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Global Investing Roundups

Best Buy Profit Falls 77%; Goldman Sachs Posts $2.12 Billion Loss; New Permits and Starts at Record Low; Brazil Retail Rises 10.1%; Berkshire Buys NC Real Estate Brokerage; Crude Slides in Spite of OPEC Technorati Profile

  • Profit at electronics retailer Best Buy Co. (BBY) fell 77% during the company’s fiscal third quarter ended Nov. 29. The company said it would offer buyout packages to nearly all corporate employees to save on costs as it trudges through a dismal holiday shopping season, the Associated Press reported.  
  • Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) reported a $2.12 billion, or $4.97 a share, loss for its fiscal fourth quarter, Bloomberg reported. “Our results for the fourth quarter reflect extraordinarily difficult operating conditions, including a sharp decline in values across virtually every asset class,” Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein said in the statement.
  • Retail sales in Brazil rose 10.1% in October, exceeding economists’ forecasts and showing promise that consumers in the Latin American titan are holding up in the global economic slowdown. Sales may slow in November and December, however. “Sectors that are dependent on credit, such as vehicles, will suffer more in the following months,” Luiz Goes, partner of Gouvea de Souza consultancy firm, said in a Bloomberg Television interview.
  • Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s (BRK.A, BRK.B) HomeServices of America yesterday (Tuesday) purchased a Raleigh, N.C.-based York Simpson Underwood, a residential real estate brokerage with 250 agents. York Simpson, which closed more than $717 million in real estate transactions last year, will be merged with an existing HomeServices brokerage, Prudential Carolinas Realty, and is being renamed Prudential York Simpson Underwood Realty, The Associated Press reported.
  • Light, sweet crude for January delivery fell 91 cents to settle at $43.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday (Tuesday), despite indications that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is gearing up to cut production. Prices fell below $44 just after Saudi oil minister Ali Naimi said production would likely be cut by about 2 billion barrels per day.

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Global Investing Roundups Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 (Contrarian Profits, 12/17/08)
Investing Carnival #24 (Dividends Value, 12/2/08)
As goes January so goes the year – Testing the January Barometer (Dividend Growth Investor, 2/4/09)
Read more on How To Invest, Best Buy at Wikinvest
December 17th, 2008

Why Gold Will Surpass $2,500

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 at 10:30 am and is filed under Global Business Roundup, Global Roundup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Due to the amount of comments we receive Money Morning will not be able to respond to all questions. If you have not already registered to leave a comment, once doing so you will receive Money Morning's Daily Email.

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  1. Pingback by Top Citi Executives to Forgo 2008 Bonuses, Reports State on 5 January 2009:

    [...] million. On Oct. 28, Goldman received $10 billion in federal bailout money. On Dec. 16, Goldman reported a $2.12 billion quarterly loss, its first since it went public back in 1999. So for 2008, Goldman’s seven top-paid execs will work for their base salaries of $600,000 [...]

  2. Pingback by Jutia Group - Market Jitters & Political Critters on 5 January 2009:

    [...] million. On Oct. 28, Goldman received $10 billion in federal bailout money. On Dec. 16, Goldman reported a $2.12 billion quarterly loss, its first since it went public back in 1999. So for 2008, Goldman’s seven top-paid execs will work for their base salaries of $600,000 [...]

  3. Pingback by Banks That Got $188 Billion in Bailout Money This Year Paid Out $1.6 Billion to Top Execs Last Year on 27 January 2009:

    [...] million. On Oct. 28, Goldman received $10 billion in federal bailout money. On Dec. 16, Goldman reported a $2.12 billion quarterly loss, its first since it went public back in 1999. So for 2008, Goldman’s seven top-paid execs will work for their base salaries of $600,000 [...]

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