ThinkstockOctober’s jobs report showed a gain of 204,000 people to nonfarm payrolls. That is a pace of 1.5 million job additions for 2013. Many earlier months have been better. The Bureau of Labor…
Douglas A. McIntyre Jon OggInvestors are having to deal with seeing stocks hit new highs almost daily now. With a temporary deal in Washington, D.C., and with earnings coming on strong, investors are caught trying…
The drug patent cliff for Big Pharma is coming with some continued consequences, and two drug giants with earnings this week are Dow Jones Industrial Average components. Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) reported…
ThinkstockDrug giant Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) reported third-quarter 2013 results before markets opened Monday morning. The company posted adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.92 and revenues of $11.03…
Paul Ausick courtesy of Verizon WirelessMergers and acquisitions (M&A) sometimes can be an excellent measure of the economy’s financial health. However, since there is a great deal of evidence that most M&A results are…
Jon OggEarnings season is in full swing and this coming week will bring many key earnings reports. This will also be the last week of major on-calendar earnings for the third quarter,…
We have seen the short interest reports for the October 15 settlement date. It turns out that short sellers have been getting out of the way of the bull market after previously…
Courtesy Boeing Co.The Merrill Lynch Technical Titans List was formerly known as the Most Attractive Buy List and was introduced in February 2006. It is designed to identify common stocks that are…
ThinkstockThe world of biotechnology investing is a constantly evolving and changing one. While disease for the most part does not change all that much, the manner in which it can be treated…
Jon OggA new earnings season has started, and stocks and bonds are dealing with a likely patch for the government shutdown and the debt ceiling. So which are the stocks to buy…
ThinkstockShort sellers have increased their bets against the stable high-dividend stocks that are in most Americans’ retirement accounts and mutual funds. The end-of-September short interest saw year highs in a few cases.…
ThinkstockThe drug and pharmaceutical sector is supposed to be a defensive one by nature, even if this week’s government shutdown and impending debt ceiling weighed heavily on biotech stocks. Credit Suisse’s Vamil…
Jon OggInvestors and traders alike are stuck trying to determine what to do with their stocks during a government shutdown and ahead of the debt ceiling debate. Each morning 24/7 Wall St.…
ThinkstockMerck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) announced it would rid itself of 8,500 workers, many of whom work in the big pharmaceutical company’s R&D operations. Since the return on research investment at Merck…
ThinkstockThe number of companies paying dividends in the S&P 500 is at a 15-year high. According to FactSet, just over 80 companies in the index do not pay dividends. Paying dividends has…
