ThinkstockGasoline prices have fallen again, based on the two most important measures, and the drop continues to accelerate. The famous Lundberg Survey reported a drop of 7.26 cents in the past two weeks to…
ThinkstockThe American Automobile Association expects a very small increase in holiday traffic over Thanksgiving, which it defines as Wednesday to Sunday. AAA estimates 43.6 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home…
ThinkstockCisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) continues to push further into cloud computing, along with almost every other large tech company in the world. It announced it would by start-up Meraki Inc. for $1.6 billion. Cisco…
courtesy of Apple Inc.Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) share price erosion has taken the top spot of the financial news recently. The stock has fallen 17% over the past three months. A debate over why this happened rages…
ThinkstockTraffic fatalities continue to drop year-over-year. One reason may be the increased use of seat belts. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that in 2012 “nationwide seat belt use reached an all-time…
ThinkstockThe time has come to “stress test” America’s largest banks again. Nineteen financial firms will take part. The Federal Reserve has released guidelines for the tests. Some could make bank executives shiver. The Fed…
ThinkstockEurope has dropped into recession, or nearly so. Eurostat reported that third-quarter gross domestic product in the euro-area fell 0.1%, compared with the second quarter. Among the EU27, GDP registered a 0.1% improvement. In…
courtesy of XeroxTwo old tech companies, both in trouble, have announced layoffs. Their actions might be attributed to a bad economy or to the fiscal cliff. But making that assumption would be a mistake.…
ThinkstockThe Wall Street Journal and Reuters have published accounts of a settlement between the Justice Department and BP PLC (NYSE: BP) over the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. BP has already spent tens of billions of…
courtesy of SamsungResearch firm Gartner says that worldwide sales of mobile phones to end users declined 3.1% year-over-year to nearly 428 million units in the third quarter of 2012. However, smartphone sales, which accounted…
thinkstockShares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) surged this morning on much better-than-expected earnings results for the fiscal third quarter. The specialty retailer of casual apparel posted adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of…
ThinkstockThe federal budget deficit rose 22% in October to $120 billion, compared to the same period last year. Most analysts believe that the figure makes it almost certain that the annual deficit will be…
ThinkstockGovernments have been using Google Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) flagship product to spy on people. A nicer way to put that, rather than “spying,” is “government requests” that Google receives as part of the search process.…
ThinkstockDropbox, the online storage company that many people think will file for an initial public offering, has hit a member milestone. It has 100 million users. The firm describes itself as “a free service that…
thinkstockTJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) this morning reported solid fiscal third-quarter results and boosted its guidance. The Framingham, Mass.-based off-price retailer posted adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.62 on revenues of $6.41 billion…
thinkstockSaks Inc. (NYSE: SKS) this morning shared in-line earnings results for the third quarter but warned that fourth-quarter results would take a hit due to Hurricane Sandy. The New York-based department store operator posted…
ThinkstockGermany’s economic fortunes have begun to crumble, as so many experts had feared. There was very modest hope that the European Union’s largest nation by gross domestic product might somehow sail through the region’s recession…
courtesy of MicrosoftFor reasons that no one understands so far, and may never be clear, the head of Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows division, the company’s flagship, left suddenly without a farewell party or…
thinkstockThe most important story out of Europe today is that Greece has been given an extension to reach its austerity and budget goals. The region’s finance ministers did not have any options. Greece was…
courtesy of TargetTarget Corp. (NYSE: TGT) has announced plans to open its stores for Black Friday sales at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving, Nov. 22, in an effort to offer extended hours during the holiday…