American movie 'The Hunger Games' has become a blockbuster hit, earning $155 million on its opening weekend. Its worldwide sales reached a total of $214 million. To cash the fame of the movie, the companies are producing merchandize and apparel supporting the movie.

As the movie becomes more popular day-by-day,  everything from pillowcases to laptop decals to T-shirts supporting District 12’s heroes are being sold. The training shirt sells for $59.99 and the cost arena jacket is worth $149.99 on Amazon.com. 'Hunger Games' themed watches,  the China Glaze Capitol Colours collection, and the Mockingjay pin worn by Katniss in the arena are also in demand.

The game is now available for free on app store. The game has a section where you can buy tickets, watch the trailer and become a citizen before going to see the movie. Few gyms in Philadelphia and New York have created a workout routine, which involves a series of character-driven exercises.

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Original Source: Hunger Games

As compared to the previous month, consumer confidence slipped in March due to rising gas prices. According to the forecasters, the consumer confidence index will slip to 70.0 in March, from 70.8 in February.

On Monday, the nationwide average for a gallon of gas reached $3.90. Economists are worried as they think rising oil prices may force consumers to pull back their spending.

As the economic outlook was improving, February’s reading reached 72. It might reach 90 in March indicating a healthy economy. In February 2009, the consumer confidence hit all-time low at 25.3. Since then, it has made a fitful recovery. Improvement in the job market is the key factor behind boosting the consumer confidence. The unemployment rate has slipped to 8.3 percent.

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Original Source: Consumer Confidence

International Bank of Chicago has completed the acquisition of certain assets and liabilities and the banking operations of Premier Bank. The deal was closed in a FDIC-assisted transaction. Premier Bank, which presently operates two locations in Illinois, had nearly $269 million in total assets and $199 million in total deposits as of December 31. 

This is the second deal for the buyer, which previously bought the Des Plaines-based All American Bank in October 2011. On the transaction, John F Purtill from Meltzer, Purtill & Stelle Inc was the buyer's legal advisor, while Eugene B Katz from Hovde Financial Inc was the financial advisor. 
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Original Source: Premier Bank

Early this Friday, gold futures bounced due to weak US dollar. Moreover, gold for April delivery rose $6.50 to $1,649 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Moreover, May Silver jumped 29.5 cents to reach $31.64 an ounce. The euro also gained from $1.3197 of late Thursday to $1.3231.

A soft dollar can support gold in two ways by making all dollar-denominated commodities cheaper in other currencies and encouraging gold purchases as currency hedge against greenback softness. On Thursday, gold plunged along with several kind of commodities following weak manufacturing surveys in China and the euro zone risk concerns.

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Original Source : Comex Gold

NEW YORK, March 1 (FinanceEnquiry.com) - Sunpeaks Ventures has announced the completion of the acquisition of the value-added marketer of scarcely found specialized drugs, Healthcare Distribution Specialists LLC (HDS). Besides the drug marketing attribute, HDS also owns and markets Clotamin, a specialized over-the-counter multivitamin designed exclusively for patients and Warfarin, a popular blood thinner.

Sunpeaks is very excited by this acquisition and marks its advent in the hard-to-find and specialty drug distribution sector. It expects to gain considerable market by growing awareness of Clotamin and expanding its role as procurement expediter and special purchasing agent.

Apart from the acquisition of HDS, Sunpeaks also announced its association with Anslow & Jaclin, amongst the top ten law firms according to "The PIPEs Report", as its lead legal counsel to advise and counsel on new and sophisticated corporate and securities transactions, self-filings, reverse mergers, PIPEs, corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions news .
 

New York, March 1 (FinanceEnquiry.com) - Gas price has risen 45 cents since January 1 and is at an all-time high for this time of the year, an average of $3.73 per gallon. The question that is tormenting everyone is whether the surging gas price will destabilize the economy. 

However, economists argue that the situation this year is much better than early last year when a similar jump in prices stifled the economic growth and household budgets. As such, they say that the situation, so far, does not warrant any fears for economic derailment. They say that the economy is improving and as such even with the rise in gas price, other spending will not be restricted. However, if the gas price goes beyond its record of $4.11 a gallon, the situation would be worrisome.

 Economists are of the opinion that with the rise in price of gas witnessed so far, the economy can easily withstand the impact. The reasons being put forward by them include improving job situation, lowering of unemployment claims, an improving economy as the Dow has crossed 13,000 and the housing market is steadier than before, and consumer confidence reaching the highest level in a year.  Economists believe that if the gas price reaches $4 a gallon, the consumers will feel the pinch, though they will still keep spending.