China PMI And The Global Economy
China’s PMI was at a standstill last month. China’s official Purchasing Managers’ Index dropped to 50.9 in June from 52.0 in May. That was barely higher than the 50 mark that separates expansion from…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Media Digest (7/1/2011) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg
Strauss-Kahn may be released because of fraudulent charges (NYT) Geithner may retire as Treasury Secretary (Reuters) The Fed Bullard said QE2 was similar to more rate cuts (Reuters) Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) will cut…
The States Where Underwater Mortgages Are Sinking Home Values
To better understand the current state of the American housing market — and better forecast its future — experts look at a number of economic and financial indicators. Different statistics, such as the size…
Commodity Watch: Corn Planting Solid, Prices Not So Much (DBA, MOO)
All the worries about cold, wet weather and flooding in the Great Plains and the Ohio River Valley have pretty much been laid to rest. The US corn crop is in the ground on…
The 24/7 Wall St./Flame Index: Companies With The Worst News (6/30)
Battles with the US government hurt several stocks. Raymond James will pay $300 million for disputes over auction rate securities. Monsanto is under investigation for potential illegal payments to customers. HealthSouth was charged for…
IMF: US GDP Growth Below 3% For Six Years
It would be hard for the news about the financial status of the US to be worse. The debt cap may not be increased by August 2. Rating agencies have warned of cuts in…
Top Active Trader Alert Stocks (EBAY, FSLR, SIRI)
Active traders and day traders have many stocks to choose from this Thursday morning. We are tracking news and moves in shares of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY), First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), and Sirius XM Radio Inc.…
Today’s Best Market Rumors (6/30/2011) Zynga IPO, New American Air Jets
Updated throughout the day Zynga may launch and IPO today (Reuters) Living Social will file for an IPO soon (Reuters) American Airline (NYSE: AMR) will get Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Airbus to bid on…
The Foods Making Americans Fat (And Skinny)
In the most comprehensive study of its type, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated the cost of obesity at $170 billion a year in 2008 dollars. Twenty five percent of US adults…
Only One Week Later, 24/7 Wall St’s Disappearing Brands Begin To Disappear
Typically, 24/7 Wall St. waits a year – six months in the case of recessions – to report on how our predictions for which brands will disappear turned out. This year we’re reporting on…
American Airlines: Boeing’s Last Stand
American Airlines (NYSE: AMR) has begun to consider replacing 250 of its oldest planes, according to The Wall Street Journal. That is nearly four out of ten aircraft in its entire fleet. AMR’s finances…
Greece And The Right To Riot
The Greek constitution probably allows people to stage peaceful gatherings. It is unlikely that it permits those gatherings to turn into dangerous riots. Many Greek citizens don’t care about those laws and certainly have…
What Happens When Every State Hits Amazon On Taxes?
California means to make Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and other e-commerce companies pay state sales taxes on all the goods and services the companies sells in the largest state by population. In response, Amazon said…
Media Digest (6/30/2011) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg
Markets expressed concerned about what the Fed will do as QE2 ends. (Reuters) Lloyd’s new CEO may cut 15,000 jobs. (Reuters) Asia will press Lagarde to keep promises she gave while seeking to lead…
Commodity Watch: Stirring the Aluminum Pot (AA, CENX, AWC, KALU, NOR, ACH, KO, GS, RIO, JJU)
Aluminum prices climbed by more than 10% from January through April this year, to rise above $1.22/pound before losing all it had gained and returning to about $1.10/pound. At today’s price of around $1.12/pound,…
Top Active Trader Alert Stocks (SINA, SIRI, SPRD)
Active traders and day traders have many stocks to choose from this Wednesday morning. We are tracking news and moves in shares of SINA Corporation (NASDAQ: SINA), Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI), and Spreadtrum Communications, Inc.…
Today’s Best Market Rumors (6/29/2011) MySpace Demise, Zynga IPO
MySpace will be sold by News Corp (NYSE: NWS) to one of two suitors for $30 million (WSJ) Zynga will post details of it IPO which will value the company at $20 billion (Reuters)…
The Cities Where Government Employment Is On The Rise
It is easy to believe that every city, county and state government in the country is deeply in debt and in need of higher taxes and budget cuts. This even extends to the federal…
Microsoft Office 365, The Cloud, And Legions Of Hackers
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) launched its new cloud product, Office 365. Many of the business clients of the world’s largest software company no longer want Office to run on their PCs and servers. These customers…
Wal-Mart’s One Dime Gasoline Discount
It may not seem like much when gasoline costs $3.70 per gallon of regular, but Wal-Mart will cut gas prices by a dime for the next 90 days. While it may not do much…