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FedEx (FDX)
Former senator Trent Lott, R-Miss., was among the lobbyists working in FedEx Corp.'s (NYSE:FDX) behalf in the fourth quarter of last year, focusing on Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act provisions of interest to the Memphis-based logistics giant, according to Memphis based The Commercial Appeal.
Lott and Democrat John Breaux, a former Louisiana senator, formed a lobbying firm after they left the Senate. It made $90,000 in the last three months of 2009 from FedEx, disclosure statements filed with the U.S. House of Representatives said.
Of Memphis companies, FedEx spent by far the most on lobbying: $4.65 million in the fourth quarter last year, up from $2.09 million for the fourth quarter in 2008, records show. This indicates that Democrats and Republicans can, indeed, work together if they so choose.
Feb 23 · 9:56:00 AM · Source: The Commercial Appeal
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by Steve Wieczorek
Continental Airlines (CAL)
Continental Airlines Inc (NYSE:CAL) is cutting 600 reservation agent jobs, effective April 11, as customers increasingly book flights online, according to Reuters. Continental, which has 2,600 reservation agents, told its employees about the furloughs on Monday. The airline, also, will not renew a third-party contract for handling calls.
The airline said it saw a 15 percent drop per year in call volume as customers book tickets on the Internet.
Houston-based Continental said it will offer an 'early-out' program to reservation employees who have worked at the carrier for 10 years. It will offer severance and outplacement services for employees affected by the cuts.
Continental is just one of many airlines that are seeing increased internet sales. The trend in online booking is reducing the amount of time that a flyer needs in booking a reservation versus human communication. Analysis indicates that like bank ATMs, on line booking can be very profitable for the airlines in a time of charging for various amenities.
Feb 23 · 9:44:00 AM · Source: Reuters
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by Steve Wieczorek
Goldman Sachs (GS)
Months after being labeled, among other things, a blood-sucking “great vampire squid” that caused “every major market manipulation since the Great Depression,” Goldman Sachs (GS: 156.75, n.a., n.a.%) is reportedly turning to a well-connected Texas public-relations firm to rehabilitate its image.
According to the New York Post, Goldman is using Public Strategies, a firm headed by former George W. Bush and Karl Rove confidant Dan Bartlett, to gauge the bank’s “perception in the marketplace.”
Well that didn’t take long. How funny, only minutes after my previous post about Wall Street PR machines, did this come out from Fox Business news. Short of giving just about all their bonus money to charity, I don’t know how Goldman is going to spin this one. "Perception in the marketplace?" Everyone hates them, that's their perception. GS currently trading @ $156.75 in the pre-market. I wouldn't touch it. Stay tuned.
Feb 23 · 8:43:00 AM · Source: Fox Business
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by Jerry Byrne
Patriot Coal Corporation (OIS)
ST. LOUIS, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Patriot Coal Corporation (NYSE:
PCX) today announced that it has temporarily suspended active mining
operations at its Federal No. 2 mine near Fairview, West Virginia after
discovering potentially adverse atmospheric conditions on Thursday, February
18 in an abandoned area of the mine. As a safety precaution, and in
accordance with federal regulations, the Company immediately evacuated all
personnel from the mine.
The Company is currently conducting additional testing and is working with the
U.S. Department of Labor, Mine Safety & Health Administration to develop a
plan to address this issue so that active mining operations can resume. A
limited number of personnel have been permitted by MSHA to re-enter the mine
to maintain the mine and equipment until active mining operations resume, the
timing of which is uncertain at this time.
Patriot Coal Corporation is a leading producer and marketer of coal in the
eastern United States, with 14 current mining complexes in Appalachia and the
Illinois Basin. The Company ships to domestic and international electric
utilities, industrial users and metallurgical coal customers, and controls
approximately 1.8 billion tons of proven and probable coal reserves. The
Company's common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol
PCX.
Feb 23 · 8:21:00 AM · Source: Company Press Release
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by Jeffrey Epstein
Exxon Mobil (XOM)
Energy industry insiders say a new House probe of hydraulic fracturing is unlikely to hinder development of new domestic shale gas plays or stall a massive merger between Exxon Mobil Corp. and a large independent gas producer. The House Energy and Commerce Committee's two top Democrats asked eight oil-field service firms last week for details about chemicals they use during hydraulic fracturing, a decades-old drilling technique that blasts sand, chemicals and water into a wellbore to break apart compact rock and release hydrocarbons. The lawmakers also publicized for the first time details of a similar investigation that revealed that two drillers used diesel in their fracturing fluids in violation of a voluntary agreement with U.S. EPA.
Moves by Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who chairs the Energy and Environment Subcommittee, come after months of congressional debate about the drilling technique, which has helped open access to massive domestic natural gas plays and also has raised concerns among environmentalists and some lawmakers about the technique's environmental impacts and whether it is adequately regulated by individual states.
Feb 23 · 8:13:00 AM · Source: The New York Times
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by Jeffrey Epstein
American Express (AXP)
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street paid out $20.3 billion of bonuses in 2009, up 17 percent from a year earlier, New York State's comptroller said, as the financial industry recovered fitfully from a near meltdown.
The disconnect with Main Street continues. Mr. DiNapoli acknowledged that many might consider the bonus numbers outsized given the lingering problems in the economy.
"It's still a bitter pill for many people," he said. Like hello, do you think? How is the unemployed mother or father feeling this morning after reading this news?
Wall St. had better put there PR machines in full blown overdrive in an attempt to spin these numbers. Wouldn’t you love to be a fly on the wall in the Goldman Sachs executive meeting going on right now?
Feb 23 · 8:08:00 AM · Source: Reuters
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by Jerry Byrne
Chevron (CVX)
Chevron has sold half of its stake in block seven to South Korean oil company GS Caltex tying up the first ever Korean company for hydrocarbon exploration in the country's southern region, officials said Monday. The US oil giant sold 45 per cent stakes to the South Korean company retaining 45 per cent stakes including the operator-ship of block 7 that covers parts of Barisal, Patuakhali, Barguna and Bhola.
State-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company (Bapex) has 10 per cent carried over interest in the block.
Feb 23 · 8:07:00 AM · Source: Financial Express Bangladesh
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by Jeffrey Epstein
Schlumberger (SLB)
Schlumberger Ltd (NYSE: SLB) and Smith International, Inc. (NYSE: SII) jointly
announced today that their Boards of Directors have unanimously approved a
definitive merger agreement in which the companies would combine in a
stock-for-stock transaction.
The joint merger will leverage production capabilities of both firms, the companies say. If stockholders and regulators approve, the deal could close by Q4 this year, and Schlumberger expects the combination to be accretive to earnings per share in 2012.
Feb 22 · 12:30:00 PM · Source: Company Press Release · Related: Smith International
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by Jeffrey Epstein
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