Today before the opening bell, DRI Corp. announced that the Company’s Mobitec Group subsidiary in Sweden has received confirmation that it will receive several substantial orders for Mobitec(R) electronic information display systems (EIDS) on behalf of the Roads and Transport Authority’s Public Transport Agency transit bus vehicle fleet in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The Transport Agency’s new bus vehicle procurement includes over 1,600 double-decker, standard, and articulated buses of ranging sizes. According to the press release, orders for this large bus vehicle procurement are being placed through several bus vehicle manufacturers.

David L. Turney, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “Orders from all of the bus vehicle manufacturers that we are to serve are expected to be entered in December 2008 and January 2009. Our part of the related EIDS orders will come from several of the bus vehicle manufacturers and should encompass the supply of EIDS to a majority

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The IMF finally announced it's Latvia "bailout" plan on Friday. The plan involves lending about €1.7 billion ($2.4 billion) to Latvia to stabilise the currency and financial support while the government implements its economic adjustment plan. The loan, which will be in the form of a 27-month stand-by arrangement, is still subject to final approval by the IMF's Executive Board but is likely to be discussed before the end of this year under the Fund's fast-track emergency financing procedures, and it is not anticipated that there will be any last minute hitches (although I do imagine some eyebrow raising over the decision to support the continuation of the Lat peg). The Latvian government admits that some of the IMF economists involved in the negotiations advocated a devaluation of the lat as a way of ammeliorating the ...

strongFinancial News/strongbr /br /Jason Corcoran in Moscow br /08 December 2008 br /br /Increasing competition from new entrants and sharp falls in equity prices are driving down the margins of Russia’s sub-custody banks.br /br /The recent arrivals of Sweden’s SEB and France’s Société Générale, plus the increasing participation of Russian banks such as VTB and Gazprombank, are forcing fees downward but bringing greater segmentation and opportunities for niche providers.br /br /Natalia Sidorova, head of securities services at ING Wholesale Banking in Moscow, said: “Margins are decreasing, which is inevitable in a busy market like Russia driven by competition. Fees used to be about 20 basis points but have come down significantly in recent years.”br /br /Serhiy Berezhny, head of trust and securities services at Deutsche Bank, agreed but said high fees could still be charged depending on the volume of client assets. br /br /He said: “Different clients are ...

U.S. employers cut 533,000 jobs in November… Oil prices near lowest level in four years… Market looking at $40 as slowdown hurts demand Oil fell below $42 a barrel on Friday, its lowest since January 2005, after a gloomy report on U.S. job losses underscored concern about weakening energy demand in the world’s top consumer.

U.S. employers axed payrolls by a shocking 533,000 in November for the weakest performance in 34 years, government data showed.

“You can’t get much uglier than this,” said Richard Yamarone, chief economist at Argus Research in New York. “The economy has just collapsed and has gone into a free fall.” U.S. crude plunged as low as $41.77 and by 1547 GMT was trading at $41.86, down $1.81. London’s Brent crude was off $1.58 at $40.70.

Many dealers and analysts expect oil to test the psychologically important $40

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A spree of economic props dominoed across Europe today (Thursday) all sharing the same theme - stopping the global financial crisis from getting worse. The European Central Bank took a drastic step to protect the Eurozone economy from shrinking further by lowering its benchmark interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point to 2.5%.

As ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet announced the largest cut in the Eurozone’s 10-year history, he said that the region is bracing for negative growth next year.

“Global and euro-area demand are likely to be dampened for a protracted period of time,” Trichet said at a press conference in Brussels today, Bloomberg reported.

The ECB estimates average annual real gross domestic product (GDP) growth to be between 0.8% and 1.2% in 2008, between -1.0% and 0.0% in 2009 and between 0.5% and 1.5% in 2010.

The ECB’s rate reduction followed two other huge central bank cuts

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Currencies rally then fall back…  Rate slashers!  Following Japan? Let’s hope not!  Canada’s woes mount… And Now… Today’s Pfennig! Good day… And a Happy Friday to one and all! A Fantastico Friday! A Jobs Jamboree Friday! Anything else, Chuck? No, I don’t think so, I’ll stop there… It’s all about the Jobs Jamboree today. It’s all about finding out just how badly the rot on the labor vine has gotten… The Weekly Initial Jobless Claims, yesterday, remained above 500K per week, which doesn’t bode well for next month’s data… But first… November’s Jobs Jamboree on the docket!

The “experts” have forecast a -335K drop in jobs for November… But, your old Pfennig writer believes that this forecast is low. I think it will be closer to -375K… The reason I say that is the employment piece of the ISM report that printed the other day… The employment index of that report

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Currencies trade in a tight range…  Another new plan to help homeowners…  RBNZ and Riksbank slash interest rates! The Governorator speaks!… And Now… Today’s Pfennig! It’s going to be a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday in Europe for sure, given the Central Banks of England and the Eurozone are meeting and will probably cut interest rates to levels that haven’t been seen in a while! The automakers are in deep dookie folks, according to them, and are in need of funds / bailout money right now! The head of Ford believes his company can withstand the recession, but fears for GM and Chrysler… The UAW has made some concessions to help the automakers, but it could be a case of too little, too late…

Well… Another day of doldrums in the currencies, with the bias, what little there is, to buy dollars. The stock jockeys received some manna from heaven yesterday when

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The U.S. “Big Three” of General Motors Corp. (GM), Ford Motor Co. (F), and Chrysler Corp. submitted their turnaround plans to Congress yesterday (Tuesday), hoping for approval of a massive loan package they say is central to their survival.

And while the plans include such politically palatable moves as salary cuts for top-tier executives, the sale of cushy corporate jets and the elimination of moribund brands, the three embattled U.S. automakers are also now seeking government aid of as much as $34 billion – which is as much as $9 billion more than the $25 billion figure that’s been on the table from the very beginning of the industry’s bid for bailout money.

Here’s the breakdown:

General Motors, the largest domestic automaker, said late yesterday that it is seeking as much as $18 billion to survive into 2010 – and that it needs $4 billion of that ...

Two days before the chief executives of Detroit’s Big Three – General Motors Corp. (GM), Ford Motor Co. (F), and Chrysler Corp. – march back to Capitol Hill to again petition Congress for a $25 billion bailout, details about each company’s plan to scale back operations are emerging.

Each CEO – GM’s Richard Wagoner, Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally and Chrysler’s Robert “Bob” Nardelli – left Washington D.C. two weeks ago scolded, and with a clear understanding that the government is expecting each company to shed costs and present forward-looking plans that prove taxpayer money will not be wasted.

Wagoner has been fuzzy on the company’s goal to cut at least $15 billion in costs, but few options have been ruled out.

GM could further reduce its North American workforce. It could eliminate and/or sell one or more of its brands. The primary name on the table is

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Currencies trade in a tight range…  China…  Commodity prices to blame…  “Safe” Treasuries? And Now… Today’s Pfennig! Good day… And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! Well… I went “shopping” yesterday evening… At least I can say I did my bit to keep the economy afloat! HA! Thanks to all who sent along notes to me yesterday with kind words. I truly appreciate the kind words, you are all too kind! The automakers made their pleas to Congress yesterday, and they claim they are in deep dookie! GM says they need $4 Billion right now! And… The original $25 Billion figure has grown to $35 to $40 Billion…

The currencies were lifeless yesterday, with only

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