Business news with words drop+started. 23 news.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Projections for S&P 500 companies' fourth-quarter earnings swung to a 6.1 percent drop on Monday from an 11.5 percent rise on October 1, in the biggest quarterly move since Reuters Estimates started compiling analysts' forecasts in 1999.

Reuters - Projections for S&P 500 companies' fourth-quarter earnings swung to a 6.1 percent drop on Monday from an 11.5 percent rise on October 1, in the biggest quarterly move since Reuters Estimates started compiling analysts' forecasts in 1999.

NYSE stocks started higher Friday, slid back into the red, then settled for small gains. A sharp drop in new-home sales raised concerns about the...

CHINESE consumer confidence declined again in December to a new low after a sharp fall in November, with sentiment hammered by rising prices and weaker investment returns, said a report by Xinhua Finance Ltd and eziData yesterday. The China Consumer Confidence Index, compiled by the two companies, fell 1.7 points in December to 97.2, the lowest level in the short history of the survey, which started in April when the benchmark value was set at 100. Among major cities, Shanghai experienced the biggest decline. Shanghai's consumer confidence index tumbled seven points to 92, compared with a 2.2-point fall in Beijing to 97.2 and Guangzhou's 3.7-point drop to 93.2. The survey was conducted through 1,547 telephone interviews from December 2 to December 15 by Xinhua Finance Ltd, a financial information and media service provider and eziData, a local China consumer data provider. In November, the index dropped by a record 1.9 points on the back of soaring consumer prices and a

SLUGGISH third-quarter earnings results of a number of Chinese steel stocks had raised concern on the industry outlook, while analysts eased such worries, saying it was due mainly to a delay in price rise. Some leading mills such as Wuhan Iron & Steel Co have reported poorer earnings in the past quarter than in the second, as changes in their seasonally adjusted product prices lagged a rise in the market prices, according to Huang Jing, at United Securities. Steel prices in the domestic cash market started to rebound in late July following a correction over past months. "As most mills' have raised four-quarter prices, and the prices are expected to keep rising in 2008, we expect earnings could also keep rising," Huang said. Shanghai-based Baoshan Iron & Steel Co had posted a worse-than-expected 50 percent earning drop in third quarter year on year, its first decline in more than a year, due to loss in the stainless steel sector. But analysts said the profitability

CHINA'S industrial production cooled last month with the lowest growth rate this year following a less promising outlook for global trade, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday. Industrial output rose 17.3 percent in November from a year earlier, posting a drop in growth for the second straight month and was the weakest gain this year. A strong momentum bolstered domestic sales and supported the industrial production growth, analysts said. Combined growth in the first 11 months hit 18.5 percent, against 18.9 percent for the whole of 2006. "The slower pace of the industrial production growth may tie in with a less confident forecast for next year's world economy. "Also, the government's efforts to curb lending has started to work," said Li Maoyu, an analyst with the Changjiang Securities Co. A weaker global growth, due to an anticipated slowdown in the United States economy, may further curb overseas shipments after China reduced tax incentives

THE Chinese mainland's biggest made-to-order computer chip maker has begun production at its 12-inch wafer plant in Shanghai. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation said yesterday its plant is now the city's most advanced semiconductor manufacturing line. It incorporates the mainland's most advanced technologies and is part of the science and education project promoted by the Shanghai government to encourage productivity and competitive development. Construction of the plant began in October 2005, the equipment was installed in May and pilot production started operation in July. Yu Zhengsheng, Shanghai's Party chief, and Richard Chang, SMIC's president and chief executive, were at the opening ceremony. The plant was originally scheduled to open in the first half of the year. SMIC lost US$25 million in the third quarter because of a drop in the price of memory chips and has also projected an unprofitable fourth quarter. SMIC's DRAM (dynamic random access

The Economist's house-price indicators AMERICA'S housing market is sickly. The S&P/Case-Shiller national index, the broadest measure of house prices, fell by 4.5% in the year to the third quarter, the biggest drop since the series started in 1987. The Economist's quarterly round-up of house prices suggests this malaise may be spreading. In Ireland, prices fell by 3% compared with a rise of over 15% a year earlier. Prices in Britain dropped in October by 0.8%, the biggest monthly decline since 1995. But housing markets in some emerging economies and in Asia seem unaffected. And in Sweden and Australia, where central banks raised interest rates even after the Federal Reserve started to cut rates, prices are rising rapidly. ...

AMID the biggest drop in global equities in five years, investors are profiting from initial public offerings from Brazil to India. Those opportunities will keep appearing in the months ahead. Bovespa Holding SA, owner of Brazil's biggest stock exchange, has risen 43 percent since trading started on October 26, versus a 1.4-percent gain in the nation's benchmark index. India's Mundra Port & Special Economic Zone Ltd has surged 121 percent since its IPO last week; the Sensitive Index rose 1.9 percent. Athletic clothing company China Dongxiang (Group) Co advanced 26 percent since its October 9 debut, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong, where the stock trades, is up 1.5 percent. More than half the record US$255 billion raised this year through IPOs globally came from emerging markets, where economic growth is more than triple the rate of developed nations. Consumer, industrial and financial companies that went public since September 30 posted an average 11.5 percent gain

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Airline shares started the week with a broad sell-off, finding little support from a drop in crude oil prices. The Amex Airline Index fell 0.6% with all but three of 14 stocks in the benchmark index trading lower. Bucking the trend, shares in ExpressJet Holdings rallied 6.4% to $2.66. Carriers including JetBlue Airways Corp. and UAL Corp.'s United Airlines offered passengers more flexibility changing flights delayed by weekend snow and ice storms. Crude oil futures for January delivery were last down 53 cents at $88.18 a barrel.

With the coming of the new year, marketers are getting increasingly nervous about the drop in ratings, a potential of tons of make-goods, and the long-term effects of a continuing writers' strike. Oh, have I forgotten to mention this was the first year of commercial ratings guarantees. What kind of market is this? Simply put, it's the opposite of stability.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks on Tuesday started with modest gains as optimism fueled by Hewlett-Packard Co.'s solid results and hopes of another interest rate cut ahead was tempered by Freddie Mac's quarterly loss and a drop in U.S. building permits. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 70.7 points to 13,029.1. The S&P 500 gained 5.56 points to 1,438.83, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 15.69 points to 2,609.07.

Recession in America looks increasingly likely. Can booming emerging markets save the world economy? IN 1929, days after the stockmarket crash, the Harvard Economic Society reassured its subscribers: "A severe depression is outside the range of probability". In a survey in March 2001, 95% of American economists said there would not be a recession, even though one had already started. Today, most economists do not forecast a recession in America, but the profession's pitiful forecasting record offers little comfort. Our latest assessment (see article) suggests that the United States may well be heading for recession. Granted, GDP grew by a robust 3.9%, at an annual rate, in the third quarter. Granted also, revisions may well push this figure up. But that was the past. More timely signs suggest that the economy could stall in this quarter. By early next year, output and jobs could be shrinking. The main cause is the imploding housing market. Experts said that house prices could never fall nationwide. But fall they have, by 5% in the past 12 months. Residential investment has collapsed, but a glut of unsold homes means that prices have much further to drop. Americans' spending is likely to be dented much more by a fall in house prices than it was in 2001 by the stockmarket's collapse. With house prices lower and credit conditions tighter as a result of the subprime crisis, households can no longer borrow against capital gains to support their spending.

OIL futures rebounded yesterday after a sharp decline the previous session as investors started questioning whether OPEC will increase production. Light, sweet crude for December delivery rose US$2.92 to settle at US$94.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after a US$3.45 drop Tuesday Prices rose after OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem el-Badri said there is no need for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to add more oil to the market, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Oil prices fell earlier this week in part due to comments from Saudi Arabia's oil minister suggesting that the cartel will discuss raising production at a meeting next month. "The market is rebounding after yesterday's option-related sell-off," Tom Bentz, an analyst at brokerage BNP Paribas Commodity Futures in New York, told Dow Jones Newswires. "Speculative buyers appear to be returning." Meanwhile, the dollar slipped on Wednesday, driving investors back

S chaefer Johnson Cox Frey has worked out a niche designing YMCAs in Wichita. And the Wichita architecture firm's work has gained so much notice that it is now working on YMCA projects out of state. "We have the nicest Ys in the United States here," said Dennis Schoenebeck, general executive of the Greater Wichita YMCA, Schoenebeck said. Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey designed the YMCA's Andover branch, which began construction this week. It also designed the South, North, El Dorado and Northwest branches, the Farha Sports Center and major renovations/expansions of the East and West branches. Now it is designing a YMCA in Ponca City and consulting on a branch near Des Moines. Vernon Delpesce, president of the Des Moines YMCA, started visiting Wichita branches about three years ago when he'd drop by on his way to visiting family in Oklahoma City. The Wichita buildings are attractive, functional and cost-effective, he said.

KINGSOFT Corp, which floated shares for the first time in Hong Kong last month, posted a 20-percent growth in net profit in the second quarter, thanks to the booming online game and anti-virus software business, the Beijing-based firm said yesterday. The firm earned 37.75 million yuan (US$5.03 million), a 19-percent growth year on year. Its revenue swelled 85 percent year on year to reach 139.5 million yuan in the period ending June 30. It was the first time Kingsoft has released its fiscal earnings after it started trading on October 9 in Hong Kong. Shares of Kingsoft fell 3.18 percent to HK$4.87 (58 US cents) yesterday compared with a 3.19-percent drop in the Hang Seng Index. "Kingsoft's high growth rate comes from the double profit engines - online games and software," Lei Jun, Kingsoft's president, said in a statement. Kingsoft's game business, which contributed two-thirds of its total revenue, hit 101.67 million yuan and every paid user spent 28 yuan on

Call it "Black Wednesday" for the SEO industry. Last week, just a day before wowing Wall Street with its earnings, Google adjusted its organic PageRank algorithm in a way that resulted in a major drop in rankings for many sites, both large (such as Forbes.com and WashingtonPost.com) and small. The algorithm shift wasn't exactly a surprise, but it was a major shock that prompted loud shrieks of protest from the SEO community after their clients' sites started disappearing from Google's SERPs.

All of a sudden, Comcast Corp.'s TV picture has started to darken. The company announced a drop of a whopping 54% in earnings in its 3Q results to $560 million. The blame fell on the new telco IPTV video service from ATandT U and Verizon's FiOS.

On Oct. 19, 1987, the Dow Jones industrial average plummeted, ending the day 22.6 percent -- 508 points -- lower than it started. No other day has seen such a decline in the 20 years since. Even the storied crash of October 1929 posted only a 12.8 percent drop. There was no obvious catalyst for the crash that triggered similar declines at stock markets around the world. Many fingers pointed at program trading, when computers would quickly trade large amounts of stock when certain conditions applied. One type of program trading was portfolio insurance, an invention designed to allow investors

THE widening gap between crude oil and the relatively low price of gasoline is signaling the first quarterly decline in oil prices in a year. While oil has fallen in the fourth quarter during 13 of the past 20 years because of the transition from peak summer demand, the pressure for another drop in the months ahead is the most intense since 2004 and may defer any rebound to record crude prices until the first half of 2008. Citigroup Inc, Deutsche Bank AG and HSBC Holdings Plc anticipate that oil will slide from last month's record US$83.90 a barrel as gasoline sales weaken to the lowest level this year and a slowing US economy curbs demand. Profits from making fuels are so low that refiners have 12.5 percent of capacity off line, the second-highest rate of the past two decades for this time of year, data from the US Department of Energy show. "Refinery profit margins are being squeezed at a time when significant maintenance is scheduled," said Tim Evans, an energy analyst with Citigroup Global Markets Inc in New York. "The combination of these factors should send crude oil lower." Oil traders and analysts have never been more pessimistic, with 75 percent of respondents anticipating prices will fall, according to a weekly survey by Bloomberg News that started in April 2004. Crude may end the year below US$70 a barrel, compared with US$81.66 at the end of the third quarter, according to a forecast by Adam Sieminski, a global oil analyst at Deutsche Bank in New York. If he's right, a US$1 million investment in crude oil futures in New York would more than double to US$2.3 million, assuming speculators used the exchange's minimum deposit to conduct the transaction. Not everyone forecasts that oil will move lower by the end of the year. Goldman Sachs Group Inc is the most bullish commodities trading firm on oil, forecasting on September 17 that crude will end the year at US$85 a barrel, with a "high risk" of a jump above US$90, according to a report from analysts including Jeffrey Currie in London. Its two current trading recommendations on oil are both money-losers. One of them was to buy the gasoline refining margin, which has lost more than half its value since then, Goldman's research shows.