ThinkstockThe benchmark 10-year Treasury note closed 2012 at the lowest yield level in decades, even though yields rose slightly following President Obama’s news conference announcement of a possible agreement on a plan to avoid…
thinkstockCanada’s potash marketing and trading company, Canpotex Ltd., said today that it has signed an agreement with a subsidiary of China’s Sinofert for 1 million tons of potash in the first half of 2013.…
ThinkstockSome of the biggest business stories of the past year drew the most Internet search traffic to the newsmakers, which is really no big surprise. Whether just for curiosity or for help in making…
ThinkstockLow prices for natural gas have led to lower demand for coal as a fuel for electricity generation and to wider margins for chemical products makers. Now it looks like the U.S. steel industry…
ThinkstockIn its monthly report on manufacturing activity in Texas, the Dallas Federal Reserve reported today that its general activity index rose sharply, from a reading of -2.8 in November to 6.8 in December. The…
courtesy Ford Motor Co.In a display of confidence about its fourth calendar quarter sales, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) yesterday announced that its Ford Focus nameplate is the best-selling car in the world, with…
ThinkstockThe holiday shopping season got off to a fast start, but concluded with a whimper and not the anticipated bang. It appears that the booming start pulled sales forward and retailers didn’t do enough…
ThinkstockIn a new year’s message, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned the country that its economic climate will be “more difficult” in 2013. Her warning seems to contradict that of the country’s finance minister,…
Following the killing of 26 people, including 20 children, in Newtown, Conn., the renewed calls for control of semiautomatic weapons known as assault rifles, and large magazines for these weapons, have led to booming…
ThinkstockRatings agency Standard & Poor’s has cut its ratings on debt for ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) from BBB to BBB- following the company’s announcement that it would finance its $6.8 billion acquisition of…
ThinkstockFearful of the consequences of milk prices rising to $8 a gallon, U.S. House and Senate conferees have agreed to extend the 2008 Farm Bill for another year. Had a deal not been reached,…
ThinkstockA group of private equity firms, including The Carlyle Group L.P. (NASDAQ: CG), announced yesterday that the consortium would acquire investment advising and banking firm Duff & Phelps Corp. (NYSE: DUF) for $15.55 a…
ThinkstockSpain’s largest utility, Iberdrola S.A., has sold off about €850 million of assets so far in 2012, out of planned sales of €2 billion by the end of 2014. Today the Spanish firm said…
thinkstockWith the average price of Brent crude in 2012 pointed at a record high of $111.50 a barrel, it is probably no surprise that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, aka OPEC, hauled in…
U.S. equity markets opened about lower this morning, and couldn’t catch a bid all day. The impending fiscal cliff dominated sentiment in Europe as well as the U.S. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed out…
courtesy of BlackberryWhen Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) and Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) reached a settlement in a patent infringement lawsuit charging RIM with infringing on Nokia intellectual property, no dollar value was…
Thinkstock The International Longshoremen’s Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance have agreed to extend contract negotiations for 30 days, thereby averting a strike scheduled to begin December 30th. The main issue in dispute were…
ThinkstockThe US Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its weekly petroleum status report this morning. US commercial crude inventories decreased by 600,000 barrels last week, bringing the total US commercial crude inventory to 371.1 million…
thinkstockThe U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) today reported the U.S. natural gas stocks declined by 72 billion cubic feet last week, slightly less than the expected decrease of 74 billion cubic feet. Natural gas…
ThinkstockThe National Association of Realtors (NAR) this morning released its data on pending home sales in November. The index rose 1.7% from a downwardly revised 104.6 in October to 106.4, and it is 9.8%…