ThinkstockShareholders of Swiss-based Glencore International have voted overwhelming to support the company’s $67 billion merger with miner Xstrata. At a meeting this morning, more than 99% of Glencore’s shareholders voted to support the deal.…
ThinkstockBrocade Communications Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BRCD) reported fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year 2012 earnings after markets closed today. For the quarter, the networking company posted adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.17 on revenues…
U.S. equity markets opened higher this morning following comments after Friday’s meeting between President Obama and Congressional leaders to discuss ways of dodging the fiscal cliff. Some were also expecting negotiations to begin in…
courtesy Facebook Inc.Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) has now denied that it is in talks with Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) — or any other company for that matter — regarding search partnership. TechCrunch reports that…
courtesy NintendoFor the first new game console in six years, the weekend’s U.S. launch of the Nintendo Wii U turned out to be solid if not spectacular. A new PlayStation 4 from Sony Corp.…
courtesy of Wal-Mart StoresWal-mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) announced this morning that its board of directors has approved a change to the payment date for the company’s fourth-quarter dividend. The new date is December…
ThinkstockIt’s make or break time for U.S. retailers as the Thanksgiving holiday rolls in this week and the shopping phenomena known as Black Friday and Cyber Monday follow along. Expectations for this holiday shopping…
courtesy of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.Retailing giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) has filed an unfair labor practices complaint against a union that the company says has been illegally supporting worker rallies at the company’s…
ThinkstockThe National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported this morning that existing home sales rose by 2.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.79 million units in October, compared with an downwardly revised 4.69…
ThinkstockFrance’s Total S.A. (NYSE: TOT) announced this morning that it has sold its 20% stake in an offshore Nigerian oil block to subsidiary of China Petrochemical Corp. (NYSE: SNP), or Sinopec, for $2.5 billion.…
ThinkstockLondon’s Telegraph newspaper yesterday carried a report based on unnamed sources that Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) were in discussions about how the two companies could work more closely together.…
ThinkstockTyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN) reported fiscal fourth-quarter 2012 adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.55 and $8.37 billion in revenues before markets opened this morning. In the same period a year ago,…
ThinkstockOne way to cushion the shareholders’ presumed fall of the fiscal cliff is to distribute some cash now, before the tax on dividends jumps. Westlake Chemical Corp. (NYSE: WLK) is the latest participant in…
ThinkstockLowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) reported third-quarter 2012 diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.35 and $12.1 billion in revenues before markets opened this morning. In the same period a year ago, the home…
U.S. equity markets opened flat this morning following not much in the way of data from either Asia or Europe. In Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants the European Central Bank to limit its…
ThinkstockIn an announcement that was telegraphed last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said today that JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) subsidiary J.P. Morgan Securities will pay $297 million to settle…
thinkstockPositive comments following a meeting this morning between President Obama and Congressional leaders from both political parties lifted equity prices after another morning of market doldrums. Republican leaders John Boehner and Mitch McConnell joined…
ThinkstockIn the third calendar quarter of 2012, the share of corporate bonds that were downgraded totaled 1.3% of issuances, flat with the share downgraded in the second quarter. The share that was upgraded, however,…
ThinkstockA shallow-water oil platform of the coast of Louisiana caught fire this morning and Houston TV station KHOU is reporting that two workers are dead and two more are missing. The U.S. Coast Guard…
ThinkstockThe U.S. Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has posted a $16.3 billion deficit at the end of the 2012 fiscal year and may need to draw funds from the U.S. Treasury for the first time…