There are several stocks trading more heavily than usual this morning, and also experiencing large gains or drops in share prices. These include First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP), Silicon…
Thin-film solar panel maker First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) has conceded the inevitable. The company this morning lowered its sales and profit outlook for this year, announced it would cut 100 jobs, and offered…
Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) has placed the first firm order for 150 new airplanes from Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA). The airlines has ordered 150 of Boeing’s latest model of the venerable 737, the…
Wrapping up a top-level economic policy-setting meeting, Chinese officials have said that the country will maintain its 2011 goals into the coming year. Those goals are what the government calls “prudent” monetary policy, a…
The cost of imported goods in the US rose 0.7% in November, the first hike in four months. Fuel prices led the increase, rising 3.6% in the month, yet the overall news on fuel…
A new smartphone from Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) using the Windows Phone operating system from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) is reportedly being tested by the two largest US wireless carriers for use on 4G…
OPEC oil ministers are meeting in Vienna today and there is an expectation that they will set new production quotas to match the cartel’s current production levels. The existing quota sets production at 24.52…
US stock futures appear to be looking for news, either good or bad, before setting a direction. Yesterday’s announcement by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke that nothing would change was expected, but some had been…
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has been published home sales data for years, and discovered in late 2010 that some of the data was at least unreliable. Since then, the group has been…
Stocks opened firmly higher this morning and the DJIA rose by more than 130 points in the first hour of trading. The dollar gained strength against the euro putting more enthusiasm into the market.…
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) canceled recruiting visits to Harvard and Brown Universities last week following an incident in late November in which protesters tried to get into a recruiting session during the…
Natural gas pipeline and processing company MarkWest Energy Partners LP (NYSE: MWE) will pay about $2 billion to private equity firm Energy & Minerals Group for the firm’s 49% stake in MarkWest Liberty Midstream…
Crude oil prices are rising sharply today following reports that Iran is preparing for naval maneuvers near the Strait of Hormuz, the 34-mile wide chokepoint leading to the Persian Gulf. WTI crude is currently…
Job openings declined by 110,000 to 3.27 million in October according to the latest report from the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. The slight downturn defied the upward trend in job…
Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) has said the its Kindle Fire is the best-selling item on its web site and it wants to give customers a chance to order the device as close to Christmas Day…
There are several stocks trading more heavily than usual this morning, and also experiencing large gains or drops in share prices. These include LiveDeal Inc. (NASDAQ: LIVE), Synovis Life Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SYNO), Seaspan…
This morning’s report on retail sales from the US Census Bureau could dampen some of the enthusiasm that’s been swirling around holiday season sales. Retail sales, including autos, gasoline, and building materials rose 0.2%…
Electronics retailer Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) tried something different this year to boost its Black Friday sales. The store spent much more on promoting its goods and opened its stores at midnight…
While barely a fraction of the size of the market for smartphones and tablets, the internet-connected TV market is growing, and — surprise — Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is the market share leader. Competitors…
US stock futures are up this morning as traders following a better than expected sale of Spanish bonds, and rising investor and analyst confidence in the German economy. US retail sales, which are reported…