ThinkstockDespite concerns that Hurricane Sandy might have hurt gasoline supplies and closed some refineries, gas prices continue to fall, and fall rapidly. According to AAA Fuel Gauge data, the national average cost of a…
Courtesy of The Washington Post CompanyShares of the Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO) are up in early trading after the company reported that it swung to a profit on strong revenue growth from its…
thinkstockEconomists and business chiefs increasingly say that trouble in Europe is the greatest threat to the world’s financial and GDP futures. In addition, political stability in many nations and regions in Europe and the Middle…
Courtesy of Tesla MotorsAutomobile magazine has named its Car of the Year. Unfortunately, it has chosen a vehicle almost no one has bought or will buy, and the car’s maker may not even survive…
Wikimedia CommonsGoogle Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android mobile OS is on the march again, gobbling market share from its competition, even Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). The only thing that might stop Android’s spread is a…
thinkstockCostco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) this morning reported a better-than-expected rise in October same-store sales, due in part to higher gasoline prices and a weak dollar. The company said its net sales in October…
Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) managed to maintain its habit of posting quarterly losses. In its most recent fiscal quarter, the large Japanese consumer electronics company lost $194 million. The reasons for the losses are…
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.…