Francois Hollande, the president of France, wants his government to spend roughly $2.5 billion to create 150,000 jobs in 2012 and 2013. The details of the program are complex. The central government would subsidize the hiring of young…
Barclays’ Brave New CEO Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) did not take long to appoint a new chief executive. The CEO is Antony Jenkins. He ran the retail part of the financial firm, so he…
Moody’s cuts its growth forecast for emerging economies. (MarketWatch) Antony Jenkins, who runs Barclays PLC’s (NYSE: BCS) retail business, is made chief executive. (Reuters) Samsung launches new Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows-based mobile phone.…
Troubled retailer Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD), which was formed by a 2005 merger of Sears and Kmart, was thrown out of the S&P 500 as of September 4. It will be replaced by specialty chemical company LyondellBasell (NYSE: LYB),…
China’s official PMI hits a nine-month low in August. (Reuters) WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) CEO Braly steps down. (Reuters) General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) to invest $1 billion in Russia within five years. (Reuters)…
Abigail Johnson, the daughter of Fidelity Investments CEO Edward C. Johnson III, has been promoted to run almost all of the money management behemoth. The company was founded by her grandfather and she owns…
President Mario Draghi made another vague comment about how the European Central Bank can help relieve the financial tension in Europe: Yet it should be understood that fulfilling our mandate sometimes requires us to…
Oil traders ignored the fact that Hurricane Isaac, now a Category 1 storm, stepped ashore in Louisiana. WTI crude actually dipped nearly $1 to $95.55. Despite the billions of dollars of damage the rain…
The Group of Seven finance ministers asked the world’s largest energy-producing nations to increase the supply of oil. The ministers released a call to that effect: We stand ready to call upon the International…
One of the few female Fortune 500 CEOs left her job recently. Poor stock performance and lackluster earnings led Angela F. Braly to resign at WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP). The company has some 33 million members…
General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM), which has a recent history of executives who put their feet into their mouths, managed to have that happen again. The world’s largest car company believes it can double…
Crude Drops Despite Hurricane Oil traders ignored the fact that Hurricane Isaac, now a Category 1 storm, stepped ashore in Louisiana. WTI crude actually dipped nearly $1 to $95.55. Despite the billions of dollars…
Investors have called for the CEO of WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) to step down because of poor earnings, a loss of customers, and a falling share price. Today, those investors got their way The company…
Rumors have come out of France that G7 financial ministers will ask the largest oil-producing nations to increase supply. Prices have crept up sharply again since they sold off early in the summer. WTI crude sits at about…
Foreclosure fell in July, but only by a very modest amount compared to the previous month and July 2011, according to research firm CoreLogic. In its National Foreclosure Report, it issued these statistics: According…
The use of cellphones during a passenger airline flight interferes with cockpit instruments. That means that the phones might cause a plane to crash, or at least that is what carriers probably want passengers to think.…
The notion that Spain’s economy could recover from the current flat spin on its own always was wildly improbable. The country does not have the means, either in its manufacturing, financial or service sectors, to recover without…
General Motors Co.’s (NYSE: GM) reaction to a report that it would idle production of the troubled Chevy Volt was: “We don’t comment on production schedules. We continue to match supply and demand,” according…
Isaac Shuts Gulf Coast Refineries As Tropical Storm Isaac is forecast to turn into a Category 2 Hurricane before its makes landfall near New Orleans, it has caused large oil firms to shut many…
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) pushes for a ban on eight Samsung phones. (Reuters) Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) will allow former chairman Richard Schulze to review its books with an eye toward a…