ThinkstockAl Jazeera bought Current TV, the failed cable channel started by Al Gore and an army of optimists. Likely the Qatar-headquartered media company paid nothing for the U.S.-based one. It may have absorbed some…
courtesy of NetflixChina’s services index rises to 56.1 in December, a sign of healthy expansion. (Reuters) Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) tests a new iPhone and iOS 7. (Reuters) A court rejects an Apple suit…
Frank Golhen, via Wikimedia CommonsDecember marked the five-year anniversary of the official beginning of the Great Recession — the most severe economic contraction the United States has experienced since the Great Depression. The recession…
U.S. equity markets opened sharply higher this morning following approval last night from the U.S. House of Representatives of a bill that preserves some tax cuts, eliminates others, and basically kicks the can down…
ThinkstockWarren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) subsidiary MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. has acquired the 579-megawatt Antelope Valley solar projects from SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) for a total price of up to $2.5 billion.…
ThinkstockRevenue rose to $35 billion at the Chinese special administrative region of Macau in 2012, up 13.5% for the year after posting a record rise of nearly 20% in December. Predictions of a downturn…
Any tax legislation worth the name carries with it a host of hangers on that represent special gifts to special interests. The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 is no different. Here is a…
ThinkstockUrban experts have a sure-fire way of telling whether a neighborhood has turned the corner from dowdy to prosperous — it’s called the Starbucks test. “You’re probably well past up-and-coming once a Starbucks moves…
ThinkstockRetailers do not appear to be headed for uniformly upbeat sales increases in December. Research firm Retail Metrics has dropped its forecast for a same-store sales increase by another 10 basis points this morning,…
ThinkstockOn a day when exuberance — either rational or irrational, who knows? — is ruling equity prices, rare earths miner Molycorp Inc. (NYSE: MCP) is surging. The company, which has had its troubles in…
ThinkstockThe Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported this morning that its manufacturing survey rose to 50.7% in December, up 1.2% from November’s reading of 49.5%. The rise is only the third in the past…
ThinkstockThe U.S. Census Bureau reported this morning that construction spending in November fell by 0.3%, to an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of $866 billion, from a revised estimate of $868.2 billion from October.…
ThinkstockResearch firm Markit Economics reported that the final U.S. purchasing manager’s index (PMI) rose from 52.8 in November to 54 in December, the highest index reading in seven months. The final reading was somewhat…
ThinkstockNow that the United States has dodged the fiscal cliff, investors are expecting at least a boomlet in manufacturing and production. That means more energy and more basic materials. Coal and steel stocks are…
ThinkstockLast night’s agreement on a fiscal cliff deal is lifting the commodities markets this morning, especially for crude oil. Traders are reacting to the now-lessened chance of a global recession led by severe cutbacks…