When the proposed $90 billion merger between Glencore International and Xstrata was first announced, the seeds of its failure were first planted. Glencore already owned 34% of Xstrata and could not vote those shares…
The three major U.S. stock indexes opened lower this morning and bounced around the flat line for most of the day. It seems that everyone is waiting to hear what Ben Bernanke has to…
Social media company Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP) has been a success story since its IPO in March. The shares went out at $15 and more than doubled to near $32 before beginning a slide…
Since the end of 2011 prices for natural gas liquids (NGLs) have fallen sharply from about 65% of the WTI crude price to below 50% of the WTI price in the second quarter. The…
courtesy AOL Inc.There are a lot of ways to keep share prices rising and stockholders happy. AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) has chosen the direct way: pay them off. The special dividend of $5.15/share, for…
As with everything related to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), the recent kerfuffle over a change at the company’s highly successful retails stores has generated a significant amount of sound and fury. And it is…
In our report on short interest in casino stocks, we noted a drop in short interest at one company that makes gaming machines, International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT). In addition to slot machines, IGT…
Steelmaker Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: SCHN) announced this morning that it would fire 300 workers in a restructuring the company said will save $25 million annually. The restructuring is expected to be completed…
The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for June rose sharply compared with the May index and house prices were higher on an annual basis as well. The national composite rose 1.2% for the second quarter…
Computer printer maker Lexmark International Inc. (NYSE: LXK) announced today that it will leave the inkjet printer business. The company expects to eliminate its inkjet development by the end of 2013 and to exit…
When it comes to making investment decisions among households with at least $3 million in assets to invest, more than 75% of men believe they are better qualified to decide than their spouses. Only…
The U.S. national debt as of last Friday was $15.975 trillion. During the month of August, the national debt has risen by about $68 billion. In the month of July, the debt rose $77…
U.S. rare earth minerals miner Molycorp Inc. (NYSE: MCP) announced after markets closed today that it had begun production at its Project Phoenix concentrate facilities in Mountain Pass, California. The company’s president/CEO said: e…
The three major U.S. stock indexes opened flat to higher this morning but picked up some buying steam after the first hour or so of trading. In Europe the president of Germany’s Bundesbank said…
Retail sales have been soft since early summer, and August doesn’t appear to be a get-well month for retailers either. Research firm Retail Metrics projects that August sales will rise just 1.7% compared to…
The president of the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank, Sandra Pianalto, gave a speech today that pretty much sums up the recent actions taken by the FOMC, of which she is a voting member. In…
The chemicals industry is not ordinarily thought of as action central, but there have been some recent moves, including one today, that are stirring things up. Two private equity firms, First Reserve Capital and…
In a speech in Hong Kong, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans laid out his current thinking on the U.S. economy. The money quote comes in his final two sentences: I don’t think we should…
Plenty of action on the merger and acquisition front today, with founder Richard Schulze getting an okay from the board of Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) to conduct his due diligence; Hertz Global…
With the exception of Chesapeake, which is seen as primarily a natural gas company with lots of problems, the oil and gas firms are not heavily shorted. Nobody really thinks the price of oil…