Obama Unveils Tax Plan Today
The Obama administration will propose reducing the 35 percent corporate tax break in a plan to be outlined today by Treasury Department officials, reports Bloomberg News, citing unnamed sources. The plan will also target certain corporate tax breaks, but is expected to retain breaks directly supporting investment in the U.S.
The nation currently imposes the second-highest marginal corporate tax in the world, said Bloomberg, though effective tax rates are below 30 percent, in keeping with other major economies.
Dow Briefly Hits 13,000
The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly hit 13,000 on Tuesday, a pre-recession high, The New York Times reports. The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index traded above a three-year closing high of 1,363.61. Both indexes pared gains late in the day and ended only slightly higher. The Nasdaq composite index was down 3.21 points, or 0.11 percent, at 2, 948.57.
The Dow has been trending upward since the beginning of the year for a gain of more than 6 percent, and the S&P is up more than 8 percent since Jan. 1.
Greece receives $170 Billion Lifeline
Euro Zone leaders pieced together a $170 billion rescue package for Greece on Tuesday, pulling the debt-strapped nation from the brink of default, USA Today reports.
The deal imposes austerity measures that some observers fear could deepen the recession in Greece, aggravating the nation’s economic woes and raising the specter of default farther down the line.
RIM Tablet Gets Email Update
Research in Motion yesterday announced an update to its PlayBook tablet, which now features email and a built-in calendar, CNN Money reports. The tablet was launched in April 2011 and drew immediate criticism for its lack of native email, calendar and address book functions, which required a connection to RIM’s BlackBerry smartphone.
The 2.0 version of PlayBook – originally scheduled for last November - can also intergrate contacts with social networks, offers better Web browsing and an updated virtual keyboard, but does not include the popular BlackBerry Messenger service.
J&J Head to Step Down
The head of Johnson & Johnson will step down in April in response to a series of quality issues that have plagued the health care conglomerate, the Chicago Tribune reports. Chief Executive William Weldon will be replaced by Vice Chairman Alex Gorsky, who was also nominated to the board, which will retain Weldon as its chair.
Product recalls ranging from infant Tylenol to artificial hips prompted federal regulators to take over supervision of three J&J manufacturing plants last month.
Santa Was Good to High End Retailers
Earnings reports filed by four major retailers yesterday indicate high-end retailers fared better during the holiday season, The New York Times reports. While Walmart, Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue an Home Depot all reported increases in the fourth quarter, deep price cutting by Walmart hurt the big box retailer’s bottom line.
Walmart’s core customers, deeply impacted by the prolonged economic downturn, continue to live paycheck to paycheck, prompting the company to hold down prices to bring in sales. The result was a fourth quarter margin loss of $100 million or 0.4 percent.
