Australian mining giant BHP Billiton plc (NYSE:BHP) reported full fiscal year 2010 earnings today of $12.72 billion, more than double the $5.9 billion the company earned in 2009. BHP also reduced its net debt…
As the global economy recovers and businesses around the world begin to expand their workforces again, labor shortages are bound to become a mounting issue for the developed world – despite current unemployment figures.…
The assault on Big Pharma shows no signs of letting up. AARP today released a survey showing that retail prices of brand name drugs rose an astounding 8 percent in 2009. Another report presented…
Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM), whose already bruised reputation suffered another blow yesterday following yet another media report about a government safety investigation, does have plenty of friends in Mississippi. That’s where the Japanese…
New home sales cratered, according to the Commerce Department. The news comes one day after similar news on existing home sales “Sales of new single-family houses in July 2010 were at a seasonally adjusted…
The research firm iSuppli says that the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad will dominate the tablet market for at least two more years. “The iPad will account for an overwhelming 74.1 percent of global tablet…
Twitter has, by most estimates, 100 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…
Durable goods orders dropped 3.8% when transportation goods were backed out. Total new orders for manufactured goods rose .3%, less than expected, to $193 billion, according to the Commerce Department. Inventories of manufactured durable…
Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) is late to the smartphone market. Very late. It has begun to sell its new Aero handset with AT&T (NYSE: T). The Aero costs $99.99 with a two-year subscription plan. Without…
Credit research company TransUnion said that credit card debt hit an eight-year low in the second quarter of 2010. It is likely to go lower. The average combined debt of those individuals fell to…
Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) says it has finally integrated its search function with Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Bing, part of the deal that the two companies set over a year ago. The two search engines will…
Reuters: BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) reported strong profits and now faces questions from its investors about Potash (NYSE: POT) Reuters: Global economic problems will shadow a big Fed meeting. Reuters: FEMA sees progress five…
Ireland’s stock market dropped 6% yesterday. It is any wonder? After the close of the markets in Europe and the US, Standard & Poor’s cut the Republic of Ireland’s long-term sovereign rating, which will …
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: APPL), which revolutionized the music business with 99 cent digital downloads, is poised to do the same thing with television. The idiot box may never be the same. According to Bloomberg…
Airlines, which have made an art out of nickel-and-diming the public with new fees, are now raising fares. This is no time for investors to rejoice. According to Reuters, Rick Seaney, chief executive of…
The Congressional Budget Office says that in the second quarter the effects of $787 billion package added 1.7% to 4.5% in GDP, cut the unemployment rate by .7 to 1.8 percentage points, and increased…
Chicago Fed President Charles Evans offered an unusually downbeat assessment of the economy today. It was one which raised concerns about a continued sharp drop in the housing market and the chances of a double…
The Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI Quarterly Economic Forecast predicts that inflation-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) will expand by 2.9 percent in 2010, followed by 2.6 percent growth in 2011. The forecast is down slightly from the…
Real estate sales have just plunged by a nearly unimaginable amount. According to the the National Association of Realtors, existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, dropped 27.2…
Updated throughout the day. Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) will up its bid for 3Par (NYSE: PAR) (various) Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) will offer a research application at the Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) App store. Douglas…