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Sequester Deadline Worrisome for Businesses
Only five days remain before the deadline for the White House and Congress to reach an agreement avoiding cuts across the board totally $85 billion divided between domestic programs and defense. The Congressional Budget Office announced... More of this article »
Corn Profits Higher than Soybeans for 2013
Corn is seen to be more profitable than soybeans this year. But in the longer term view, planting more corn in 2013 would result to lower overall profits in the coming years. This is according to an analysis made by Gary Schnitkey,... More of this article »
US Airways and American Airlines Merger to Impact Local Airports in US
The impending merger of two large airlines will play a vital role in the futures of all local airports across the nation. US Airways and American Airlines have recently announced their $11 billion merger. Once it is completed, the... More of this article »
Office Depot negotiating with OfficeMax over Merger
Office Depot, Inc is in merger talks with OfficeMax said people who are close to the situation. The two paper, pen and other office accessories retailers are trying to find a way to fend off the tough competition that rivals such as... More of this article »
European Shares Lower thanks to Carlsberg
Denmark’s Carlsberg A/S, the owner of the biggest brewer in Russia scrapped its goal of medium term profitability amid higher costs for brewing beer and expenses for changes made in logistics and product buying. The target set in... More of this article »
Toyota Settles with 29 States regarding Recall Issues
Toyota Motors Corp. reached an agreement with attorney generals from 29 states and an US territory. This was the latest move by the automaker to accelerate things regarding the recall issues. The deal was said to be worth $29 million. The... More of this article »
Heinz Acquisition Being Investigated for Stock Trades
Regulators from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have started a formal inquiry into unusual stock trades they said took place prior to the deal to purchase the food company H.J. Heinz. Those trades have raised some questions... More of this article »
Goodyear Profits Higher than Estimates
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company reported profit of $97 million or 39 cents a share in the fourth quarter of 2012. It was above the $6 million or 3 cents per share in the same period of 2011. The company beat the Zacks Consensus... More of this article »
MGM Asks New Jersey for Reinstatement of Casino License
MGM Resorts International agreed to leave New Jersey in 2010. The company petitioned state’s regulators to re-establish its casino license. The company agreed to get out of the state in March 2010 when it was questioned about its... More of this article »
Worker Productivity Drops in US
The productivity of workers in the United States dropped more than the forecast in the fourth quarter as the economy contracted. It led to the increase in labor expenses and indicated that companies were reaching the limit of how much... More of this article »
Manufacturing in US Expands More than Forecast in January
Manufacturing in the United States grew more than forecast in January. It reached a nine month high and a sign that the industry was starting to improve. The Institute for Supply Management reported that its manufacturing index went... More of this article »
Merger between Two Beer Giants Blocked by Feds
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a suit in federal court to stop the merger between Mexico’s largest brewery, Grupo Modelo and Anheuser-Busch InBev. The Justice Department argues that consumer pricing will suffer... More of this article »
Ford Earnings for Fourth Quarter Announced
Ford Motor reported its earnings for the fourth quarter, which was its highest for the fourth quarter in over a decade. The automaker reported earnings of $1.7 billion during the last three month of 2012, due in large part to an increase... More of this article »
Japanese Automakers Make Huge Comeback
Toyota, the Japanese automaker, has once again taken over the top spot as the largest automaker in the world. Toyota lost that distinction in 2011 to General Motors, but in 2012 sold more than 9.75 million autos to set a new record.... More of this article »
Microsoft-Dell Partnership Advantageous for Both Companies
There are speculations that Dell is buying back stock and become a private company again. There are also new rumors that Microsoft will be involved in it. According to reports, Microsoft is planning to invest up to $3 billion for a... More of this article »
GE Gets Sharp 4th Quarter Profit
General Electric released its profits report Friday that showed better than expected increase of 7.5 percent in its fourth quarter profit as well as a sharp increase in its backlog of equipment orders. GE got strong earnings growth... More of this article »
eBay Says 2012 was its best Year
Internet commerce is becoming more and more common and eBay, the e-commerce pioneer, says that it enjoyed its best year to date in 2012. The company said shoppers flocked to its site in search of bargains and used its payment service,... More of this article »
Chrysler Reports Strong Sales
Chrysler has become the envy of Detroit because of its strong sales and new models. Just a few years ago, the company plunged into bankruptcy. But it managed to revive its business and left Ford Motor Company and General Motors playing... More of this article »
UPS Ends Bid of $7 Billion to acquire TNT Express
UPS the delivery company ended its bid of $7 billion to acquire TNT Express after authorities from Europe said they would stop the acquisition on grounds it would hurt competition. Officials from the European Commission told UPS (United... More of this article »
MGM Gets go ahead to Open another Macau Casino
MGM Resorts International’s Chinese arm won approval on Wednesday for another Macau resort-casino, putting it one step closer to catching its rivals in gambling’s most lucrative market in the world. Notice of the plan to build... More of this article »
US House Investigates SEC Spending on Consultants
The US House Oversight Committee is investigating the Securities and Exchange Commission’s expenses on outside consultants from Booz Allen Hamilton. The lawmakers are concerned about possible waste. The committee sent a letter to... More of this article »
Japanese FIsh Market Sells Bluefin for $1.8 Million
Japan set a new record for the price of tuna this week, after a huge bluefin tuna was auctioned off for $1.8 million in the first auction of the New Year at Tokyo’s Tsukiji Fish Market. The new record was nearly three times higher... More of this article »
Avis Acquires Zipcar for $500 Million
Avis is set to acquire Zipcar for $491.2 million. This would expand its services from traditional car rentals to car sharing services. Car sharing has become one of the popular alternatives to rentals, especially in metropolitan areas... More of this article »
Here Comes the Dairy Cliff
Lawmakers have not yet solved the fiscal cliff and now they have to face the dairy cliff. In 2013, the price of milk could double to as much as $6 to $8 per gallon from the current price of $3.75. Congress failed to agree on a new... More of this article »
Holiday Shoppers Discourage Investors
On Wednesday, in light trading, stocks were down for the third straight day thanks to the ongoing anxiety over the possible budget cuts, increase in taxes and the less than anticipated holiday retail sales figures. Trading was very... More of this article »
RIM to Change Service Fees for BB10
Research in Motion doesn’t have a commanding presence in the Enterprise market like it used to in the past. It is set to switch from a one-size-fits-all approach to enterprise services to tiered services offerings. For enterprise... More of this article »
Pinnacle Entertainment to Acquire Ameristar Casinos
Pinnacle Entertainment owns several casinos in Louisiana. It agreed to buy Ameristar Casinos for $869 million. The deal would give Pinnacle a casino each in Mississippi and in Louisiana. The deal has already been approved by both operators’... More of this article »
Profits at FedEx Fall
FedEx announced on Wednesday that its profits had dropped 12% during their fiscal second quarter. However, the drop was not as much as investors had feared as the shipping company struggled for better results in the airfreight sector... More of this article »
Samsung to Become Top Maker of Phones Worldwide
South Korea based Samsung Electronics has overtaken Nokia, the Finnish phone maker, for just the time since 1998 as the world’s top maker of phones for 2012. At year’s end, Samsung will account for close to 29% of all shipments... More of this article »
Craft Beer Troubles are Brewing
Craft brewers are unhappy that megabrewers Molson Coors and Anheuser-Busch InBev are using the term craft beer. A-B said that Budweiser is a craft beer. On the other hand, Coors is trying to change the marketing on its Silver Bullet... More of this article »
Refund Delay Might Cause Recession
Congress it seems is bent on debating simultaneously the debate over the fiscal cliff, which has a remedy of a short-term widening of the national deficit along with the fiscal crisis, which has a remedy that is long-term narrowing... More of this article »
Consumer Prices Drop due to Lower Gas Costs
A sharp drop in gasoline prices led to decline in consumer prices last month. It kept the inflation mild according to the Labor Department Friday. Gas prices dropped 7.4 percent, which is the biggest drop in almost four years. It offset... More of this article »
Retail Sales Jump in November thanks to Autos and Holiday Shoppers
U.S. retail sales increased in November, as automobile demand returned and shopper started holiday shopping for clothes and electronics. The gain of 0.3% for November followed a decrease of 0.3% for October. The average forecast by... More of this article »
Tequila Talks Ended by Diageo
Diageo PLC, on Tuesday, ended discussions with Jose Cuervo, the tequila maker, after a deal was not reached with the Beckmann family of Mexico to purchase a stake. Diageo will forfeit the entire brand as its contract for distribution... More of this article »
McDonald’s Beats Sales Estimates
Same-store sales globally at McDonald’s increased at a bigger than expected rate of 2.4% during November, as the largest fast food group in the world succeeded in reversing its decline that was reported in early November for October. Analysts... More of this article »
Investors See Gold Prices Continue to Drop
Investors of gold are still waiting to receive holiday cheer after the first week of December ended. The price of the precious metal has fallen 5% since its highs in October following the announcement by the Federal Reserve of its... More of this article »
Cheaper Homes to See Price Increase Soon
Lower-priced homes have been hit the most during the burst of the housing bubble. And it looked like they are set to rebound as the housing market recovers. In the 12 months through October, the cheapest homes have seen their prices... More of this article »
Starbucks Announces Big Expansion
Starbucks, the biggest coffee business in the world, announced it was planning to add up to 1,500 new cafes over the next five years in the U.S. The new plan, which would increase the number of cafes in the U.S. by 13%, will be officially... More of this article »
U.S. Sees Contraction in Manufacturing for November
The manufacturing sector of the U.S. shrank in November and employment weakened, according to new data on Monday. The Institute of Supply Management’s purchasing managers’ index fell unexpectedly to 49.5 during November from October’s... More of this article »
Spending by Consumers Drop to Five Month Low
Consumer spending in the U.S. fell during October for just the first time in the past five months. Growth in income stalled, which suggested that slower economic growth would take place during this year’s last quarter. On Friday,... More of this article »
Investors Sue HP Board and Auditors for Autonomy Deal
Hewlett-Packard’s directors and auditors as well as Autonomy Corp. founder Mike Lynch were sued by investors over fraud regarding last year’s acquisition of the software company. The lawsuit was filed November 27 in a federal court... More of this article »
Costco announces Special Dividend Prior to Fiscal Cliff
Warehouse merchant, Costco Wholesale has announced it will have a special dividend of $3 billion before the end of 2012, saving its shareholders from being bit should the increase in taxes take place due to the pending fiscal cliff. The... More of this article »
Gas Rationing to End Soon in New York
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said that the gas rationing system implemented in the city two weeks ago will come to an end on Saturday. He introduced the gas rationing for city drivers for the first time since the 1970s on November 9... More of this article »
International Union Confronts Wal-Mart Suppliers as Employees Stage Walkouts
An international trade union asked Wal-Mart suppliers to raise concerns with the giant retailer about how it treats its US workforce. The company has been affected by several walkouts and protests by union-supported groups wanting... More of this article »
Stock Price Surges for Groupon
Groupon Inc. stock shares increased earlier this week by over 10% after a 9.9% stake in the company was purchased by a hedge fund. Tiger Global Investments discloses it had purchased 65 million shares in their securities filing Monday.... More of this article »
Earnings Miss Wall Street Estimates at John Deere
The largest maker of agricultural equipment, John Deere & Co. reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday that missed estimates by analysts after the company saw sales outside Canada and the U.S. decline. Profit jumped to over... More of this article »
Walmart Hit by Walkouts and Protests
Employees at Walmart this week started to walk off the job in advance of next week’s Black Friday, when three groups backed by unions expect thousands to protest nationwide. During October, a strike took place in Los Angeles at a... More of this article »
FedEx and UPS Investigated by Department of Justice
Fed Ex and UPS announced they both were targets of an investigation by the Department of Justice related to illegal online pharmacies. The pharmacies have become the target of a crackdown by federal investigators and international... More of this article »