Fertilizer and seed giant Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) today revised its third quarter and full year guidance above current consensus estimates and the shares are getting a nice boost on an otherwise bleak day…
It didn’t take long for Germany to respond to a report from the European Commission proposing that the European Stability Mechanism be empowered to lend directly to banks. From Market News International: The German…
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) today released traffic data for April showing that total passenger demand rose 6.1% year-over-year, with international traffic up 7.4% and domestic traffic up 3.9%. Freight traffic slowed by…
The executive branch of the European Union — the European Commission (EC) — is set to release a report today that recommends allowing the funds in the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to be used…
The three major US stock indexes opened higher this morning as European markets responded positively to reports that Greece is less likely to leave the eurozone. There was also speculation that China would add…
A story in today’s Taiwan-based Digitimes claims that some of China’s top solar panel makers are having trouble repaying their bank loans. LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) is the only firm mentioned by…
courtesy International Energy AgencyThe International Energy Agency (IEA) today released a special report in its World Energy Outlook series that anticipates an enormous boost in global unconventional natural gas production provided that “governments, industry…
The single most important word in world markets for base metals and steel is “China.” With the slow-motion economic recovery in the global economy, the expected 8% or so growth in Chinese GDP will…
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index fell from 68.7 in April to 64.9 in May, primarily due to a drop in the Expectations Index from 80.4 in April to 77.6 in May. The Present…
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) produced an average of 31.8 million barrels/day of crude in May, the cartel’s highest level of production since September of 2008 and about 2 million barrels/day above…
Today’s release of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices indicate that housing prices across the US are down -1.9% from March 2011 and down -2% for the first quarter of 2012 compared with the first…
The recent troubles at Patriot Coal Corp. (NYSE: PCX) have reflected the problems the entire coal mining industry faces in the US — the low cost of natural gas. Patriot, a 2007 spin-off from…
Canadian-based smartphone maker Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) is expected to fire about 2,000 employees as soon as the end of this week as the struggling company tries to save itself by cutting…
Today’s edition of the Closing Bell is being published shortly after 2:00 p.m. US markets are closed Monday to observe the Memorial Day holiday. We’ll resume our normal schedule next Tuesday. The three major…
Two years ago Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) introduced a tablet device it had named the ‘Cius’, which used the Android operating system from Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG). The7-inch device was targeted to cost…
The monthly mortgage report for April was released today by Freddie Mac. The report notes a rise of just 0.01% in delinquent mortgage payments for single-family homes and a rise of 0.03% on mortgages…
The Reuters/University of Michigan consumer survey for May is out and the index of consumer sentiment rose to 79.3, up from 76.4 in April and 74.3 in May 2011. Economists had been expecting a…
Anyone looking for a sad story to tell need search no further than the solar PV sector. Manufacturing over-capacity and lower government subsidies led to a price collapse of about -50% last year. Solar…
In a conference presentation earlier this week, Bill Simon, the CEO of US operations for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), made some comments about the 10 Walmart Express stores the company now operates. These…
Negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 — the US, the UK, France, China, Russia, and Germany — ended in failure yesterday. The six-nation team sought an end to Iran’s nuclear enrichment program in exchange…