $10.5 million, up from nearly $7.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2008. American Railcar said […]

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Indonesia Inflation Rate Holds Near Highest Since May

Indonesia’s inflation held near the fastest pace since May 2009 amid rising commodity and food prices, putting pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates this year.
The consumer price index rose 3.81 percent in February from a year earlier, the central statistics agency said in Jakarta today. That compares with the 3.97 […]

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WordPress.com crashes, downs major blogs

WordPress.com, the fast growing hosting service for millions of blogs, including TechCrunch and GigaOm, crashed briefly Thursday afternoon.
"WordPress.com will be back in a minute!" is the message that appeared shortly before 3 p.m. on some portion of the websites using the San Francisco blogging platform, which serves millions of blogs with a combined 72.2 million […]

California cities losing millions in sales tax receipts

Cities and counties in California are losing millions of dollars in sales tax receipts due to slower retail sales, compared with last year.
In the most recent data available from the state Board of Equalization, jurisdictions around the state got $244 million in October, 14.5 percent less than they got in October 2008 as their share […]

Key sponsors stand by Tiger

He is Tiger Inc. Hear him roar.
Multi-million dollar contracts. An estimated $100 million (U.S.) in endorsements per year. More than $92 million from PGA career tournament winings. Ballooning PGA ticket sales and TV viewership levels.
Tiger Woods was, until now at least, a thoroughly unpolarizing sponge for corporate money who, according to Forbes magazine, […]

Crisis, what crisis? Debt-laden Dubai just shrugs

Glitzy Dubai may face a debt crisis that has sent a shudder through global markets, but you wouldn’t know it from officials or local media.
World leaders have commented on the crisis — but not those in the United Arab Emirates itself, where authorities have said little as UAE markets fell and the central bank […]

U.S. bets Canada’s wheat pricing war unsustainable on Saudi

Canadian wheat origins have so far managed to grab a pole position in supplying the Saudi market through aggressive pricing tactics, but such a policy can not be sustained in the long run, U.S. Wheat Associates said.
Saudi Arabia became the biggest addition in years to the global wheat buyside after it decided to gradually […]

Exchanges, under profit pressure, mounting defense

Two market operators, Nasdaq OMX and Deutsche Boerse, reported profit drops on Thursday, partly reflecting the price war between traditional players and younger challengers for market share and increasingly narrow margins.
Nasdaq OMX, which runs the U.S.-based Nasdaq Stock Market and venues in Nordic countries, said diluted earnings dropped 18 percent, while Deutsche Boerse, which […]

Madoff victims get half a billion … and counting

More than $500 million has been returned to the victims of Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, according to the trustee in charge of recovering stolen assets.
Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee in charge of recovering and distributing assets, said Wednesday that the Securities Investor Protection Corp. (SIPC) has turned over $534.25 million to 1,558 investors in […]

Malaysia’s Najib Cuts Tax, Reduces Spending as Economy Recovers

Malaysia cut income tax for a second straight year, aiming to spur consumer spending and private investment and help the economy recover from a recession.
The top personal tax rate will be reduced to 26 percent in 2010 from 27 percent, Prime Minister Najib Razak said in his budget speech in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. […]