The European Central Bank (ECB) this morning announced that it would leave its benchmark interest rate at 0.75%. ECB President Mario Draghi also said in his monthly press conference that the proposed bond-buying program…
In its report today on September retail sales, Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) announced that beginning in January 2013, the company would no longer report monthly sales figures, including same-store sales: This decision is based…
Several retailers are announcing September same-store sales today, and the reports are generally good. Gains were not as large as in August, but are providing a positive outlook for the coming holiday shopping season.…
In a brief filing with the SEC, Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) said that costs associated with a previously announced staff reduction at newly acquired Motorola Mobility would be 9% higher than originally planned. The…
In an exclusive interview on NBC this morning, Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the company reached a total of 1 billion active users worldwide as of September 14. Zuckerberg also…
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported this morning that its global food price index rose to 216 in September, up 1.4% (3 points) from August. The rise is attributed to higher…
The Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England this morning announced that it will leave its policy lending rate at 0.5% and that it will continue its asset purchase program at the current…
Marriott International Inc. (NYSE: MAR) reported fiscal third quarter 2012 diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.44 on revenue of $2.73 billion. In the same period a year ago, the hotel operator reported adjusted…
The three major U.S. stock indexes opened slightly higher this morning following a refusal by Spain’s prime minister to seek an immediate bailout and low readings on eurozone PMI (more coverage here). In Asia,…
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today was denied a motion for summary judgement in a patent case file by Vringo Inc. (NYSEMKT: VRNG). The denial means that the judge found that there are issues of…
It’s been a good year for refining stocks. Six large independent refiners are posting 12-month gains of between about 40% and 140%. All six — Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO), Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:…
The reverse merger agreement between T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) lit up the board yesterday before the terms were announced. Not so much today, though. MetroPCS shares are down more than…
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its weekly petroleum status report this morning. U.S. commercial crude inventories fell by 500,000 barrels last week, bringing the total U.S. commercial crude inventory to 364.7 million…
Gallup’s September Job Creation Index indicated that nongovernmental jobs are being created at the lowest rate since February. The index score of +21 is down from +23 in August and well below the +25…
Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) reported a fiscal fourth-quarter 2012 adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) loss of $0.44 on revenue of $2.1 billion. In the same period a year ago, the fertilizer and seed…
Same-store sales at Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) dropped 7.8% in September, compared with sales in September 2011, from $5.94 billion to $5.48 billion. Customer traffic fell 2.3% while the average sales ticket rose by…
The board of directors of MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) has approved a merger with T-Mobile USA, a division of Deutsche Telekom AG, according to a report from Reuters. The report cites the Financial…
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly report on mortgage applications this morning, noting an increase of 16.6% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index compared with last week’s total. Applications for refinancing…
Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO) reported fiscal fourth-quarter 2012 adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.75 on revenue of $2.36 billion. In the same period a year ago, the discount retailer reported…
Petroleo Brasileiro SAThe CEO of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), or Petrobras, says the company is “very near to closing a deal” for the sale of some $6 billion worth of assets in the…