Layoff of 2,400 Workers Will Not Help Best Buy
Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) recently laid off 2,400 people. Wall St. has watched for a much more substantial sign, on the heels of years of poor performance and the departures of both its CEO and…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Duke Board Member Ann Maynard Gray Needs to Resign
The new board of Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) pushed out William D. Johnson as chief executive of the company just formed by the merger of Duke and Progress. The board unexpectedly put the former Duke CEO…
Spain’s Bond Yields Move Above 7%
The yield on Spain’s 10-year notes rose above the financially and psychologically important 7% level. Most economists believe that if the yield remains above that level, Spain’s borrowing costs will be too onerous for the…
China’s Inflation Drops to 29-Month Low
In another sign that China’s economy has slowed, inflation is at a 29-month low. The country posted a June consumer price increase of only 2.2%. Inflation was only recently a major concern in the…
Yahoo! And Facebook Settle Patent Fight
It seemed that Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) wanted to soak Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) by tapping the social network’s large cash balance just before its IPO. Yahoo! used patents it was granted or bought during the Web…
Gas Prices Stay Low
As WTI crude prices dropped close to $85 again, Americans have more reasons to cheer lower gasoline prices, which are loosely linked to the price of oil. A gallon of regular, based on a…
Unemployment And The Election
One major question that will accompany the June jobs report is how long President Obama can hold a competitive place in national polls about who will win the presidency in November. There is no…
Samsung Earnings, Good And Bad
Samsung released two pieces of information, one good and one bad. The first concerns the effect sales of its Galaxy smartphone and tablets had on its earnings in the most recent quarter. Profits rose…
German Industrial Production Improve
The Germany financial fortress which has appeared to crumble recently with soft GDP, PMI, and business outlook numbers remains the strongest in Europe. New data show it has not run entirely low on steam…
Spain Bond Yield Move Toward 7%
Many economists believe that a nation which has to pay 7% to raise money for any extended period cannot viably cut its deficit or national debt. There are many reasons for the capital markets…
What’s Important in the Financial World (7/6/2012)
Samsung released two pieces of information, one good and one bad. The first concerns the effect sales of its Galaxy smartphone and tablets had on its earnings in the most recent quarter. Profits rose to…
Media Digest (7/6/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg
Mortgage bank Countrywide used its VIP loan program to influence Congress. (Reuters) The search for a CEO for Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) narrows to interim chief Ross Levinsohn and Jason Kilar of Hulu. (Reuters) Samsung…
Amazon to Launch a Smartphone?
Bloomberg reports that Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) may launch a smartphone, which would mean the world’s largest e-commerce company would join the mobile phone sector just after Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) did. All…
Flat Panel TVs and Homes: More Products Becomes Commodities
Nothing kills a business quite so fast as when its most critical products become commodities. And the list of industries with this problem is growing. Even the price of homes has fallen victim to changes…
IMF to Cut Global Growth Forecasts in Another Blow to Confidence
An extraordinary number of actions have been taken recently that show a rising belief the global economy is in trouble. First among these are the rate actions taken by the European Central Bank, Bank of England…
Todays’ Best Market Rumors (7/5/2012)
Updated throughout the day on the 24/7 Wall St. Wire GM (NYSE: GM) has begun negotiations with Facebook over being to advertise on the social network again (Reuters) Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) will launch a…
Challenger Gray–Layoffs Hit 13-Month Low
In a very modest sign that unemployment has not risen sharply, employment consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that Planned layoffs fell to a 13-month low in June, as U.S.-based employers announced job cuts…
Bank Of England Holds Rates At .5%, Increases Asset Purchases
In a sign that the Bank of England believe that the economic situation in the U.K. is not entirely dire, it kept interest rates at .5%. However: The Committee also voted to increase the…
Moody’s Puts Barclays On Negative Watch
Moody’s threw another hurdle in the path of Barclays (NYSE: BCS), which continues to deal with a Libor scandal that has cost it $450 billion in fines, as well as the job of its…
Spain’s Borrowing Costs Spike Higher
What the Spanish government needs to pay to raise money continues to rise. Soon its borrowing costs will become financially untenable, or they may have already. The nation raised three billion euros today. Spain…