July 10, 2009 ndash; Another mixed week of economic data, which left Wall Street in doubt about whether the economy is going to rebound any time soon. Fridayrsquo;s downtick in consumer sentiment was a stark reminder that Main Street is not doing well and isnrsquo;t particularly optimistic. middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Consumer Sentiment ndash; The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment (preliminary) index decreased to 64.6, the lowest level since March, from 70.8 in June. The forecast was for a reading of 70. With respect to Americanrsquo;s perceptions about their financial situation, and whether it is a good time to buy big-ticket items, the reading fell to 70.4 from 73.2. The index of consumer expectations for six months from now fell to 60.9, the biggest drop since October, from 69.2. middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; US Import and Export Price Indexes - The U.S. Import Price Index rose 3.2 percent in June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of ...

Gannett Co. (GCI), the news and information company, has been struggling with plummeting advertising revenue for a long time, which has forced job cuts to control rising operating costs. The advertising revenue dipped 34.1%, whereas circulation revenue plunged 3.1% in the first quarter of 2009.

Recently, on July 2, 2009, the company announced that it would lay off 1,400 employees or about 3% of its headcount this month at its publishing division. Gannett announced that each of its markets will complete its own downsizing plan depending on local conditions.

On July 9, 2009, the Courier-Journal newspaper operating in the Louisville market laid off 44 employees, or 7% of its work force, as part of the company’s downsizing plan. Earlier, 51 employees were laid off in December 2008. The Arizona Republic newspaper operating in Phoenix lowered its headcount by 100.

The company also started executing its plans to eliminate 106 full-time and 19

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'Trouble Brewing' At State Street?

Anyone expecting State Street Corp. to remain relatively unscathed by the ongoing global credit crisis might want to pay attention to the money manager's fourth-quarter earnings, notes the Wall Street Journal.

The parent of exchange-traded funds provider State Street Global Advisors is expected to report an earnings gain when it releases quarterly earnings on Tuesday. But the paper points to an early filing last week by State Street that signals multi-billion dollar losses in some of its most conservative money like investment funds, stable value funds and conduits of asset-backed commerical paper. 

You can read the story here.

 

Direxion White Hot

While introduction of new exchange-traded funds is hardly a hot topic these days, Direxion's entrance on the scene has drawn lots of attention.

Ian Salisbury takes a look at the fund family in a piece running in the Wall Street Journal . You can see

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