Capital Flees Spain
There is still plenty of negative news out of Europe. Recent data about the PMI of most nations showed their economies continue to slow or even contract. And unemployment in the eurozone has reached an all-time high…
All Work
Trey Thoelcke
Interest Rates Drop on Threat of ECB Action
ECB President Mario Draghi has not backed away from his assertion that the bank can buy the short-term paper of Europe’s weakest nations. Some of his allies were worried that the resignation of Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann would…
Factory Orders Up Again in July
The Commerce Department reported today that orders businesses placed to U.S. factories rose 2.8% in July after falling in the previous month. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a 2% rise. June’s decrease of…
Chicago PMI Cools Off in August
The Chicago Institute for Supply Management’s Purchasing Managers Index for August cooled off to a seasonally adjusted reading of 53.0 in August, compared to the 53.7 reading in July. The August number fell short…
Ford Predicts Its Will Soon Have the World’s Best-Selling Car
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) says its Focus is on track to become the best-selling car in the world this year, knocking Toyota Motor Corp.’s (NYSE: TM) Corolla from the top spot. Ford sold…
Production Delays Could Mean Short Supplies of the New iPhone
Rumor has it that Sharp has fallen behind schedule on production of screens for Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) latest iPhone, just weeks before a planned launch. In fact, Sharp has not started mass producing…
Inflation, Unemployment: A Double Whammy for the EU
In a double whammy for Europe, newly released data indicate that inflation is rising, while the unemployment rate remains above 11%. The eurozone’s annual rate of inflation is expected to be 2.6% in August…
Bundesbank President Weidmann May Step Down
The chief of Germany’s powerful central bank may step down. German newspaper Bild reports that German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann will resign. The reason given is his battle with ECB President Mario Draghi over whether the European Central…
Spotlight on Ben Bernanke
The focus of the markets today will be Ben Bernanke’s speech at a banker’s conference in Jackson Hole. Investors have held their breath for days in anticipation. The waiting also has been one of…
Twitter Advertising to Target Users
Twitter, which many investors consider a primary challenger to Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB), will allow advertisers to target users based on their activity on the short message platform. Advertisers will be able to pick…
India’s Economic Gloom Continues
In the three months that ended in June, the GDP growth of India languished around its lowest level in three years. The economy grew 5.5% in the quarter, government data indicated. That was just…
Ciena Drags Down Tech Stocks
Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) said its net loss for the fiscal third quarter narrowed to $29.8 million, or an adjusted net loss of $0.04 cents per share, from $31.4 million in the same quarter…
Consumers Are Spending, but Not Enough
Consumers boosted their spending in July by a seasonally adjusted 0.4%, according to the latest Commerce Department data. That was the biggest gain in five months, as aftertax incomes continued to grow modestly. The…
Jobless Claims Stuck in a Rut
New applications for unemployment benefits remained unchanged last week, the latest Labor Department data showed, suggesting little pickup in hiring in the United States. Initial jobless claims remained at a seasonally adjusted 374,000 in…
Pandora’s Mobile Growth Pleases Investors
courtesy of Pandora MediaAlthough Pandora Media (NYSE: P) reported yesterday that its net loss for the second quarter widened to $5.4 million, or $0.03 per share, compared to a loss of $1.8 million a…
Higher Fuel Prices Boost Costco Same-Store Sales
Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) reported that for August, comparable-store sales gained 6% year-over-year, and that its total sales increased 8% to $7.4 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had a consensus estimate of…
Apple Store Specialists Now Online
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has launched a new online service that allows potential iPhone or iPad customers to ask questions of an Apple Store specialist. “You can talk directly to a trained Specialist over…
Zale Jumps on Narrower Loss, Positive Outlook
Zale Corp. (NYSE: ZLC) jumped in premarket trading after reporting a narrower fiscal fourth-quarter loss and predicting a return to profitability in the next year. The specialty retailer said its net loss for the…
American Stocks Dominate Global Equities
More American companies are among the 20 largest in the world than at any time in the past decade. This is because earnings at U.S. companies have risen faster than the rest of the…
Brent Crude Under $113 as Isaac Approaches
Even as Tropical Storm Isaac heads into the Gulf of Mexico and forces companies to halt U.S. oil production there, Brent crude remained steady below $113 a barrel. Brent went as high as $115.50…