New orders received by U.S. factories rose in February, breaking a six-month streak of declines and bolstering hopes the economy may be beginning to crawl out of the depths of a recession.
The Commerce Department reported that factory orders rose 1.8 percent in February after a revised 3.5 percent drop in January, initially reported as a 1.9 percent decline. Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, seen as a measure of business confidence, jumped 7.1 percent after a steep 12.3 percent drop in January.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits surged to a nearly 26-1/2 year high last week, data showed on Thursday, indicating that the pace of job losses was yet to peak. At the same time, the number of laid-off workers collecting state unemployment benefits jumped to a record high in March, the Labor Department said, as the recession now in its 16th month makes it tough to find a new job.New applications for state jobless insurance benefits rose 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 669,000 in the week ended March 28, the highest since the week ending October 2, 1982, from an upwardly revised 657,000 the week before.

Vestin Realty Mortgage II, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRTB – News), a real estate investment trust (REIT), announced that it was informed by Michael V. Shustek, the Company’s President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of its Board of Directors, that Mr. Shustek has amended the trading plan he originally adopted on April 30, 2007, pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Plan”). Pursuant to the Plan, Mr. Shustek purchases our shares in the open market through independent broker-dealers on specified dates. The amendment changes the dates on which purchases will be executed. The amendment to the Plan is scheduled to become effective on April 6, 2009. The Plan expires on June 24, 2009.

Vestin Realty Mortgage II, Inc. currently has approximately 13.8 million shares of common stock outstanding. The closing price of the stock on Nasdaq on March 31, 2009 was $2.39.

Community Bancorp (NASDAQ: CBON – News), the holding company for Community Bank of Nevada and Community Bank of Arizona, on April 1, 2009, filed a Notification of Late Filing on Form 12b-25 with the Securities and Exchange Commission to report that it was not able to file its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008.

As previously announced in its Form 8-K of February 6, 2009, the Company disclosed that it is in the process of completing its study of goodwill impairment and assessing the appropriate level of the allowance for loan losses in light of challenging market conditions. The Company has not concluded the goodwill impairment study, and the assessment of the appropriate level of the allowance for loan losses has not been completed. Therefore, the Company is still in the process of completing its financial statements for 2008 and is still unable to report on its final results for the year.

The Company expects that it will report a loss for the year ended December 31, 2008, compared to net income of $20.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2007, report a provision for loan losses higher than the amount previously reported in regulatory reports and incur a charge to operations for a valuation allowance on deferred taxes. However, the Company is unable to report on its final results for 2008 until the audit of its consolidated financial statements has been completed. Read the rest of this entry »

Construction Spending fell for a fifth straight month in February as another big drop in home building offset a slight rebound in nonresidential construction.

The Commerce Department reported today that February construction activity dropped 0.9 percent, better than the 1.5 percent decline economists expected. Total construction has been falling since October. The level of activity is at the slowest pace in nearly five years.

The weakness in February reflected a 4.3 percent drop in housing construction, which pushed the level down to the lowest in 11 years.

Station Casinos Inc. said it posted a bigger fourth-quarter loss as results were hurt by lower casino revenue, hefty charges to write down assets and expenses to develop new gaming opportunities.

The casino operator posted a bigger loss of $3.19 billion, compared with a loss of $437.4 million a year earlier. Results in the most recent quarter included $3.39 billion in write-downs and other charges, including costs to write down assets, investments in joint ventures and land held for development to fair value. Total operating expenses soared to $3.66 billion from $734.8 million, which included $1.3 million in costs to develop new gaming opportunities, $3.1 million in lease termination costs, and $2 million in severance expenses.

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, revenue declined 19 percent to $289.7 million from $357.5 million a year ago. Casino revenue slipped to $206.4 million from $255.6 million, and food and beverage sales declined to $52.1 million from $63.8 million.

For the year, the company posted a wider loss of $3.27 billion, compared with a loss of $395.5 million. Revenue slipped 10 percent to $1.3 billion from $1.45 billion.

Last month, Boyd Gaming Corp. said it wanted to acquire some or all of Station Casinos’ assets. Boyd had offered to pay $950 million for most of Station’s assets, except for those secured by certain loans, but Station Casinos turned down the takeover offer. Instead, Station Casinos extended its deadline to work through a plan to restructure its debt.