Business fun facts!

Did you know that more than three fourths of Texas population born in state still lives in Texas. Other states which are between two thirds and three fourths, include North Carolina, Georgia, California, and Wisconsin.

In the US, between 1980 and 2006, Bachelor’s degrees increased the most in the Computer Science and Business, while the biggest drop came from Education and Engineering!

Did you know that in most of the large US cities, more than two thirds of the people live in the urban(the dense, central part of the city) and one thirds live in the sub-urban (adjacent to the urban) part of the city.

Did you know that the US manufacturing is concentrated in the following areas –

1)Biomedical= Minneapolis/St, Paul, MN, and NC

2)Technology = Los Angeles,

3)Pharmaceuticals=NY-NJ

area and NC

4) Auto parts = Detroit, MI

5) Aerospace = Seattle, WA

Put it in perspective-

US GDP is close to $14 trillion; US national debt is over 10 trillion; DOW market value decline is close to $8 trillion; China GDP is over $3 trillion; Wealth of Forbes’ 400 richest people is over $1.5 trillion.

If you spend a dollar to buy goods or services, 70 cents of the dollar directly goes to boost the economy.

Not so fun fact…there are 15 million home owners with questionable mortgage loans. Experts believe that 2/3 or 10 million have potential of foreclosure.

Do you know that one out of three mortgage applications are rejected because of poor credit history? Read why it is important to be responsible with money? Volume 12

Six out of 10 teens consider learning about managing money their top priority.

Job losses mount

In February alone 651,000 jobs were lost which raises the US unemployment rate to 8.1% which is a 25-year high. Since February, 2008 the US unemployment has increased from 4.8% to 8.1% in February, 2009. The US total population is over 303 million. Of which over half or approximately 155 million people are in the US workforce. This number includes 12 million people which are now currently unemployed.

With mounting job losses many homeowner are having difficulty in paying mortgage and other daily expenses. Jobs are important because if people do not have jobs they do not want to spend money and buy goods. When people do not buy goods then businesses cannot sell what they make, and therefore, many businesses have reduced the number of people they need. This starts the cycle that is not good for the people, businesses, housing market, and the economy.

The DOW closed down 430 points, or 6.1%, the S&P500 was down 46 points, or 6.3%, and NASDAQ down 62 points, or 4.6%, for the week ending March 6th. Year-To-Date (YTD) S&P500 is -24.3%, DOW is -24.5% and NASDAQ is -18%. Oil closed at $45.91 per barrel this week.

Banking concerns loom

American International Group (Ticker AIG) reported a huge $61 billion quarterly financial loss which is the largest in the US corporate history. The US government considers AIG failure to be so far reaching that it could add to the current banking credit crisis, and therefore, the US government agreed to an additional $30 billion in aid to AIG. Other banks, including the European banks are now showing another sign of weakness. The coming weeks will tell how it all works out?

Corporate America faces tough times

Retail, auto, industrial, financial, and other industries are facing tough times. Most of the retail stores catering to the high end consumers, like Gap (GPS), Nordstrom (JWN), and similar stores reported significant drop in February sales. Wal-Mart (Ticker WMT) and similar store which cater to cost conscious consumers seems to be doing fins and reported increase in sales.

In the auto industry, Ford (Ticker F) and GM (Ticker GM) reported significant drop (close to 50%) in auto sales for the month of February. Such significant drop in GM sales has many experts talking about GM filing for bankruptcy. Many experts believe the industrial bellwether General Electric (Ticker GE) could also be facing credit issues from its financing division known for consumer lending. We will have to just wait and watch to see how it all works out in the end.

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Please keep your feedback and comments coming. THANKS! Just click

contact@businessnewsforkids.com

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... Throughout our news page we have created links in red color which provide you with additional information ...you will see two types of link...One when clicked takes you to a new page for more information...Other are pop-ups, and if you bring your cursor over red link words, then additional information will pop-up...

For example, just move your cursor on to Starbucks (Ticker SBUX) and you should see the following text pop-up-

"Starbucks Corporation (Ticker SBUX) has sales of over $10 billion. It sells whole bean coffees, brewed coffees, cold blended beverages, various complementary food items, coffee-related accessories and equipment, a selection of premium teas, and a line of compact discs, through its retail stores worldwide. As of September 30, 2007, the company operated 8,505 retail stores. Starbucks Corporation was founded in 1985 and is based in Seattle, Washington."

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Learn more about...

What is Credit History? Why is it important to have a good credit history? Volume 12.

What is Economy, Business, Workers, Goods, Services, Stock, DOW, S&P500, and NASDAQ in Volume 16.

Does it pay to study hard? Volume 17.

What is Currency and Foreign Currency Exchange rate? Volume 14. What is stronger or weaker currency? Volume 20. What does the dollar slide mean? Volume 32.

How does money grow in a bank? Volume 21.

What is Fed Funds rate and Discount rate? Volume 22

What does the interest rate cut mean for you? What is APR? Volume 23.

How to read stock information? Volume 25.

What is "Black Monday"...Crash of 87"? Volume 31.

Who are CEO, CFO, Shareholders, and the Board of Directors? What is SOX? Volume 33

What does "$4.95 + Tax" means? Volume 47.

What is a Recession? What is a Depression? Volume 48.

What is Mergers & Acquisition (M&A)? What is a Merger? Volume 49.

What is ADR? Volume 62.

What does buying back of shares means? Volume 63.

Why is consumer confidence so important? Volume 64.

Mar 2-6, 2009

Weekly Stock Market

Markets Down!

Index

Change

Last

DOW

Down 430

6627

S&P500

Down 46

683

NASDAQ

Down 62

1294

**Foreign Exchange Rate**

**$1 is equal to**
Currency	Change	Last
Euro (€)	0.00	0.79
Yen (¥)	0.65	98.41
Pound (£)	0.01	0.71
Yuan ()	0.00	6.84
Rupee (Rs.)	0.65	51.73
Canadian (C$)	0.01	1.29

**Your Favorite Stocks**
Company	Bought one stock in Jan-09	This week stock is?	Your gain or loss?
	$23.92	$15.83	-$8.09
	$45.05	$37.16	-$7.89
	$63.75	$52.12	-$11.63

Resources

Teaching Kids Entrepreneurship

We use multiple information resources, such as, websites, companies, stock exchanges, newspapers, text books, and others.