WASHINGTON – Foreign policy challenges are intruding on President Barack Obama's promise to focus on the economy after the Democrats' election debacle and threatening to knock the White House off message altogether.
The escalation of tensions between North and South Korea this past week capped a postelection period that included two presidential trips abroad, discussions about America's future in Afghanistan and a debate in Washington over Senate ratification of a nuclear treaty with Russia.
The risk for Obama is that the capital and energy spent on a foreign crisis can undermine the perception that he's working on the public's top priority: finding jobs at home for Americans.
White House officials say the international focus hasn't diminished the amount of time Obama spends working on the economy. Aides acknowledge that events abroad can make it more difficult to spotlight Obama's economic message — one of an economy on a slow but steady march toward recovery, and a president aware that his political future rests on his ability to speed that recovery.
Take Obama's trip to Kokomo, Ind., last Tuesday, his first domestic trip since the Nov. 2 elections.
By the time Obama arrived at a Chrysler plant to promote the revival of the U.S. auto industry, attention had turned to how the White House would respond to North Korea's artillery attack against a South Korean island.
"You learn quickly as president that there are events that happen like North Korea that you have to address as they happen, not how you would plan for them to happen," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
Obama aides say they see opportunities for the president's economic message to break through, starting with a bipartisan meeting with lawmakers this Tuesday. The top issue will be what to do about the Bush-era tax cuts set to expire at year's end. Obama also plans to take a few more domestic trips through the end of the year to discuss the economy.
White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said he doesn't believe the public is looking for the president to take an all-or-nothing approach to the economy.
"The American people understand that we have both domestic and international issues that have to be dealt with," Pfeiffer said. "The public expects that's what he's doing."
The recent burst of activity on the foreign policy front comes after an election that saw international issues seldom discussed, and a year that saw Obama spend just three days abroad, having traveled to the Czech Republic and Afghanistan in April.
Ari Fleischer, who served as press secretary for President George W. Bush, said it's too soon to tell whether a November filled with foreign policy following an election focused on the economy will hurt the current administration. But he said the ease with which world events can trump an administration's agenda is "a vivid reminder of how much more complicated and multifaceted governing is than campaigning."
While incidents such as North Korea's attack on South Korea were out of the administration's control, some of the shift toward foreign policy has been of the White House's making, most notably Obama's 10-day, four-country trip to Asia. Officials hoped Obama could use his popularity abroad to improve his standing following his self-proclaimed "shellacking" in the vote this month.
Former presidents have used a similar playbook, in part because political opponents at home traditionally refrain from criticizing the commander in chief while he's representing the U.S. on foreign soil.
But Obama's trip to Asia produced mixed results at best. While he made progress toward the U.S. gaining a foothold in emerging economies such as India and Indonesia, he failed to secure a highly sought-after free trade agreement with South Korea and couldn't rally wide-ranging international support for action against China's currency manipulation.
Darrell West, vice president and director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution, said Obama could have better kept the focus on the U.S. economy when he was overseas if he had delivered on some of those objectives.
"It's OK to send the president abroad if he brings back agreements that are good for the U.S.," he said. "The president's problem was that he wasn't able to bring back the good news he had hoped."
The White House was more pleased with the results of the recent NATO summit in Portugal, where Obama was seen as playing a pivotal role in the alliance securing agreements on the Afghanistan war and missile defense. Obama also received overwhelming international support for Senate ratification of a new arms control treaty with Russia.
Yet that treaty has proved to be another example of foreign policy threatening to trump Obama's message on the economy. Despite the White House's insistence that the lame-duck session of Congress would focus on initiatives to help the recovery, much of the conversation in Washington now is about whether lawmakers will hand Obama a victory on an issue he says is vital to the future of the U.S. relationship with Russia.
Monday, 29 November 2010
Wal-Mart's Black Friday starts busy, but peaceful
Black Friday was decidedly less dangerous at the Wal-Mart store on New York's Long Island where a worker was fatally trampled two years ago.
This year, there was no Pamplona-style running of the shoppers at midnight, as there was on Black Friday 2008, when the doors were opened to a frenzied crush of shoppers who overpowered employees in their scramble for discounted laptops and flatscreen TVs.
This Thanksgiving, the doors were open all day at the Valley Stream store, even though the most popular deals didn't start until midnight. Also, rows of metal barricades were set up outside to corral shoppers into organized lines, instead of a zombie-like mob.
Not everybody was happy about it, though.
"Yo, this is just like Rikers," said a young man to his girlfriend, referring to New York City's island jail, as they filed through the metal gates. "I'm gonna puke."
They were among hundreds of shoppers who poured into Wal-Mart before midnight, when Black Friday officially began. That's when certain discounted items became available, such as the 32-inch Emerson flatscreen TV and the eMachines laptop that each sold for $198. Shoppers queued up for those products hours in advance, holding tickets that guaranteed their purchase of the coveted electronics.
Toys R Us draws Black Friday newbies
Hundreds of customers formed lines that snaked through the aisles, clogging sections of the store as they leaned on shopping carts overflowing with Nerf guns, Tonka trucks, Dora the Explorers, sleeping children, vacuum cleaners, Hotwheels Jeeps, Ripper three-wheeled scooters, stacks of towels, more vacuum cleaners and the Justin Bieber backstage pass board game.
"There's no more Emerson TVs!" announced an employee, exactly one minute after midnight.
"This is crazy!" exclaimed one of the shoppers. "How can they be sold out?"
But there was no hysteria and no stampede. Security personnel were everywhere, and in some parts of the store the employees almost matched the customers one for one. But even aside from security, the shoppers seemed oddly calm.
"So far, so good," said Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) spokesman Greg Rossiter, about half an hour into Black Friday. He said the store had been consulting "crowd management experts" over the last couple of years, to better manage the flow of shoppers.
"It was crowded but decent," said Bernadine Evans of Brooklyn, who stood outside the store with a shopping cart full of cookware. "I think it's improved. The workers have more courtesy. They help you find what you're looking for. The lines are long but they're moving very fast."
Even the sea of humanity at the 26 cash registers was behaving itself, with hardly a shout or hint of anger.
Though there was one hyperactive teenager in the video game department who attracted the staff scrutiny with his histrionics.
"Oh! Penalty! Penalty! You got a free kick, bro!" yelled the teen, who was watching a younger kid play soccer on an Xbox 360. "Yo, kick him in the face, man!"
When a staffer walked over to see what the commotion was about, the teen explained: "He's mad good, yo!
This year, there was no Pamplona-style running of the shoppers at midnight, as there was on Black Friday 2008, when the doors were opened to a frenzied crush of shoppers who overpowered employees in their scramble for discounted laptops and flatscreen TVs.
This Thanksgiving, the doors were open all day at the Valley Stream store, even though the most popular deals didn't start until midnight. Also, rows of metal barricades were set up outside to corral shoppers into organized lines, instead of a zombie-like mob.
Not everybody was happy about it, though.
"Yo, this is just like Rikers," said a young man to his girlfriend, referring to New York City's island jail, as they filed through the metal gates. "I'm gonna puke."
They were among hundreds of shoppers who poured into Wal-Mart before midnight, when Black Friday officially began. That's when certain discounted items became available, such as the 32-inch Emerson flatscreen TV and the eMachines laptop that each sold for $198. Shoppers queued up for those products hours in advance, holding tickets that guaranteed their purchase of the coveted electronics.
Toys R Us draws Black Friday newbies
Hundreds of customers formed lines that snaked through the aisles, clogging sections of the store as they leaned on shopping carts overflowing with Nerf guns, Tonka trucks, Dora the Explorers, sleeping children, vacuum cleaners, Hotwheels Jeeps, Ripper three-wheeled scooters, stacks of towels, more vacuum cleaners and the Justin Bieber backstage pass board game.
"There's no more Emerson TVs!" announced an employee, exactly one minute after midnight.
"This is crazy!" exclaimed one of the shoppers. "How can they be sold out?"
But there was no hysteria and no stampede. Security personnel were everywhere, and in some parts of the store the employees almost matched the customers one for one. But even aside from security, the shoppers seemed oddly calm.
"So far, so good," said Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) spokesman Greg Rossiter, about half an hour into Black Friday. He said the store had been consulting "crowd management experts" over the last couple of years, to better manage the flow of shoppers.
"It was crowded but decent," said Bernadine Evans of Brooklyn, who stood outside the store with a shopping cart full of cookware. "I think it's improved. The workers have more courtesy. They help you find what you're looking for. The lines are long but they're moving very fast."
Even the sea of humanity at the 26 cash registers was behaving itself, with hardly a shout or hint of anger.
Though there was one hyperactive teenager in the video game department who attracted the staff scrutiny with his histrionics.
"Oh! Penalty! Penalty! You got a free kick, bro!" yelled the teen, who was watching a younger kid play soccer on an Xbox 360. "Yo, kick him in the face, man!"
When a staffer walked over to see what the commotion was about, the teen explained: "He's mad good, yo!
Buy Here, Pay Here: Bottom-feeding for used car buyers in a recession
FORTUNE -- There is a tiny slice of the car business that targets the least credit-worthy customers and tries to get them into cars they can afford and pay for: "Buy Here, Pay Here" used car dealers. Recently they unexpectedly made the news when it was disclosed that Todd Combs, the man whom Warren Buffett hired to help manage his portfolio, is an investor in one of the industry's biggest players.
The timing is appropriate because if ever a demand existed for Buy Here, Pay Here, or BHPH, it is now. With unemployment high and millions of homes being foreclosed, many people who need transportation find they can't buy any because they have neither cash nor credit. BHPH serves buyers who have few alternatives and are willing to endure steep interest charges -- along with onerous collection tactics if they fall behind.
BHPH has more to do with lending and collecting money than it does with the traditional car business. The vehicle is merely a commodity, the asset used to secure the loan. One writer described a BHPH outlet as "a bank masquerading as a used car lot."
In the usual sales process, the discussion about how the car will be paid for comes after it has been selected. At a BHPH dealership, the process is reversed. The dealer first determines a buyer's credit history and figures how much he can come up with for the down payment and subsequent monthly payments; only then does he locate an appropriate vehicle.
The cost for this kind of credit is steep -- as much as 20% annually -- and the consequences of missing payments can be abrupt. Some services recommend that dealers install tracking devices so that they can locate vehicles whose owners haven't kept up and stop them from moving until payments resume.
Woe be to those who can't keep up. Although some BHPH dealerships will accept payment by phone or online, many require that the buyer physically bring a check or cash to their locations either monthly or bi-weekly. Some dealers are known to repossess vehicles if the payment is more than a day late.
"Collections is the focus of our business -- selling cars is not," America's Car-Mart CEO Tilman J. Falgout III said in a 2002 interview. That kind of single-minded focus has helped make his company popular with investors, among them Buffett's Combs.
The company would not comment for this story and referred us to its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for further information.
America's Car-Mart (CRMT), which is not to be confused with its Bentonville, Ark.-neighbor Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), operates dealerships in eight states, and calls itself the largest publicly held car retailer focused exclusively on BHPH.
Car-Mart got started in 1981, when the company's first used-car dealership opened in Rogers, Ark. Its strategy from the beginning was to sell to customers with limited or poor credit. It was an immediate success.
The company targeted communities in rural areas with populations between 20,000 and 50,000. It figured that the absence of mass transit made car ownership more critical in those communities, and the small population made those who missed payments easier to track down.
To make things easier on buyers, Car-Mart advertises that it will trade cars for anything of value -- from electronics to household appliances and farm animals -- but mostly it deals with cash.
A snapshot of Car-Mart's 2009 fiscal year gives a glimpse of a highly-profitable business. Before this year's run-up in used car prices, Car-Mart was paying between $3,000 and $6,000 for its cars. The most popular models were between three and 10 years old and with 90,000 to 130,000 miles on the odometer. They carried names from Detroit's graveyard of discontinued models: Pontiacs and Oldsmobiles, Ford Escorts, and Chevrolet Cavaliers.
Customers seemed to like the selection. Car-Mart says the average retail price of the 29,000 cars it sold in fiscal 2009 was a little over $9,000. That year the company posted $18 million in net income on revenue of $299 million. It did even better in fiscal 2010, netting $28 million on revenues of $339 million.
But the cars were only a small part of the business model. "Collecting customer accounts is perhaps the single most important aspect of operating a buy here/pay here used car business and is a focal point for store level and corporate office personnel on a daily basis," the company says. "Substantially all incentive compensation is tied directly or indirectly to collection results."
Car-Mart keeps customers on a rigid schedule. If a payment is one day late, the customer receives a letter. After three days without payment, the customer receives a telephone call from Car-Mart. Vehicles are repossessed after 40 days without payment.
It is not a process geared to people who have a tough time with deadlines. According to the company, credit losses as a percentage of sales has averaged 22%, and a company history posted on http://www.fundinguniverse.com/ puts the estimated repossession rate at approximately 18%. It is a tough business but a thriving one.
Today, CAR-MART has 101 locations in Arkansas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, and Texas with more than 45,000 customers.
One disclosure you won't find in its financial statements is how many of those customers paid for their vehicles with livestock -- and whether the animals can be used for monthly payments as well. Chances are if that turns out to be a viable business in a depressed economy, some canny operator will find a way to take advantage of that too
The timing is appropriate because if ever a demand existed for Buy Here, Pay Here, or BHPH, it is now. With unemployment high and millions of homes being foreclosed, many people who need transportation find they can't buy any because they have neither cash nor credit. BHPH serves buyers who have few alternatives and are willing to endure steep interest charges -- along with onerous collection tactics if they fall behind.
BHPH has more to do with lending and collecting money than it does with the traditional car business. The vehicle is merely a commodity, the asset used to secure the loan. One writer described a BHPH outlet as "a bank masquerading as a used car lot."
In the usual sales process, the discussion about how the car will be paid for comes after it has been selected. At a BHPH dealership, the process is reversed. The dealer first determines a buyer's credit history and figures how much he can come up with for the down payment and subsequent monthly payments; only then does he locate an appropriate vehicle.
The cost for this kind of credit is steep -- as much as 20% annually -- and the consequences of missing payments can be abrupt. Some services recommend that dealers install tracking devices so that they can locate vehicles whose owners haven't kept up and stop them from moving until payments resume.
Woe be to those who can't keep up. Although some BHPH dealerships will accept payment by phone or online, many require that the buyer physically bring a check or cash to their locations either monthly or bi-weekly. Some dealers are known to repossess vehicles if the payment is more than a day late.
"Collections is the focus of our business -- selling cars is not," America's Car-Mart CEO Tilman J. Falgout III said in a 2002 interview. That kind of single-minded focus has helped make his company popular with investors, among them Buffett's Combs.
The company would not comment for this story and referred us to its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for further information.
America's Car-Mart (CRMT), which is not to be confused with its Bentonville, Ark.-neighbor Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), operates dealerships in eight states, and calls itself the largest publicly held car retailer focused exclusively on BHPH.
Car-Mart got started in 1981, when the company's first used-car dealership opened in Rogers, Ark. Its strategy from the beginning was to sell to customers with limited or poor credit. It was an immediate success.
The company targeted communities in rural areas with populations between 20,000 and 50,000. It figured that the absence of mass transit made car ownership more critical in those communities, and the small population made those who missed payments easier to track down.
To make things easier on buyers, Car-Mart advertises that it will trade cars for anything of value -- from electronics to household appliances and farm animals -- but mostly it deals with cash.
A snapshot of Car-Mart's 2009 fiscal year gives a glimpse of a highly-profitable business. Before this year's run-up in used car prices, Car-Mart was paying between $3,000 and $6,000 for its cars. The most popular models were between three and 10 years old and with 90,000 to 130,000 miles on the odometer. They carried names from Detroit's graveyard of discontinued models: Pontiacs and Oldsmobiles, Ford Escorts, and Chevrolet Cavaliers.
Customers seemed to like the selection. Car-Mart says the average retail price of the 29,000 cars it sold in fiscal 2009 was a little over $9,000. That year the company posted $18 million in net income on revenue of $299 million. It did even better in fiscal 2010, netting $28 million on revenues of $339 million.
But the cars were only a small part of the business model. "Collecting customer accounts is perhaps the single most important aspect of operating a buy here/pay here used car business and is a focal point for store level and corporate office personnel on a daily basis," the company says. "Substantially all incentive compensation is tied directly or indirectly to collection results."
Car-Mart keeps customers on a rigid schedule. If a payment is one day late, the customer receives a letter. After three days without payment, the customer receives a telephone call from Car-Mart. Vehicles are repossessed after 40 days without payment.
It is not a process geared to people who have a tough time with deadlines. According to the company, credit losses as a percentage of sales has averaged 22%, and a company history posted on http://www.fundinguniverse.com/ puts the estimated repossession rate at approximately 18%. It is a tough business but a thriving one.
Today, CAR-MART has 101 locations in Arkansas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, and Texas with more than 45,000 customers.
One disclosure you won't find in its financial statements is how many of those customers paid for their vehicles with livestock -- and whether the animals can be used for monthly payments as well. Chances are if that turns out to be a viable business in a depressed economy, some canny operator will find a way to take advantage of that too
Black Friday: Toys R Us starts the frenzyWho knew that all it took was a 2-hour time change to bring out a mob of newcomers to the Black Friday craziness? Toys R Us, the nation's largest toys-only retailer, got a head start on the holiday shopping craze, when it opened at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day for the first time.
The line outside the flagship toy store in Times Square started forming at 7:30 p.m. It was dominated by passers-by and tourists who had heard the store would be opening its doors at 10, offering 150 doorbuster deals on everything from iPods to Barbie dolls.
New Yorker Adam Erickson had never braved a Black Friday before, saying it wasn't his "thing." But this year, he was walking by when he saw the line start forming.
An avid collector of Transformers action figures and GI Joes, Erickson set up on the cold pavement, bundled up in his winter coat and watched a Batman cartoon on his laptop.
"I just walked by and thought 'why not.' It was a very last minute decision, and they have some pretty good deals," he said.
He was one of the first in the store, and one of the first out, leaving with about seven new additions to his toy collection.
In the past, Toys R Us has opened its stores at midnight or 5 a.m. This year, it tried something new with a 10 p.m. start, hoping to draw even more customers.
Based on the queues, the strategy appeared to work. An hour ahead of the opening, hundreds of eager shoppers lined up outside the Times Square store, winding around the corner and to the next block.
"We're off to a great start," said Toys R Us CEO Gerald Storch. "I've been getting reports from all over the country and the lines have anywhere from between 500 to 1,000 people at every Toys R Us store nationwide."
Holiday 2010 shopping guide - CNN
The 10 p.m. opening in New York also drew shoppers from as far away as South America and Europe.
Ana Carolina Bonhilha and Ana Paula Cruz came all way from Brazil to experience their first Black Friday in the States. After shopping in the store earlier in the day, they were able to secure the much-coveted first spot in line.
Armed with two suitcases and about $1,100, they were looking for deals on Nintendo Wii games, Guitar Hero, and a Baby Alive doll -- and whatever else could be stuffed into their luggage.
0:00 /2:28Toys R Us: Holiday shopping fun
"We think all will be on sale," Bonhilha said. "A lot of these things are so expensive in Brazil. We're traveling and actually saving money."
Danielle and John Van der Moeuer from the Netherlands also braved the lines to fill their suitcases with "Toy Story 3" figurines, gearing up for both St. Nicholas Day and Christmas.
"Everything is a deal here because the dollar is so much lower than the euro," John said.
Lines snaked throughout all three floors of the store and around its iconic Ferris wheel.
The hottest deals drew the longest queues to the electronics section, where the store gave out $50 gift cards with the purchase of an iPod Touch or an XBox 360. Video game sales were perhaps the biggest highlight among teenage boys, and You and Me baby dolls were popular for little girls.
"We're going to work the baby doll section, grab an Icee-maker and a Crayola set," said Daneesha Commander of New York, while waiting in line. She and her family left about an hour later with three giant bags of toys and a nearly 20-inch receipt totaling $108.
"The after-party is at Old Navy which opens at midnight," she said. "Then we'll take a nap and head out again tomorrow from 1 to 5."
Not everything was drawing a crowd though. While Toys R Us was pushing its exclusive Santa-Sing-A-Ma-Jig toy hard this year
New Yorker Adam Erickson had never braved a Black Friday before, saying it wasn't his "thing." But this year, he was walking by when he saw the line start forming.
An avid collector of Transformers action figures and GI Joes, Erickson set up on the cold pavement, bundled up in his winter coat and watched a Batman cartoon on his laptop.
"I just walked by and thought 'why not.' It was a very last minute decision, and they have some pretty good deals," he said.
He was one of the first in the store, and one of the first out, leaving with about seven new additions to his toy collection.
In the past, Toys R Us has opened its stores at midnight or 5 a.m. This year, it tried something new with a 10 p.m. start, hoping to draw even more customers.
Based on the queues, the strategy appeared to work. An hour ahead of the opening, hundreds of eager shoppers lined up outside the Times Square store, winding around the corner and to the next block.
"We're off to a great start," said Toys R Us CEO Gerald Storch. "I've been getting reports from all over the country and the lines have anywhere from between 500 to 1,000 people at every Toys R Us store nationwide."
Holiday 2010 shopping guide - CNN
The 10 p.m. opening in New York also drew shoppers from as far away as South America and Europe.
Ana Carolina Bonhilha and Ana Paula Cruz came all way from Brazil to experience their first Black Friday in the States. After shopping in the store earlier in the day, they were able to secure the much-coveted first spot in line.
Armed with two suitcases and about $1,100, they were looking for deals on Nintendo Wii games, Guitar Hero, and a Baby Alive doll -- and whatever else could be stuffed into their luggage.
0:00 /2:28Toys R Us: Holiday shopping fun
"We think all will be on sale," Bonhilha said. "A lot of these things are so expensive in Brazil. We're traveling and actually saving money."
Danielle and John Van der Moeuer from the Netherlands also braved the lines to fill their suitcases with "Toy Story 3" figurines, gearing up for both St. Nicholas Day and Christmas.
"Everything is a deal here because the dollar is so much lower than the euro," John said.
Lines snaked throughout all three floors of the store and around its iconic Ferris wheel.
The hottest deals drew the longest queues to the electronics section, where the store gave out $50 gift cards with the purchase of an iPod Touch or an XBox 360. Video game sales were perhaps the biggest highlight among teenage boys, and You and Me baby dolls were popular for little girls.
"We're going to work the baby doll section, grab an Icee-maker and a Crayola set," said Daneesha Commander of New York, while waiting in line. She and her family left about an hour later with three giant bags of toys and a nearly 20-inch receipt totaling $108.
"The after-party is at Old Navy which opens at midnight," she said. "Then we'll take a nap and head out again tomorrow from 1 to 5."
Not everything was drawing a crowd though. While Toys R Us was pushing its exclusive Santa-Sing-A-Ma-Jig toy hard this year
Starbucks-Kraft battle gets bitter Kraft Foods Inc. said Monday it is seeking arbitration in its battle with Starbucks Corp. as the coffee chain tries to end a deal under which Kraft distributes packaged Starbucks coffee to grocery stores. In a statement, Kraft (KFT, Fortune 500) argued that its contract with Starbucks (SBUX, Fortune 500), which dates back to 1998, remains in effect "indefinitely" and requires "sufficient time for Kraft to execute an orderly transition." * 10 * * * Email * Print * Comment Kraft also said that the contract calls for Starbucks to compensate Kraft for the fair market value of the business, plus a premium of up to 35% of that value. The packaged foods company claimed its resources and expertise helped build Starbucks' retail grocery coffee business from generating less than $50 million in annual revenue to about $500 million in sales each year. "Starbucks unilaterally and unjustifiably declared in public statements the agreement's termination," said Marc Firestone, Kraft general counsel, in a statement. "In effect, Starbucks is trying to walk away from a 12-year strategic partnership, from which it has greatly benefited, without abiding by contractual conditions." In response, Starbucks said it "strongly disagrees with Kraft's recent characterizations." It said that Kraft did not hold up its end of the bargain under certain aspects of the agreement, including working closely with Starbucks involving the company with significant marketing decisions and customer contacts. Starbucks claimed it raised the issues with Kraft but never saw any improvement. "Kraft's failure to meets its responsibilities resulted in the erosion of brand equity and the experiences at grocery that Starbucks customers have come to expect through their experience in Starbucks stores," the Seattle-based company said in a statement. "In light of Kraft's failure to cure its breaches of the agreement, Starbucks has exercised its right to end the relationship." 0:00 /26:58Starbucks on the record The dispute between the companies first came to light earlier this month, when Starbucks announced that it had notified Kraft of its decision to terminate the partnership in October. Kraft fired back, saying the agreement between the companies is "perpetual" and would require Starbucks to pay fair market value for the business plus a premium.
President Obama meets with Wal-Mart CEO
President Obama was meeting Monday with Mike Duke, the chief executive of Wal-Mart, a White House official said.
The meeting was closed to the press, but the official called it part of Obama's "ongoing outreach" to the U.S. business community.
The goal is to "continue discussing ways to strengthen our economic recovery, spur growth, create jobs, and encourage companies to invest in the United States," the official said in a statement emailed to CNNMoney.com.
Dan Fogleman, a spokesman for Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), said the world's largest retailer is not planning to make a public comment on the meeting.
Obama has been criticized by some corporate leaders for what they see as an anti-business bias. But the president acknowledged in a speech earlier this month that he needs to improve his relations with business after the midterm Congressional elections resulted in major losses for Democrats.
"As I reflect on what's happened over the last two years, it's one of the things that I think has not been managed by me as well as it needed to be," the president said press conference one day after the Nov.r 2 elections.
Businesses and other outside groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent over $400 million to influence the election, according to the Sunlight Foundation, non-profit watchdog group.
Obama is considering attending a jobs summit hosted by the Chamber, which is expected to take place in early January, sources told CNN.
In his post-election remarks, Obama said he wants to mend bridges more publicly with the business community while seeking policy initiatives that help create jobs. He said he's been doing that "behind the scenes" in meetings between White House officials and corporate executives, but he acknowledged the need to work on the more public relationship.
The apparent charm campaign comes after corporate leaders from a variety of industries have criticized Obama for policies and statements they see as anti-business.
Obama chastised "fat cat" bankers who took large bonuses during the financial crisis, and lashed out at BP during the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
But other executives have expressed frustration with Obama's efforts to eliminate tax breaks, an area where he has recently relented. Businesses have also pushed back against Obama's signature legislative achievements, including health care reform and a sweeping overhaul of the nation's financial system
The meeting was closed to the press, but the official called it part of Obama's "ongoing outreach" to the U.S. business community.
The goal is to "continue discussing ways to strengthen our economic recovery, spur growth, create jobs, and encourage companies to invest in the United States," the official said in a statement emailed to CNNMoney.com.
Dan Fogleman, a spokesman for Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), said the world's largest retailer is not planning to make a public comment on the meeting.
Obama has been criticized by some corporate leaders for what they see as an anti-business bias. But the president acknowledged in a speech earlier this month that he needs to improve his relations with business after the midterm Congressional elections resulted in major losses for Democrats.
"As I reflect on what's happened over the last two years, it's one of the things that I think has not been managed by me as well as it needed to be," the president said press conference one day after the Nov.r 2 elections.
Businesses and other outside groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent over $400 million to influence the election, according to the Sunlight Foundation, non-profit watchdog group.
Obama is considering attending a jobs summit hosted by the Chamber, which is expected to take place in early January, sources told CNN.
In his post-election remarks, Obama said he wants to mend bridges more publicly with the business community while seeking policy initiatives that help create jobs. He said he's been doing that "behind the scenes" in meetings between White House officials and corporate executives, but he acknowledged the need to work on the more public relationship.
The apparent charm campaign comes after corporate leaders from a variety of industries have criticized Obama for policies and statements they see as anti-business.
Obama chastised "fat cat" bankers who took large bonuses during the financial crisis, and lashed out at BP during the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
But other executives have expressed frustration with Obama's efforts to eliminate tax breaks, an area where he has recently relented. Businesses have also pushed back against Obama's signature legislative achievements, including health care reform and a sweeping overhaul of the nation's financial system
Wednesday, 24 November 2010
Germany economy grew 0.7 pct in 3rd quarter
BERLIN – Economic growth in Germany cooled in the third quarter, slipping back to a still-healthy and broader-based 0.7 percent following a spectacular boom in the spring, official figures showed Friday.
The quarterly figure for Europe's biggest economy compared with a huge 2.3 percent advance in the April-June period — that was revised upward Friday from the initial reading of 2.2 percent. The first-quarter figure was also revised up to 0.6 percent from 0.5 percent.
The third-quarter growth was in line with forecasts for growth of 0.7 or 0.8 percent.
Germany's economy has made an impressive comeback after contracting sharply last year — led by exports and now helped by signs of healthier domestic demand.
The Federal Statistical Office said that "both domestic and foreign demand made a positive contribution to growth" in the third quarter, with the expansion "based equally" on household and government consumption, company investment and foreign trade.
Analysts said the figures encouraged hopes that the German economic recovery is becoming more sustainable.
UniCredit analyst Andreas Rees said there is "no — repeat no — reason for being disappointed" by the third-quarter figure.
He noted that "the upswing has been getting broader in recent months" with both consumer spending and investment in machinery and equipment contributing to growth.
The massive second-quarter growth was fueled in part by a catch-up in construction work after a hard winter, while exports and investment also contributed.
"The signs of a profound change in the 'quality' of growth have become unmistakable," he said.
And Carsten Brzeski, an economist at ING in Brussels, said the third-quarter demonstrate that the German recovery "is much more than a simple statistical quirk: the German economy is a good way toward a self-sustained recovery."
Friday's data suggest that the German economy is outperforming the government's predictions.
Gross domestic product was up 3.9 percent in the third quarter compared with the same period last year.
The government expects full-year growth of 3.4 percent in 2010, cooling to 1.8 percent in 2011.
Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle said the German economy continued its "dynamic upswing" in the third quarter and the government's full-year forecast was "impressively confirmed" by the new figures.
This week, the government's independent panel of economic advisers issued an even more optimistic forecast of 3.7 percent this year and 2.2 percent in 2011.
The economy contracted by 4.7 percent last year, by far the worst performance since World War II, as global economic woes weighed on German exports.
Third-quarter growth figures for the 16-nation eurozone are due later Friday.
The quarterly figure for Europe's biggest economy compared with a huge 2.3 percent advance in the April-June period — that was revised upward Friday from the initial reading of 2.2 percent. The first-quarter figure was also revised up to 0.6 percent from 0.5 percent.
The third-quarter growth was in line with forecasts for growth of 0.7 or 0.8 percent.
Germany's economy has made an impressive comeback after contracting sharply last year — led by exports and now helped by signs of healthier domestic demand.
The Federal Statistical Office said that "both domestic and foreign demand made a positive contribution to growth" in the third quarter, with the expansion "based equally" on household and government consumption, company investment and foreign trade.
Analysts said the figures encouraged hopes that the German economic recovery is becoming more sustainable.
UniCredit analyst Andreas Rees said there is "no — repeat no — reason for being disappointed" by the third-quarter figure.
He noted that "the upswing has been getting broader in recent months" with both consumer spending and investment in machinery and equipment contributing to growth.
The massive second-quarter growth was fueled in part by a catch-up in construction work after a hard winter, while exports and investment also contributed.
"The signs of a profound change in the 'quality' of growth have become unmistakable," he said.
And Carsten Brzeski, an economist at ING in Brussels, said the third-quarter demonstrate that the German recovery "is much more than a simple statistical quirk: the German economy is a good way toward a self-sustained recovery."
Friday's data suggest that the German economy is outperforming the government's predictions.
Gross domestic product was up 3.9 percent in the third quarter compared with the same period last year.
The government expects full-year growth of 3.4 percent in 2010, cooling to 1.8 percent in 2011.
Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle said the German economy continued its "dynamic upswing" in the third quarter and the government's full-year forecast was "impressively confirmed" by the new figures.
This week, the government's independent panel of economic advisers issued an even more optimistic forecast of 3.7 percent this year and 2.2 percent in 2011.
The economy contracted by 4.7 percent last year, by far the worst performance since World War II, as global economic woes weighed on German exports.
Third-quarter growth figures for the 16-nation eurozone are due later Friday.
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