American Pessimism Soars
ThinkstockAmericans have examined their prospects for the balance of this decade and do not like what they see. The pessimism of the population could hamper job growth and undermine consumer spending, each of which…
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Douglas A. McIntyre
Crushing Global Unemployment Rises — ILO
In contrast to data about improved jobs situations in the United States, Germany and China, much of the balance of the world remains mired in high unemployment. The recession has not ended at all…
An Underperforming Share Price — Another Gift From Boeing CEO Jim McNerney
courtesy Boeing Co.The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) 787 Dreamliner debacle is a gift that keeps on giving, going back to the initial launch date of the aircraft and the many times that date was missed. CEO Jim McNerney,…
Media Digest (1/22/2013) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg
thinkstockShares of Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) hit a 13-month high on a belief that new products could trigger a recovery. (Reuters) The Japan central bank says it will ease as much as…
The Cheapest Cars to Insure in America
courtesy Ford Motor Co.Car insurance rates should be simple to calculate. Inexpensive cars are cheap to insure because they cost less to fix. But the math is much more complex than that. An analysis of how…
OPEC Sees “Major Uncertainty” in U.S. Economy
ThinkstockBy. Daniel J. Graeber of Oilprice.com The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in its report for January said the United States in 2013 may post the highest oil supply increase among non-member states. U.S.…
Home Prices Up 5.9% Last Year — Zillow
ThinkstockResearch firm Zillow reported home prices rose 5.9% last year and should be up another 3.3% in 2013. As ought to be expected, given the magnitude of the drop in some markets and only modest…
Drop in Workforce May Not Hurt China
ThinkstockThe conventional wisdom is that the first drop in China’s work force in memory is part of a trend that will undermine its growth rate. Whether that is true depends almost entirely on how…
Unemployment Finally Improves In Hard Hit States
ThinkstockAmong the best measures of how strong the recovery of the U.S. economy has become is the improvement in the jobs rate in the states hit hardest by the recession. The upward turn was…
Spain’s Six Million Unemployed Versus 12.2 Million In U.S.
ThinkstockBy the reckoning of number of economists, Spain’s number of unemployed reached six million late last year. Although the means of measurement are different, the figure contrasts with a number of 12.2 million in…
Major US Airlines Projected to Report Record Revenue for 4th Quarter and Full Year 2012
ThinkstockBy the end of this week, AirlineFinancials.com LLC is projecting the seven largest US airlines will have collectively reported $152 million in profits from $33.3 billion in revenue for the 4th quarter. This will…
Media Digest (1/21/2013) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg
thinkstockExcess battery charges are not the problem with Boeing (NYSE: BA) 787 safety concerns, so an investigation will continue and the planes will stay out of service (Reuters) Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) may…
Are Apple’s Best Days Behind It?
ThinkstockAnother group of experts has made the case that Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) best days are behind it. ABI Research says that Apple’s share of the smartphone market worldwide will peak this year at…
Sony Sells Its New York Headquarters
courtesy of Sony Corp.Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) needs money to keep up efforts to resurrect itself. It found some as it sold its NYC headquarters for $1.1 billion. According to press reports, the Japanese…
Uncertainties Push Oil Prices Higher
ThinkstockThe Algeria hostage crisis shows how little it takes in the terms of geopolitical events to cause a spike in oil prices. As problems in the Middle East simmer, along with attacks on oil…
Dell and Best Buy Similarity — Hubris
courtesy Best Buy Co. Inc.Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) and Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) are each in trouble as the business environments they helped to create become passe and investors wonder if either…
American Airline’s New Paint Job — a Whitewash
ThinkstockAMR, parent company of American Airlines, has decided to repaint of its planes, which have been mostly silver for decades. For some reason, management believes that the new color scheme is a symbol of…
Now China Can Grow Forever
ThinkstockChina posted a GDP growth rate of 7.9% in the fourth quarter of 2012, which is either the fastest rate in two years, or, based on the annual measurement, the slowest in 13 years…
What’s Important in the Financial World (1/18/2013)
ThinkstockUncertainties Push Oil Higher The Algeria hostage crisis shows how little it takes in the terms of geopolitical events to cause a spike in oil prices. As problems in the Middle East simmer, along…
Media Digest (1/18/2013) Reuters, WSJ, NY Times, FT
courtesy of NetflixU.S. investigations of the Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) 787 Dreamliner focus on its main battery. (Reuters) Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) offers a weak outlook for future quarters. (Reuters) China’s gross domestic product…