Innovations Brought Upon in the Gift Card Industry

Receiving gift cards this holiday season will become more exciting as retailers and companies make them more appealing. Not only designs but also to make users spend the whole amount on the card. Over 80% of shoppers are seen to purchase gift cards compared to last year’s 77.3%. The National Retail Federation expects an increase from last year’s average spending of $145.61 to $155.43, and to reach $27.8 billion, the...

Google Results Assuage Ad Market, Costs Worries

Strong advertising sales and cost controls boosted Google Inc’s 3rd quarter results, its profit up by 26%, its revenue by 37%. The damp economic outlook more so in Europe caused advertising growth fears. However, Google’s profit and paid-clicks results brought positive 4th quarter outlook. Macquarie Research analyst Ben Schachter said softness in Western Europe is starting to be seen but it’s being more than made up for...

Use of Avastin for Breast Cancer, Rejected by FDA

U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisers rejected Roche Holding AG’s breast cancer drug, Avastin. They said it was not safe or clinically beneficial. Avastin’s approval as breast cancer medication may be revoked and FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said the final decision is due later. Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute professor Mikkael Sekeres who was a member of the FDA panel, said there’s nothing about the...

OPEC and U.S. Oil Industry against Crude Release o...

OPEC and the U.S. oil industry are against the ill-timed petroleum reserves release planned by crude consumers and the Obama Administration. American Petroleum Institute spokesman Bill Bush said the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is for supply emergencies. To them, there is no supply emergency to merit release of 30 million barrels of SPR oil as part of a 60 million barrel talk coordinated with International Energy Agency. The...

Financial Firms Aren’t as Profitable as They...

A report seen on Tuesday said U.S. financial firms have been significantly reducing staff and more are expected to be seen from Wall Street. The 2011 layoffs seemed more permanent compared with that of 2008 as a result of crisis. The financial sector reduced 21% more jobs than that in 2010, said employment consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. About 11,413 jobs are seen to be cut by banks, insurance firms and...

$150 Million of Solar Wafers Aid Offered by Energy...

To lower solar wafers manufacturing costs by 50%, the U.S. Energy Department offered $150 million aid to 1366 Technologies Inc. The support is to improve development of solar wafers that are used to make cells that convert sunlight into electricity in solar panels. According to the Energy Department, 70 stable jobs will be created once 1366 Technologies’ facility is erected in Lexington, Massachusetts, where the company is...

ING’s U.S. Online Bank to be Acquired by Capital O...

ING Groep NV’s U.S. online bank is to be acquired by Capital One Financial Corp for $9 billion: $6.2 billion in cash and $2.8 billion in stock. ING is in a painful restructuring process, a condition imposed during its 10-billion-euro state bailout in the 2008 financial crisis. On a restructuring plan in 2009, the European Commission and ING ordered that its U.S. online banking be sold. ING said though that it wishes to be...

Consumers Struggle on Slow Growth and Higher Price...

U.S. inflation was at its highest in May as regional factory yielded weak data for this month. However, lower gasoline costs gave some relief and if sustained may help the economy recover from a recent slowdown. This may worry the Federal Reserve’s policymakers as the consumer price index minus food and energy surged 0.3% last month – gains that may have to do with supply disruptions after Japan’s disastrous earthquake...