Small business confidence slips again

Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – Small business pessimism increased in June, according to the National Federation of Independent Business’s small-business optimism index.

The NFIB index slipped 0.1 point to 90.8 last month, which left it firmly in recession territory, the organization said.

Moreover, it was the fourth consecutive month that confidence among small businesses has fallen.

Although the earnings trend sub index remained unchanged at -24 percent in June, the sub index of expected business conditions in the next six months dropped by 6 percentage points to -11 percent. In addition, the expected higher real sales index fell 3 points to 0 percent.

The brighter spot was the hiring sub index, which rose by 4 points to 3 percent and the sub index covering hard-to-fill job openings rose by 3 points to 15 percent. That means the unemployment rate should drop back below 9 percent within the next few months, the NFIB said.

If that index is correct, that would be good news for the unemployed after the bad news that the jobless rate had increased from 9.1 percent to 9.2 percent in June.

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Take Advantage of SBA Lending Programs Including ‘Green Loans’ – By John King

There have been some positive developments with Small Business Administration (SBA) loan programs and hoteliers can now take advantage of this financing alternative.

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New Internet Business Offers Garden Accent and Decor Products for the Weekend and Professional Gardener

Bonita Springs, FL, May 27, 2011 –(PR.com)– The importance of a place to escape for a calm, relaxing and peaceful retreat with nature whether the outdoor living area is a patio, lanai or garden has been proven by experts to help reduce stress. Garden Pottery and Fountains offers high quality, reasonably priced garden decor items [...]

This article ( New Internet Business Offers Garden Accent and Decor Products for the Weekend and Professional Gardener ) was originally developed by and is property of American Banking News . Checkout American Banking News for up-to-date banking news and peer to peer lending news.

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Spring Home-Buying Season Hits Sluggish Start In Greater Hartford

Get Business Mobile Text Alerts : Text BIZ To 37798 The spring home-buying season – traditionally the busiest of the year – is off to a slow start in Greater Hartford, which doesn’t bode well for a broad-based housing recovery in the area this year.

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Santander secures £150 million EIB funding for small business

11/05/2011 03:22 (00:27 minutes ago) The FINANCIAL — Santander is further enhancing support to SMEs after securing its third tranche of funding from the European Investment Bank, enabling it to provide discounted loan rates to qualifying businesses. The

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HSBC warns lending could be jeopardised if banks are separated

HSBC has privately warned that its UK corporate lending business could be seriously jeopardised by the ring-fencing approach being considered by the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) and has delayed its decision on leaving London by 12 months as a result.

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Cable blasts bank ‘deceit’ on lending

Banks are misleading the public about how much money they are lending to small businesses, Business Secretary Vince Cable has declared

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A Dumb Mistake Or A Smart Business Decision?

Although I’m no fan of the behavior of some of the large mortgage loan servicers, I thought some of the glee that some commentators took in what was spun as a monumental screw-up by MERS and/or US Bank, the trustee…

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Business to business lending fell as payment terms deteriorate

Business to business lending fell in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, according to an analysis of trade credit trends by Dun & Bradstreet. The study also found that deteriorating terms make executives nervous about extending credit to their customers.

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Arrival of Continental Resources expected to boost downtown housing, office market, restaurants and retail

BY STEVE LACKMEYER slackmeyer@opubco.com Downtown business owners and developers say they expect increased business when Continental Resources moves it headquarters from Enid to Oklahoma City in 2012. Read more on NewsOK.com

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Arrival of Continental Resources expected to boost downtown housing, office market, restaurants and retail

BY STEVE LACKMEYER slackmeyer@opubco.com Downtown business owners and developers say they expect increased business when Continental Resources moves it headquarters from Enid to Oklahoma City in 2012. Read more on NewsOK.com

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Virginia companies aid Japan

A number of companies doing business in Virginia are lending a hand in recovery efforts in Japan, Virginia Business reported. Among those pitching in are Arlington-based Rosetta Stone, Norfolk …

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Udall introduces MBL bill in Senate

A bill introduced Tuesday in the Senate to increase the member business lending cap for credit unions could bring 140,000 new jobs and $13 billion of new small business lending into the economy, according to updated figures from CUNA. The economic benefits, CUNA underscores, come at no cost to taxpayers.

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NEW: MBL bill introduced in the Senate

NEW: WASHINGTON (UPDATED 3/8/11, 6:15 p.m. ET)-A bill introduced today in the Senate to increase the member business lending cap for credit unions could bring 140,000 new jobs and $13 billion of new small business lending into the economy, according to updated figures from the Credit Union National Association (CUNA). The economic benefits, CUNA underscores, come at no cost to taxpayers.

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Unions lend support to downtown LA stadium plan

Representatives of unions, community groups and minority-owned business organizations are lending their support to plans for an NFL stadium that sports and entertainment firm AEG wants to build in downtown Los Angeles. Read comments

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