Financial 411

Markets

Stocks were mixed Friday. The Dow declined 43 points, ending the week at 12,681. But positive reports from chipmakers pushed the Nasdaq 24 points higher, to 2,859. The S&P 500 gained a single point, settling at 1,345.

Reviewing This Week's Business Headlines

The big banks released their second quarter earnings reports this week. It was bad news at Bank of America, which had its biggest quarterly loss ever - $9 billion - connected with a lawsuit the bank settled. Goldman Sachs made a profit of $1 billion. Morgan Stanley lost more than $500 million. We'll talk about why some analysts are disappointed in the latest reports, and why others are cheering.

There's still no deal on raising America's debt limit, which is the amount of money our government can borrow. But some on Wall Street have cooked up plans to make money in the event our government defaults on its debt. We'll explain how.

Turning to local matters, the unemployment rate in the city rose last month to 8.7 percent. Jobs were lost in financial services and government, but there were gains in private schools and restaurants.

And speaking of jobs, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has officially kicked off a competition for universities to open an applied sciences campus in the city. The idea is to pick a partner to open a brand new research center, which will bring students to start.

Down the line, Bloomberg said it could become an engine for tens of thousands of new jobs as well.

We'll talk about who's interested, and the rest of this week's business headlines, with Greg David, director of the Business & Economics Reporting Program at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.

Markets

Stocks were mixed Friday. The Dow declined 43 points, ending the week at 12,681. But positive reports from chipmakers pushed the Nasdaq 24 points higher, to 2,859. The S&P 500 gained a single point, settling at 1,345.

Reviewing This Week's Business Headlines

The big banks released their second quarter earnings reports this week. It was bad news at Bank of America, which had its biggest quarterly loss ever - $9 billion - connected with a lawsuit the bank settled. Goldman Sachs made a profit of $1 billion. Morgan Stanley lost more than $500 million. We'll talk about why some analysts are disappointed in the latest reports, and why others are cheering.

There's still no deal on raising America's debt limit, which is the amount of money our government can borrow. But some on Wall Street have cooked up plans to make money in the event our government defaults on its debt. We'll explain how.

Turning to local matters, the unemployment rate in the city rose last month to 8.7 percent. Jobs were lost in financial services and government, but there were gains in private schools and restaurants.

And speaking of jobs, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has officially kicked off a competition for universities to open an applied sciences campus in the city. The idea is to pick a partner to open a brand new research center, which will bring students to start.

Down the line, Bloomberg said it could become an engine for tens of thousands of new jobs as well.

We'll talk about who's interested, and the rest of this week's business headlines, with Greg David, director of the Business & Economics Reporting Program at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.

Latest Unemployment Numbers

New York State and New York City both saw their June unemployment rates tick up to 8 percent and 8.7 percent, respectively. In the city, the securities industry shed 2,000 jobs last month. Local government took an even bigger hit, losing 2,700 jobs. Restaurants and private schools have added the greatest number of positions since the city hit economic bottom in September 2009.

Markets

Although there's still no deal on raising the U.S. debt limit, across the Atlantic, Eurozone leaders just signed on to giving Greece a second bailout worth $230 billion. With that news and strong earnings reports, markets rose Thursday. The Dow jumped 153 points, closing at 12,724. The S&P 500 rose 18 points, to close at 1,344. And the Nasdaq was up 20 points, ending the day at at 2,834.

A Look at How the News Corp. Scandal is Affecting Employees in New York

There are 6,000 people in New York City who are particularly concerned with the phone-hacking scandal in Great Britain that is affecting News Corp. They are the News Corp. employees at company headquarters in Midtown, and at the massive company's media properties here, including The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and Fox News.  

Last Friday, Les Hinton, the CEO of Dow Jones, the parent company of the Journal, and someone very close to Rupert Murdoch, resigned. He became the first New York-based casualty of the crisis.

WNYC's Ilya Marritz has been talking to some News Corp. employees in New York, and he said many of them are very concerned. He tells us what they're worried about, and how they feel about the media scandal.

Name the Next Start-up

You may have heard our story earlier this week on start-up companies, and the importance of coming up with a good name. We asked for your suggestions for names based on descriptions of a few real start-ups. Take a look at those suggestions and vote on your favorites here. We'll mention the results on the air on Friday.

Latest Unemployment Numbers

New York State and New York City both saw their June unemployment rates tick up to 8 percent and 8.7 percent, respectively. In the city, the securities industry shed 2,000 jobs last month. Local government took an even bigger hit, losing 2,700 jobs. Restaurants and private schools have added the greatest number of positions since the city hit economic bottom in September 2009.

Markets

Although there's still no deal on raising the U.S. debt limit, across the Atlantic, Eurozone leaders just signed on to giving Greece a second bailout worth $230 billion. With that news and strong earnings reports, markets rose Thursday. The Dow jumped 153 points, closing at 12,724. The S&P 500 rose 18 points, to close at 1,344. And the Nasdaq was up 20 points, ending the day at at 2,834.

A Look at How the News Corp. Scandal is Affecting Employees in New York

There are 6,000 people in New York City who are particularly concerned with the phone-hacking scandal in Great Britain that is affecting News Corp. They are the News Corp. employees at company headquarters in Midtown, and at the massive company's media properties here, including The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and Fox News.  

Last Friday, Les Hinton, the CEO of Dow Jones, the parent company of the Journal, and someone very close to Rupert Murdoch, resigned. He became the first New York-based casualty of the crisis.

WNYC's Ilya Marritz has been talking to some News Corp. employees in New York, and he said many of them are very concerned. He tells us what they're worried about, and how they feel about the media scandal.

Name the Next Start-up

You may have heard our story earlier this week on start-up companies, and the importance of coming up with a good name. We asked for your suggestions for names based on descriptions of a few real start-ups. Take a look at those suggestions and vote on your favorites here. We'll mention the results on the air on Friday.

Debt Talks Continue on Capitol Hill

President Barack Obama said he's now open to a short-term deal to raise the nation's debt ceiling if it will allow time for a broader plan to be put in place. There are 13 days left before the August 2 deadline, when the U.S. risks defaulting on its financial obligations.

A new bipartisan budget plan emerging from the Senate would slash the deficit by almost $4 trillion over a decade, through a mix of spending cuts and new tax revenues.

Markets

Stocks fell slightly on Wednesday, after their big rally on Tuesday. The Dow lost 16 points, closing at 12,572. The S&P 500 was down one point, to close at 1,326. The Nasdaq shed 12 points, closing at 2,814.

The Hudson Yards Project

The Hudson Yards project may finally be getting the anchor tenant it needs to start construction. Crains is reporting Wednesday that the developer, The Related Companies, is close to signing a deal with the luxury handbag company Coach for 600,000-square feet of office space. The luxury handbag company would move its corporate headquarters from the Garment District.

Erik Engquist, assistant managing editor at Crains, brings us up to speed on the project. He also talks about what Coach brings to the table.

Debt Talks Continue on Capitol Hill

President Barack Obama said he's now open to a short-term deal to raise the nation's debt ceiling if it will allow time for a broader plan to be put in place. There are 13 days left before the August 2 deadline, when the U.S. risks defaulting on its financial obligations.

A new bipartisan budget plan emerging from the Senate would slash the deficit by almost $4 trillion over a decade, through a mix of spending cuts and new tax revenues.

Markets

Stocks fell slightly on Wednesday, after their big rally on Tuesday. The Dow lost 16 points, closing at 12,572. The S&P 500 was down one point, to close at 1,326. The Nasdaq shed 12 points, closing at 2,814.

The Hudson Yards Project

The Hudson Yards project may finally be getting the anchor tenant it needs to start construction. Crains is reporting Wednesday that the developer, The Related Companies, is close to signing a deal with the luxury handbag company Coach for 600,000-square feet of office space. The luxury handbag company would move its corporate headquarters from the Garment District.

Erik Engquist, assistant managing editor at Crains, brings us up to speed on the project. He also talks about what Coach brings to the table.

City officials want to attract a major research institution to open a new science and engineering campus in New York City.

As an incentive, the city is offering publicly owned land and as much as $100 million in funding. It was the highlight of an event on the future of New York City, hosted by Crains New York Business. City officials have really been pushing technology. But there are also challenges to starting a company in New York — like the cost.

New York Works: Brooklyn Arborist Chris Roddick

The iconic image of New York City is the skyline - glass buildings jutting up into the air. But Chris Roddick spends his days climbing the city's natural skyscrapers: trees. For 17 years, Roddick has been pruning, planting and inspecting trees at the Brooklyn Botanical garden.

Sarah Kate Kramer brings us his story for this week's New York Works series.

Is there someone you think we should profile? Let us know in the comments section!

Markets

Markets soared on Tuesday, after Coca-Cola and IBM reported strong second quarter earnings, and President Barack Obama announced a breakthrough in negotiations over raising the nation's debt ceiling. The Dow rose 202 points, to12,587. The S&P rose 21 points, to close at 1,327. The NASDAQ was up 61 points, to end the day at 2,827.

City officials want to attract a major research institution to open a new science and engineering campus in New York City.

As an incentive, the city is offering publicly owned land and as much as $100 million in funding. It was the highlight of an event on the future of New York City, hosted by Crains New York Business. City officials have really been pushing technology. But there are also challenges to starting a company in New York — like the cost.

New York Works: Brooklyn Arborist Chris Roddick

The iconic image of New York City is the skyline - glass buildings jutting up into the air. But Chris Roddick spends his days climbing the city's natural skyscrapers: trees. For 17 years, Roddick has been pruning, planting and inspecting trees at the Brooklyn Botanical garden.

Sarah Kate Kramer brings us his story for this week's New York Works series.

Is there someone you think we should profile? Let us know in the comments section!

Markets

Markets soared on Tuesday, after Coca-Cola and IBM reported strong second quarter earnings, and President Barack Obama announced a breakthrough in negotiations over raising the nation's debt ceiling. The Dow rose 202 points, to12,587. The S&P rose 21 points, to close at 1,327. The NASDAQ was up 61 points, to end the day at 2,827.

News Corporation's phone-hacking scandal continues to grow. Dow Jones CEO Les Hinton has announced he's resigning. He was chairman of News International, overseeing the British newspapers that are at the heart of the scandal.

Reporters from those papers are accused of hacking into people's voice mails to get information.

"News Corp. is an enormous force here in New York," said Greg David, director of the Business and Economics Reporting Program at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.

All week we've been hearing about the fight in Washington over raising the nation's debt limit, and on Friday, President Barack Obama repeated his desire to reach a deal that would also cut spending and raise revenues.

"We have a chance to stabilize America's finances for a decade, for 15 years or 20 years, if we're willing to seize the moment," he said.

If the president doesn't reach a deal with Republicans by August 2, the U.S. risks defaulting on its financial obligations and severely cutting back funding for programs like Social Security. We'll talk about the impact that could have on New York City.

And at last, the final installment of Harry Potter opened at midnight. And it's not just entertainment — it's big business.

David discusses these stories and this week's top business headlines.
 
Markets

Markets rose Friday after some companies, including Google, reported strong second quarter earnings. The Dow climbed 43 points, closing at 12,480. The S&P 500 was up seven points, to close at 1,316. And the Nasdaq rose 27 points, closing at 2,790.

News Corporation's phone-hacking scandal continues to grow. Dow Jones CEO Les Hinton has announced he's resigning. He was chairman of News International, overseeing the British newspapers that are at the heart of the scandal.

Reporters from those papers are accused of hacking into people's voice mails to get information.

"News Corp. is an enormous force here in New York," said Greg David, director of the Business and Economics Reporting Program at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.

All week we've been hearing about the fight in Washington over raising the nation's debt limit, and on Friday, President Barack Obama repeated his desire to reach a deal that would also cut spending and raise revenues.

"We have a chance to stabilize America's finances for a decade, for 15 years or 20 years, if we're willing to seize the moment," he said.

If the president doesn't reach a deal with Republicans by August 2, the U.S. risks defaulting on its financial obligations and severely cutting back funding for programs like Social Security. We'll talk about the impact that could have on New York City.

And at last, the final installment of Harry Potter opened at midnight. And it's not just entertainment — it's big business.

David discusses these stories and this week's top business headlines.
 
Markets

Markets rose Friday after some companies, including Google, reported strong second quarter earnings. The Dow climbed 43 points, closing at 12,480. The S&P 500 was up seven points, to close at 1,316. And the Nasdaq rose 27 points, closing at 2,790.