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News In Brief

MID-DAY UPDATE: Home values decline in the first quarter, EU continues to struggle with Greece

Katharine Crnko May 9, 2011
News In Brief

MID-DAY UPDATE: Home values decline in the first quarter, EU continues to struggle with Greece

Katharine Crnko May 9, 2011

Here are today’s top headlines from the Marketplace Morning Report and from around the web.

Home values have posted the largest decline in the first quarter since late 2008 — prompting many economists to push back their estimates of when the housing market will hit a bottom. According to a report today from Zillow.com, home values fell 3 percent in the first quarter. You can read Marketplace’s coverage here.

The European Union is back in debates over the state of Greece’s bailout. Greece has been slipping hind its targets for cutting its budget deficit, and is now expected to need another $43 billion in financing for 2012. Here is Marketplace’s coverage.

Car-rental company Hertz offered to buy competitor Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group for $2.08 billion in cash and stock.

Professional social media site LinkedIn will make its $3 billion IPO — offering 7.84 million shares to eager investors.

South Pacific island nation Samoa plans to jump forward to the west side of the international date line in a move that would better align the country with Australia and New Zealand. Here is Marketplace’s coverage.

The Obama administration announced today that Amtrak and 15 states will share $2 billion in grant money aimed at developing high speed rails in the Northeast, California and the Midwest.

According to a new report from the New York Federal Reserve, consumers are slowing starting to borrow again as banks become more willing to extend credit.

Live Nation and Groupon will partner to sell concert tickets, according to a report from the LA Times. The mega-ticket-market hopes the daily deals site will provide another outlet to reach consumers.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has called on China to rely more on its own spending and less on exports. U.S. officials and many economists believe that Beijing depends too heavily on its cheap currency to boost exports and growth.

Fast-food giant McDonald’s reported a 6 percent growth in global sales for the month of April — mostly fueled by the popular McCafe beverage line-up and a boost in menu prices that helped to offset higher costs for beef and other core ingredients.

Energy drink maker Red Bull hopes to amp up its brand in the U.S. with the release of its new glossy magazine. The company not only produces the leading energy drink, but has also become a global media and marketing force.

Not only did George Washington help found our nation, he also was a big-time brewmaster — whipping up batches of the barley blend. The New York Public Library has the hand-written recipe and is teaming up with a brewer to recreate the beer. The brew won’t be sold commercially. But it’ll be offered at a couple of big shindigs in New York. For more authenticity, of course, you’ll need to down the beer with a powdered wig and wooden teeth.

There’s a list out today that says Apple is the most valuable brand in the world. The Apple brand — just the brand — is now worth $153 billion, according to the consultancy Millward Brown. Turns out the big losers this year are oil companies, big banks, and Nintendo. The value of the Nintendo brand is down more than a Wii bit — 37 percent.

You can read the rest of today’s stories from the Marketplace Morning Report here.

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