Good morning!
米労働生産性、前期比4.3％上昇に上方修正 ４－６月期改定値、賃金インフレへの警戒感和らぐ
Productivity Is Revised Higher, Easing Fears of Wage Inflation (WSJ.com)
WASHINGTON -- U.S. productivity soared during the second quarter while labor costs fell, revised government figures showed, reflecting a mix of employment declines and export-generated economic growth.
The data suggest Federal Reserve officials can be patient and hold interest rates steady as they assess economic and inflation risks, since high energy prices aren't igniting the kind of wage-price spiral that plagued policymakers in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Nonfarm business productivity jumped 4.3% at an annual rate in the second quarter, the Labor Department said Thursday. That's almost double the initial estimate of 2.2% growth. Wall Street economists had expected ...
wage-price spiral: 賃金と物価のインフレスパイラル
nonfarm business productivity: 非農業部門労働生産性
８月の米主要小売売上高、低価格店は前年比プラス 百貨店・ファッション店はマイナス、消費者の倹約志向が強まる
Thriftiness boosts US lower-cost stores (FT.com)
US shoppers maintained their focus on keeping costs down as they embarked on the “back-to-school” shopping season, favouring Wal-Mart and other low-cost retailers over department and fashion stores, according to August sales figures.
Wal-Mart saw sales at its supercentre and discount stores open at least a year rise 2.8 per cent, led by its grocery and health sales, which includes pharmacy. Together with its Sam’s Club warehouse stores, sales rose 3 per cent, ahead of its forecast of between 1 and 2 per cent growth.
JC Penney and Kohls, the department stores, reported comparable sales falls of 4.9 and 5.8 per cent respectively on Wednesday.
thriftiness: 倹約
“back-to-school”shopping season: 新学期のショッピングシーズン
comparable sales: 既存店売上高
米ゲームソフト大手テイクツーの５－７月期、最終黒字 「グランド・セフト・オートⅣ」販売好調
Grand Theft Auto Lifts Take-Two (WSJ.com)
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. swung to a fiscal third-quarter profit on strong sales of its blockbuster game Grand Theft Auto IV and higher margins.
The videogame publisher raised its fiscal-year guidance while cutting its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings prediction, mostly because of a two-week delay in releasing its Midnight Club: Los Angeles game.
Chief Executive Ben Feder said Take-Two largely was unaffected by the ongoing slowdown in consumer spending. He noted surprisingly-robust European sales of the tennis game Top Spin 3.
videogame publisher: ゲームソフトメーカー
to raise one's fiscal-year guidance: 通期業績予想を上方修正する
英BP、ロシアTNK-BPを巡る対立 所有割合50％維持もロシア側の要求を飲む
BP Keeps Stake in TNK-BP But Not Clout (WSJ.com)
BP PLC signed a deal to end a bitter conflict with its Russian partners in TNK-BP Ltd., loosening its grip on Russia's third-largest oil producer but retaining its 50% stake.
Many investors had expected BP to be forced to give up some or all of its stake in TNK-BP, given that the Kremlin has in recent years been reasserting state control over major energy ventures, relegating foreigners to minority stakes. But although the joint venture remains a 50-50 partnership, analysts said Thursday's deal clearly gives the Russian shareholders more clout.
For the Kremlin, the deal appears to remove a cloud from an investment outlook that had become decidedly overcast after a highly public government crackdown on major steelmaker OAO Mechel and the surge in East-West tensions following last month's conflict in Georgia.
clout: 経営を左右する影響力
to relegate foreigners to minority stakes: 海外投資家から企業支配権を取り上げる
to remove a cloud from: ～の不明な点を除去する
欧州中銀と英中銀、政策金利据え置き 景気減速を警戒も強いインフレ懸念
European Interest Rates Are on Hold (WSJ.com)
FRANKFURT -- The European Central Bank and Bank of England kept their key interest rates on hold Thursday as inflation concerns continued to trump mounting fears of recession.
In a separate move, aimed at reducing the risk the central bank takes on amid unsettled markets, the ECB also tightened substantially the standards for collateral it accepts from banks in return for short-term loans. The ECB wants to curtail banks' impulses to dump at the central bank risky securities they can't sell elsewhere.
The ECB and Bank of England kept their key rates at 4.25% and 5%, respectively. In a news conference following the ECB's decision, President Jean-Claude Trichet said the 15-nation euro-zone is in the midst of an "episode of weak activity," highlighting second-quarter slumps in investment and private consumption. Meanwhile, Sweden's central bank raised its policy rate by a quarter percentage point to 4.75% to temper rising prices despite slowing growth.
to trump: ～を上回る
to tighten the standards for collateral: 担保基準を厳格化する
to curtail: ～を抑制する
○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●
Thank you for accessing this blog.
Have a beautiful day!