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Durable goods are just that: hard goods; they don't wear out quickly and can be used over and over again for at least several years. Think your car, TV, refrigerator or computer. These are certainly not disposable, one-time use items.
The opposite of a hard good is (surprise!) a soft good or, if you like, a non-durable good. These are products you use once, like your lunch at McDonald's, the gas in your car and the ugly sweater your grandmother bought you for your birthday. These items have an intended lifespan short of three years, or are consumed immediately.
Investors pay attention to the monthly durable orders report released by the Commerce Department around the end of each month. When durable goods are strong, it means that U.S. manufacturing is humming along, though economists tend to parse the numbers pretty closely. Big-ticket items can skew the overall results, since an order for, say, 75 Boeing 747s has a bigger impact than 75 iPods. Luckily, the data lets economists break down the sectors.
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Thursday, May 08, 2008
AIG's Woes Continue; Posts $7.8B Loss in First Quarter
FOXBusiness
![AIG Headquarters [276]](/images/stories/AIG_hq.jpg)
Amid the housing slump and credit freeze, insurance giant American International Group disclosed a loss of $7.81 billion in the first quarter and released plans to raise $12.5 billion.
AIG (AIG), which is a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, was slammed by more credit-related writedowns. The company lost $3.09 per share, compared to a profit of $1.58 a year ago.
On an adjusted-bases, AIG said it lost $1.41 per share, close to twice the amount Wall Street expected. First-quarter revenue fell sharply to $14 billion, compared to $30.6 billion a year ago.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had been looking for a loss of 76 cents per share on $31.03 billion in revenue.
As many financial companies have done since the credit crisis began last year, AIG announced plans to raise $12.5 billion to help its balance sheet, mostly through a common stock offering of $7.5 billion.
AIG was hit by $9.11 billion in writedowns on its credit default swap portfolio, which has been hammered by the freeze in the credit markets. The company’s investment portfolio, which includes mortgage-related securities, reported a loss of $6.09 billion
Earlier this year AIG revealed a $5 billion loss in its fourth quarter on writedowns, sending its share price nearly 15% lower over the following week.
AIG also announced Thursday it is increasing its quarterly dividend by 10% to 22 cents as of Sept. 5. The insurer will also begin looking for a replacement for Chief Financial Officer Steven Bensinger, who will take over as vice chairman of financial services.
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