Financial 411: The Fate of Barnes & Noble, and the Debate Over Sick Leave
Another report confirms that the housing market is stuck in the doldrums. Home prices fell slightly in July by 0.1 percent after rising in June, according to the S&P/Case Shiller report. Perhaps more worrisome -- prices fell in more cities surveyed. "In about half of cities, prices are lower than they were a year ago," said Patrick Newport, an economist with IHS Global Insights. "And last month, it was only five, and a couple of months ago it was even smaller than that, so we are seeing weakness in prices." But in New York, there's perhaps another sign that the economy here is doing better than in other parts of the country. Prices actually rose by one percent.
Maybe because the housing market is doing so poorly nationwide, consumer confidence fell to the lowest levels since February. The survey was conducted by the Conference Board. "Even though officially the recession is over, it doesn't feel that way to consumers and the primary reason being that we are not getting any significant job growth," said Lynn Franco, the board's Director of Consumer Research.
And it's not just consumers. CEOs are gloomier too. A poll by the Business Roundtable indicated chief executives are not optimistic about future sales growth.
Investors largely ignored the bad news, and focused instead on possible corporate deals.
The Dow Jones ended up 46 points, to close at 10,858. The S&P 500 finished the day at 1,148, up more than 5 points.
Len Riggio, the chairman of New York-based Barnes & Noble, staved off a challenge by billionaire investor Ron Burkle to take more control of the bookseller at the annual shareholder meeting this morning. WNYC's Lisa Chow attended the meeting. She explains why the two have been fighting for control of the company, and how it might effect the sale of the company.
And later, WNYC's Ilya Marritz talks about the debate over paid sick leave. Two studies out today offer radically different views on the cost to area businesses -- if the City Council were to pass a bill requiring them to offer paid leave to workers who fall ill. Marritz discusses how the new studies add to the debate.
