Producing oil from the vast deposits of the Middle East is getting more expensive. A lot more expensive. Big oil companies like Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), BP plc (NYSE:…
MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) has acquired the Topaz solar far in southern California from First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR). The 550-megawatt solar PV installation…
By 2013, sales of new smartphones using the HTML5 standard in the phone’s browser will total 1 billion, up from 336 million this year. The recent decision by Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) to stop…
Stocks in homebuilders have been down so low for so long that almost anything look like up. Recent earnings releases have indicated that new orders are improving, but much of the improvement is tenuous…
Contrary to expectations of a drawdown of up to 5 million barrels, US commercial crude oil inventories rose by 1.3 million barrels last week, following growth of 3.9 million barrels the week before. The…
Once a company starts shooting itself in the foot it seems that it often forgets how to stop. The latest example is Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) which has been blocked by a…
The latest survey from Gallup on self-reported daily spending in the US shows that consumers are spending a bit more in November, $71/day, than they did in October, $70/day. In the past 12 months,…
Cost increases and flat cargo traffic are expected to cut airline profits in half in 2012, from $6.9 billion in 2011 to $3.5 billion in 2012. Profit margin is expected to fall from 1.2%…
If the recent CNBC survey of US holiday shoppers accurately portrays what these shoppers plan to spend this year, US retailers can expect a pretty good year. Those surveyed said they plan to spend…
Mining company Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE: ANR) has agreed to a total settlement payment of $209 million in connection with the explosion that killed 29 miners at the Upper Big Branch Mine in…
US stock futures are higher this morning on positive speculation that the Eurozone will reach an agreement on how to deal with the monetary union’s debt crisis. The European Central Bank is expected to…
The attorneys general of Nevada and California have agreed to co-operate in an investigation of of mortgage fraud and lender misconduct and not to be part of the ongoing settlement talks between lenders and…
Equities opened a little weaker this morning, but by 10:00 a.m. markets had turned slightly positive and have remained in positive territory for the rest of the day. The gain has not been huge,…
Talks in advance of Thursday’s EU summit meeting may yield another large bail-out fund for troubled Eurozone countries. In addition to the existing European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) of €440 billion, negotiators are also…
Saudi Arabia’s national oil company reported today that it had produced just over 10 million barrels/day of crude oil, the country’s highest production in more than 30 years. That’s 550,000 barrels/day more than the…
The latest version of the US Energy Information Administration’s monthly Short-term Energy Outlook was released today and there is some bad news and some good news. The bad news is that energy prices will…
Flickr, James SarmientoAfter a shaky start to the year, the for-profit college sector has pulled itself back up. With one exception, however, four of five stocks we looked at are still down for the…
But the share offer is for fans only. The Green Bay Packers are offering 250,000 shares priced at $250 each in an effort to raise part of the $143 million needed to renovate the…
There are several stocks trading more heavily than usual this morning, and also experiencing large gains or drops in share prices. These include Frontline Ltd. (NYSE: FRO), Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: OWW), Nathan’s Famous…
US conglomerate 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) today affirmed its full-year 2011 EPS guidance of $5.85-$5.95. Analysts are expecting 2011 EPS of $5.91. At the same time the company said it would post EPS of…