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Japanese Retail Sales Drop on Tax Hike
Japan’s retail sales dropped in April at a record rate following the government’s push forward with its first consumption tax increase in over 17 years to repair its troubled finances. Preliminary figures that were released Thursday... More of this article »
Best Buy Benefits from Cost Cutting
Cost cutting helped Best Buy the retailer of consumer electronics to record a profit that was bigger than expected during the first quarter. However, sales were weak as consumers hold off for the launches of new products including... More of this article »
Sears Loss in First Quarter Widens
The loss in the first quarter for Sears widened as the retailer’s sales fell amidst its continual struggle to entice shoppers. Sears Holdings Corp, which is the operator of its namesake and Kmart stores, has tried to cut costs, reduce... More of this article »
Retail Stocks Drive Sell-Off
Stocks in the U.S. fell on Tuesday in a selloff, with the major indexes reaching their lows for the session during trading in the afternoon. Driving the selloff were retail stocks, after disappointing earnings reports were given for... More of this article »
Profits Up at Home Depot, But Miss Wall Street Estimates
On Tuesday Home Depot reported that its sales as well as net income was up for the first quarter despite a slower than normal start for the spring selling season thanks to a harsh winter. However, the results did not meet Wall Street... More of this article »
Coffee Prices up Due to Fungus
The government of the U.S. has stepped up its efforts to help farmers in Central America fight a devastating disease that is hitting coffee to hold the price of the morning cup down before it become too expensive. The disease is a... More of this article »
Housing Starts Up in April
Home construction in the U.S. surged during April and building permits rose to levels higher than in over five years. This was a good sign that the industry is starting to rebound after a slow winter. Housing starts were up 13.2% for... More of this article »
Tesla Battery Deal Ending with Toyota
Tesla Motors Inc, the maker of electric cars is planning to construct the largest plant for battery production in the world. The company announced that its deal to supply Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp with motors and battery... More of this article »
Inflation in China Falls to Lowest Rate in Year and A Half
Consumer inflation in the world’s second largest economy decelerated to a low of 18 months in April, in China. At the same time, a decline in prices at the factory-gate continued giving the Chinese government more reason to loosen... More of this article »
Tesla Disappoints on Outlook, Shares Fall
Tesla Motors Inc led by Elon Musk the billionaire offered on Wednesday an outlook for its second quarter, which disappointed investors. In response, shares for the company dropped as much as 7% in trading after hours. The electric... More of this article »
Sony Cuts Forecast as Pressure Increases on CEO
Sony Corp has slashed it guidance for earnings for the third time in just one year to barely 10% of what it initially had for an outlook as more losses from its PC sector exit have cast a cloud over the struggling division of electronics. The... More of this article »
Proctor & Gamble Trimming Costs, Sales Fall
Proctor & Gamble CEO A.G. Lafley made progress cutting costs from the largest consumer products business in the world during its fiscal third quarter. However, reviving growth in sales has not come as easy. The Pampers Diapers... More of this article »
Hasbro Profit Helped by Girls Toys
The toymaker Hasbro made a surprise improvement in earnings thanks to lower costs and sales soaring for girls’ toys. Hasbro said it made a profit during the first quarter as earnings topped expectations of analysts, even though revenue... More of this article »
Source: FBI Probe Herbalife Marketing
Bill Ackman, the hedge fund manager, has accused Herbalife Ltd of being nothing more than a pyramid scheme. The company is now being probed by the FBI says a source familiar with the investigation. The source said federal authorities... More of this article »
Fiat and Chrysler Now Able to Produce 6 Million Vehicles Per Year
Sergio Marchionne the CEO of Fiat and Chrysler said on Monday that the two automakers would have a combined capacity of 6 million vehicles annually once their forces are combined. Marchionne is aiming to complete the merger of the... More of this article »
Tesla Enters Deal to Maintain Sales in New York
Tesla Motors can continue to sell its vehicles in the state of New York and might eventually move into the dealership mode that it has continued to fight. The New York Automobile Dealers Association and Tesla reached an agreement over... More of this article »
Problems Increase for GM over Recall
General Motors had a tough day on Friday. Late Friday afternoon GM said it recalled over 172,000 of its Chevrolet Cruzes to change the axle half shaft on the right front side that could possibly fracture then separate without any warning... More of this article »
Walmart Uses Tool Revealing Prices of Competitors
A new tool used by Walmart could succeed in shaking up the pricing world once again. Walmart said it has unveiled a tool to use online that compares prices it has on over 80,000 household and food products from dishwashing soap to... More of this article »
FedEx Short of Expectations with Earnings
Shares at FedEx Corporation fell by up to 2% on Wednesday morning in premarket trading. The company released its quarterly results from its fiscal third quarter for 2014 prior to the market’s opening bell. The company posted higher... More of this article »
Consumer Prices in U.S. Increased Slightly in February
Cheaper energy helped maintain overall U.S. prices close to the same last month, despite a large increase in food costs, the latest sign inflation remains tame. The consumer price index was up by just 0.1% during February matching... More of this article »
Producer Prices Drop in U.S.
The producer prices in the United States dropped during February, which reinforced the view that minimal pressure of inflation could keep the U.S. Federal Reserve from increasing interest rates for a long time. The Department of Labor... More of this article »
Retail Sales Up for First Time in Three Months
U.S. retail sales increased in February for only the first time over the past three months, which is a sign that consumers have started to shake off ill effects of the severe winter that curbed spending more than was estimated previously. The... More of this article »
Stocks Pulled Down by China and Copper
Continuing worries about the slowdown in growth in China and the tensions in Ukraine overshadowed market sentiment Wednesday, as stock futures headed south following sharp losses in Tokyo and Hong Kong started to be repeated in Europe. While... More of this article »
Fyffes to be Acquired by Chiquita Brands
Chiquita Brands International, owner of the banana label of the same name, has agreed to acquire Fyffes, Plc in a transaction that is all stock valuing the distributor of fresh produce based in Dublin at around $526 million. The new... More of this article »
Coupons.com Surges by 88% in Debut
Coupons.com debuted this week on the New York Stock Exchange and soared by 88% in its first day with an IPO. The coupon site online listed its shares at $16 and ended the first day at $30. The company was able to raise $168 million... More of this article »
Cerberus Acquiring Safeway
Safeway agreed to an acquisition by Cerberus Capital Management the parent company of a number of supermarket chains. The deal is worth nearly $7.65 billion in cash and pending any other transaction could be over $9 billion. The acquisition... More of this article »
Largest Bitcoin trading platform Mt.Gox shuts down
Mt.Gox, the world’s largest trading platform of Bitcoins website was taken offline on Monday. The site has since been put back online but a notice stating that it is closing all transactions for the time being is displayed and rumours... More of this article »
GDP Lowered from 3.2% to 2.4% during Fourth Quarter
The economy in the U.S. expanded at a much slower pace late in 2013 than what was estimated initially, a sign of little growth amidst foul weather and softer demand overseas for products from the U.S. The gross domestic product, the... More of this article »
Sears Suffers Huge Quarterly Loss
Sears Holdings Corporation, the retailer operated by Edward Lampert a hedge fund manager, posted a loss for the fourth quarter of $358 million, as investments in its operations online and a new rewards program did not boost its holiday... More of this article »
Qantas Pressured as Losses Continue
The helm at Qantas Airways was taken over by Alan Joyce over five years ago. He was tasked with turning the flag carrier for Australia around, which at the time was losing large sums of money on international routes. Now, the son of... More of this article »
Sales of Cars in Europe Increase in January
Car sales in Europe were up by 5.2% during January, helped by increases in countries previously hit with crisis such as Italy, Ireland, Portugal and Greece suggesting an economic recovery was gaining pace. The ACEA or Association of... More of this article »
Growth Figures in Japan Disappoint
The economy in Japan grew at less of a rate than was expected during the last quarter of 2013, as individuals and companies spent less and failed to expand substantially from the third quarter. The surprisingly weak economy grew much... More of this article »
Campbell’s Soup Sees Positive Effects of Weather
On both coasts of the U.S., Campbell Soup Co. had issues with weather. On the east coast, it was cold and winter weather, which normally spurs consumers to eat more soup they have at home in their cupboards and go out and buy more. The... More of this article »
Retail Sales Drop in January
Amidst severe cold weather, sales feel by a seasonally adjusted rate of 0.4% during January from the previous month, which missed the expectations of Wall Street. The run of very severe winter weather has wreaked havoc on the U.S.... More of this article »
Hasbro Performance Drops in Fourth Quarter
The net income for Hasbro during the fourth quarter slipped slightly, as it was hit by charges during the important holiday shopping period. The holiday season during November and December is important to many companies as they can... More of this article »
U.S. Cuba Policy Shift Amongst Exile Elite
When a new museum of art opened late last year in Miami Jorge Perez the museum’s namesake spoke about the once taboo topic amongst Cuban American powerbrokers of increasing exchanges between artists in the U.S. with those in Cuba. This... More of this article »
Toyota Profit Higher on Strong Sales and Weak Yen
Toyota Motor Corp has reported over a fivefold increase in its profit for the quarter and increased its forecast on earnings. It credited strong sales and a weak yen. Profits for Toyota during the quarter of October to the end of December... More of this article »
Manufacturing in China Falls and Stocks Follow
Global stocks were lower on Monday as weakness in another manufacturing survey in China was seen, which added to the jitters over emerging economies. In early trading in Europe, major bench benchmarks remained lackluster. The FTSE... More of this article »
Coach North America Sales Plummet
Sales at Coach Inc in North America during the annual key holiday quarter plummeted by more than had been forecasted by the maker of handbags, as new competition continued to eat at its market lead while fewer shoppers entered its... More of this article »
Owner of Budweiser Buying Biggest Brewery in South Korea
Anheuser-Busch InBev SA, the largest brewer in the world, has agreed in principle to purchase Oriental Brewery Co. Ltd. based in South Korea, from Affinity Equity Partners and KKR & Co. The purchase price is $5.8 billion, which... More of this article »
UPS Profit Affected By Shorter Holiday Season
United Parcel Service, Inc announced its profit for 2013 would not meet forecasts as a large flurry of late orders near the end of the U.S. shopping season for the holidays and a batch of cold weather took its toll on the delivery... More of this article »
Europe: Longest Car Market Slump Ever Continued in 2013
The car market in Europe endured its longest ever slump with a sixth consecutive year of shrinkage during 2013. However, an unexpected spike in sales for December might finally signal a recovery, according to data that was released... More of this article »
Lululemon Lowers Forecast
The upscale yoga wear maker Lululemon Athletica lowered its forecast for the quarter as the business continues to struggle with the long lasting effects of a recall and comments that were controversial made by it founder. That in turn... More of this article »
USDA Lowers Corn Crop Estimates
The U.S. federal government cut the size of the record corn crop for 2013 unexpectedly, as lower yields were cutting into supplies. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture lowered the corn crop from last year to 13.92 billion... More of this article »
Macy’s Cutting Over 2,500 Jobs
On Wednesday, Macy’s announced it was cutting jobs as part of its effort in reorganization that will help the company save over $100 million each year. Macy’s is planning to cut 2,500 jobs in its effort to save and sustain profitability.... More of this article »
Mulally Staying at Ford Motor Co.
CEO Alan Mulally of Ford Motor Co. said he was planning to stay at the U.S. automaker, which is No. 2 in the country, through this year and would not leave for the top spot at Microsoft. Mulally said he wanted to end any speculation... More of this article »
Cherrios No Longer Have GMI’s
General Mills announced that it stopped using genetically modified ingredients in Cheerios, its popular breakfast cereal, as the branded foods maker in the U.S. hopes its move will garner customer loyalty as growing opposition continues... More of this article »
Fiat Now Has Full Control Over Chrysler
Fiat SpA has secured complete ownership of Chrysler Group in a deal worth $4.35 billion that will conserve cash for the Italian automaker while creating a true global automaker with a better opportunity to compete with General Motors. Fiat... More of this article »