Unemployment numbers increased or decreased in june & July?

June’s unemployment numbers increased in D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

Maryland’s unemployment rate reached 7.3 percent in June, up from 7.2 percent in May, D.C. posted a 10.9 percent rate, up from 10.7 percent, and Virginia had a 7.2 rate, up from 7.1 percent.

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia are now saddled with double-digit unemployment rates, according to a report released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Michigan has far and away the worst jobless rate of any state, 15.2 percent as of June, the latest month for which figures are available. It's the first state to surpass 15 percent since West Virginia in 1984.

Three other states are above 12 percent: Rhode Island (12.4 percent), Oregon (12.2 percent) and South Carolina (12.1 percent).

North Dakota not only has the nation's smallest jobless rate, but it's also the only state below 5 percent, with an unemployment rate of 4.2 percent.

Here are the June unemployment rates from lowest to highest:

• North Dakota, 4.2 percent

• Nebraska, 5.0 percent

• South Dakota, 5.1 percent

• Utah, 5.7 percent

• Wyoming, 5.9 percent

• Iowa, 6.2 percent

• Oklahoma, 6.3 percent

• Montana, 6.4 percent

• Louisiana, 6.8 percent

• New Hampshire, 6.8 percent

• New Mexico, 6.8 percent

• Kansas, 7.0 percent

• Vermont, 7.1 percent

Johnson & Johnson's ( JNJ ) Earnings report good or bad ?

Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ) second-quarter profit declined nearly 4%, with sales hurt by unfavorable currency rates, generic competition for prescription drugs and tighter consumer spending.

Analysts and investors knew it would be a difficult quarter for the New Brunswick, N.J., maker of Tylenol and Band-Aid, but the results turned out better than Wall Street expected, helped by cost cuts and higher sales of some products. And J&J reiterated its full-year profit forecast despite incurring costs from recent acquisitions.

J&J shares rose 62 cents, or 1%, to $58.34 Tuesday morning.

"This was one of the most challenging quarters for year-over-year comparisons in our history," J&J Chief Financial Officer Dominic Caruso told analysts on a conference call. But he said the company was financially strong and well-positioned for long-term profitable growth.

Analysts said the upside came from cost controls, less harmful currency rates than expected, and higher-than-expected sales of some products, including the blockbuster drug Remicade for arthritis and other conditions. Leerink Swann analyst Rick Wise said results reflected "a very strong operational quarter."

J&J reported second-quarter net income of $3.2 billion, or $1.15 a share, compared with $3.3 billion, or $1.17 a share, a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected J&J to post second-quarter earnings of $1.11 a share.

Second-quarter sales declined 7.4% to $15.24 billion from $16.45 billion, but exceeded the Thomson estimate by about $200 million. The relatively stronger U.S. dollar accounted for 6 percentage points of the decline. J&J's U.S. sales dropped 6.7% while non-U.S. sales declined 8%.

J&J's pharmaceutical unit lost its status as the company's biggest, slipping below the medical-device and diagnostics unit for the first time in recent memory. Pharmaceutical sales dropped 13% to $5.5 billion, with U.S. sales declining 16.4% and non-U.S. sales down 8.7%. The pharma division was hurt by J&J's loss of market exclusivity for two of its top sellers, the antipsychotic Risperdal, whose sales dropped 66%, and epilepsy and migraine treatment Topamax, with sales down 73%.

Combined sales of anti-anemia drugs Procrit and Eprex declined 11.5% to $577 million, continuing a two-year trend of weakness sparked by safety concerns.

Another top J&J drug, however, had a rebound. The Remicade treatment for rheumatoid arthritis saw second-quarter sales rise 24% to $1.1 billion. Sales growth had slipped to just 3% for the first quarter, amid signs that high-priced biologics were feeling the pinch of tighter spending by patients. The second quarter's big gain could be a good sign for other biologics such as Abbott Laboratories' (ABT) Humira and Enbrel from Wyeth (WYE) and Amgen Inc. (AMGN). Schering-Plough Corp. (SGP) markets Remicade outside the U.S.

The device unit's sales dropped 3.1% to $5.89 billion. The DePuy division of the device unit, which makes joint-reconstruction and other products, had roughly flat sales of $1.3 billion. The Ethicon surgical-products unit saw sales rise 2.1% to $1.04 billion. Increased competition continued to hurt sales of J&J's drug-eluting stents.

J&J's consumer unit sales fell 4.5% to $3.85 billion. Sales dropped for baby care, oral care and skin-care products. But sales increased for wound care products.

Caruso said the weak economy continued to take a bite out of sales of J&J products that require consumers to pay out of pocket, including contact lenses to diabetes test strips.

J&J hopes an economic recovery and new pharmaceutical products will help it return to solid sales and earnings growth in future years. The company has had a flurry of new drug applications - with some approvals but other applications still pending.

And J&J continues to try to beef up its drug pipeline. This month, J&J has agreed to pay $1.5 billion for a minority stake in Elan Corp. (ELN) and control of Elan's rights to experimental Alzheimer's-disease drugs, and it closed its $1 billion acquisition of Cougar Biotechnology Inc., which is developing cancer drugs.

why did Bankruptcy court judge approve GM sale ?

A U.S. bankruptcy court judge has approved the sale of most of General Motors Corp.’s assets to a successor company.
Judge Robert Gerber of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on Sunday night approved the sale to NGMCO Inc., an entity funded by the U.S. Treasury Department. NGMCO will change its name to General Motors Co. and continue to operate under GM’s corporate and sub-brands, GM (NYSE: GM) said in a Monday release.
The company said the approval marks another step toward the launch of a new GM. The new company will acquire GM’s strongest operations and have a competitive operating cost structure, GM said in the release, partly because of recent agreements with the United Auto Workers and Canadian Auto Workers unions.
The new company’s common stock will be owned by:
• The Treasury Department — 60.8 percent
• UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust — 17.5 percent
• Canadian and Ontario governments — 11.7 percent
• The old GM — 10 percent
In addition to this ownership mix, the old GM and the UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust will hold warrants exercisable for 15 percent and 2.5 percent of the interests in the new GM, respectively.
The new GM will be based in Detroit and led by Fritz Henderson as CEO and Edward Whitacre Jr. as chairman.
“This has been an especially challenging period, and we’ve had to make very difficult decisions to address some of the issues that have plagued our business for decades. Now it’s our responsibility to fix this business and place the company on a clear path to success without delay,” Henderson said in the release.
The new GM will have lower leverage and a stronger balance sheet, the release said. That will enable it to reduce its risk, operate profitably at much lower sales volume and reinvest in the key areas of advanced technology and product development, the release said.
Gerber’s order includes a four-day stay before the sale can close. GM said it expects the sale to close in the near future.
The current GM will change its name to Motors Liquidation Co. Its retained assets will be wound down or sold, and a new board will oversee that process and the company’s liquidation under the court’s supervision.

Michael Jackson Rushed to Los Angeles Hospital for Cardiac Arrest Michael Jackson Dead ?

has been rushed to a Los Angeles hospital, police confirmed to FOX News Thursday.

The legendary singer, 50, reportedly went into cardiac arrest and had to receive CPR in the ambulance, according to a report from TMZ.

Joe Jackson, his father, told multiple news sources that his son is not doing well.

According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, paramedics responded to a 911 call at around 12:26 p.m. PDT. He was reportedly not breathing at the time of their arrival.

A rep for Jackson was unavailable for comment.

Obama Health Care speech !

took his health care overhaul proposal to one of its more skeptical audiences, telling doctors at the American Medical Association conference in Chicago that the United States is “not a nation that accepts nearly 46 million uninsured men, women and children.”


Mr. Obama’s much-anticipated address appeared carefully calibrated to woo doctors to support — or at least, to not actively oppose — his sweeping health proposals. He also sought to reassure doctors who are skittish about his proposal for a government-run insurance plan as one option from which consumers could choose.
“I understand that you are concerned that today’s Medicare rates will be applied broadly in a way that means our cost savings are coming off your backs,” Mr. Obama said, in the keynote address at the A.M.A. annual meeting. “These are legitimate concerns, but ones, I believe, that can be overcome.”
Mr. Obama’s quick trip to Chicago to try to sell doctors on his health proposal is part of a wider White House effort to push what is a central tenet of Mr. Obama’s domestic policy program. He called health reform central to the American economy, and promised that he could enact his ambitious plan without burdening the budget deficit.
While he did not provide many specifics, Mr. Obama said that he wants to look into “a range of ideas” about how to put patient safety first, let doctors focus on practicing medicine, and encourage broader use of evidence-based guidelines for care. “That’s how we can scale back the excessive defensive medicine reinforcing our current system of more treatment rather than better care.”
Mr. Obama did not commit to specific limits on malpractice lawsuits, saying that would be unfair to patients. But he sought to address the concerns of many doctors who complain that malpractice litigation is part of the reason why health costs have soared.
At times, Mr. Obama struck a professorial note, lecturing Americans to stop smoking — without referencing his own battles to break the habit — and to seek mammograms and colon-cancer screening. Health care reform, he said, means going for a run, going to the gym, and staying away from video games. It also, he said, means laying off junk food.
“That’s a lesson Michelle and I have tried to instill in our daughters with the White House vegetable garden that Michelle planted,” Mr. Obama said.
He maintained his line that Americans will still be able to choose their own doctors. In fact, throughout much of his speech, he sought to empathize with doctors, and criticized a system which he said has created incentives to run more expensive tests than necessary and pushes doctors to see more patients in an effort to make more money.
“That is not why you became doctors,” Mr. Obama said. “That is not why you put in all those hours in the anatomy suite or the O.R. That is not what brings you back to a patient’s bedside to check in or make you call a loved one to say it’ll be fine. You did not enter this profession to be beancounters and paper-pushers.”
Mr. Obama drew cheers from his audience when he said, “I recognize that it will be hard to make some of these changes if doctors feel like they are constantly looking over their shoulder for fear of lawsuits.”
But it remains to be seen how far he will be willing to go on the malpractice issue. On Capitol Hill, Democrats drafting health legislation have so far shown little appetite for taking on the liability issue.
Mr. Obama’s ideas on health reform are facing mounting criticism — not only from the A.M.A. and from Republicans, who don’t like the public insurance program, but also from the hospital industry, which doesn’t like a proposal Mr. Obama announced on Saturday to pay for his health care overhaul in part by cutting certain hospital reimbursements.
In Washington, Representative Eric Cantor, a Republican from Virginia and the minority whip, issued a statement before Mr. Obama had completed his speech in Chicago.
“Democrats are touting a government-run health care option that creates an unlevel playing field leading to the destruction of the private market, reducing choice and putting Washington bureaucrats in charge of family health care decisions,” Mr. Cantor said. He added that “it’s time for the administration to end the happy talk and get down to the difficult decisions ahead.”

NYtimes.com

Market Highlights !

Pros Say: Markets Set for Another Pullback
By: JeeYeon Park
Stocks opened lower on Monday after a key manufacturing barometer showed factories continue to suffer in the slumping economy. The New York Empire Manufacturing Index slumped 9.41 points in May, indicating difficult times in the sector and presenting a headwind for economic growth. And IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said that the worst may be yet to come for the global economic crisis. Read and listen to what the experts had to say…
Markets Set for Another Pullback
The move to the upside over the last week or so has been caused more by a lack of selling pressure, said Dodge Dorland, CIO of Landor Capital Management. “If selling pressure comes back into the market, the demand for buying stocks now is rather weak relative to what it's been, and so we're setup for a pullback," he said.
Doll: Market May Pause but Will End Year Higher
Markets Are Still Contracting
The economy has averted a depression, but it is still shrinking and the stock market has got carried away with all these green shoot discussions, said Juerg Zingg of Q Investments. “There’s nothing like a rebound here—markets have taken too much optimism as a result we expect market correction,” he said.
Art Cashin: The S&P's 'Break' Point Now
Investors Too Nervous to do Anything
According to Barclays Wealth and The Economist Intelligence Unit's latest report, high net-worth investors across the globe say they are seeing significant investment opportunities in the current markets, but most are still too nervous to take the plunge.
Yoshikami: The Next Menace — Stagflation
Airline Industry to Recover in 2010
"I'm very much a believer in the long-term positive dynamics for the aviation industry," said Dave Cote of Honeywell.
Scott Carson of Boeing Commercial Airplanes said "it feels like we've seen the bottom of the freight market. It feels like we're bouncing off the bottom of the passenger market." Both Cote and Carson said that the industry could recover in 2010.
Complete Paris Air Show Coverage
Obama’s Health Care Plan ‘Totally Unrealistic’
David Walker of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation says escalating health care costs represent the single largest driver of the country’s debt. He criticized Obama’s current health care reform proposals. “[Obama’s] pledge to not raise taxes on people who are making less than $250,000 was totally unrealistic…We need toward move to universal coverage, but we need to focus on basic and essential coverage,” he said.
Obama Wants New Cuts in Federal Health Spending

Ride"s Closed ? Six Flags Declares Bankruptcy

Amusement park operator Six Flags declared bankruptcy yesterday but says that it will keep its parks open, at least for now. According to the Washington Post, the company is carrying $2.4 billion in debt. Despite the fact that Six Flags reported 25 million visitors and posted record revenues in 2008, the debt is simply unsustainable, the Associated Press reports.

Yesterday, Obama proposed an additional $313 billion in cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs in order to pay for health care reforms that could cost about $1 trillion over the next 10 years, Reuters reports. "I know some question whether we can afford to act this year," the president said, "But the unmistakable truth is that it would be irresponsible to not act."

Two of the nation's most influential bank regulators are at it again, reports the New York Times. John Dugan, comptroller of the currency, is reportedly feuding with Sheila Bair, head of the FDIC. Dugan has lambasted a proposal to impose harsh insurance fees on banks, which he views as unfair to the largest banks (which he regulates). Bair responded in defense of small banks, charging that the big banks should take the blame for the financial collapse.

Financial leaders from the G8 have offered their most optimistic evaluation of the global crisis yet, the Washington Post reports. They called for an "exit strategy" from stimulus policies that have been instituted to bolster the economy. But not everything is fixed yet, says U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. He called on international banking regulators to devise better ways to "quickly resolve failures of cross-border financial firms."

Television's digital switchover has gone relatively well so far, the Wall Street Journal reports. Though a record 317,000 calls poured into a national call center set up by the Federal Communications Commission Friday from consumers who had trouble to setting up converter boxes, most issues have been quickly resolved.

The Los Angeles Lakers may win the NBA Championship, but some city officials are saying that they might not be able to host a victory parade. The parade could cost more than $1 million, and the city is already squeezed financially, thanks to a deep budget deficit, which might require job cuts, Reuters reports. "We can't afford to cover the costs," City Councilwoman Jan Perry told the Los Angeles Times. She asked, "How could we make a decision about people's jobs and then sponsor the parade?"

Jamba Juice Delivers on New Licensing Strategy With Addition of Oregon Ice Cream and Think Wow Toys as New Licensing Alliances

Jamba Juice Delivers on New Licensing Strategy With Addition of Oregon Ice Cream and Think Wow Toys as New Licensing Alliances

buy the stock now its going higher again !!