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Posts related to ‘Economy’

The Force: Star Wars Franchise Worth Over $30 Billion and Growing

Posted: February 10, 2012 at 4:17 pm

24/7 Wall St. has decided to calculate the total value of the Star Wars franchise ahead of the release of the 3D film "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" and while ...
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2011 Trade Deficit Hits 3-Year High, Over $550 Billion

Posted: February 10, 2012 at 8:47 am

The Commerce Department has released its international trade data for the month of December.  Why on earth this is not just called the Trade Deficit is a mystery.  We have ...
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Ugly Shoes Empire Expanding: Crocs Goes Into New Merchandise Territory (CROX)

Posted: February 9, 2012 at 9:46 am

Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) is going into many new horizons with its brand.  It almost sounds impossible if you are not a fan of the brand.  Many people love Crocs, ...
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Weekly Jobless Claims Look Good, But With Underlying Mixed Data

Posted: February 9, 2012 at 8:38 am

The Labor Department has just given its newest report on Weekly Jobless Claims and the news is heading more and more in the right direction.  The new rate is down ...
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Valuation Reality Check In Whole Foods (WFM, KR, SWY)

Posted: February 8, 2012 at 5:56 pm

Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) may have posted a 33% gain to earnings and it may still have a lot of growth ahead of it.  The reality is that ...
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Political Fodder… Private Equity Firms Are Hiring!

Posted: February 8, 2012 at 9:55 am

Private equity firms are bad and evil because they fire workers to juice profits for billionaires who get to pay low tax rates!  Is that the right logic?  What if ...
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State Employment — The Rich Get Richer

Posted: February 8, 2012 at 6:46 am

There has been some hope as unemployment improves nationally that the weakest job markets would outpace the stronger ones. Theses markets would be “catching up” as the tide lifts the entire ...
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Should Banks Have Overdraft Fees? (JPM, ZION, BAC, CBSH, WFC)

Posted: February 7, 2012 at 3:48 pm

While not breaking news at this point, there is something that is front and center in banking when it comes to overdraft fees.  To many consumers, overdraft fees are simply ...
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States That Believe in the Recovery (and Those That Do Not)

Posted: February 7, 2012 at 6:52 am

Americans remained pessimistic about the economy last year. Confidence has improved recently, reaching its highest levels since last spring, but has fallen from -28 in 2010 to -37 in 2011, according ...
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Fed Fund Futures Calling For December Rate Hike… In 2013

Posted: February 3, 2012 at 10:54 am

Fed Funds Futures are not widely used by Joe Public, and much of the public may not even understand or know what these are.  The layman explanation is that they ...
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iShares Launching Commodity Production ETFs To Take Share (BLK, VEGI, MOO, FILL, DIG, PICK, XME, RING, GDX, SVLP, SIL)

Posted: February 3, 2012 at 10:33 am

They say there is an ETF for just about any investing strategy and just about any sector.  Today, there are five new ETFs hitting the market from BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) ...
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ISM Data Rocking Bond Yields Higher After Jobs Data (TLT, TBT)

Posted: February 3, 2012 at 10:14 am

The Institute for Supply Management has issued its reading for January non-manufacturing and the data is strong.  Very strong.  At 56.8, this is the best reading in almost a ...
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Solid Employment Gains Slashing Unemployment Ahead of Fed Schedule

Posted: February 3, 2012 at 8:38 am

There was a huge surprise from the Labor Department this morning to the upside.  The non-farm payrolls grew by a whopping 243,000 and that was far higher than almost all ...
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The Facebook Halo-Effect Lifts All Social Players (SOCL, IPG, GS, MSFT, LNKD, ZNGA, FFN, GSVC)

Posted: February 2, 2012 at 6:48 pm

The social media hype around the Facebook IPO is driving many shares in the sector of online social media.  Some of the Halo-effect may not even be deserved, and this ...
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Baltic Dry: The Death Of An Index (SEA, DRYS, SFL, NAT)

Posted: February 2, 2012 at 1:20 pm

Just what does a cratering Baltic Dry Index mean?  Frankly, it looks and acts as though it is signaling the next recession is here already rather than signaling that it ...
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