http://thefinanceweblog.com Business and Finance Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:15:05 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Streamline Health Solutions Inc. reduced its net loss year over year and offered a more optimistic view for the next 12 to 36 months. The software company posted a second-quarter net loss of $429,000, or 5 cents per share, compared to $1.1 million, or 12 cents per share in the ... http://thefinanceweblog.com/streamline-stays-in-red-for-2q/ The Bank of Japan cut its economic assessment, saying growth in the world's second-largest economy is ``sluggish'' for the first time in 10 years. ``Japan's economic growth has been sluggish,'' the central bank said in its monthly economic report in Tokyo today, downgrading its evaluation for the ... http://thefinanceweblog.com/boj-says-japans-growth-is-sluggish-for-first-time-since-1998/ Arizona native and veteran banker Frank Shelton was appointed president of Valley First Community Bank by its board of directors, the company announced Monday. Shelton, who has more than 24 years of financial services experience, replaces Judy Egan, who left the bank on July 22. Officials did ... http://thefinanceweblog.com/valley-first-community-bank-names-frank-shelton-president/ With the price of practically everything jumping, you probably wouldn't mind getting a bigger paycheck. But your employer isn't the only one who's unenthusiastic about that idea. Fed chief Ben Bernanke is counting on a weak labor market to keep employees from demanding wage hikes, which could in ... http://thefinanceweblog.com/this-time-wage-slaves-cant-revolt/ Chip manufacturing equipment maker Applied Materials Inc. said Tuesday its fiscal third-quarter profit plunged 65%, in a difficult environment for the semiconductor industry.For the quarter ended July 27, the company earned $164.8 million, or 12 cents per share, down from a profit of $473.5 million, or 34 cents ... http://thefinanceweblog.com/applied-materials-profit-sinks-65/ The U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed in June as the biggest jump in exports in more than four years overwhelmed record imports of petroleum. The gap shrank 4.1 percent to $56.8 billion from $59.2 billion in May, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Shipments to Germany ... http://thefinanceweblog.com/us-economy-trade-gap-narrows-on-surge-in-exports/ China's economy will be slowed instead of stimulated the next two months by the Beijing Olympic Games and Paralympics, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Restrictions on construction, factories, cars and mining to cut pollution and traffic will be a ``short-term'' drag on economic output, Goldman said ... http://thefinanceweblog.com/goldman-says-olympics-a-two-month-economic-drag-chart-of-day/ Worker productivity in the U.S. grew in the second quarter as employers trimmed payrolls to weather the economic slump. Productivity, a measure of employee output per hour, rose at a 2.2 percent annual rate, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The gain, which follows a 2.6 ... http://thefinanceweblog.com/us-economy-productivity-increases-as-firms-reduce-employment/ Japan's economy probably contracted last quarter, bringing the country to the brink of its first recession in six years, as exports fell and consumers spent less. Gross domestic product shrank an annualized 2.3 percent in the three months ended June 30, according to the median estimate of ... http://thefinanceweblog.com/japan-economy-probably-contracted-bringing-a-recession-closer/ The biggest increase in prices in almost three years eroded consumers' buying power, reinforcing speculation the Federal Reserve won't raise interest rates in the face of faster inflation and slow growth. Consumer inflation in June climbed 0.8 percent, the most since September 2005, the Commerce Department said ... http://thefinanceweblog.com/us-economy-inflation-erodes-buying-power-tax-rebate-effects/