thinkstockGreece cannot seem to work its way out of the financial news by settling on austerity programs that would trigger aid from the International Monetary Fund and European Union. Internal battles among political parties…
courtesy of BlackberryThe Defense Department will continue to take new bids for its suppliers of smartphones. The BlackBerry, made by Canada’s Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM), has most of that business, but the…
According to CoreLogic’s National Foreclosure Report for September, some 57,000 foreclosures in the United States were completed in September 2012. That was down about 31% from 83,000 in September 2011, as well as down…
The EU statistics agency Eurostat reported today that inflation in the eurozone eased due to a deceleration in the growth of energy prices. The agency’s flash estimate of consumer inflation in the eurozone countries…
The EU statistics agency Eurostat reports that the unemployment rate in the eurozone climbed to a record 11.6% in September. That was up from the 11.5% reported for August, and exceeded the 11.5% estimate…
Wikimedia CommonsWhich industries benefited from Hurricane Sandy? Very few, one has to suppose. But among those must be e-commerce, which means another victory for Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), even if it was not entirely…
thinkstockEurope’s financial problems were pushed off the front pages for a few days as Hurricane Sandy roared up the East Coast. But they did not go away, and they may have worsened. The debate…
thinkstockSome popular websites knocked offline by hurricane damage to the facilities they use to host their content have still not recovered. The popular gossip site Gawker is among them. Other sites hurt by the…
ThinkstockMetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) this morning reported that its net income more than doubled in the third quarter, helped by a gain from a securities settlement and lower costs. The wireless telecommunications carrier…
ThinkstockSuperValu Inc. (NYSE: SVU) was up nearly 20% last week, largely on buyout speculation. Buyout firm Cerberus Capital Management is the likely frontrunner to take over the third-largest U.S. supermarket chain. SuperValu has been…
ThinkstockConcern about the Japanese economy has increased as the Bank of Japan extended its bond-buying program. The central bank increased its commitment by $138 billion. The entire effort is expected to last through 2013. The…
ThinkstockSpain slipped further into recession, which means that its need for aid has accelerated. Its gross domestic product for the third quarter dropped 0.3%, on top of a drop of 0.4% in the quarter…
ThinkstockUBS A.G. (NYSE: UBS) has made it official. It will cut 10,000 jobs, primarily in its fixed-income operations. The financial firm said the move will save it $3.6 billion over the next three years.…
Wikimedia CommonsSome companies reportedly have decided to delay their earnings reports as Hurricane Sandy heads for the East Coast and the major U.S. markets are close today, and possibly Tuesday. According to Marketwatch: Pfizer…
The effects of Hurricane Sandy already have been felt on Wall St. as the major exchanges have elected to close today, and perhaps tomorrow. Much less certain is the damage the storm may do…
thinkstockEurope’s economic problems will be pushed off of the front pages, at least while the East Coast braces for Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath. But the bailout of Greece is in real trouble. The…
Now that Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) has released Windows 8, the guessing games have begun. First is whether mixed reviews of the product will slow its adoption. The pricing of Windows may offset negative…
MPLX L.P. (NYSE: MPLX), a subsidiary of Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC), began trading today. The company had priced its initial public offering of 17,300,000 common units at $22 a piece. Underwriters were granted…
Oshkosh Corp. (NYSE: OSK) this morning reported higher fourth-quarter profit and reaffirmed its 2013 outlook. The Wisconsin-based truck maker posted adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.65 on revenues of $2.06 billion for the…
Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) this morning reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings, but the loss of market exclusivity for its Singulair in the United States and the impact of foreign exchange took a toll on…