Slowdown but not new recession
Post date: May 25, 2011 6:9:56 PM
Business Summary: Durable goods orders plunge in April, GM will build Impala in Detroit, Costco margins hurt by gasoline sales, Zynga may file multibillion-dollar IPO, Martha Stewart Living may sell part or all of company.
USA-BUSINESS UPDATE - New orders for long-lasting manufactured goods posted their biggest decline in six months in April. Economists say it's most likely not a sign of a new recession, but rather a reflection of the Japanese tsunami's disruption of auto parts.
More autos will be rolling off the line in Detroit. General Motors confirms it will build Impalas in Michigan.
It's investing $69 million and adding 2,500 jobs.
As drivers balk at paying $4 a gallon elsewhere, more of them are filling up at Costco. But that's hurting Costco's profit margins, because selling gasoline is a low-margin business. Despite reporting higher earnings, shares dropped more than 2% at the open.
IPOs are on the rise. Social media gamemaker, Zynga, may file for a multibillion-dollar IPO as early as this week. That according to the blog AllThingsDigital. That would follow on the hot heels of LinkedIn's explosive debut and the Russian internet search company, Yandex. Yandex soared 55% on it's first day of trading this week.
Meantime, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia has hired advisers - signaling it may be interested in selling some or all of the company.
Carmen Roberts. Reuters