ThinkstockThe second-quarter earnings parade has all but come to a end. One conclusion that is painfully obvious to the equity strategy team at Credit Suisse is that many companies beat earnings only…
White House Photo by Pete SouzaJust as Steve Ballmer prepares to depart as CEO of Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), the guessing game over who will take the reigns at the troubled tech…
ThinkstockThe big banks have gone to considerable lengths to mend the weaknesses that they were in before, during and after the recession. The public perception of the big banks is not very…
Wikimedia CommonsBeing an executive at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) can be no easy job at the moment. This is one of only a few large institutions that could have…
ThinkstockHighlighted in a Fortune magazine article in 1966, an obscure investment vehicle called the hedge fund was outperforming every existing mutual fund by double-digit figures. By 1968, there were some 140 hedge…
courtesy J.C. Penney Co. Inc.Based on a recent SEC filing by J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP), William Ackman, who was until recently a board member and the firm’s largest shareholder, may be…
Douglas A. McIntyre ThinkstockIn 2012 there were 1,139 onshore and 60 offshore wells drilled in Mexico, for about $8 billion of drilling and completion (D&C) spending. This includes about $1.7 billion in offshore D&C spending.…
Wikimedia Commons After three years of powerful economic expansion prior to 2008, the Great Recession caused the revenues of many American companies to plunge to multi-year lows. While sales at most big…
ThinkstockThe U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has subpoenaed documents and other communications and records going back to 2010 from a metals warehousing firm. Reuters reports exclusively that “a source with direct…
Courtesy J.C. Penney Co. Inc.; photo by Chris RupertAs a fight between major J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) owner Bill Ackman and the balance of the firm’s board rages, the question…
Douglas A. McIntyre ThinkstockFor the second time in as many weeks, key commodities companies have been slapped with lawsuits alleging that the two banks boosted aluminum prices by manipulating warehouse stockpiles. Today’s lawsuit in Florida…
courtesy J.C. Penney Co. Inc.J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) denied plausible rumors that CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) has cut off credit to small vendors of the retailer. The conjecture may be supported by a sharp…
ThinkstockThe recession turned the banks into whipping boys of Main Street, and finding many who feel sorry for the banks is no easy task. The issue that matters for your mutual funds…
ThinkstockSunday’s New York Times story on the shenanigans played by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) at its aluminum warehouse in Detroit is nothing especially new. What is new is that the…
ThinkstockAlmost every major bank has released earnings for the second quarter. Unfortunately, despite the fact that most beat expectations, none has rallied much beyond the improvement in the S&P — at least…
