ADP Reports Job Growth More Than Expected
ThinkstockU.S. private employers added 188,000 new jobs in the month of June, according to today’s report from ADP. That is significantly better than the revised total of 134,000 in May and better than a…
All Work
Paul Ausick
Chesapeake Energy Sells More Assets
ThinkstockSo far in 2013, Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) has fired its founder and sold off about $3.6 billion more in oil and natural gas assets as the company tries to get on a…
Employers Cut 260,000 Jobs in First Half of 2013
ThinkstockThe number of jobs cut in the first six months of this year total 258,932, according to the latest report from outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas. The total is 8.5% lower than the…
Rising Mortgage Loan Rates Weigh on Refinancing, New Purchases
ThinkstockThe Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly report on mortgage applications this morning, noting a drop of 11.7% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index, following a drop of 3% for the previous…
Closing Bell for Tuesday on Wall Street: Markets Can’t Hold Early Gains, Close Lower
July 2, 2013: U.S. equity markets opened a bit lower this morning following yet another ultimatum to Greece to prove that it can pay up or else no more loans. There was a time…
Mobile Shopping Is Ramping Up in the U.S.
ThinkstockAs more and more U.S. consumers purchase mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, more of them are using the devices to participate in the all-American pastime: shopping. At the end of the first quarter…
Linn Energy Shares Tumbling on SEC Inquiry
ThinkstockShares of Linn Energy LLC (NASDAQ: LINE) and its subsidiary LinnCo LLC (NASDAQ: LNCO) are tumbling today after an announcement last night that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is launching a “private,…
NY Fed’s Dudley: Just Wait ‘til Next Year
ThinkstockThe storm of equity selling that followed the June meeting of the FOMC has brought out the troops (Fed presidents mainly) to clear up what Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke meant when he said that…
Economic Confidence at All-Time High: Gallup
ThinkstockAmericans’ confidence in the U.S. economy nearly matched its highest monthly reading since 2008 in June, posting a reading of -8 compared with May reading of -7, according to the latest data from Gallup.…
GM Automobile Sales at Five-Year High
courtesy of General MotorsAutomaker General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) said today that June automobile sales rose 6.5% this year, compared with June of 2012. The company sold a total of 264,843 vehicles in June,…
SanDisk Acquires Enterprise Solid-State Drive Maker
ThinkstockFlash memory maker SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) announced this morning that it has signed a definitive agreement with private equity firm Silver Lake Partners to acquire SMART Storage Systems, a developer of enterprise solid-state…
June Auto Sales at Chrysler and Ford Don’t Keep Up with May Sales
Courtesy Ford Motor Co.June U.S. auto sales numbers are due out from most U.S. and foreign automakers today, and it looks like June is shaping up to follow on the gains the carmakers saw…
CoreLogic May Home Price Index Continues Upward March
Home prices rose 12.2% in May compared with the same month a year ago, the largest monthly increase since February 2006 according to research firm CoreLogic Inc. (NYSE: CLGX). The firm previously had forecast…
Chip Sales at Three-Year High
ThinkstockFor all the news that sales of personal computers (PCs) and laptops are declining, chipmakers are doing all right, thank you very much. Semiconductor sales rose 4.6% in May to post their largest month-over-month…
Constellation Brands Company Earnings: Slightly Soured Grapes
ThinkstockConstellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) reported first-quarter fiscal 2014 adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.38 on revenue of $673 million. In the same period a year ago, the wine and beer company…
Drugmakers Pfizer, Bayer, Novartis May Join Bidding for Onyx
ThinkstockAlthough Amgen Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AMGN) $10 billion offer for Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) was unsolicited and not exactly a stalking horse bid, that’s what many observers expect to be the result. By turning…
Closing Bell for Monday on Wall Street: Markets Open Higher, Hold Gains
July 1, 2013: U.S. equity markets opened higher this morning after a blast of economic data from both Asia and Europe. In China, June manufacturing PMI slid lower. Japan’s economics minister said the country’s…
The Big Idea Behind TV Station Mergers
ThinkstockToday’s announced acquisition of Local TV Holdings and its 19 TV stations by The Tribune Company follows a script mapped out earlier this year by other TV station owners like Sinclair Broadcasting Group Inc.…
Ford to Fix 468,000 Sticky Throttles
courtesy of Ford Motor CompanyIn a deal to close a National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigation, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) has agreed to conduct a “customer satisfaction campaign” to inspect and fix…
Scorecard on News Corp., Twenty-First Century Fox Split
ThinkstockAfter markets closed on Friday, News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA) formally split itself into two pieces: a publishing company still to be called News Corp. and a movie and TV company named Twenty-First Century Fox…