THE United States's yawning annual budget deficit narrowed in April as government coffers brimmed with the largest monthly surplus in five years, official data shows.
The federal budget had a surplus of$US112.9 billion ($A112.39 billion) forthe month of April, astax payments surged ahead the mid-month due date for annual income tax filings for 2012, according to Treasury Department numbers released on Friday.
The surplus was almost double the$US59.1 billion surplus registered in April 2012.
Over the first seven months of the fiscal year, the US budget deficit was $US487.6 billion, 32 per cent smaller than the October-April 2012 period.
Revenues leaped 28 per cent in April froma year ago, to$US406.7 billion, helped in part by January 1 increases inpayroll and other taxes.
Expenditures fell a hefty 13 per cent to$US293.8 billion in the second month of severe "sequester" spending cuts, aimed at slashing $US85 billion through September.
"The improved budget deficit will give the Treasury more wiggle room tofinance government programs should Congress fail to raise the debt ceiling whenthe current suspension of this limit on government borrowing expires onMay 19," said Sal Guatieri of BMO Capital Markets.
Saturday 11 May 2013
Thursday 9 May 2013
Debt Equity Finance information: Closed-End Investment Fund
Debt Equity Finance information: Closed-End Investment Fund: An investment trust that issues a fixed number of securities that trade on a stock exchange or in the over-the-counter market. Assets of a c...
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Monday 6 May 2013
Bain Capital and Golden GateCapital Buys BMC for $6.9 Billion
Under the deal terms, the buyers’ group, which includes the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation and InsightVenture Partners, will pay $46.25 a share in cash.
That represents a 14 percent premium to BMC’s share price on May 11, 2012, the last business day before the company disclosed that Elliott Management had taken a big stake – now up to about 9.6 percent – and was urging a sale.After initially resisting Elliott, the two sides reached a compromise, with Elliott gaining two board seats and BMC beginning to explore a sale last fall.
A number of buyout firms emerged during the auction process overrecent months, though by last week the Bain and Golden Gate consortium took the lead.
“After a thorough review of strategic alternatives, the BMC board of directors is pleased to reach this agreement, which provides shareholders with immediate and substantial cash value, aswell as a premium to our unaffected share price,” Robert E. Beauchamp, BMC’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.
Jesse Cohn, the Elliott portfolio manager who led the firm’s campaign,added: “Elliott applaudsthe BMC Software boardand executive leadership for delivering this value-maximizing outcome for stockholders, which both contains a go-shopprovision and reflects what we believe is a substantial premium to BMC’s unaffected stock price.”
As part of the deal, BMCwill have 30 days to try to find higher bids.
Credit Suisse , the Royal Bank of Canada and Barclays will provide debt financing.
BMC was advised by Morgan Stanley , Bank ofAmerica Merrill Lynch and the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen& Katz. The investors received financial advice from Qatalyst Partners, the boutique bank run by Frank P. Quattrone ; Credit Suisse;RBC Capital Markets; and Barclays.
The investor group was counseled by Kirkland& Ellis and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
That represents a 14 percent premium to BMC’s share price on May 11, 2012, the last business day before the company disclosed that Elliott Management had taken a big stake – now up to about 9.6 percent – and was urging a sale.After initially resisting Elliott, the two sides reached a compromise, with Elliott gaining two board seats and BMC beginning to explore a sale last fall.
A number of buyout firms emerged during the auction process overrecent months, though by last week the Bain and Golden Gate consortium took the lead.
“After a thorough review of strategic alternatives, the BMC board of directors is pleased to reach this agreement, which provides shareholders with immediate and substantial cash value, aswell as a premium to our unaffected share price,” Robert E. Beauchamp, BMC’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.
Jesse Cohn, the Elliott portfolio manager who led the firm’s campaign,added: “Elliott applaudsthe BMC Software boardand executive leadership for delivering this value-maximizing outcome for stockholders, which both contains a go-shopprovision and reflects what we believe is a substantial premium to BMC’s unaffected stock price.”
As part of the deal, BMCwill have 30 days to try to find higher bids.
Credit Suisse , the Royal Bank of Canada and Barclays will provide debt financing.
BMC was advised by Morgan Stanley , Bank ofAmerica Merrill Lynch and the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen& Katz. The investors received financial advice from Qatalyst Partners, the boutique bank run by Frank P. Quattrone ; Credit Suisse;RBC Capital Markets; and Barclays.
The investor group was counseled by Kirkland& Ellis and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Thursday 2 May 2013
European Central Bank has cut rates to a record low .
The central bank, meeting in Bratislava, cut its benchmark interest rate to 0.5 percent from 0.75 percent, which was already a record low. It was the first change in interest rates since July 2012 and the bank’s fourth cut since Mario Draghi took over as its president in November 2011.
The central bank will continue providing unlimited loans to banksat the benchmark interest rate “as long as needed” and at least until mid-2014, Mr. Draghi said at a news conference after the announcement.
Even at its new low of 0.5 percent, the European Central Bank’sbenchmark rate remainshigher than the 0.25 percent rate the FederalReserve has had in place since late 2008. On Wednesday, the Fedsaid it would maintain its stimulus campaign , buying $85 billion a month in Treasury and mortgage-backed securities. The Fed added that it would consider adjusting its efforts to spur growth and reduce unemployment in the United States.
A cut by the European Central Bank was widelyexpected after a series of economic indicators in recent weeks foreshadowing an extended downturn in the euro zone, with recession even threatening the seemingly unstoppable German economy. On Thursday, two stalwarts of corporate Germany, BMW and Siemens, warned of lower profits for 2013 because of the downturn in European markets.
The central bank will continue providing unlimited loans to banksat the benchmark interest rate “as long as needed” and at least until mid-2014, Mr. Draghi said at a news conference after the announcement.
Even at its new low of 0.5 percent, the European Central Bank’sbenchmark rate remainshigher than the 0.25 percent rate the FederalReserve has had in place since late 2008. On Wednesday, the Fedsaid it would maintain its stimulus campaign , buying $85 billion a month in Treasury and mortgage-backed securities. The Fed added that it would consider adjusting its efforts to spur growth and reduce unemployment in the United States.
A cut by the European Central Bank was widelyexpected after a series of economic indicators in recent weeks foreshadowing an extended downturn in the euro zone, with recession even threatening the seemingly unstoppable German economy. On Thursday, two stalwarts of corporate Germany, BMW and Siemens, warned of lower profits for 2013 because of the downturn in European markets.
Wednesday 1 May 2013
Tips to Prevent Credit Card Fraud
credit card fraud hasbecome a $6 billion problemfor businesses, increasing by 87 percent since 2010. As incidents of data breaches and credit card fraud continue to grow, businessesmust be more aware in protecting themselves.
To help businesses guard against such issues, Rob Bertke, senior vice president of research and development at Sage North America, offers the followingtips to businesses of all sizes to help them stay protected.
Immediately deal with any breach — It's critical to understand that even if all cautious, conservative steps are taken, and the best payment-processing securityis installed, a breach can still occur.
If it does, you must have detailed credit card sales records to refer back to as a means of retracing your steps. This will help in determining when and where the breach took placeand therefore mitigate the potential for additional losses. Furthermore, a properassessment of the initial attack may ultimately provide a trail back to the source of the data breach .
Maintain PCI Compliance — Not only is it against card brand regulations if you're not Payment Card Industry (PCI)-compliant when accepting credit or debit cards, but it's also an absolute must in today's economic climate.
Make certain your payment-processing software security is current and is PA-DSS (Payment Application Data Security Standard)-certified, and that your business receives its PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) certification.
PCI certification provides a level of confidence and assurance that a processor has followed and passed a robust set of best practices for securing the information being processed when credit card payments are made.
Use end-to-end encryption for all sensitive data — End-to-end encryption (E2EE) essentially boils downto scrambling the data sent from one device to another. It starts with your payment capture devices, and goes allthe way to the transaction being authorized.
E2EE technology prevents the card account data from being stolen electronically and lessens the cost and impact for your business to become PCI-certified. A company's mobile payment devices, credit card terminals, software applications and online payment portals need built-in encryption functionality when transmitting customer information.
Prevent tampering — Make certain all employees tasked with the responsibility of accepting credit and debit cards from customers have a working understanding of the looks and functionality ofthe payment processing equipment they're using.
Scammers often try to tamper with a business's payment processing equipment in an effort to steal credit card information. Altered equipment usually consists of a small piece of hardware physically attached to the terminal itself.
An attentive employee who knows what to look for should be able to easily identify an extra attachment to the device or oddly functioning software.
Refrain from storing credit card numbers — To avoid one of the biggest PCI compliance risks, you shoulddo everything in your powerto not store credit card numbers. Look for a payments provider whose platform is designed so credit card information is never stored at your business site or on your business software.
Your provider should be able to process the transaction and then store your customers' card information in a secure vault in the cloud. They should provide you with an encrypted ID,
To help businesses guard against such issues, Rob Bertke, senior vice president of research and development at Sage North America, offers the followingtips to businesses of all sizes to help them stay protected.
Immediately deal with any breach — It's critical to understand that even if all cautious, conservative steps are taken, and the best payment-processing securityis installed, a breach can still occur.
If it does, you must have detailed credit card sales records to refer back to as a means of retracing your steps. This will help in determining when and where the breach took placeand therefore mitigate the potential for additional losses. Furthermore, a properassessment of the initial attack may ultimately provide a trail back to the source of the data breach .
Maintain PCI Compliance — Not only is it against card brand regulations if you're not Payment Card Industry (PCI)-compliant when accepting credit or debit cards, but it's also an absolute must in today's economic climate.
Make certain your payment-processing software security is current and is PA-DSS (Payment Application Data Security Standard)-certified, and that your business receives its PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) certification.
PCI certification provides a level of confidence and assurance that a processor has followed and passed a robust set of best practices for securing the information being processed when credit card payments are made.
Use end-to-end encryption for all sensitive data — End-to-end encryption (E2EE) essentially boils downto scrambling the data sent from one device to another. It starts with your payment capture devices, and goes allthe way to the transaction being authorized.
E2EE technology prevents the card account data from being stolen electronically and lessens the cost and impact for your business to become PCI-certified. A company's mobile payment devices, credit card terminals, software applications and online payment portals need built-in encryption functionality when transmitting customer information.
Prevent tampering — Make certain all employees tasked with the responsibility of accepting credit and debit cards from customers have a working understanding of the looks and functionality ofthe payment processing equipment they're using.
Scammers often try to tamper with a business's payment processing equipment in an effort to steal credit card information. Altered equipment usually consists of a small piece of hardware physically attached to the terminal itself.
An attentive employee who knows what to look for should be able to easily identify an extra attachment to the device or oddly functioning software.
Refrain from storing credit card numbers — To avoid one of the biggest PCI compliance risks, you shoulddo everything in your powerto not store credit card numbers. Look for a payments provider whose platform is designed so credit card information is never stored at your business site or on your business software.
Your provider should be able to process the transaction and then store your customers' card information in a secure vault in the cloud. They should provide you with an encrypted ID,
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