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…
ThinkstockWe have tracked the key short interest changes in the following biotech and emerging pharma companies: Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN), Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN), Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA), Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:…
thinkstockAs hard as it seems to be to believe, the crisis in Greece continues, and may have gotten worse. The nation’s parliament has voted through an extreme austerity budget that was to be the…
Wikimedia CommonsGoogle Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Transparency Report showed a sharp drop in traffic from China. The cause is not known, but it could be that the central government does not want its own people…
ThinkstockThe United States may be the single largest exporter of oil within the next few decades. That is the conclusion of the IEA 2012 World Energy Outlook. The report says: The WEO finds that…
ThinkstockApollo Global Management LLC (NYSE: APO) this morning said it swung to a third-quarter profit from a year-ago net loss as its total assets under management rose 69%. The company also announced a per-share…
ThinkstockVideo game sales have collapsed just as retailers begin to rely on strong holiday sales. Industry research firm NPD reports that in October, U.S. video game retail revenue dropped 25% compared to the same…
ThinkstockThe most widely covered story by the financial press, and perhaps the news media in its entirety, between now and year’s end will be the war between the president and Republicans in Congress about…
courtesy of AppleSina News reports that Foxconn, which makes components for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) products among others, may open a factory in the United States. Among the sites being evaluated are Detroit and…