Finance Blog number 1

Winners in the first annual Best Bay Area Corporate Counsel Awards were named at an event Wednesday night.

About 400 people attended the awards ceremony at the Westin San Francisco Airport in Millbrae. The program was co-produced by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal and the San Francisco Business Times.

The awards honor the in-house lawyers who keep the business world running but who rarely receive public recognition. Finalists were named in 10 categories in January.

“During this process we’ve learned firsthand the numerous roles these attorneys play at their respective companies,” said James MacGregor, publisher of the Business Journal.

“We look forward to recognizing more corporate counsel in the years ahead,” added Mary Huss, publisher of the Business Times.

Nominees were required to have been employed full-time by a company in the Bay Area and to have held their current positions for at least one year.

An independent panel of Bay Area lawyers helped choose the finalists, based on material submitted through the nomination process.

James Strother of Wells Fargo & Co. was presented a lifetime achievement award free credit scores.

Winners in the other categories are:

• Best General Counsel — Private Company: Hilary Krane, Levi Strauss & Co.

• Best General Counsel — Public Company (Annual Revenue Less Than $1 Billion a Year): Mary Doyle, Palm Inc.

• Best General Counsel — Public Company (Annual Revenue More Than $1 Billion a Year): Jim Brelsford, SanDisk Corp.

• Best IP Lawyer: Anirma Gupta, Intuit Inc.

• Diversity Champion: James Potter, Del Monte Foods Co.

• Best Labor & Employment Lawyer: Roxane Marenberg, Cisco Systems Inc.

• Best Biotech / Health Care Lawyer: Sandra Wells, Affymetrix Inc.

• Best Solo General Counsel: Rebecca Hlebasko, Bridge Housing Corp.

• Best International Lawyer: Harry Turner, Renesas Technology America Inc.

Source

Get free instant insurance rates for universal, whole, variable and term life insurance from the nation's leading Insurance companies.

Hopes that the economy can sustain its recovery drew support Wednesday from news that industrial output rose for a seventh straight month and house construction hit a six-month peak in January.

Analysts cautioned, though, that the gains could falter if consumer demand weakened.

The report on industrial production from the Federal Reserve showed gains in all three major categories: manufacturing, mining and utilities.

Source

Get Fast Cash Loans upto $1500 in 1 Hr. Bad Credit Ok.Apply.

Bets against the fiscally unfit are multiplying, and there’s no telling where they will stop.

So far, Dubai, Greece, Portugal and Spain have come under attack as investors demand higher interest rates on bonds sold by cash-strapped nations. For now, few observers expect to see defaults. But rising borrowing costs alone could exact a toll on already tepid economic recoveries.

What’s more, even deeper-pocketed issuers such as the U.S. and the U.K. could be paying much higher yields by next year, as they struggle with political squabbles about rising deficits fueled by a massive price tag for bailouts and stimulus.

"It all depends on growth," said Jan Randolph, director of sovereign risk analysis at forecasting firm IHS Global Insight. "Economic growth is the great redeemer in these sorts of situations, but it’s not at all clear that we can count on seeing enough growth in a lot of the heavily indebted countries."

Borrowing costs have soared over the past two months in Greece, and this week the deficit hawks have swooped down on two other southern European nations, Portugal and Spain.

Interest-rate spreads between these countries’ bonds and those issued by Germany have widened this year, hitting record levels in Greece.

The tremors come as officials in rich countries struggle with pressures once associated with so-called emerging markets: investors demanding that governments slash spending at a time of falling tax collections, soaring debts and, in many cases, growing public unrest.

The worries in Greece, Spain and Portugal stem in part from the benefits the southern European nations derived earlier this decade from using Europe’s common currency, the euro.

Their ability to issue cheap debt, thanks to the euro’s association with Germany’s sound-money policies, allowed them to borrow more than they could afford and sparked a boom in consumer spending, Randolph said. This also helped the high-saving, export-oriented economies of Northern Europe, by creating a bigger market for their goods.

"In a sense, the euro worked too well," he said. "The benefits masked the fact that these countries were losing competitiveness in terms of labor costs, and now that gap can’t be avoided."

In response, Greece recently promised to sharply cut its budget deficit, from a current level of 12.9% to 3% by 2012. Spain, already facing 19% unemployment after the collapse of a massive housing bubble, says it will cut spending by $70 billion over several years.

But given the scale of the problems and the massive borrowing needs of nations around the globe, it’s little surprise that default fears have failed to go away.

"There’s nothing so far to show they’ve fixed anything," said Tim Backshall, chief strategist for Credit Derivatives Research. "What we’ve seen is a dramatic selloff as investors start to adjust to the lower expectations for the euro area."

While Backshall said he believes most of the selling in government bond markets has come from so-called real money investors who hold securities for the long term, the past week has brought an uptick of traders playing what’s known as sovereign risk.

"Many hedge funds have spotted an opportunity in government debt markets where public finances have been under great stress," Randolph wrote in a recent note to clients. This trade involves "shorting the weaker credits against the stronger, playing on market fears and heightened uncertainty, while making money in the ensuing volatility."

That said, he thinks uncertainty will have to get much greater before there is a real risk of default in Greece, let alone Portugal, Spain or fiscally challenged Ireland. (Those noting the debt worries refer to Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain as Europe’s PIGS, and to that group plus Italy as the PIIGS.) Randolph notes that during the 1980s, Ireland’s bonds traded at similar spreads to Greece’s now, without any default.

What’s more, any possible default would deal a blow to the credibility of the euro itself. Economists don’t expect the European Central Bank to stand idly by while a monetary union that took years to assemble disintegrates.

"I believe the EU cannot let either Greece or Spain default, any more than Canada would allow one of its provinces to default," said Maurice Levi, a professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

But then, few in February 2008 would have predicted the scale of devastation in the financial sector before governments finally stepped in. And even if sovereign defaults still look like a long shot, higher rates and stability worries alone can do their damage when economies are in a weakened state.

That point was driven home Thursday by a stock market selloff led by banks. Spanish banks BBVA (BBVA) and Santander (STD) each plunged more than 9%. Falling spending and higher unemployment can wreak havoc on bank balance sheets, further impeding growth.

"The fundamentals in a lot of these places look pretty ugly," said Backshall. "There’s a sense this probably isn’t the end of this trade." 

Source

South Korean manufacturers’ confidence rose for the first time in three months after the government raised its economic-growth forecast for Asia’s fourth-biggest economy.

An index measuring expectations for January climbed to 90 from 85 a month earlier, according to a survey of 1,488 manufacturers released by the Bank of Korea today in Seoul. A measure of non-manufacturing companies’ expectations was unchanged at 84 for the third straight month.

The economy will expand about 5 percent in 2010 after growing 0.2 percent this year, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said this month, raising its forecasts. The country posted a current-account surplus for a 10th month in November, the central bank said yesterday.

South Korea’s economy expanded 3.2 percent in the third quarter, the fastest pace in seven years, boosted by exports and local spending. Overseas shipments will increase 9.3 percent in 2010, after declining 0.1 percent this year, the Bank of Korea said on Dec. 11.

Today’s report showed an index measuring the outlook for exports gained to 104 from 98 a month ago, and a gauge for the domestic sales outlook in January rose to 100 from 98.

The Bank of Korea surveyed the manufacturers and 802 non- manufacturers between Dec. 14 and Dec. 21.

Source

A five-foot robot sits in Jon Wheatley’s chair during most U.S. investor presentations, listening, speaking, and watching the meeting as Wheatley maneuvers it from a laptop in London. The shtick draws attention to Wheatley and his company, social media Web site DailyBooth.com, but the robot (provided by one of his investors) serves a purpose: Wheatley cannot set foot in the United States.

The 22-year-old Brit’s deportation came from an innocent mistake. When immigration officials pulled him aside during a three-month trip to Silicon Valley last summer, he mentioned he might talk to an attorney about trying to get a visa to stay and build his company there.

Officials deported him, quashing his immigration plans. Wheatley now works nights to match U.S. business hours while his American cofounder, Ryan Amos, runs the Mountain View, Calif., company. "I’m completely bummed out about it," says Wheatley. "It’s something we really shouldn’t have to be dealing with."

Stories abound of smart, motivated foreigners eager to live here, start a business and create jobs amid the nation’s worst economic recession in decades. But no visa exists specifically for entrepreneurs.

Their contributions could be huge: a quarter of American tech companies — including Google (GOOG, Fortune 500), Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) and Intel (INTL) — have foreign-born founders. In Silicon Valley, half of all tech company founders hail from outside America, according to a study by Vivek Wadhwa, a Harvard researcher and Duke engineering professor. These entrepreneurs typically either came here as children or waited years to get their green cards, Wadhwa says. Today, that backlogged process may take decades. It’s a massive reverse brain drain, as skilled foreigners go elsewhere.

"Let these people in and you would way more than double the number of successful startups in the United States," says Paul Graham, whose venture capital firm, YCombinator, provided seed financing to Wheatley’s business.

Graham wrote a blog post proposing that the U.S. issue 10,000 visas each year earmarked specifically for entrepreneurs. The suggestion unleashed a grassroots groundswell and a lobbying Web site, StartupVisa.com. One lawmaker has taken up the cause: U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., introduced a legislative measure last week that would include entrepreneurs in the EB-5 visa class, which is now reserved for foreign investors in U.S. businesses.

The measure is already drawing criticism. "We don’t want this to be another backdoor immigration policy where people just buy their way in," says Rick Oltman, national media director of Californians for Population Stabilization, which wants to eliminate illegal immigration and reduce legal immigration. "We would be skeptical of the government’s ability to monitor this stuff, because of they have not done a good a job of it in the past instant payday loans."

Few would claim that inviting educated people to create jobs and wealth is bad for the economy. Chile has thrown its doors wide open, not only offering permanent visas to entrepreneurs but paying them up to $30,000 to visit the country and another $30,000 to start a business. The government will even pick up the office rent for the first five years.

But laying out the welcome mat in the United States is tricky. Paperwork and bureaucracy mire existing visa rules, and immigration officials are far from hospitable. Audits and investigations are common at companies that hire foreign nationals.

"I have never seen this kind of crackdown on businesses," says Sheela Murthy, an immigration lawyer in Owings Mills, Md. The paperwork required to bring on foreign workers is extremely complicated, and any mistake can result in fines totaling thousands of dollars per violation, she says. "If you don’t dot all your i’s and cross all your t’s, you could be shut down."

A new visa class would mean sorting out a myriad of details, like how the government determines who qualifies as a legitimate entrepreneur. One idea: A board of venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and lawyers could screen those visa applications. The government could set benchmarks, requiring, for example, that a founder own at least 10% of a company that has raised $250,000 within the past year.

Another idea: Create a "gold card" class of investors, whom the government has vetted and trusts. Any investment their firm makes in a foreign national’s business means an automatic green card for that company’s founder.

Of course, there’s a clear pitfall to tying immigration status to business success: Startups fail. What happens to the visa then? Boulder venture capitalist Brad Feld proposes requiring the entrepreneur to start another company within a year or the visa expires.

Despite pressure to do something — anything — to improve the job market, Congress isn’t likely to move any time soon on the startup visa proposal. Lawmakers are tied up slugging it out over health care reform and aren’t likely to take a serious look at immigration reform for at least another year. Even then, controversy over illegal immigration could overshadow or kill the measure.

In the meantime, Wheatley is doing what he can to build his business in the United States — even sending his robot to business mixers. "It’s a little weird sometimes, but we have to make the most of the situation," he says. 

Source

The euro rose against the dollar Thursday after the European Central Bank hinted it would slowly start withdrawing emergency liquidity while the yen fell amid fears Japan may move to weaken its currency.

Though the ECB at a meeting left interest rates at record lows, its president, Jean-Claude Trichet, said the next 12-month refinancing operation for banks would be the last. The bank also lifted its economic growth forecast for 2010.

The euro neared a 16-month high around $1.5140 and rose against the yen but it gave up some gains when Trichet said plans to wind down some emergency programs were not a signal that interest rates may be about to change.

"He hinted that they’ll do something about an exit policy, so the first knee-jerk reaction was euro positive, but he’s not ready to endorse a full exit quite yet, so it’s really neither overly supportive of, nor detrimental to, the euro," said Boris Schlossberg, head of research at GFT Forex in New York.

Ultra-loose monetary policy tends to undermine a currency’s value because it increases money supply and risks inflation.

The euro rose 0.3% to $1.5085 and 1.1% to ¥132.94.

The euro got a modest boost when Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) said it would repay bailout funds to the U.S. government. That increased risk appetite and suggested banking sector improvement.

The yen was under pressure for the second straight day after the Bank of Japan said this week it would provide new three-month funding to banks to combat deflation and after top officials warned that the currency had grown too strong.

The dollar was up 0.8% at ¥88.15, off a 14-year low of of ¥84 no fax pay day loan.82 plumbed last week.

BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said the central bank does not target foreign exchange for monetary policy but "if the bank’s easy stance becomes widely known in markets, it will have certain effects on the currency market in the long run."

Sterling fell 0.3% to $1.6575 while the dollar fell 0.3% to 0.9989 Swiss francs.

Trichet, Bernanke speak

Analysts said Trichet had to walk a fine line as any hint of a rate rise would prompt traders to bid up the euro, especially as the U.S. Federal Reserve has said it would keep its own rates low for an extended time.

"He’s saying the outlook for economic growth is still uncertain, which means he’s not overly confident, and it seems that is capping the euro gains," said Hidetoshi Yanagihara, senior FX trader at Mizuho Corporate Bank in New York.

In Washington, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke made his case for a second term in testimony before Congress, telling lawmakers the Fed’s forceful actions have prevented a devastating crisis from turning into something even worse.

Bernanke also pledged to maintain price stability and said fiscal deficits eventually have to come down. Some analysts have worried that rising U.S. debt and deficits will undermine the dollar further and eventually provoke higher inflation.

In separate remarks, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner reiterated the importance of a strong dollar and said the United States must persuade the world it will be more fiscally responsible. 

Source

Delta Air Lines Inc. has renewed its vendor contract with gategroup, parent company of food contractor Gate Gourmet.

The multi-year extension, valued at more than $1 billion in revenue over the life of the contract, also involves gategroup subsidiaries Gate Safe, eGate Solutions, Pourshins and deSter, the company said in a Wednesday news release.

“Delta is a leading customer for gategroup and its brand companies and has been for more than 50 years,” Guy Dubois, gategroup CEO, said in a statement. “We're delighted to call the world's largest airline one of our top customers. The scope of this business validates gategroup's strategy of building a brand portfolio that provides end-to-end solutions to the travel industry, and demonstrates the cross-selling power of the brands.”

The deal with Atlanta-based Delta (NYSE: DAL) covers 40 airports worldwide and expands catering service to airports in Amsterdam, Fort Lauderdale, Fla electronic check payday advance., Los Angeles and Newark, N.J.

Gate Safe, the catering screening and security subsidiary of Zurich-based gategroup, will expand to serve all Delta, Northwest and Delta Connection stations currently served by Gate Gourmet in the U.S.

The contact also extends agreements with eGate and Pourshins, the company’s in-flight catering management and food, beverage and equipment sourcing and logistics arms.

"Consistency of product delivery is a key component of Delta's brand experience for our customers," Joanne Smith, Delta senior vice president of in-flight services, said in the release. "The complete integration of catering solutions is another important step in bringing together the best of Delta and Northwest."

Source

The fourth of November was a big day for Jeff Andrews. It also signalled a bold new direction for one of Canada’s largest auto parts makers.

The president of Pro-Power and Energy Ltd. of Port Hope spent a good part of that day driving to Detroit, where he got together with Ken Rossman, an American who manages new business deals for Ontario auto parts manufacturer Linamar Corp.

It was there, ironically on U.S. soil, that the two men signed a 10-year supply agreement that committed Linamar to manufacturing a new – and the first – made-in-Ontario wind turbine at the company’s headquarters in Guelph.

Specifically, Linamar will be making a 2-megawatt "nacelle," the heart and brains of a wind turbine that houses all the mechanical gear used to generate electricity.

CWind Inc. of Owen Sound designed the device, and in partnership with Pro-Power has set up separate companies – WindPro and WindBlade – to manufacture the towers that will hold the massive Linamar-made machines, as well as the blades that connect to them.

"It’s all signed, sealed and delivered," says Andrews, adding that the agreement is a big one for Linamar. "We’re talking about $3.6 billion in orders for them over 10 years."

Not bad for a company that reported $2.3 billion in revenues in 2008. Linamar, like other companies that have depended heavily on the auto industry, is diversifying its customer base. And the energy sector – the greener the better – is what’s capturing their attention.

Aurora-based auto parts giant Magna International is producing electric bicycles, for example, and in October signed an agreement to manufacture, through subsidiary Cosma International, solar equipment for California start-up SkyLine Solar.

Two other auto parts entities – Meikle Automation Inc. of Kitchener and Markham-based Woodbine Tool & Die – have picked up business in the solar PV market as well.

Linamar, in many ways, is leading the pack. It expects its energy-related business will grow to about $1 billion annually within the next 10 years, up substantially from roughly $50 million in 2008.

Chief executive officer Linda Hasenfratz says the company’s revenue stream has already grown by 50 per cent this year, much of it through making wind-turbine parts and production equipment for the European market.

The company also makes engines that generate power from solar heat, part of a deal with Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Stirling Energy Systems.

But the deal with CWind and Pro-Power potentially puts Linamar on a different plane.

If the new wind turbine is successful, it stands to become a lucrative chunk of the company’s multibillion-dollar manufacturing operation.

"When we came upon CWind, we saw a much bigger opportunity, that of producing the entire nacelle. This is a much larger contribution to the wind turbine than we’ve done in the past," says Hasenfratz.

The stars, in a way, are aligning for the 43-year-old company. As the wind industry grows, so, too, are the wind turbines being developed. The bigger the turbine, the more efficient it is at converting wind energy into electricity.

The largest to date stands nearly 200 metres tall and has a blade-to-blade diameter of 126 metres. Nacelle, blades and tower together can weigh more than 300 tonnes.

These massive sizes, however, create huge challenges for turbine manufacturers based in Europe and parts of Asia that are looking to serve the North American market.

"When you look at products of this significant size, the logistics and cost of shipping are really prohibitive, so you’re almost forced to go local," says Hazenfratz.

"If oil prices go up, fuel prices go up, and then it becomes less cost-effective to ship product thousands of kilometres."

Linamar also plans to capitalize on new rules in Ontario that require wind and solar equipment to have a certain amount of local content paydayloans. Add to that generous incentives in the province for developing green-energy projects and the timing for introducing the CWind turbine couldn’t be better.

Already, CWind has its first two years of production pre-sold to Ontario-based wind developers, with strong interest also coming from British Columbia, Saskatchewan and as far as Ireland. "The phone is ringing off the hook," says Andrews, adding that Linamar’s involvement has brought credibility to CWind’s design.

This is no ordinary wind turbine, part of the reason Linamar has been so attracted to the project.

"It’s unique in the industry," says Paula Mayor, manager of business development for New World Generation Inc., parent company of CWind. Her father, Paul Merswolke, is co-inventor of the CWind design.

Most utility-scale wind turbines are designed to turn a drive shaft that is connected to a gearbox. The gearbox speeds up the rotation of a second shaft that connects to an electrical generator.

The problem is that gearboxes are heavy and prone to failure under mechanical stress. This leads to higher maintenance costs over the life of the turbine, as well as increased noise as the gearbox wears out.

The CWind turbine eliminates the gearbox altogether. Instead, the drive shaft is connected to a big wheel, similar in shape to a can of tuna. Hugging the wheel are eight tire-lined shafts, each connected to its own electrical generator. As the big wheel turns, it spins the smaller shafts.

If the wind is light, some of the shafts can be moved away from the wheel to reduce friction. As the wind picks up, more shafts hug the wheel to capture the additional friction energy.

It’s a simpler, more efficient design that has been validated by two independent engineering firms. It has also been demonstrated on a small 65-kilowatt prototype.

"Linamar’s engineers were impressed as they poured over the data and the drawings," Mayor recalls.

Between now and March 2011, the companies will work together to develop a 2-megawatt prototype and two pre-commercial turbines, which must be tested for six to eight months before being certified. After that, commercial production will begin.

Linamar’s merger in 2003 with the engineering firm McLaren Performance Technologies, of Formula 1 auto racing fame, will come in handy. The Michigan-based engineering group hopes to do with CWind what it did for the solar engine it developed for Arizona’s Stirling Energy.

Charles Andraka, a project engineer at Sandia National Laboratories, a U.S. Department of Energy research centre in New Mexico, says Linamar took the early solar engine design and improved it dramatically. Both old and new models have been tested at Sandia’s solar research facility.

"They took a lot of weight out of the system and simplified it quite a bit," says Andraka. "The engine was completely redesigned."

Linamar’s important role in re-engineering these technologies explains, in part at least, why it increasingly wants to put its own stamp on the final product.

In the case of CWind’s nacelle, the supply contract stipulates that the machine be clearly marked "Powered by Linamar." It follows the same marketing logic as the "Intel Inside" logo on computers that made chipmaker Intel Corp. a household name.

That’s just fine with Mayor, who is more than happy to have Linamar use the CWind design as a springboard for new business, particularly at a time when European wind-turbine makers are eyeing the North American market.

"They’re our main supplier of the nacelle. They bring capability to the table, and they bring reputation to the table," Mayor says. "They are moving into this industry and they want to be recognized."

Source

If you expect holiday bargains to get better as Christmas Eve draws near, you may be disappointed this year.

Retailers aren’t as panicked about the upcoming holiday shopping season as they were last year.

That’s bad news for shoppers because this could mean leaner sales, sparsely stocked stores and a run on the best deals for such sought-after items as smartphones, thigh-high boots, side-sling bags and ruffled cardigans.

With this scenario in mind, retail experts said their No. 1 tip for gift shoppers this year is grab what you want, when you see it.

"Merchants got burned badly last year when they were left with a lot of unsold merchandise after Christmas," said George Whalin, retail expert and president and CEO of Retail Management Consultants.

And since the past 10 months have been a sales nightmare for most merchants, amid an ongoing spending slump, sellers have up to 30% less merchandise stocked for the year-end gift-buying season that unofficially kicks off the day after Thanksgiving.

The November-December period is critical for sellers because it can account for as much as 50% or more of retailers’ profits and sales for the full year.

Without the fear of being overstocked, merchants will also be less promotional with holiday goods versus last year in order to preserve their profits.

So don’t expect big red sales signs screaming 50%, 60% or even 70% off right after Black Friday, analysts said.

"This year, the magic point for retailers will probably be 40% off and maybe 50% and another 20% off on clearance items much later in the season," said Marshal Cohen, chief retail analyst with market research firm NPD Group.

Will there be a holiday rush?

With the nation’s unemployment rate at its highest level in more than two decades, no one expects Americans to whip up an uninhibited shopping frenzy over holiday gifts.

The National Retail Federation, the industry’s largest trade group, expects holiday sales will decline 1% this year, although that dip would be an improvement over 2008’s 3.4% drop for the season.

Still, some industry watchers say the recent pick-up in monthly sales seen at chain stores, coupled with more than a year of pent-up demand among consumers, could make it hard for many to resist "splurging" a little bit on the seasonal sales that are coming up.

If that happens, it could bring a run on some merchandise in the coming weeks, said Craig Johnson, president of retail consulting group Customer Growth Partners payday cash loan.

If some sellers are caught with product shortfalls, Johnson said they could even sneak in spring merchandise by December to fill any vacant spots in their stores.

"This is not a totally new phenomenon," he said. "We’ve heard rumors that some teen-focused retailers may bring in spring products by mid-December."

Johnson also gave examples of what he expects to be this year’s hot holiday sellers. "Everyone already has a big flatscreen TV," said Johnson, "E-readers, whether it’s [Amazon’s (AMZN, Fortune 500)] Kindle or Barnes & Noble’s Nook e-reader that’s coming out later this year, are going to be hot."

Smartphones and gaming consoles will be top purchases as well, he said. In clothing and accessories, women’s embellished leggings, boots, sweater vests and side-sling handbags will be in big demand, Johnson said.

NPD’s Cohen, has a somewhat different perspective.

"If consumers can’t find something in one store, they will look elsewhere, or online," Cohen said.

Regarding introducing spring products during the winter sales events, Cohen said that it could actually be a smart move by retailers to infuse some newness and freshness into the stores.

"You want to keep consumers coming back to the store. It’s a good way to get holiday gift card [recipients] to come back, too," he said.

Countering Johnson’s predications of holiday hot sellers, Cohen thinks many consumers will shop for traditional gifts.

"It’s back to tradition this year. Sweaters, perfumes, small leather items, music. movies, board games and gift cards," he said.

The single biggest holiday shopping trend, however, will be "fewer people on the shopping list," said Cohen. ‘For those on the bottom of the list, people will be baking cookies."

Talkback: Are you giving more or fewer holiday gifts, and how much do you plan to spend per gift this year versus last year? E-mail your response to realstories@cnnmoney.com and you could be part of an upcoming article. For the CNNMoney.com Comment Policy, click here.  

Source

Bailed-out British lender Lloyds Banking Group is to cut a further 5,000 jobs by the end of 2010 as it continues to overhaul its operations and integrate HBOS.

Lloyds, 43 percent owned by the government, said on Tuesday it would take mitigating actions, including redeploying staff and releasing contractors and temporary employees, to limit the net reduction in permanent jobs to 2,600.

That would take net cuts to permanent jobs at Lloyds to around 9,000 since it acquired HBOS in January. Analysts have estimated that over 30,000 jobs could go as the two banks integrate.

News of further bank sector redundancies came a week after more than 5,400 jobs were cut at part-nationalized rival Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC.

The Unite union said the cuts were “corporate arrogance.”

“This country’s financial sector should be looking toward the future, rather then continuing to slash jobs without proper consideration of how to re-build the public’s confidence in our tarnished banking sector,” Unite national officer Rob MacGregor said in a statement calling for a suspension of job losses payday advance.

Lloyds said 2,820 roles — the bulk of the total — would be cut in group operations, with contractors and temporary staff helping to keep the net reduction to 1,350.

It will also cut 1,190 jobs in insurance across Britain, and 950 in its mortgage operations where business will be consolidated to a handful of sites.

Lloyds said compulsory redundancies would be a last resort.

(Reporting by Clara Ferreira-Marques; Editing by Dan Lalor)

Read more