Word: quarters
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Consumer spending by America's large middle class is an important indicator of economic recovery. GDP numbers from last quarter and opinions from the Federal Open Market Committee may not be as accurate an indicator of the health of the middle class economy as are the results of Starbucks last quarter...
...improbable rally which should have been affected by concerns about the spread of the Swine flu virus and the fact that several large American banks may need tremendous infusions of capital. GDP numbers issued by the government were also shockingly bad. The economy contracted 6.1% in the first quarter which was more than any of the estimates of sane analysts. This GDP drop followed a drop of 6.3% in the last quarter of 2008. Experts tried to calm the masses by saying that some of the fall-off was due to a dip in inventories. That could mean that...
...everyone is following that advice. Despite recent gains, the average Aussie today eats less than a quarter of a kilo of kangaroo a year, compared with more than 37 kg of beef and veal. In 2007, the entire kangaroo industry, which includes pet-food and hide sales, was valued at about $30 million, compared to over $1.4 billion for Australia's sheep business. "I'm sure those producing kangaroo got a bounce out of [Garnaut's report], if you'll pardon the pun," says Brett Heffernan, a spokesman for the National Farmers' Federation. "But it's not likely to take...
...surprising is how rapid the decline has been," says Scott Berman, U.S. leader of hospitality and leisure consulting at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Even time-shares at top lodging companies are taking hits: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide reported a 48% decline in revenues from its vacation-ownership business in the fourth quarter, with the average price per unit plunging 31%. Similarly, Marriott International posted a 32% revenue drop in time-share sales. David Loeb, a senior analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co., sees more pain ahead. He projects Starwood's vacation-ownership sales revenues to fall an additional 27% and Marriott...
...time when credit in China is rapidly expanding -loans in the first quarter totaled $670 billion, almost equaling total lending for all of 2008- the risk of bad loans is increasing. With small and medium-sized private firms collapsing with disturbing frequency, SOEs offer Chinese banks a margin of safety: an implicit guarantee that the government will ultimately make good on their loans. This is making it harder for China's banks to adopt modern risk-management practices and diversify their traditional customer base, which is largely SOEs. "It's difficult to go on a massive spending binge...