Amid the revolving door of congressmen-turned-lobbyists, there is nothing particularly remarkable about Mr. Delahunt’s transition, except for one thing. While in Congress, he personally earmarked $1.7 million for the same energy project. So today, his firm, the Delahunt Group, stands to collect $90,000 or more for six months of work from the town of Hull, on Massachusetts Bay, with 80 percent of it coming from the pot of money he created through a pair of Energy Department grants in his final term in office, records ... more→
Category Archives: Business
Ratings from S & P cut to 9 countries of the euro area
Ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the government debt of France, Austria, Italy and Spain on Friday. But it kept Germany's at the coveted AAA level. The downgrades deal a blow to the eurozone's ability to fight off a worsening debt crisis. All told, S & P cut its ratings on nine eurozone countries. The rating agency ended France and Austria's triple - A status. It also lowered Italy's and Spain's by two notches and did the same for Portugal and Cyprus. Additionally, S & P cut ... more→
DealBook: Hostess Files for Bankruptcy
Hostess Brands, the baking company known for sweet treats like Twinkies and Ding Dongs, filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, just three years after emerging from an earlier restructuring process. The company, which has assets of roughly $1 billion, has been struggling under the weight of a debt load of about $860 million and soaring expenses tied to its labor force. Hostess has up to 100,000 creditors, and its chief unsecured creditors are labor unions and pension funds that represent the company’s employees, according to the ... more→
Stocks Rise Solidly on Hopes for Europe
U.S. stocks traded solidly higher Tuesday after European markets rallied and corporate bellwether Alcoa predicted stronger demand in 2012. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1 percent at midday. European markets soared after Fitch Ratings said it will not downgrade France's credit rating this year. A downgrade for France could scuttle the region's efforts to stem the debt crisis. Europe's bailout fund relies on the sterling credit ratings of France and Germany to borrow at affordable rates. France's CAC-40 index closed 2.7 percent higher; Germany's ... more→
Amid Economic Strife, Greeks Look to Farming Past
As Greece’s blighted economy plunges further into the abyss, the couple are joining with an exodus of Greeks who are fleeing to the countryside and looking to the nation’s rich rural past as a guide to the future. They acknowledge that it is a peculiar undertaking, with more manual labor than they, as college graduates, ever imagined doing. But in a country starved by austerity even as it teeters on the brink of default, it seemed as good a gamble as any. Mr. Gavalas and ... more→
