Hotel prices have experienced pronounced volatility as a result of political turmoil and natural disasters in the first half of 2011, according to the latest Hotels.com® Hotel Price Index™ (HPI®).
The average price of a room around the world rose by just 3% in the first six months of the year but this masked some steep rises and falls in regions affected by the historic events.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/prne/hotels/50554/
Am 24. September wählt Deutschland einen neuen Bundestag. Vor der Wahl sind die Finanzmärkte besonders stark in Bewegung, denn sie reagieren unmittelbar auf Wahlprognosen und Wählerstimmungen. Anleger können jetzt die Fortschritte der künstlichen Intelligenz nutzen, um auch bei volatilen Märkten ihre Anlageentscheidungen zu treffen.
Dazu lanciert Swissquote, die führende Schweizer Online-Bank, heute den #DE30 Social Sentiment Index, der in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Social Media Lab der EPFL (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne) entwickelt wurde. Der Index fasst die in den sozialen Medien geäusserten Meinungen der Anleger und Händler zum deutschen Aktienindex DAX (Leitindex mit den 30 grössten Unternehmen) zusammen und wertet sie aus.
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The pace of economic growth has slowed significantly since the start of 2011 and the slowdown is expected to continue into the start of 2012, according to a survey of CEOs of small-to-medium-sized businesses. The Vistage CEO Confidence Index was 92.9 in the Q2 2011 survey, substantially below the 105.2 posted in Q1, and erasing all the gains recorded since 93.7 was registered in Q1 2010. Though declines were present in every major survey component, the largest losses were in evaluations of the overall economy. Rather than expecting a renewed economic downturn, the majority of CEOs anticipated a stagnating economy: growth too slow to support robust gains in employment or investment, and resulting in lower revenue and profit levels than previously forecast. Half of all firms put planned investments on hold due to the slowdown in economic growth.
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CEO confidence was up slightly in the third quarter, noting a slowing economic growth pace, but no evidence of a double dip recession, according to the Vistage CEO Confidence Index 3rd quarter results. Despite widespread recognition of the recent economic slowdown, CEOs were more confident in their firm’s ability to increase their revenues and profits in the year ahead. Yet, virtually every CEO (92%) expects rising employee health care costs, and 57% of all CEOs expect those cost increases to be more than 10%. Two-thirds of all CEOs said that without the extension of the Bush tax cuts their businesses would be harmed, and nearly half (46%) reported continued unfavorable credit market conditions. In response to a question about the upcoming elections, 62% of CEOs believe the Republicans will control the U.S. House of Representatives in January 2011.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/vistage/44998/
Small business CEOs expressed a remarkable resurgence of optimism both in the overall economy and for their own companies. The Vistage Confidence Index jumped to 106.3 in the 4th Quarter of 2010, after reporting 95.1 in the 3rd quarter, 94.4 in the 2nd quarter and 93.7 in the 1st quarter of this year. Of the 1,729 respondents in the Q4 Vistage CEO Confidence Index, 77% expect increased revenues and 63% foresee higher profits in their own companies.
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Two-thirds of all CEOs surveyed believe the economy has improved during the past year and half expect further gains during the year ahead. The Vistage CEO Confidence Index was 105.2 in the 1st quarter of 2011, slightly below 106.3 recorded in the prior quarter but well above the 93.7 in last year’s 1st quarter survey. CEO confidence has more than doubled since the recession low of 48.7 two years ago. However, the small decline reflects a renewed uncertainty about the impact of events in Japan and the Middle East on energy costs, consumer spending and inflation. Overall, the majority of CEOs still expect the recovery to continue and their own businesses to continue to grow.
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EnteroMedics Inc. (NASDAQ: ETRM) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved VBLOC® vagal blocking therapy, delivered via the Maestro® System, for the treatment of adult patients with obesity who have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of at least 40 to 45 kg/m2, or a BMI of at least 35 to 39.9 kg/m2 with a related health condition such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels, and who have tried to lose weight in a supervised weight management program within the past five years. The Maestro System is the first new medical device to be approved by the FDA for obesity in over ten years. EnteroMedics anticipates that the device will be available, on a limited basis, at select Bariatric Centers of Excellence in the U.S. this year. The Maestro System has received CE Mark and is listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods.
To view the Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7269351-enteromedics-fda-approval-vbloc-maestro-system-weight-loss-device/
Over the past six months UK small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have grown on average by six per cent despite the broader UK economy struggling, according to the latest SMB Index from HP.
HP’s survey of 1,000 SMBs, with between 1 and 50 employees shows that, compared to that of the previous six months, growth for UK SMBs has slowed slightly but optimism is still strong, with SMBs expecting to grow by up to 13 per cent over the next year. Optimism in the economy is also strong, with 66 per cent of SMBs optimistic about the year ahead. SMBs in Financial Services have grown the most (13 per cent), followed by Manufacturing (10 per cent). SMBs in Retail (4 per cent) and Professional Services (1 per cent) have seen the least growth. Nearly half of UK SMBs (48 per cent) are turning to social media to help grow their business and reach new audiences, with 56 per cent of sole traders recognising its value the most. However, although SMBs are finding social media beneficial for networking purposes (83 per cent), and as a mechanism for advertising (57 per cent), many SMBs are underestimating its true potential for business growth and lead generation.
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Today, Hotels.com®, the largest provider of lodging worldwide, released their biannual Hotel Price Index (HPITM ) illustrating an increase in average hotel room rates for the first time since the end of 2007. Despite the 2% increase, hotel room rates are still markedly lower than rates at the peak of the market. As the Hotels.com 2009 HPI predicted, 2010 continues to be another great year for great travel values.
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