Courtesy Volkswagen AGSeveral car companies posted strong sales in June, and for the first half, but two manufacturers have turned out to be losers. As the industry recovers sharply, neither has managed to market…
courtesy of Leonid Mamchenkov, via WikimediaJust over a decade ago, Sony Ericsson was one of the hottest cell phone makers in the world. Similarly, Cingular was one of the most popular wireless carriers. And…
courtesy Dell Inc.The battle between founder Michael Dell and activist investor Carl Icahn for the control of Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) suddenly has moved in Icahn’s favor. For the first time since Michael Dell…
ThinkstockEgypt is not much of an oil-producing nation. However, unrest there has caused oil prices to rise above $100 for the first time in months. Perhaps there is a fear that unrest in Egypt…
ThinkstockThe worst of the recession in Europe may have ended, or at least the economy there is not deteriorating as fast as it has been. Markit issued its latest purchasing managers index (PMI) data…
ThinkstockS&P must believe that a new credit crisis is on the way, or at least there is a reasonably good chance there could be. It hit several of the world’s largest banks with downgrades,…
ThinkstockLarge banks often use greater regulation by the government, particularly the Federal Reserve, as a reason to slow the pace at which they give loans. These banks may be right. When risk factors are…
ThinkstockChina’s purchasing managers index (PMI) held about even last month. It was good news, even if only relatively. A growing number of economists have become convinced that China’s exports would collapse due to weak…
July 2, 2013: U.S. equity markets opened a bit lower this morning following yet another ultimatum to Greece to prove that it can pay up or else no more loans. There was a time…
ThinkstockHistorically, health care spending among developed nations has grown considerably each year. However, beginning in 2010, spending has flattened. Based on figures published last week by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),…
bitcoin.orgThey say that there is an ETF strategy for just about anything. Now that Bitcoin has gotten a lot of coverage there is news that the famed Winklevoss twins, made famous by a legal…
ThinkstockAs more and more U.S. consumers purchase mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, more of them are using the devices to participate in the all-American pastime: shopping. At the end of the first quarter…
ThinkstockShares of Linn Energy LLC (NASDAQ: LINE) and its subsidiary LinnCo LLC (NASDAQ: LNCO) are tumbling today after an announcement last night that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is launching a “private,…
We have been seeing very strong auto sales in America for the month of June. If you read through the headlines these were by large broad-based gains. Some were record sales ever for certain…
ThinkstockThe storm of equity selling that followed the June meeting of the FOMC has brought out the troops (Fed presidents mainly) to clear up what Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke meant when he said that…