The international concern over China’s cut in exports of the rare earth elements, REEs, has just been ratcheted up a notch as a Chinese government official said that the country might trim another 30%…
Want proof the world is getting smaller? A United Nations agency estimates that 2 billion people will be online at the end of this year, up from 1.4 billion in 2009 and almost 1.6…
Twitter has, by most estimates, 145 million members, which makes it one of the largest social networks in the world. All major media companies are on Twitter and some have more than one million…
Updated throughout the day. The CEO of The Tribune Company is about to resign (NYT) Pierre-Henri Flamand formerly of Goldman Sachs Group (GS) raised $1 billlion for a hedge fund. Douglas A. McIntyre
The National Retail Federation says that the average consumer will spend $688.87 this holiday season–exactly–up from $681.83 last year. The 1% improvement is not likely to save the sector from another difficult year of…
Alternative energy is big business — and getting bigger. The industry includes hundreds of companies that make a piece of the continuously expanding jigsaw puzzle that is the alt energy space. Rather than trying…
Time has run out for Potash (NYSE: POT) to find an alternative to the bid made for it by BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP). The deadline for the $39 billion offer is November 18. Potash…
One of the few bits of investing conventional wisdom that nearly everyone accepts is that people should always look out for number one. The problem with following that advice is investors may miss out…
Reuters: Geithner said the US would no devalue to dollar to get a trade advantage. Reuters: Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) has begun foreclosures again. Reuters: Roy Ozzie, the chief software architect as Microsoft…
Skeptics have asked, fairly, why Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) should have a larger market capitalization than Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and IBM (NYSE: IBM). The answer is that Apple’s growth is much…
If one assumes, as does Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), that the availability and quality of country’s broadband penetration reflects that country’s preparedness for the future, then the US lags behind 14 countries in…
A recent survey about America’s financial literacy shows that people who don’t know the difference between a stock and a bond realize that they need to save money. The problem is many people are…
Twitter has, by most estimates, 145 million members, which makes it one of the largest social networks in the world. All major media companies are on Twitter and some have more than one million…
Updated throughout the day. Facebook allows some of its partners to run applications that can allow user information to be tapped (WSJ) Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) has begun a process to improve its…
Strikes by truckers in France threatened to close major highways and may even disrupt inventories of fuel across the European nation. Officials said they would call out the police, if necessary, to keep the…
America, the home of Al Gore and one of the large nations which has become environmentally conscious, is full of people who do not understand pollution or its effects at all. The Yale Project…
Total gifts to major charities fell sharply last year, which should not come as a major surprise. The Chronicle of Philanthropy details the trend in its annual Philanthropy 400 survey released today. “Donations to…
Reuters: Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) and BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) killed a $116 billion joint iron ore venture. Reuters: The People’s Daily said the rise in the yuan will not last long. Reuters: The…
The Mac is unlikely to take Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) to the leader’s board for PC sales. It is still considered too much of a niche product. And, netbooks, which were until recently the…
The environment for home sales becomes more difficult with each passing month. Some estimates put 11.1 million mortgages, about 23% of the US total, underwater, meaning that homeowners owe their banks more than the…