Business  Sci/Tech  U.S.  World  Entertainment  Sports   Health








Digests of BUSINESS news stories


Saturday


  • June-01 -- Dow, S&P; 500 plunge 1.4% in final minutes
    Starbucks is taking a stand against smoking.
    Starbucks reps are hopeful customers will be supportive and cooperative. More...

  • June-01 -- Starbucks to ban smoking within 25 feet of cafes
    Starbucks is taking a stand against smoking.
    Health Minister Marisol Touraine said on Friday that so-called e-cigarettes faced the same fate as traditional ones: a ban on smoking in public spaces and sales to minors and a blackout on media advertising. More...

  • June-01 -- New Dell Proxy Says Icahn Offer Still Falls Short
    The merger agreement provided for a 45-day "go-shop" period.
    Shareholders have been dismayed by the declining stock performance. More...

  • June-01 -- Spending Still Grows Amid Weak Pay, But For How Long?
    On the economic front, consumer spending fell 0.2 percent in April for the first time in almost a year, according to the Commerce Department, disappointing economists who had expected a gain of 0.1 percent.
    The Commerce Department's price index tied to purchases, the gauge tracked by Fed policy makers, fell 0.3 percent in April, the biggest drop since December 2008, as fuel costs retreated. More...

  • June-01 -- Morgan Stanley's Hadden Barred From CME Trading for 10 Days
    Japan and South Korea suspended some imports of American wheat, and the European Union urged its 27 nations to increase testing, after the United States government disclosed this week that a strain of genetically engineered wheat that was never approved for sale was found growing in an Oregon field.
    WASHINGTON, May 30 (Reuters) - After an alert a month ago, a team of U.S. plant detectives methodically began to gather evidence for what would lead to a jarring announcement for the farm world - that genetically modified wheat, not approved for cultivation anywhere in the world, was growing in Oregon. More...

  • June-01 -- Corn, soybean and wheat futures rise as traders worry about forecasts for more ...
    Japan and South Korea suspended some imports of American wheat, and the European Union urged its 27 nations to increase testing, after the United States government disclosed this week that a strain of genetically engineered wheat that was never approved for sale was found growing in an Oregon field.
    WASHINGTON, May 30 (Reuters) - After an alert a month ago, a team of U.S. plant detectives methodically began to gather evidence for what would lead to a jarring announcement for the farm world - that genetically modified wheat, not approved for cultivation anywhere in the world, was growing in Oregon. More...

  • June-01 -- US Stocks Decline as Data Bolster Concern on Stimulus
    May 31 (Bloomberg) -- European stocks fell to a four-week low, paring a 12th consecutive month of gains for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, as better-than-forecast data on U.S. business activity and consumer confidence bolstered speculation the Federal Reserve will pare its bond purchases.
    The KBW Bank Index rallied 1.2 percent, as 22 out of 24 U.S. lenders in the measure advanced. More...

  • June-01 -- Investors pull back from Treasury markets
    Fed to buy $1.25 bln to $1.75 bln in bonds due 2036-2043 By Karen Brettell NEW YORK, May 28 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasuries prices fell on Tuesday as stocks gained and before the Treasury sells $35 billion in new two-year notes, the first of $99 billion in new coupon-bearing supply this week.
    The market decline was driven by heavy volume in the cash and futures markets in a holiday shortened week. More...

  • June-01 -- Hog Futures Extend Gain on Outlook for China Demand; Cattle Rise
    China's largest meat producer agreed to a deal that would be the largest takeover of a U.S. company by a Chinese buyer.
    STEVE MEYER: Well, I mean, that's -- I guess that's always a possibility. More...

  • June-01 -- Financier Hands' EMI lawsuit versus Citigroup revived
    Ordering a new trial, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan threw out a November 2010 jury verdict against Hands' private equity firm, Terra Firma Capital Partners, over its 4 billion pound purchase of EMI in 2007 - now US$6.1 billion.
    "We are confident we will again prevail at trial as Citi's conduct in the EMI transaction was entirely proper," Danielle Romero-Apsilos, a spokeswoman for New York-based Citigroup, the third-biggest U.S. bank, said in an e-mailed statement. More...

  • June-01 -- VIDEO: Wheel of Fortune's Million-Dollar Winner
    A contestant on the long-running show Wheel of Fortune solved a puzzle on Thursday night and won a whopping $1 million and her amazing guess at the answer is in the video on RadarOnline.com.
    They were celebrating the fact that I solved the puzzle. More...

  • June-01 -- US Consumer Sentiment Rallies to Six-Year High in May
    The May number, 84.5, is the highest number since July 2007.
    "The data clearly suggest a faster pace of growth in consumer spending during the year ahead than was anticipated even one month ago," survey director Richard Curtin said in a statement. More...

  • June-01 -- AIG sale of aircraft leasing firm to Chinese investors hits snag
    The payment was to be made by a consortium of Chinese buyers including New China Trust, New China Life Insurance, P3 Investments, China Aviation Industrial Fund and an investment arm of Chinese bank ICBC International, which signed an agreement to purchase up to a 90 percent stake in ILFC on December 9.
    Shares of American International Group ( AIG ) fell hard after a Chinese consortium missed a scheduled deposit payment for its proposed purchase of AIG's ILFC unit, one of the world's largest airplane leasing businesses. More...

  • June-01 -- Euro-Area Jobless Rate Rises to Record Amid Recession: Economy
    Joblessness in the 17-nation currency area rose to 12.2 percent in April, Eurostat said on Friday, marking a new record since the EU's statistics office started collecting data on the countries in 1995.
    The euro-area jobless rate rose to 12.2 percent from 12.1 percent in March, the European Union's statistics office in Luxembourg said today. More...

  • June-01 -- Irish Meet Common Sense Tax Haven Status on Apple, Levin Says
    Especially when we consider that the one thing Apple didn't do was move profits out of the US: it simply didn't bring foreign profits into the U.S. This is not the same thing for the obvious reason that leaving a country and entering a country are different things.
    The agreement ends there. More...

  • June-01 -- First floating wind turbine in North America hits the water in Brewer
    Build 16: 31 ms (NewsList).Completed macro ody_bottom_caro_eight.Build 9: 703 ms (Content).Build 9: 16 ms (Content).Completed macro ody_conveyor.Parsing macro c4_inteltxt.Build 9: 0 ms (Content).Completed macro c4_inteltxt.Parsing macro ody_footer.Parsing macro ody_analytics.
    "We have historically managed our growth from Michigan, but the company has reached a point where we must pursue a strategy that better fits with the long-term growth trends for our company and industry. More...

  • June-01 -- PulteGroup to Relocate Corporate Offices to Atlanta
    Build 16: 31 ms (NewsList).Completed macro ody_bottom_caro_eight.Build 9: 703 ms (Content).Build 9: 16 ms (Content).Completed macro ody_conveyor.Parsing macro c4_inteltxt.Build 9: 0 ms (Content).Completed macro c4_inteltxt.Parsing macro ody_footer.Parsing macro ody_analytics.
    "We have historically managed our growth from Michigan, but the company has reached a point where we must pursue a strategy that better fits with the long-term growth trends for our company and industry. More...

  • June-01 -- U.S. Treasury Takes Another Step to Avoid Hitting Debt Limit
    May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Sony Corp. is working with Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc. as it considers adopting billionaire Daniel Loeb's proposal for an initial public offering of its entertainment unit, said people familiar with the matter.
    More...

  • June-01 -- Sony Said to Hire Morgan Stanley, Citigroup for Loeb Plan
    May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Sony Corp. is working with Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc. as it considers adopting billionaire Daniel Loeb's proposal for an initial public offering of its entertainment unit, said people familiar with the matter.
    More...

  • June-01 -- Electric Car Future 'Definitely Coming,' Lutz Says
    Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors Co. Musk offered insight into Tesla's lower priced sedan, which he said is expected to hit the market in the next three to five years.
    Today, in a series of CNBC questions from Carl Quintanilla, Jim Cramer, and David Faber, Musk said there is a "good chance" Tesla would partner with Google to develop self-driving cars. More...

Friday


  • May-31 -- Wealth of average US household remains far below pre-recession level, St ...
    "Clearly, the 91% recovery of wealth losses portrayed by the aggregate nominal measure paints a different picture than the 45% recovery of wealth losses indicated by the average inflation-adjusted household measure," the report said.
    The higher figure ignores inflation, population growth, and uneven gains due to higher stock-market gains, the authors wrote. More...

  • May-31 -- US economy grew at modest 2.4 pct. rate in Q1
    The U.S. economy grew at a moderate 2.4 percent annual rate in the first quarter, slightly less than first estimated as sharp cuts in government spending dug in, official data showed Thursday.
    The Commerce Department said the slightly weaker than previously estimated growth reflected downward revisions to private inventory investment, exports, and state and local government spending. More...

  • May-31 -- Tesla readies smaller, cheaper crossover, sedan by 2017
    THE SPARK: Tesla Motors, which makes a highly acclaimed $70,000 electric car, last week sold stock and notes that grossed $968 million.
    Tesla is planning "a dramatic acceleration of the Supercharging network," Musk said at the conference. More...

  • May-31 -- North American Retailers Band Together For Safer Factories In Bangladesh
    Low wages and horrendous working conditions are the hallmark of the contemporary global supply chain.
    More than a thousand garment workers in Bangladesh have lost their lives since 2006 due to low-cost production pressures, negligence of governments, lawmakers and political leaders. More...

  • May-31 -- Bacon Backlash Unlikely Over China - Smithfield Deal
    In one of the biggest aircraft orders in its history, Singapore Airlines (SIA) is committing to 30 additional Airbus A350-900s and 30 Boeing 787-10Xs worth over US$17 billion, as it fights to keep its position as an industry leader and fend off intensifying competition from rivals.
    Singapore also secured on Thursday a firm order for another 30 Airbus A350-900s to be delivered in the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years, with options for 20 more that can be converted to the larger A350-1000. More...

  • May-31 -- Singapore Airlines jet order includes first stretched Dreamliner
    In one of the biggest aircraft orders in its history, Singapore Airlines (SIA) is committing to 30 additional Airbus A350-900s and 30 Boeing 787-10Xs worth over US$17 billion, as it fights to keep its position as an industry leader and fend off intensifying competition from rivals.
    Singapore also secured on Thursday a firm order for another 30 Airbus A350-900s to be delivered in the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years, with options for 20 more that can be converted to the larger A350-1000. More...

  • May-31 -- Fed buys $12.2 billion of mortgage bonds, sells none
    The MBA said interest rates on fixed 30-year mortgage rates surged 12 basis points to average 3.90 percent in the week ended May 24.
    The MBA's weekly survey covers more than three-quarters of all residential mortgage applications across the nation. More...

  • May-31 -- Home Prices in US Rise by Most Since 2006 in March
    Applications for building permits rose in April to the highest level in nearly five years.
    Inventory is tight all over the country, and real estate listing aggregator Zillow has noted that in February, the number of listings on the site was down 17% from the previous year. More...

  • May-31 -- Buffett's firm buys Roanoke (Va.) Times newspaper
    Under the deal, announced late yesterday, MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. will purchase all outstanding shares of NV Energy for $23.75 per share in cash, a 23.1% premium over the Las Vegas-based firm's Wednesday closing price.
    The Roanoke Times joined a growing list of BH Media Group-owned properties in Virginia Thursday with the announcement that a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway will buy the newspaper on Friday. More...

  • May-31 -- Real Estate Market Trends: Pending Sales Up Slightly
    With the Federal Reserve continuing to implement policies to keep mortgage rates low the National Association of Realtors said, ts Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed last month, rose 0.3 percent to 106.0, the highest reading since April 2010.
    "The housing market continues to squeak out gains from already very positive conditions. More...

  • May-31 -- Crisis states lead way as euro zone's economic mood brightens
    Data released last week showed that German business confidence rose to 105.7 in May, above forecasts of 104.5, to rebounded after two consecutive drops.
    European manufacturing and services data showed an ease in contraction for a second straight month in May, as a flash Eurozone PMI Composite rose to 47.7, up from 46.9 in April. More...

  • May-31 -- Short Sales Decline Amid Rising Home Prices: RealtyTrac
    Nationally, foreclosure sales were down 22 percent from the first quarter of 2012, with an average price of $167,095, RealtyTrac said.
    Manatee had 606 distressed sales in the recent quarter, down 7.6 percent from the prior period but up 3.8 percent for the year. More...

  • May-31 -- Mortgage holders' aid plan gets extension
    Extending the program for two years will benefit many additional families while maintaining clear standards and accountability for an important part of the mortgage industry."
    The Home Affordable Modification Program , which does not require congressional action, was created as a centerpiece of the Obama administration's emergency strategy to stem the rising tide of foreclosures. More...

  • May-31 -- Analysis: Dividend stocks lose shine as US bond yields rise
    Fed to buy $1.25 bln to $1.75 bln in bonds due 2036-2043 By Karen Brettell NEW YORK, May 28 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasuries prices fell on Tuesday as stocks gained and before the Treasury sells $35 billion in new two-year notes, the first of $99 billion in new coupon-bearing supply this week.
    The U.S. auctioned $35 billion of five-year notes today at a lower-than-forecast yield. More...

  • May-31 -- Lions Gate Entertainment Swings To Q4 Profit
    The consortium formed by Iberdrola Ingenieria y Construccion ("Iberdrola") and South African company Group Five has been selected by Jasper Power Company to build the Jasper PV Plant in South Africa, which will be powered by more than 325,000 Yingli YL295P-35b multi-crystalline modules spread across 180 hectares.
    "We are always on the lookout to find investments that will have the same characteristics as South Africa, which is strong, growing demand, or supply that is unable to meet that demand," Google's Director for Energy and Sustainability Rick Needham said on a conference call. More...

  • May-31 -- Google Backs First Africa Renewable Power and May Invest in More
    In its bajillionth green energy investment, Google has targeted the Jasper Power Project, a South African solar plant.
    Photo courtesy of WetlandsofPakistan via Flickr. More...

  • May-31 -- Stocks Gain Despite Signs of Sluggish Growth
    MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Economic growth will likely pick up in the second half of this year, Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren said on Wednesday, helping to trim a few tenths of a percentage point from the unemployment rate.
    Some weaker than expected data on economic growth and jobless claims also stoked bets the Federal Reserve will maintain stimulus. More...

  • May-31 -- Volcker: U.S. has too many regulators
    Volcker, who led the Fed's charge to end high inflation in the 1970s, was tapped by Obama in 2008 to lead a two-year advisory board to help steer an economic recovery plan.
    "Shelley, working with our distinguished board, will lead the institute to bring together our best schools of public service and other interested institutions to help solve the issues that impede policy execution." More...

Thursday


  • May-30 -- Chinese bid for Smithfield latest in line of heavily scrutinised China-US deals
    Virginia-based pork producer Smithfield Foods Inc. has agreed to be acquired by Hong Kong-based Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd. for $4.72 billion.
    The deal, totaling $7.1 billion in all, would be the largest takeover of a U.S. company by a Chinese firm, according to Reuters. More...

  • May-30 -- SEC Pokes Nasdaq; Dow 28000?; Chinese M&A; Sizzle
    The pact between the nation's third-biggest bank by assets and the Federal Housing Finance Agency disposes of claims by FHFA that Citigroup sold more than $3.5 billion in securities backed by defective residential mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over a 20-month period starting in September 2005, according to a filing Tuesday by the bank and FHFA with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
    Fannie Mae's current-coupon 30-year securities climbed 0.09 percentage point to 2.91 percent as of 12:27 p.m. in New York, the highest level since April 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. More...

  • May-30 -- Richest 20 percent get half the overall savings from US tax breaks, CBO says
    The pact between the nation's third-biggest bank by assets and the Federal Housing Finance Agency disposes of claims by FHFA that Citigroup sold more than $3.5 billion in securities backed by defective residential mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over a 20-month period starting in September 2005, according to a filing Tuesday by the bank and FHFA with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
    Fannie Mae's current-coupon 30-year securities climbed 0.09 percentage point to 2.91 percent as of 12:27 p.m. in New York, the highest level since April 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. More...

  • May-30 -- Fairholme makes $500 million bet on Fannie, Freddie preferred: CNBC
    The pact between the nation's third-biggest bank by assets and the Federal Housing Finance Agency disposes of claims by FHFA that Citigroup sold more than $3.5 billion in securities backed by defective residential mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over a 20-month period starting in September 2005, according to a filing Tuesday by the bank and FHFA with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
    Fannie Mae's current-coupon 30-year securities climbed 0.09 percentage point to 2.91 percent as of 12:27 p.m. in New York, the highest level since April 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. More...

  • May-30 -- Buffett Hits Vegas: Berkshire's MidAmerican To Buy Utility NV Energy
    Commercial banks and savings institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported aggregate net income of $40.3 billion in the three months ended March 31, a $5.5 billion, or 15.8 percent, increase from the $34.8 billion in profits the industry reported in the first quarter of 2012.
    Bank profits from interest charged fell 2.2 percent to $104 billion. More...

  • May-30 -- Banks See Record Profit
    Commercial banks and savings institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported aggregate net income of $40.3 billion in the three months ended March 31, a $5.5 billion, or 15.8 percent, increase from the $34.8 billion in profits the industry reported in the first quarter of 2012.
    Bank profits from interest charged fell 2.2 percent to $104 billion. More...

  • May-30 -- Top two US funeral companies merge as baby boomers boost demand
    Law360, New York (May 29, 2013, 1:10 PM ET) -- Texas-based Service Corp. International has struck a cash deal valued at $1.4 billion to acquire Stewart Enterprises Inc., combining the two largest U.S. funeral home operators, both companies said Wednesday.
    Shares of Stewart Enterprises ( STEI ) have a 1.85% yield, based on Tuesday's closing price of $9.74. More...

  • May-30 -- Index: Chicago home prices halt 6 months of declines
    Applications for building permits rose in April to the highest level in nearly five years.
    Double digit gains imply the housing bubble has been re-established as home prices are clearly out of reach again for most. More...

  • May-30 -- Switzerland proposes allowing banks to resolve US tax evasion cases
    The request is the third from U.S. tax authorities to a Swiss bank, after UBS and Credit Suisse recently received similar requests, the paper said.
    To do so, the government needs to agree a legal framework under which the data can be handed over. More...

  • May-30 -- EU States Win Leeway on Deficits
    BERLIN The European Union is granting France, Spain and four other member states more time to bring their budget deficits under control to support the bloc's shrinking economy.
    The Commission said granting France two additional years would be consistent with headline deficit targets of 3.9 percent of GDP for 2013, 3.6 percent for 2014 and 2.8 percent for 2015. More...

  • May-30 -- France targets Total CEO as company reaches settlement in US over Iran bribes
    WASHINGTON, DC, May 29 (RAPSI) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Wednesday that French oil and gas company Total SA had agreed to pay more than $398 million to settle charges filed by the SEC and a parallel criminal matter initiated by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) based on claims that it had made illegal payments to an Iranian official through intermediaries in order to obtain valuable oil and gas concessions.
    The Securities and Exchange Commission meanwhile entered a cease-and-desist order against Total in which the company has agreed to pay an additional $153 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest. More...

  • May-30 -- Like your health care policy? You may be losing it
    Kansas insurance companies are preparing to sell a range of health plans on a new, online insurance exchange being created by the federal government in an effort to make coverage more available to the thousands of people who have struggled to obtain it.
    According to the DOI, monthly premiums for the new health insurance plans vary widely, depending on what portion of medical expenses the plan will pay and what portion consumers pay in co-pays and other out-of-pocket expenses. More...

  • May-30 -- IPO for Empire State Building Gets Shareholder Backing
    Owners of the New York City landmark have agreed to join the building's units in a $4.2 billion real estate investment trust (REIT) called Empire State Realty Trust Inc., which includes more than 18 properties and will likely hold an initial public offering once the new REIT is finalized.
    As you can imagine, each unit of the 102-story building is worth a bit more than $100. More...

  • May-30 -- Sallie Mae plans to split into 2, names new CEO
    The company also named Chief Operating Officer John Remondi as its new chief executive, replacing Albert Lord, who has had two separate stints with the company as CEO. Sallie Mae also said it plans to separate its consumer banking business, which will continue making new loans to students and take deposits, from its education loan management business, which will service existing loans, including those backed by the government.
    Jack F. Remondi, chief operating officer, is taking over Lord's job. More...

  • May-30 -- Apple hiring ex-EPA boss gets thumbs up from Greenpeace
    Though Apple CEO Tim Cook was tight-lipped about new products and iOS updates Tuesday night at the All Things Digital tech conference, he discussed wearable technology, including his thoughts on Google Glass, and made some allusions about where the company is headed.
    Without Jobs at the company, a lot of people are skeptical Cook and his team can deliver the next wave of technological change. More...

  • May-30 -- Yen Weakens as Japanese Shares Fluctuate; Copper Gains With Corn
    Compared to the same month a year ago, the 20-City Composite Home Price Index was up by 10.9 percent in March versus estimates for a 10.2 percent increase.
    The rand retreated as much as 1.9 percent versus the dollar, trading at the lowest level since 2011, after a report showed South Africa's economic growth slowed to an annualized 0.9 percent in the first quarter. More...

  • May-30 -- Report: IAC is looking to sell Newsweek
    U.S. officials said the enterprise was staggering in scope: Over roughly seven years, Liberty Reserve processed 55 million illicit transactions worldwide for 1 million users, including 200,000 in the U.S. The network charged a 1 per cent fee on transactions through "exchangers" -- middlemen who converted actual currency into virtual funds and then back into cash.
    The Liberty Reserve investigation -- which involved law enforcement agencies in 17 countries -- is believed to be the biggest international money laundering prosecution in history, according to the Department of Justice. More...

  • May-30 -- For Virtual-Currency Cops, Liberty Reserve Was the Easy Part
    U.S. officials said the enterprise was staggering in scope: Over roughly seven years, Liberty Reserve processed 55 million illicit transactions worldwide for 1 million users, including 200,000 in the U.S. The network charged a 1 per cent fee on transactions through "exchangers" -- middlemen who converted actual currency into virtual funds and then back into cash.
    The Liberty Reserve investigation -- which involved law enforcement agencies in 17 countries -- is believed to be the biggest international money laundering prosecution in history, according to the Department of Justice. More...

  • May-30 -- Monsanto Modified Wheat Unapproved by USDA Found in Oregon Field
    WASHINGTON The Agriculture Department said Wednesday that a non-approved strain of genetically engineered wheat has been discovered in an Oregon field, a potential threat to trade with other countries that have concerns about genetically modified foods.
    "FDA completed a consultation of the variety that verified the wheat is as safe for food and feed as non-GE varieties that year," Firko said. More...

  • May-30 -- Carney Policy Praised While Leaving Canada in Stalemate: Economy
    OTTAWA -- The Bank of Canada says it will need to keep interest rates at current, stimulative low levels for some time to come, although it had some good news in the final report under governor Mark Carney -- the economy performed stronger than anticipated in the first quarter of 2013.
    "The way things are going, the U.S. may even hike rates before Canada -- I think people are starting to feel that way," said Darcy Browne, managing director of currencies at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce's CIBC World Markets unit, by phone from Toronto. More...

Wednesday


  • May-29 -- US accuses cyber exchange of laundering $6 billion
    Liberty Reserve's founder, Arthur Budovsky, was convicted of violating money transmission rules at a company connected to E-Gold in 2006.
    In 2011, Costa Rica's financial regulatory authority, the Financial Institution Superintendency (SUGEF), closed the company Liberty Reserve, citing a lack of transparency and accounting of funding sources, La Nación reported. More...

  • May-29 -- Home Sweet Home; Easy Does It; Pressing Apple
    Applications for building permits rose in April to the highest level in nearly five years.
    The strong gains over the past year may be a bit of a statistical mirage, according to Robert Shiller, a Yale University economist and co-founder of the index, CNNMoney reported. More...

  • May-29 -- Confidence at Five-Year High as US Housing Climbs: Economy
    Consumer confidence jumped by more than 7 points this month to 76.2, the highest level in more than five years for the Conference Board's monthly index.
    The data suggests the economic recovery could be gaining steam, despite fiscal breaks applied by Congress. More...

  • May-29 -- US Stocks Rise as Home Prices, Consumer Confidence Jump
    Asian stocks rose broadly on Tuesday, with Japanese shares leading the way as investors went bargain hunting in beaten-down stocks following a sharp sell-off the day before.
    Puts protecting against a 10 percent decline in the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) cost 4.12 points more than calls betting on a 10 percent increase, according to three-month options data compiled by Bloomberg. More...

  • May-29 -- US is only 'advanced economy' that does not require paid vacation
    The report notes many Canadian employers do grant more vacation time to employees with more experience.
    Congressman Alan Grayson, D-Fla., introduced a bill last week that would require employers to provide workers with at least one week of paid leave vacation annually. More...

  • May-29 -- Teamsters union seeks to displace union at American Airlines
    DALLAS (AP) -- The Teamsters union is stepping up its campaign to unseat other unions in the airline industry.
    The Teamsters union declined to comment on how many signatures it had obtained from American mechanics. More...

  • May-29 -- European Leaders Huddle on Youth Unemployment
    French president François Hollande has signalled growing political concern about youth unemployment in Europe, calling for urgent action to tackle the lack of jobs and training for young people.
    Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament, calls it a "dramatic" problem for Europe. More...

  • May-29 -- Tesla Rises Past $100 Level for First Time
    "There is a way for the Tesla Model S to be recharged throughout the country faster than you could fill a gas tank."
    Musk has said the company will enlarge that network of chargers, most of which are currently in California, that allow a car to be repowered in about 30 minutes. More...

  • May-29 -- Wal-Mart pleads guilty to dumping hazardous waste
    Coupled with previous actions brought by the states of California and Missouri for the same conduct, Walmart will pay a combined total of more than $110 million to resolve cases alleging violations of federal and state environmental laws.
    The criminal cases announced today are a result of investigations conducted by the FBI and the EPA, which received substantial assistance from the California Department of Substance and Toxics Control, and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. More...

  • May-29 -- General Electric investing billions to improve oil and gas drilling
    GE doesn't drill wells or produce oil or gas, but Little says the complexity of the fracking boom plays into the company strengths.
    GE won't drill any wells or produce oil or gas, but the complexity of the fracking industry will play into the corporate giant's strengths. More...

  • May-29 -- Metro-North track foreman fatally struck by train
    A foreman was killed on the tracks near the spot at which Metro-North rail cars derailed recently.
    MTA Police will conduct an investigation. More...

  • May-29 -- American Realty Grows In Net Lease With CapLease Buy
    Stock markets continued to smash records, the housing market is coming back, and consumer confidence is at multi-year highs.
    The country's M2, or broad money supply, had grown 16.1 percent by the end of April to hit 103.26 trillion yuan, or nearly 200 percent of GDP. This massive money injection has not been translated into desired growth, triggering concerns that the cash boom might not flow into the real economy, but into the shadow banking system instead. More...

  • May-29 -- Moody's: Outlook for US banks raised to 'Stable'
    Stock markets continued to smash records, the housing market is coming back, and consumer confidence is at multi-year highs.
    The ratings firm said it expects U.S. gross domestic product growth of 1.5% to 2.5% in 2013-14, accompanied by a continuing decline in unemployment toward 7%. More...

  • May-29 -- Survey: Australia the 'lucky country' for a better life
    73 percent of people aged between 15 to 64 in Australia have a paid job, compared with an OECD average of 66 per cent.
    The survey ranked more than 30 countries on criteria such as income levels, health, safety and housing. More...

  • May-29 -- Sen. Boxer suggests Edison 'misled' public on San Onofre plant
    U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer wants the Justice Department to investigate if California utility executives deceived federal regulators about an equipment swap at the San Onofre nuclear power plant that eventually led to a radiation leak, The Associated Press has learned.
    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's office of investigations is already probing whether Edison gave the agency complete and accurate information about the steam generators, and the NRC's office of inspector general is also investigating. More...

  • May-29 -- Mass. Audit: Welfare Benefits Paid To 1164 Dead People
    • Five regional DTA offices could not provide documentation for more than 30,000 blank EBT cards, raising serious questions in an agency where past internal probes found employees misusing blank EBT cards to access recipients' benefits inappropriately.
    Bump's audit found other problems, including inadequate security over the EBT cards. More...

  • May-29 -- Treasury Two-Year Notes May Yield 0.277% at Auction, Survey Says
    The 5-year note (5_YEAR) yield traded 9 basis points higher at 0.984% while the 30-year bond (30_YEAR) yield was 11 basis points higher at 3.283%.
    Barrons.com's Income Investing blog, written by Michael Aneiro, helps readers find undervalued securities that offer attractive yields, with an emphasis on dividend-paying stocks, preferred shares, bonds, REITs, Master Limited Partnerships and closed-end funds. More...

  • May-29 -- For better or worse, ObamaCare is changing US health care
    May 28 (Bloomberg) -- While politicians in Washington argue over the Affordable Care Act, its ultimate fate is being decided far from Capitol Hill.
    Seniors are now paying less for prescriptions. More...

  • May-29 -- Crime Museum invests in master swindler Bernie Madoff
    AstraZeneca plc's agreement to take over the recently public Omthera Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $12.70 per share in a deal valuing the company at $323 million nearly doubled Omthera's stock (NASDAQ:OMTH) price in pre-market trading, as investors learned that the worth of the deal could grow to about $443 million.
    Shares of Omthera Pharmaceuticals ( NASDAQ: OMTH ) traded up 100.37% during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $13.565. More...

  • May-29 -- UK Stocks Advance Most in Five Weeks
    AstraZeneca plc's agreement to take over the recently public Omthera Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $12.70 per share in a deal valuing the company at $323 million nearly doubled Omthera's stock (NASDAQ:OMTH) price in pre-market trading, as investors learned that the worth of the deal could grow to about $443 million.
    We are revising our price target from $15 to $13.40 to reflect the acquisition price plus some value for the CVRs, and our rating from Overweight to Neutral due to today's share price appreciation due to the acquisition." More...

Tuesday


  • May-28 -- Valeant to buy contact-lens giant Bausch & Lomb for $4.5 billion
    Valeant shares hit all-time high in Toronto By Euan Rocha and Rod Nickel TORONTO/WINNIPEG, Manitoba, May 27 (Reuters) - Valeant Pharmaceuticals International said on Monday it agreed to buy Bausch & Lomb Holdings Inc from Warburg Pincus LLC for $8.7 billion, a cash deal set to vault the Canadian company into the upper ranks of the global pharmaceutical sector.
    Assuming it occurred on January 1, and assuming the full realization of synergies, the acquisition would have been around 40 percent accretive to Valeant's expected cash earnings per share in 2013. More...

  • May-28 -- Tokyo Urged to Undertake Serious Fiscal Reforms
    TOKYO, May 27 (Reuters) - Japanese government bonds began the week on a firmer footing on Monday, as a continued drop in stock prices supported demand for bonds.
    As long as the increase in rate is accompanied by improved developments in economic activity, there are no major concerns over possible instability. More...

  • May-28 -- Club Med investors make £460m takeover bid
    The management and the two biggest shareholders of Club Méditerranée started a buyout offer on Monday valuing the company at about 540 million euros ($700 million).
    AXA Private Equity and Chinas Fosun are behind the bid, which Club Meds management described as "friendly". More...

  • May-28 -- The legal aspects of social media
    Step 1: Set Up Alerts To Monitor Your Brand On Social Media.
    "Twitter appealed to me because it wasn't Facebook. More...

  • May-28 -- Auction of lunch with Warren Buffett starts Sunday
    For all of the speculation about succession at Berkshire Hathaway , Warren Buffett apparently thinks that people live forever.
    The winning bidder may invite seven friends to join Buffett for lunch at Smith & Wollensky, "the quintessential New York steakhouse," according to Business Wire. More...

  • May-28 -- McDonald's CEO bawled-out by 9-year-old
    Hannah Robertson, the 9-year-old girl who grilled Don Thompson, the CEO of McDonald's Corp., at a shareholder meeting for marketing fast food to children said she wasn't impressed with his response.
    A 9 year-old girl has chewed out the top executive at McDonald's for "tricking kids into eating your food." More...

  • May-28 -- US urges garment buyers to stay engaged with Bangladesh
    As many of the world's largest clothing labels signed a pact earlier this month to try to bring safer working conditions to the Bangladeshi garment industry, factory owners in the country were on the defensive, saying they were already struggling to comply with the labor standards Western companies demand while keeping prices at a level they will tolerate.
    Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy R. Sherman said Monday that Bangladesh must act to improve workplace safety and workers' rights. More...

  • May-28 -- Renault back electric cars after partner falters
    In a motion filed Sunday in Tel Aviv's Central District Court to dissolve the company, Better Place said it was looking for a temporary liquidator.
    Better Place struggled partly because it only had a few dozen battery-switching stations in Israel and Denmark--the company abandoned projects in the U.S. and Australia--while the specially adapted Fluence sedans were too large given the small-car preference of local consumers. More...

  • May-28 -- Japan Stock Futures Drop as Yen Gains on China Growth Concern
    The greenback last bought 101.13 yen, dropping 0.1 percent from Friday, when it scraped a trough of 100.68 on Friday and closed 1.9 percent down on the week.
    Two-thirds of U.S. Treasury bonds are held by foreignerswhereas 90 percent of Japanese government bonds are held by domestic investors. More...

  • May-28 -- NZ, China May Allow Direct Currency Conversion for Trade
    For New Zealand, "There is no time frame for concluding an agreement," Mr. Key's spokeswoman said.
    Statistics New Zealand said last week that exports to China rose 26 per cent to $654 million in April from a year earlier. More...

  • May-28 -- Forget B-School. Boil An Egg On An Offshore Oil Rig And Get $240000 A Year
    Manufacturing Australia's call for government intervention to avert a claimed domestic gas supply "crisis" is a good example of the genre.
    ''Our industry is today building almost $200 billion worth of projects in Australia, and in the days ahead we will discuss the prospects of $100 billion more,'' Mr Byers said before the annual APPEA conference in Brisbane. More...

  • May-28 -- When it Comes to Vacation Time, Canadians May Envy Europeans
    The report notes many Canadian employers do grant more vacation time to employees with more experience.
    Memorial Day weekend kicked off the summer travel season for many Americans, but some workers weren't be able to kick back on a vacation. More...

  • May-28 -- EU sheds light on corporate taxes
    Corporation taxes can be lower in one country than another, giving multinational firms incentives to locate there.
    If you run a London-based company and you decide to relocate some operations to Dublin because labour is cheaper there, do you deserve to be labelled a tax-avoider on the basis that taxes are also lower in Ireland? Tax is just one more item which has to go down as a cost on a balance sheet -- it would be hard in many cases to attribute relocation decisions to one cost in particular. More...

  • May-28 -- 7 years without hurricanes hasn't spared Florida homeowners from rising ...
    Annual reports prepared by Florida's Office of Insurance Regulation show that the department has been approving more than 100 rate hike requests a year since 2009 including requests to hike rates by double-digits.
    Citizens is supposed to be for property owners who can't get private policies. More...

  • May-28 -- Hotel builder, philanthropist John Hammons dies
    Sisler said 36 permits were issued for White Bear Lake in 2012.
    Greg Salo, as lake bottom was becoming exposed by a shrinking White Bear Lake. More...

  • May-28 -- Future of Colorado River on Agenda in San Diego
    Sisler said 36 permits were issued for White Bear Lake in 2012.
    ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- State officials are trying to protect the health of several lakes by reminding residents with waterfront property not to clear aquatic vegetation unless they have a permit. More...

  • May-28 -- DNR warns lakefront property owners: Don't remove exposed vegetation
    Sisler said 36 permits were issued for White Bear Lake in 2012.
    Where there once were stretches of weedless, sandy lake bottom stood clusters of dark green reeds. The new growth was habitat for fish and birds. More...

  • May-28 -- Kuwait Issues Decree Accepting Oil Minister's Resignation: KUNA
    LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc has submitted a formal proposal to buy Hulu, joining a growing list of bidders for the video service owned by News Corp and Walt Disney Co, two sources with knowledge of the bid told Reuters on Friday.
    An initial bid has been submitted by the Chernin Group, a next-generation media company founded by longtime News Corp. executive Peter Chernin, which is partnering with Providence Equity, according to several people familiar with the matter. More...

  • May-28 -- Hulu Said to Get Bid From KKR, Silver Lake
    LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc has submitted a formal proposal to buy Hulu, joining a growing list of bidders for the video service owned by News Corp and Walt Disney Co, two sources with knowledge of the bid told Reuters on Friday.
    An initial bid has been submitted by the Chernin Group, a next-generation media company founded by longtime News Corp. executive Peter Chernin, which is partnering with Providence Equity, according to several people familiar with the matter. More...

Monday


  • May-27 -- Japan plays down concerns bond price spike could hurt recovery
    Ten-year government yields touched 1 percent last week, more than triple a record low on April 5.
    The central banker cited an April report on the impact of rising rates on the financial system that indicated that an increase of between one and three percentage points would be manageable, as improving lending margins and rising stocks would offset some of the negative effects. More...

  • May-27 -- Commentary: New rules un-COOL
    The modified rule also prevents packers and retailers from commingling cuts of meat from animals from different origins, a practice critics say makes it more difficult to trace contaminated products.
    Previously, the USDA meat labeling rules only mandated that countries of origin be noted on packages. More...

  • May-27 -- Trailblazing Israeli Electric Car Company to Close
    Better Place collaborated with Renault in 2008 to develop an electric car network that combined charging terminals with battery swap stations to increase driving range.
    Sales never took off, with only just over a thousand cars on the road in Israel and Denmark, the first two countries where it began operating. More...

  • May-27 -- If you're unemployed, should you tap Social Security?
    Fuerst pointed out that when the new Social Security Administration began paying monthly retired-worker benefits in 1940, the full retirement age was 65.
    The problem is an economic logic that values reducing near-term costs as more important than the long-term personal, community or economic consequences. More...

  • May-27 -- More Evidence Banks Violated Mortgage Pact: NY Attorney General
    Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), chair of the Agriculture Committee, said the amendment that was shot down was not relevant to the farm bill.
    Corn syrup and other products that are altered by Monsanto are found in most foods throughout the nation. More...

  • May-27 -- Casper Marches Against Monsanto
    Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), chair of the Agriculture Committee, said the amendment that was shot down was not relevant to the farm bill.
    Corn syrup and other products that are altered by Monsanto are found in most foods throughout the nation. More...

  • May-27 -- U.S. Stock Futures Are Little Changed as Saks Surges
    The department says the figure was buoyed by more demand for military and civilian aircraft and an increase in business investment.
    The buybacks may have limited losses in American equities after shares in Japan fell the most in two years and stock markets from London to Paris and Frankfurt saw declines of more than 2 percent. More...

  • May-27 -- Enzymes, acids get further review when food industry strives for kosher mark ...
    While only about one out of eight Americans bought kosher products, 62 percent who did reported that the main appeal was food quality, according to a 2009 Mintel consumer survey.
    More...

  • May-27 -- Paul Tudor Jones: In macro trading, babies are a 'killer' to a woman's focus
    Under the "Reinheitsgebot", or German purity law, brewers have to produce beer using only malt, hops, yeast and water.
    The "Reinheitsgebot" states that German brewers can only produce beer using malt, hops, yeast and water. More...

  • May-27 -- Delta's new JFK lounge is a breath of fresh air in airport design
    Under the "Reinheitsgebot", or German purity law, brewers have to produce beer using only malt, hops, yeast and water.
    Altmaier said decisions on fracking, which involves drilling hundreds of wells and cracking rocks with a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals to unlock gas or oil from impermeable stone, should be made by national and regional governments. More...

  • May-27 -- German brewers warn fracking could hurt beer industry
    Under the "Reinheitsgebot", or German purity law, brewers have to produce beer using only malt, hops, yeast and water.
    The "Reinheitsgebot" states that German brewers can only produce beer using malt, hops, yeast and water. More...

  • May-27 -- UN Expert Urges Help for Japan's Nuclear Victims
    Scientists at a nuclear physics laboratory in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, ignored the ringing of an alarm that radioactive substances were leaking and continued with the experiment that triggered the problem for more than four hours, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency said May 25.
    Japanese law has set an annual radiation exposure safety threshold of 50 millisieverts for nuclear plant workers during normal operations. More...

  • May-27 -- Barrick's Pascua-Lama Fined $16.4 Million by Chile Government
    Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX), the world's largest producer of the metal, is studying details of a Chilean resolution that imposed a fine and ordered work to safeguard water supplies at its $8.5 billion Pascua-Lama mining project.
    Most of Pascua-Lama's 18 million ounces of gold and 676 million ounces of silver areon the Chilean side of the border. More...

  • May-27 -- Orders for U.S. Durable Goods Rose More Than Forecast in April
    New orders for durable goods, which range from toasters to aircraft, increased 3.3 percent last month, the Commerce Department said on Friday.
    Durable goods are usually big-ticket items designed to last several years. More...

  • May-27 -- The Jersey Shore: Back for the Summer Season
    The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) yesterday announced an additional $3.7 billion in Hurricane Sandy disaster relief for the four transit agencies that sustained the most damage: the Metropolitan Transportation Authority , New York City Department of Transportation, New Jersey Transit and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey .
    The sponsors, all from New Jersey and New York, said a similar tax package was approved for victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. More...

  • May-27 -- 'Attractive & Fat' ad spoofs Abercrombie
    In a dour end to Abercrombie & Fitch Co.' s difficult week, the teen retailer watched its stock slide by the largest margin in months after it reported a double-digit sales decline.
    May 24 (Reuters) - Abercrombie & Fitch Co on Friday reported a steeper-than-expected drop in quarterly comparable sales, in part because of inventory shortages, and the teen clothing retailer's shares fell more than 11 percent. More...

  • May-27 -- Bausch & Lomb Nears Deal to Sell Itself to Valeant for $9 Billion
    Canadian drug maker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International is close to finalising a deal to acquire eye care company Bausch & Lomb Holdings Inc from private equity firm Warburg Pincus, for about $9 billion, the Wall Street Journal yesterday reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
    Should that happen, Warburg and Bausch & Lomb could proceed with an initial public offering of stock in the eye-care company that had been planned. More...

  • May-27 -- What Can Go Wrong Next? Global Arrows Pointed At The Apple Of Its Dreams ...
    Corporation taxes can be lower in one country than another, giving multinational firms incentives to locate there.
    A paper on effective corporate tax rates in Ireland by senior finance lecturer Jim Stewart claims American companies in Ireland paid tax of 4.2% on more than $100bn of net profits in 2008. More...

  • May-27 -- Metro-North crash: Track defects build over time, hard to see, experts say
    Metro-North Railroad is inspecting all rail joints across its nearly 800 miles of track as federal investigators continued to focus on a joint near the site of last week's derailment and collision in Bridgeport that injured 76 people.
    Officials say records show that the bar, which is used to connect two sections of rail together, was cracked and repaired by Metro-North last month. More...

  • May-27 -- McDonald's CEO bawled-out by 9-year-old
    Hannah Robertson, the 9-year-old girl who grilled Don Thompson, the CEO of McDonald's Corp., at a shareholder meeting for marketing fast food to children said she wasn't impressed with his response.
    McDonald's can market to whomever they like however they like. More...

Sunday


  • May-26 -- Orders for U.S. Durable Goods Rose More Than Forecast in April
    New orders for durable goods, which range from toasters to aircraft, increased 3.3 percent last month, the Commerce Department said on Friday.
    Excluding transportation orders, durable orders rose 1.3%, the first gain in three months. More...

  • May-26 -- Applications for unemployment aid fall
    Claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, signaling the job market may be strengthening slightly in May.
    Last week's claims data covered the survey period for May nonfarm payrolls. More...

  • May-26 -- Commentary: New rules un-COOL
    The modified rule also prevents packers and retailers from commingling cuts of meat from animals from different origins, a practice critics say makes it more difficult to trace contaminated products.
    The Canadian authorities said that COOL is a mandatory U.S. measure that applied a burdensome labelling and tracking system throughout the livestock and meat supply chains in the United States. More...

  • May-26 -- US Stocks Fall on China Manufacturing, Fed Speculation
    May 24 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks fell, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its first three-day drop of the year, amid concern the Federal Reserve may curtail stimulus efforts and lower-than-estimated profit forecasts at retailers.
    The data gave investors a reason to extend Wednesday's sell-off, sparked after testimony from Bernanke that cast uncertainty over when the Fed would begin to reduced stimulus. More...

  • May-26 -- McDonald's CEO bawled-out by 9-year-old
    Hannah Robertson, the 9-year-old girl who grilled Don Thompson, the CEO of McDonald's Corp., at a shareholder meeting for marketing fast food to children said she wasn't impressed with his response.
    A Preteen girl tells McDonald's "Stop advertising to me!" After watching McDonald's advertisements her whole life, The preteen actually goes to a McDonald's executive meeting and tells the CEO that she doesn't want to be targeted anymore by McDonald's. More...

  • May-26 -- P&G; brings back old CEO to jump-start growth: this week in the economy
    Taking a page from the J.C. Penney playbook, Procter & Gamble ( PG ) is turning to its former chief executive to help right a consumer products giant beset by agitated investors and an R&D; pipeline that has fizzled in recent years.
    The Board will focus on succession planning going forward and has a robust process in place for doing so. More...

  • May-26 -- News Corp to split in two on 28 June
    The new movie and TV company will have three new directors who were not members of the current News Corp. board.
    Mr Murdoch will remain chairman and chief executive of 21st Century Fox, with Chase Carey as chief operating officer. More...

  • May-26 -- Hundreds in LA march in global protest against Monsanto, GMOs
    Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), chair of the Agriculture Committee, said the amendment that was shot down was not relevant to the farm bill.
    The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that about 90% of all corn, soybeans, canola, and sugar beets raised in the United States now qualify as GMOs. More...

  • May-26 -- Paul Tudor Jones: In macro trading, babies are a 'killer' to a woman's focus
    Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged Saturday that "the whole of Japan " -- both public and private sectors of the country -- will support ongoing reforms in Myanmar to ensure the development of the rapidly democratizing country.
    TOKYO, May 23 (Reuters) - The biggest plunge in Japanese stock prices since a 2011 earthquake and tsunami was a temporary pullback that will not derail the government's "Abenomics" policy of loose money and fiscal stimulus, officials said on Thursday. More...

  • May-26 -- Turbine Plans Unnerve Fans of Condors in California
    Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged Saturday that "the whole of Japan " -- both public and private sectors of the country -- will support ongoing reforms in Myanmar to ensure the development of the rapidly democratizing country.
    TOKYO, May 23 (Reuters) - The biggest plunge in Japanese stock prices since a 2011 earthquake and tsunami was a temporary pullback that will not derail the government's "Abenomics" policy of loose money and fiscal stimulus, officials said on Thursday. More...

  • May-26 -- Abe Heads to Myanmar as Japan Inc. Eyes Cheapest Wages in Asia
    Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged Saturday that "the whole of Japan " -- both public and private sectors of the country -- will support ongoing reforms in Myanmar to ensure the development of the rapidly democratizing country.
    TOKYO, May 23 (Reuters) - The biggest plunge in Japanese stock prices since a 2011 earthquake and tsunami was a temporary pullback that will not derail the government's "Abenomics" policy of loose money and fiscal stimulus, officials said on Thursday. More...

  • May-26 -- Canadian mine giant Barrick fined a record $16.4M in Chile
    Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX), the world's largest producer of the metal, is studying details of a Chilean resolution that imposed a fine and ordered work to safeguard water supplies at its $8.5 billion Pascua-Lama mining project.
    Barrick Gold is fined $16 million by Chile's environmental agency for "very serious" violations of its environmental permit. More...

  • May-26 -- Spendthrift Yahoo Now Turns Attention to Potential Hulu Acquisition
    LOS ANGELES May 24 (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc has submitted a formal proposal to buy Hulu, joining a growing list of bidders for the video service owned by News Corp and Walt Disney Co, two sources with knowledge of the bid told Reuters on Friday.
    Yahoo has officially placed a bid to acquire popular video streaming service Hulu . More...

  • May-26 -- 'Attractive & Fat' ad spoofs Abercrombie
    In a dour end to Abercrombie & Fitch Co.' s difficult week, the teen retailer watched its stock slide by the largest margin in months after it reported a double-digit sales decline.
    The company's Abercrombie & Fitch, abercrombie kids and Hollister generated revenue of $325.0 million, $73.0 million and $421.2 million, respectively. More...

  • May-26 -- Jamie Dimon Fast Facts
    TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Shareholders of JPMorgan Chase voted Tuesday to let Jamie Dimon keep both the chairman and CEO roles, but they signaled that the bank needed better oversight, giving only narrow approval to three of the bank's board members.
    The heavy load of investigations and enforcement actions are threatening to put the bank into the same legal risk category as Goldman Sachs (back in the day) and Bank of America. More...

  • May-26 -- US raise flag over SoftBank's Sprint bid
    "SoftBank's proposal improves U.S. national security because only SoftBank has committed to remove equipment already located inside a U.S. network that the government has national security concerns about," the spokesman said in a statement.
    Kagan says a Japanese company has to plead its case to many more regulators than a U.S. company, like Dish, does. More...

  • May-26 -- Drowning Caused One-Third of Deaths From Hurricane Sandy
    U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced on Thursday an additional $3.7 billion in disaster relief funds to help the four major transit agencies in New York and New Jersey that sustained the greatest damage from Hurricane Sandy.
    New York also had the most victims of any state. More...

  • May-26 -- CENSUS: Cedar Park is 4th fastest-growing city in the nation
    According to the Census Bureau estimates, Bend's population growth since 2010 represents 54 percent of the growth in the county's population, Syrnyk said.
    Build 9: 0 ms (Content).Completed macro ody_article2.Build 9: 1578 ms (Content).Build 9: 32 ms (Content).Completed macro c4_arttemplate.Parsing macro ody_emailmodalcontentwrapper.Build 9: 0 ms (Content).Completed macro ody_emailmodalcontentwrapper.Parsing macro ody_conveyor.Parsing macro ody_bottom_caro_one. More...

  • May-26 -- Tesla repays DOE loan--9 years early
    Washington -- Electric vehicle start-up Tesla Motors Inc. sparked a war of words with Chrysler Group LLC on Wednesday after Tesla said it was the "only American car company to have fully repaid the government."
    Tesla last year began installing solar-powered Supercharger stations on major U.S. highways to allow for rapid recharging and extended driving range for the battery-powered Model S. The luxury car, with a $69,900 base price, is rated by the U.S. as traveling as far as 265 miles (426 kilometers) per charge. More...

  • May-26 -- 4 SAC Executives Subpoenaed in Insider Trading Inquiry
    Four senior executives of the hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors have received subpoenas to testify before a grand jury as part of the government's intensifying investigation into insider trading at the firm, according to people briefed on the case.
    Charges would be dismissed after a set time if the firm committed no further crimes. More...





Saturday


  • May-25 -- Stimulus fears haunt share markets, dollar recovers
    Index heavyweight Fast Retailing Co Ltd jumped 5.1 percent, extending a 7.4 percent surge in the previous session as retail investors were in hot pursuit of the operator of casual fashion chain Uniqlo.
    For the first time since April 2005 every company in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell, dragging the gauge down 7.3 percent. More...

  • May-25 -- Lafley at P&G;, Ullman at Penney: When Does It Make Sense to Rehire the CEO?
    For Procter & Gamble ( PG ) shareholders, it's easy to get wistful about the glory days under A.G. Lafley.
    P&G;'s board discussed the prospect of replacing McDonald as far back as last July, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News at the time. More...

  • May-25 -- KKR, Yahoo and Silver Lake/WME join list of Hulu suitors
    Yahoo Inc. has submitted a formal proposal to buy Hulu, joining a growing list of bidders for the U.S. -based video service owned by News Corp. and Walt Disney Co., two sources with knowledge of the bid told Reuters on Friday.
    Yahoo did not immediately respond to requests for comment. More...

  • May-25 -- Durable Goods Point to Second-Half US Rebound: Economy
    New orders for durable goods, which range from toasters to aircraft, increased 3.3 percent last month, the Commerce Department said on Friday.
    Excluding transportation orders, durable orders rose 1.3%, the first gain in three months. More...

  • May-25 -- Bausch & Lomb's Ista pleads guilty over kickbacks
    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Canada's Valeant Pharmaceuticals International is nearing a deal to acquire eye care company Bausch & Lomb Holdings Inc from Warburg Pincus LLC for about $9 billion, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday.
    Montreal-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals International last year reported a net loss of $116 million on revenues of $3.3 billion. More...

  • May-25 -- McDonald's CEO bawled-out by 9-year-old
    Don Thompson, CEO of McDonald's Corp., found himself on the grill after a 9-year-old girl accused the fast food giant of trying to "trick kids into eating food that isn't good for them."
    According to Good Morning America , Hannah Robertson, a nine-year-old girl, attended a McDonald's shareholding meeting in Illinois and gave the CEO of the company a firm scolding. More...

  • May-25 -- Commentary: New rules un-COOL
    The modified rule also prevents packers and retailers from commingling cuts of meat from animals from different origins, a practice critics say makes it more difficult to trace contaminated products.
    "While trying to make an untenable mandate fit with our international trade obligations, USDA chose to set up U.S. cattle producers for financial losses," NCBA president Scott George, a Wyoming dairy and cattle producer, said in a statement. More...

  • May-25 -- Visa, MasterCard Sue Swipe Fee Deal Dropouts, Seek Ruling
    A group of 15 big retailers that include Macy's Inc. and Target Corp. on Thursday sued credit card companies Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc., breaking away from a proposed $7.2 billion settlement reached last year over fees to process credit card transactions, Reuters reported.
    The deadline for merchants to object or exclude themselves from the settlement announced last year is May 28. More...

  • May-25 -- Sears shares slide on wider loss
    The retail chain has been unable to stem steep sales declines since the $11 billion 2005 merger of Sears and K-Mart.
    Sears and Kmart have negotiating leverage due to co-tenancy clauses of adjacent retailers. More...

  • May-25 -- Initial job claims continue downward trend
    Claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, signaling the job market may be strengthening slightly in May.
    If that can keep shrinking, the unemployment rate will keep falling. More...

  • May-25 -- 'Mother' Jones; Taper Caper; Revolving P&G; CEOs
    TORONTO--Shares in Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX, ABX.T) were halted midday Friday, just after the Chilean government fined the world's largest gold mining company $15.8 million for alleged breaches in environmental controls at its flagship Pascua-Lama mine, raising fresh questions about the massive mine's future.
    Vancouver-based Silver Wheaton Corp. (SLW), which has an agreement to buy 25 percent of the silver produced at Pascua-Lama, was also halted earlier today pending Barrick's announcement. More...

  • May-25 -- Chile Fines Barrick Gold Over Big Mine Project
    TORONTO--Shares in Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX, ABX.T) were halted midday Friday, just after the Chilean government fined the world's largest gold mining company $15.8 million for alleged breaches in environmental controls at its flagship Pascua-Lama mine, raising fresh questions about the massive mine's future.
    The actual size of the fine isn't the most important thing here. More...

  • May-25 -- News Corp. OKs Poison Pill, Buyback Before Split
    The new movie and TV company will have three new directors who were not members of the current News Corp. board.
    The board of directors at Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NASDAQ:NWSA) has approved a much-anticipated plan to separate the multinational media conglomerate into two publicly traded companies, News Corp. announced on Friday. More...

  • May-25 -- German Consumer Sentiment to Reach 5-Year High in June, GfK Says
    Underscoring the outcome of the consumer confidence survey, the latest GDP data released by the statistical office showed that consumer spending in Germany increased 0.8 percent sequentially in the first quarter, while the economy as a whole expanded just 0.1 percent, adding to hopes that robust labor market conditions are finally generating a consumer recovery.
    LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) - World share markets looked vulnerable to further falls on Friday, with brighter economic news from Europe doing little to encourage investors who are worried that central bank stimulus may be curtailed. More...

  • May-25 -- Delta strengthens its hand in battle for NY travel market with $1.4 billion JFK ...
    The 1.5-million-square-foot Terminal 4 is now nearly two million square feet and can accommodate 15 million passengers.
    Anderson also mentioned that there would be a "Phase 2" which would add "another 11 additional gates at the airport". More...

  • May-25 -- Abercrombie & Fitch Earnings: Sales Stay Weak
    Find out if ( ANF ) is in Cramer's Portfolio.
    Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch fell $5.47 to $48.90 before the market open. More...

  • May-25 -- Rail where Connecticut trains collided had recent repairs
    Maintenance reports show that the area where the initial derailment occurred had undergone repairs in April.
    A view of the Metro-North accident scene on the Bridgepoprt-Fairfield line taken after two commuter trains collided. (Photo by Wayne E. Travers Jr.) More...

  • May-25 -- German Beer Purity Threatened by Fracking Say Brewers
    Under the "Reinheitsgebot", or German purity law, brewers have to produce beer using only malt, hops, yeast and water.
    Germany has more than 1,300 breweries, produces some 5,000 different beers and is Europe's biggest producer of beer. More...

  • May-25 -- U.S. Senate Says No GMO Labelling
    Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), chair of the Agriculture Committee, said the amendment that was shot down was not relevant to the farm bill.
    "GMO labeling is a vital step forward for consumers in Connecticut. More...

  • May-25 -- UPDATE 1-US senator urges 'extreme caution' on SoftBank -Sprint deal
    "SoftBank's proposal improves U.S. national security because only SoftBank has committed to remove equipment already located inside a U.S. network that the government has national security concerns about," the spokesman said in a statement.
    Any major foreign takeover of a U.S. firm may be reviewed by the secretive Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an intergovernmental panel headed by the U.S. Treasury which also includes the Departments of Homeland Security and Defense. More...

Friday


  • May-24 -- In Tokyo Fall, a Harsh Test for Strategies
    Several reasons have been blamed for the 7.3 percent, or 1,143 points, fall in the Nikkei index to 14,483.98, including a spike in the Japanese government's borrowing costs and unexpectedly weak Chinese manufacturing figures.
    The Nikkei 225 index fell 7.3 percent in one day, a stomach-churning drop made all the worse for the lack of an obvious cause. More...

  • May-24 -- 'Ronald Is Not a Bad Guy,' McDonald's CEO Says
    Hannah, a native of Kelowna, British Columbia, didn't get to Chicago on her own, of course.
    "We don't sell junk food," McDonald's CEO Don Thompson said to a girl raising concerns about healthy eating. More...

  • May-24 -- Sears Posts $279 Million Quarterly Loss as Revenue Slumps
    Integrated retailer Sears Holdings Corp. ( SHLD : Quote ) Thursday reported first-quarter net loss to shareholders of $279 million or $2.63 per share, compared with net income of $189 million or $1.78 per share last year.
    Analysts also predict revenue will fall 9.7 per cent from the first quarter of last year to $8.37 billion. More...

  • May-24 -- Jobless Claims Drop as US Consumer Comfort Climbs: Economy
    Claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, signaling the job market may be strengthening slightly in May.
    The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits held at 2.3 percent in the week ended May 11, today's report showed. More...

  • May-24 -- Pandora Quarterly Loss Widens as Costs Outpace Ad Sales
    The net loss in the three months ending April 30 grew to $28.6 million, or 16 cents per share, from a loss of $20.2 million, or 12 cents per share, a year ago.
    During the same period a year ago, Pandora lost 9 cents a share on $80.8 million in sales. More...

  • May-24 -- New York home sales, prices climb in April
    Supply on the market remained tight at 156,000 new houses, or 4.1 months worth of supply at the current sales rate.
    More than 9,000 previously owned homes were sold in the Chicago area in April, another strong month for sales volume that was met by more pricing recovery. More...

  • May-24 -- US Stocks Mark Second Day of Moderate Declines
    Returns on riskier assets have become more attractive with U.S. 10-year notes yielding as little as 1.63 percent May 2.
    This should be good news for those invested in gold . More...

  • May-24 -- Global shares end lower in volatile session, dollar falls
    Returns on riskier assets have become more attractive with U.S. 10-year notes yielding as little as 1.63 percent May 2.
    LONDON, May 22 (Reuters) - World stocks fell and measures of investor risk aversion surged on Thursday on signs the U.S. central bank may soon start scaling back the support measures that have been driving global assets higher. More...

  • May-24 -- Early Look at US Manufacturing Indicates Moderate Expansion
    BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's private sector contracted very slightly in May as firms lacking new orders cut jobs, a survey showed on Thursday, suggesting Europe's largest economy will stagnate in the second quarter.
    With the latest round of surprisingly dismal manufacturing data , there is no longer much doubt that China's economy is sputtering, with tepid domestic demand unable to counteract weakness abroad. More...

  • May-24 -- How Congress could raise student loan debt
    At the University of New Mexico, 46 percent of students have student loans.
    To learn more about the proposals to bring student loan interest rates under control, go here . More...

  • May-24 -- French Questioning of Lagarde Drags On
    PARIS, May 23 (KUNA) -- The Managing Director of the powerful International Monetary Fund, France's Christine Lagarde, is being questioned in Paris Thursday as part of a corruption investigation involving compensatory payouts to former minister and businessman Bernard Tapie.
    Mr Tapie won a series of legal judgements but no agreement could be reached on compensation. More...

  • May-24 -- Large US retailers sue Visa, MasterCard over card fees
    "The proposed settlement does nothing to bring swipe fees under control and would give Visa and MasterCard a legal blessing to continue their abuse of merchants and consumers indefinitely," NRF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Mallory Duncan said.
    Other retailers have until Tuesday to opt out of the agreement so they can pursue their own legal action. More...

  • May-24 -- Softbank-Sprint deal clears regulatory hurdle
    At the outset of the deal, AT&T Vice President Brad Burns expressed concern about a foreign company having "control of significantly more U.S. wireless spectrum than any other company."
    VL Automotive, a venture between Former General Motors Co. executive Bob Lutz, China's Wanxiang Group and industrialist Gilbert Villarreal, is bidding to acquire Fisker Automotive through a prepackaged bankruptcy deal. More...

  • May-24 -- How not to get the inside scoop in a proxy battle
    In settling, ISS neither admitted nor denied the SEC allegations that it violated financial adviser rules designed to prevent misuse of material non-public customer information.
    ISS said it has adopted policies to guard against possible conflicts of interest. More...

  • May-24 -- Indianapolis slips to nation's 13th-largest city
    According to the Census Bureau estimates, Bend's population growth since 2010 represents 54 percent of the growth in the county's population, Syrnyk said.
    Build 9: 16 ms (Content).Completed macro ody_article2.Build 9: 1860 ms (Content).Build 9: 109 ms (Content).Completed macro c4_arttemplate.Parsing macro ody_emailmodalcontentwrapper.Build 9: 0 ms (Content).Completed macro ody_emailmodalcontentwrapper.Parsing macro ody_conveyor.Parsing macro ody_bottom_caro_one. More...

  • May-24 -- Gap Posts Big Jump in Fiscal 1st-Quarter Earnings
    Move over 'Ship My Pants,' it's time for some 'Big Gas Savings.' Kmart, the retail store turned viral video giant, is back with another hilarious play on words in its latest online ad.
    We especially enjoyed the end, when bystanders marvel at a "big gas truck" and a "big gas man" -- only for the ad to reveal a big fuel tanker driven by a freakishly tall man. More...

  • May-24 -- Will Kmart's Big Gas Ad Go Big Or Backfire?
    Move over 'Ship My Pants,' it's time for some 'Big Gas Savings.' Kmart, the retail store turned viral video giant, is back with another hilarious play on words in its latest online ad.
    We especially enjoyed the end, when bystanders marvel at a "big gas truck" and a "big gas man" -- only for the ad to reveal a big fuel tanker driven by a freakishly tall man. More...

  • May-24 -- San Onofre nuclear plant executives made 'Star Trek'-themed safety video
    SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. (AP) -- Managers at the San Onofre nuclear generating plant made a "Star Trek"-themed video stressing safety two years before the plant was shut down in the wake of a radiation leak, officials said.
    James T. Kirk, according to U-T San Diego. More...

  • May-24 -- News Summary: US mortgage rates up, but still low
    The 30-yearfixed rate home purchase loan with a jumbo balance is offered by the lender at 3.700% interest and 0.086 discount points, yielding an APR of 3.8002%.
    As for the 5/1 ARM home refinance loan, interested mortgage shoppers can expect to pay a rate of 2.625%, while the APR is set at 2.907%. More...

  • May-24 -- Retail roundup: JC Penney loan, Abercrombie apology, Mattel layoffs
    Through sites like YouTube, grassroots campaigns have the ability re-brand a multi-billion dollar company.
    That's what they released in a statement on Wednesday after a two-hour meeting with teen activist who traveled to Columbus, Ohio to protest outside the A&F; headquarters. More...

Thursday


  • May-23 -- Stocks plunge as Fed minutes hint at cutback
    U.S. stocks rallied early in the day after Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said in prepared remarks to Congress that a premature withdrawal of quantitative easing would put the economic recovery at risk.
    Thirty-year bonds fell more than three points, with the yield rising eight basis points to 3.21 percent. More...

  • May-23 -- HP soars as Meg Whitman turnaround continues
    The venerable Palo Alto company said it earned a profit of a little more than $1 billion on sales of $27.6 billion, which amounted to earnings of 55 cents per share.
    HP is poised like other PC makers to introduce new machines based on Intel's latest microprocessors, code-named Haswell. More...

  • May-23 -- Housing Market Gets Off to Solid Spring Start
    Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said, "The robust housing market recovery is occurring in spite of tight access to credit and limited inventory.
    The number of homes for sale jumped to 2.16 million, up nearly 12 percent from the previous month. More...

  • May-23 -- For US auto factories, summertime isn't downtime anymore
    TEST3 The latest expansion announcement comes after the company increased its U.S. capacity by 400,000 units last year.
    Chief executive officer Alan Mulally, who arrived from Boeing 17 months earlier, had bet the company on $23 billion in loans that had to be spent wisely. More...

  • May-23 -- IMF pulls its punches on UK economic policy
    George Osborne has been urged to put his austerity programme on hold by the International Monetary Fund in order to support the anaemic economy.
    Annual negotiations between lawmakers and the government over what the benchmark price should be aren't "meaningful" as long as funds that go into the account are spent, said Rogers. More...

  • May-23 -- Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac 2013 bill sale calendar
    Bad borrower behavior like late credit card or other loan payments, having a foreclosure or bankruptcy in one's credit report and carrying high balances will weigh down your credit score.
    Victims of foreclosures often are families who have suffered unemployment or medical problems and who have asked for loan modifications or reductions in principal. More...

  • May-23 -- Sony Directors Discuss Loeb's Proposal for Entertainment IPO (2)
    Sony has said that it will consider a proposal from activist investor Daniel Loeb that the group should sell off parts of its music and movies business, which includes popular franchises Spider-Man and Resident Evil and the weepy ballads of Brit crooner Adele.
    Sony shares have jumped more than 10 percent since the Loeb's proposal was announced last week, and have more more than doubled since the beginning of the year. More...

  • May-23 -- 5 of top 10 highest-paid CEOs of 2012 hail from television and entertainment ...
    Jonathan Alcorn/Bloomberg via Getty Images (WASHINGTON) -- Leslie Moonves, who was paid $60 million, is the highest-paid CEO of S&P; 500 companies with chief executives who have served at least two full years.
    The CBS CEO topped the Associated Press pay survey taking in $60.3 million in 2012. More...

  • May-23 -- Consumer Reports rates the best and worst airlines
    Spirit Airlines ranked at the bottom of the list for its check-in, cabin service and seating.
    The airlines know passengers are frustrated with fees, especially unexpected ones. More...

  • May-23 -- Wal-Mart Hires a New Chief Image Maker
    Hill+Knowlton Strategies today announced it has tapped Andy Weitz as president and CEO of its U.S. operations.
    The firm has also promoted EVP Danner Bethel to the role of U.S. COO. H+K global chairman and CEO Jack Martin noted that Bartlett, who begins his Walmart job in June, "will be missed." More...

  • May-23 -- Vatican watchdog reports suspect money movements
    Rene Brulhart, the Swiss finance lawyer hired to monitor the legality and transparency of Vatican financial activity, presented his office's first report at a May 22 news conference.
    In a report last July, the Council of Europe's Moneyval department said that the Holy See had made progress on financial transparency, but added that more reforms were needed. More...

  • May-23 -- NetApp Plans Job Cuts While Paying Dividend, Buying Shares (2)
    Netapp ( NTAP ) was met with a slew of upbeat analyst notes on Wednesday after it launched its first ever dividend and ramped up its buyback program.
    Within the fourth quarter, product sales raked in $1.14bn, which was down two per cent year-on-year. More...

  • May-23 -- Electric carmaker Tesla pays off US loan
    Electric car maker Tesla Motors has shifted into a good place: CEO Elon Musk intends to use the potential $1 billion from a new stock offering to pay off the maker's $465 million in Department of Energy loans - and to help pay for other products that would grow the California automaker.
    Tesla has delivered over 10,000 electric vehicles to customers in 31 countries. More...

  • May-23 -- UPDATE 3-Target cuts full-year forecast after weak first quarter
    Target earned $498 million, or 77 cents per share, in the first quarter ended on May 4, compared with a profit of $697 million, or $1.04 per share, a year earlier.
    Target said it earned $498 million, or 77 cents per share, for the three months ended May 4. More...

  • May-23 -- It's Not a UFO! A Strange Solar-Powered Plane Is Crossing the US
    The Solar Impulse airplane takes off from Phoenix for Dallas-Fort Worth on Wednesday.
    The stopovers will allow Piccard and Borschberg to share duties and rest between flights. More...

  • May-23 -- American Eagle Outfitters 1st-Quarter Net Down 30% on Weaker Sales
    The Pittsburgh-based retailer had net income of $27.97 million, or 14 cents per share, in the quarter ended May 4.
    American Eagle CEO Robert Hanson said a tough economic environment and cooler weather hurt demand, plus the company faced a difficult comparison to last year's quarter, when unusually warm weather helped boost sales. More...

  • May-23 -- US opens inspection into shuttered nuke plant
    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ( NRC ) sent two specialized inspectors to Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK)'s Harris nuclear power plant in North Carolina after a quarter-inch flaw was found on the reactor vessel head on May 15, according to Power Engineering .
    The NRC's safety evaluation of the plant's proposed power increase focused on several areas, including the nuclear steam supply systems, instrumentation and control systems, electrical systems, accident evaluations, radiological consequences, fire protection, operations and training, testing, and technical specification changes. More...

  • May-23 -- Amazon Unveils Architecture of Its Planned Biosphere In Seattle
    "The generative idea is that a plant-rich environment has many positive qualities that are not often found in a typical office setting," the proposal stated .
    The site of the domes was originally intended for a more conventional six-story rectangular building, but that's been abandoned in favor of three intersecting spheres of varying size with high bay spaces over five floors to form 65,000 square feet (6,038 sq. m) of interior floor space. More...

  • May-23 -- Cuomo Creating Tax-Free Zones at SUNY Campuses to Boost Economy
    Syracuse, N.Y. -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo put Syracuse on his travel plans today, the first time he's done so in seven months.
    Cuomo was joined by state leaders, including state Assembly Speaker Silver and Senate Co-Leaders Dean Skelos and Jeff Klein, at the University at Albany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering Wednesday. More...

  • May-23 -- Toll shares hit 52-week high after earnings report
    Buoyed by better-than-expected quarterly results on higher volume and prices, shares of luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers ( TOL ) rose sharply in Wednesday morning trading.
    In the second quarter, the company's net income increased to $24.67 million or $0.14 per share from $16.87 million or $0.10 per share reported last year. More...

Wednesday


  • May-22 -- Apple chief calls on US government to slash US corporate tax
    Apple pays a fair share of the taxes it owes the U.S. and other nations, its CEO said Tuesday, despite criticism from U.S. senators that the company is ducking taxes by shifting profits to subsidiaries that the company does not consider tax residents of any nation.
    Cook said Apple had thrived by keeping things simple, and Congress should do the same with the tax code. More...

  • May-22 -- US stocks close at fresh high
    Revenue increased 7.4 percent to $19.1 billion, topping Wall Street estimates of $18.68.
    Analysts expect full-year earnings of $3.54 per share on revenue of $76.98 billion. More...

  • May-22 -- JPMorgan Chase Shareholders Still Confident in CEO Jamie Dimon
    The proposal to divide Dimon's duties won 32.2 percent of the votes, down from 40 percent last year, the bank said today at its annual meeting in Tampa, Florida .
    Raising the stakes, of course, is the presence of Mr. Dimon, the brash chief executive who successfully piloted JPMorgan through the tumultuous 2008 financial crisis. More...

  • May-22 -- Herbalife hires PwC as new auditor, shares up
    The nutritional supplement company said it worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers and identified some non-audit services that had been provided to it from firms connected with PwC. The services are not allowed under the auditor independence rules set forth by the SEC .
    The stock rose about 2% in heavy Tuesday morning trading in New York, crossing the symbolic $50 mark. More...

  • May-22 -- Dudley Says He Can't Be Sure If Next QE Move Is 'Up or Down'
    May 21 (Bloomberg) -- Treasuries were little changed, with 10-year yields about two basis points from the highest in two months, before Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke testifies on the economy in Congress tomorrow.
    "If the Treasury reduces supply as the Fed reduces purchases of Treasuries, then your net impact on yields should be left unchanged," said Drew Matus, deputy chief U.S. economist for UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, and a former analyst on the New York Fed's open market desk. More...

  • May-22 -- Mortgage settlement brings relief to 25K in Illinois
    If you're one of the many who love Airbnb for offering travelers a host of cheap lodging alternatives, especially in big, expensive cities, consider this: Airbnd is now illegal in New York City.
    New Yorkers hoping to make a little extra cash by renting out their apartments on a short-term basis may want to think twice: the city has ruled that Airbnb is illegal in New York City. More...

  • May-22 -- Airbnb rentals ruled illegal in New York City
    If you're one of the many who love Airbnb for offering travelers a host of cheap lodging alternatives, especially in big, expensive cities, consider this: Airbnd is now illegal in New York City.
    New Yorkers hoping to make a little extra cash by renting out their apartments on a short-term basis may want to think twice: the city has ruled that Airbnb is illegal in New York City. More...

  • May-22 -- Post-merger, Seamless to maintain NYC HQ
    The two companies can take advantage of the other's technology.
    The merger will result in formation of a company with a turnover of over $100 million. More...

  • May-22 -- Gap willing to sign Bangladesh safety accord, if tweaked
    The collapse of the nine-storey garment factory is being called Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster; hundreds of factories have been forced to close after workers have been demonstrating, demanding action.
    Fun fact: passing the price of the improvements onto consumers will cost an estimated ten cents per garment. More...

  • May-22 -- EBay Says PayPal on Track to Reach 2 Million Stores in 2013 (1)
    SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - PayPal, the online payment operation owned by eBay Inc, will increase marketing spending to support its push into physical stores, President David Marcus said on Tuesday.
    Marcus said order-ahead would soon be in Jamba Juice locations nationwide, and there are plans to expand to more retailers over the next several months. More...

  • May-22 -- IBM Grooms Watson for Customer Service
    If you thought it was hard getting to a live customer service representative before, it could soon get much, much harder (on the plus side, you'll get to interact with a computer with more computer power and memory than the human brain).
    U.S. organizations spend $112 billion on call center labor and software, yet half of the 270 billion customer-service calls go unresolved each year, presenting a fairly sizable opening for an enhanced cognitive computer. More...

  • May-22 -- Bad publicity takes toll on Carnival earnings - USA Today
    New York, NY -- ( SBWIRE ) -- 05/21/2013 -- Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL ) stock fell 4.67 percent to $33.67 in today's trading.
    The storms that have buffeted Carnival Corporation since the sinking of the Costa Concordia 18 months ago continue to pound the world's biggest cruise operator. More...

  • May-22 -- Stock indexes close higher on hopes for Fed
    U.S. stocks carried on their winning ways Tuesday, as investors cheered signals that the Federal Reserve remains far from winding down its bond purchases and a bullish stock-market outlook from Goldman Sachs.
    Build 9: 0 ms (Content).Completed macro ody_article2.Build 9: 984 ms (Content).Build 9: 0 ms (Content).Completed macro c4_arttemplate.Parsing macro ody_emailmodalcontentwrapper.Build 9: 0 ms (Content).Completed macro ody_emailmodalcontentwrapper.Parsing macro ody_conveyor.Parsing macro ody_bottom_caro_one. More...

  • May-22 -- Ex-Goldman exec seeks insider trading retrial
    By PETER LATTMAN Spencer Platt/Getty Images Rajat Gupta, center, a former Goldman Sachs director, was sentenced to two years in prison last year in an insider trading case.
    Judge Jon Newman, one of the judges on the panel, questioned what a jury was supposed to conclude based on the close timing of Gupta's call and Rajaratnam's trading that day. More...

  • May-22 -- Fannie Mae Said to Plan $2 Billion CMBS Offering to Cut Holdings
    Half a billion people use it, but the company has had a devil of a time turning that into meaningful revenue (the company is private, however, so there is little hard data, and they still could find ways to put them in the latter category).
    TICKY FULLERTON: Now you're a self-taught hacker. More...

  • May-22 -- Yahoo's question: Will Tumblr be Google or...
    Half a billion people use it, but the company has had a devil of a time turning that into meaningful revenue (the company is private, however, so there is little hard data, and they still could find ways to put them in the latter category).
    TICKY FULLERTON: Now you're a self-taught hacker. More...

  • May-22 -- Sprint Boosts Clearwire Offer by 14%; Vote Postponed
    Though the company already has the support of Clearwire investors who own about 26 percent of the network operator's stock, it must still win over an additional 24 percent.
    Clearwire has said it faces a cash crunch and needs at least $1.7 billion to keep operating. More...

  • May-22 -- ADR Shares End Mostly Unchanged Ahead of Bernanke Testimony
    The Australian and New Zealand dollars gained for the first time in three days against the greenback as technical indicators signaled the South Pacific currencies may be oversold.
    The Aussie showed a muted reaction to the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) May policy meeting, at which it cut rates to a record low 2.75 per cent. More...

  • May-22 -- EPA proposes Superfund listing for old Smurfit site
    LONDON (Reuters) - British luxury group Burberry ( BRBY.L ) said full-year pretax profit rose a better-than-expected 14 percent on strong retail growth in Asian markets, where it is increasing numbers of Burberry branded stores.
    First half profit in 2012 was £173m. More...

  • May-22 -- Burberry Profit Exceeds Expectations as Sales Surge in Asia
    LONDON (Reuters) - British luxury group Burberry ( BRBY.L ) said full-year pretax profit rose a better-than-expected 14 percent on strong retail growth in Asian markets, where it is increasing numbers of Burberry branded stores.
    Angela Ahrendts, the Chief Executive Officer of Burberry, said that the British luxury brand remains well-positioned with 'opportunity by channel, region and product' after beating expectations in 2012/13. More...

Tuesday


  • May-21 -- Yahoo, Tumblr take to social network to confirm $1.1-billion deal [video chat]
    SAN FRANCISCO -- Both Marissa Mayer, Yahoo's chief executive, and David Karp, Tumblr's 26-year-old founder, reassured worried users on Monday that Yahoo's deal to acquire Tumblr for $1.1 billion would allow the social networking site to operate as it is.
    New York-based Tumblr, founded in 2007, has 175 employees, more than 108 million blogs and, according to comScore Inc., had nearly 117 million unique users world-wide in March. More...

  • May-21 -- After Tumblr and GrubHub, What Other Great Websites Should Go Corporate?
    The two companies can take advantage of the other's technology.
    No details will be released until after the deal closes and the new company has time to draft a new game plan for the future. More...

  • May-21 -- Senate Panel Is Expected to Castigate Apple on Tax Tactics
    Treasury collected last year.
    The CEO of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reported that the present flat tax rate of 35 percent imposed for profits or cash holdings from other countries into the United States proves to be too costly. More...

  • May-21 -- United Dreamliner lands in Chicago after 4-month grounding
    Boeing's latest darling, the Dreamliner 787, will be back on its wings in U.S. air space on Monday, after battery problems left the aviation supermodel grounded for 123 days.
    In 2012, United and United Express carried more passenger traffic than any other airline in the world and operated nearly two million flights carrying 140 million customers. More...

  • May-21 -- US Stocks Have a Rare Day of Declines
    As slow as it is, "we are still recovering," said Doreen Mogavero, CEO of Mogavero, Lee & Co in New York.
    Is Japan out of gas? - MarketWatch.com Nikkei tops Dow Jones. More...

  • May-21 -- US stocks drop, retreating from all-time highs
    The CFNAI is a weighted average of 85 indicators of national economic activity collected into four overall categories of production and income, employment, unemployment and income, personal consumption and housing, and sales, orders and inventories.
    Stocks fluctuated near a record today, with the Standard & Poor's 500 Index little changed at 1,667.27 as of 3:05 p.m. in New York. More...

  • May-21 -- Fannie Mae Sees US Economic Growth Accelerating
    The U.S. government has never made secret that it is keeping a close eye on virtual currency Bitcoin, but now it appears that scrutiny has turned into a crackdown on the decentralized digital currency.
    People want a currency with a stable value. More...

  • May-21 -- Bitcoin supporters crave coders to cope with demand
    The U.S. government has never made secret that it is keeping a close eye on virtual currency Bitcoin, but now it appears that scrutiny has turned into a crackdown on the decentralized digital currency.
    People want a currency with a stable value. More...

  • May-21 -- PRECIOUS-Silver and gold lurch higher after an early dive
    U.S. gold futures fell as much as two percent, while silver futures dropped over nine percent.
    Platinum production last year sank by 13 percent, hitting a 12-year low on the unrest in South Africa, but output is forecast to recover slightly in 2013, industrials group Johnson Matthey forecast on Monday. More...

  • May-21 -- Yen higher after Japanese minister discourages further drop
    The yen has tumbled some 27 percent since mid-November, when Prime Minister Abe first looked likely to win a general election and bring in sweeping economic reforms.
    Wagers that the dollar will gain against the euro and yen rose last week amid bets the Federal Reserve will signal a tapering of bond purchases. More...

  • May-21 -- History favors Jamie Dimon in chairman-CEO debate - USA Today
    With less than an hour left in the trading session, JPMorgan shares are off by $0.02, or 0.04%.
    Ahead of the vote, MoneyBeat presents the most influential directors on the board, four men who could step in as chairman or who could be singled out as a more powerful independent director in the event the bank decides to strengthen the board's power. More...

  • May-21 -- Treasurys Fall Ahead of Bernanke
    Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is counting on Treasuries to contain borrowing costs as the central bank buys $85 billion a month in securities to sustain the economic recovery that lifted U.S. consumer confidence to the highest in almost six years.
    The concern: If you already own longer-term bonds, and rates rise, the value of your bonds will fall. More...

  • May-21 -- More poor people now live in US suburbs than cities - study
    In some communities, tensions have erupted.
    Just a few years ago, one of every four Toledoans was living below the poverty line. More...

  • May-21 -- Karl Rove-affiliated group also targeted by IRS? - USA Today
    DUBLIN -- Irish drug company Elan announced its second major drug deal within a week on Monday and said it would buy back more shares as it continues to bat against a $5.7bn takeover bid from U.S. investor Royalty Pharma.
    We will have north of $1 billion remaining on our balance sheet for additional investments in the next 6-12 months," Martin said, describing the Royalty bid as "a bit of nuisance". More...

  • May-21 -- Royalty Pharma Raises Elan Bid to $12.50 a Shae in Cash
    DUBLIN -- Irish drug company Elan announced its second major drug deal within a week on Monday and said it would buy back more shares as it continues to bat against a $5.7bn takeover bid from U.S. investor Royalty Pharma.
    Royalty Pharma, an investor in royalty streams from pharmaceuticals, raised its offer to buy Elan Corp. (ELN) by 12 percent to $6.4 billion after the Irish drugmaker made acquisitions to boost revenue and resist the bid. More...

  • May-21 -- Cohen Subpoena Puts SAC Settlement Talks On Ice - CNBC.com
    Subpoenas for SAC Execs: Steven Cohen, avid art lover , and other SAC Capital executives have been subpoenaed to testify in front of a grand jury concerning the government's investigation into insider trading at the hedge fund.
    The fund's flagship was up about 1 percent for the first two weeks of May, said two people who have been briefed on the numbers, leaving it up roughly 6 percent year-to-date. More...

  • May-21 -- Websense, publicly traded since 2000, goes private in $906M buyout
    SAN DIEGO, May 20, 2013 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Websense, Inc. (NASDAQ: WBSN) a global leader in protecting organizations from the latest cyber-attacks and data theft, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Vista Equity Partners ("Vista"), a leading private equity firm focused on investments in software, data and technology-enabled businesses.
    News of the impending sale pushed Websense's stock price nearly 28.7 percent higher before the market opened, from a closing price of $19.23 on Friday afternoon to an opening price of $24.74 when the markets officially opened on Monday. More...

  • May-21 -- Alaska Unveils Plan to Assess Gas, Oil...
    Alaska would put up $50 million to share the costs of a seismic program and exploration planning that would be part of a new oil and gas resource assessment in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Governor Sean Parnell said Monday.
    The state is proposing to study a portion of the reserve known as Area 1002, which Sullivan said covers 3,000 square miles (4,800 square kilometers) and is less than a tenth of the entire Arctic reserve. More...

  • May-21 -- SIFMA appoints former US lawmakers to top posts
    New York - The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) today announced the appointment of former three-term U.S. Senator Judd A. Gregg as Chief Executive Officer of the Association and the appointment of former U.S. Representative and SIFMA Acting President & CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. as President of the Association.
    Bentsen was serving as the financial services trade group's acting president and CEO, and had been considered a leading candidate for the top job. More...

  • May-21 -- What Wal-Mart's Same-Store Sales Say About the Economy - Jutia Group
    Is retail giant Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT ) truly a bellwether of the health of the U.S. economy? The world's largest retailer recently blamed a cold spring season, the payroll tax hike, delayed tax refunds and moderate food inflation for its recent top and bottom line miss during its first quarter earnings.
    More importantly, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) also continued earning stable profits during the Great Recession due to lower consumer buying power. More...

Monday


  • May-20 -- Yahoo Board Agrees to Buy Tumblr for $1 Billion: Report
    SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc's board has approved a deal to buy blogging and social networking site Tumblr for $1.1 billion in cash, the Wall Street Journal cited people familiar with the matter as saying on Sunday.
    For several weeks, Yahoo's interest in Tumblr has been widely reported. More...

  • May-20 -- Leaning Down: Facebook's Stock At Its IPO Anniversary
    One year after a catastrophic IPO that saw $10 billion wiped off Facebook's ( FB )value and after its shares shed 40% in just three months, the company is making a comeback.
    Eden Zoller, principal consumer analyst at Ovum, tells CNBC that Facebook has done mobile right since its IPO. More...

  • May-20 -- Consumer Sentiment Index in U.S. Rose to 83.7 in May from 76.4
    With a rising stock market helping the rich and falling gas prices benefiting the middle class, Americans' sentiment has reached the highest point since July 2007.
    The weekly Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, released yesterday, slipped to minus 30.2 for the period ended May 12 from minus 29.5. More...

  • May-20 -- Will American's New Boarding Process Work? It Failed at Virgin America.
    American Airlines announced a new boarding process that allows passengers with only one small personal carry-on item to board before those that have larger roller bags that need to go in overhead bins.
    American's new boarding process has already been tested at a handful of U.S. airports. More...

  • May-20 -- How JC Penney Can Stem The Tide Of Slumping Sales
    Last year, revenue of J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) declined by 25 percent to $13 billion under the management of Ron Johnson, who implemented strategies to transform the century-old department store chain.
    A net loss of $348 million, more than double the loss of $163 million a year earlier. More...

  • May-20 -- Timing Is Everything When It Comes to Benefits
    The chained CPI would be even less, 1.4 percent."
    The President's most recent plan to "fix" the Social Security program is to modify the cost of living adjustment component when determining individual benefit amounts. More...

  • May-20 -- 3 big banks nearly halt foreclosure sales after US tweaks orders
    Wells Fargo & Co. ( WFC ), the biggest U.S. home lender, halted some foreclosure sales until it can understand new federal guidelines on seizures sent to the nation's large and mid-sized banks.
    At Wells, the biggest mortgage servicer, foreclosure sales in the five Western states fell to 17 for the week beginning Monday, May 6, from 298 the previous week, the PropertyRadar data showed. More...

  • May-20 -- UPDATE 3-US ends freeze on new natural gas exports, approves Texas terminal
    The growing role of the U.S. in world energy markets was underlined on Friday as the Obama administration approved wider exports of liquefied natural gas and international companies committed billions of dollars for new infrastructure.
    South Korea's LNG price spreads are among the highest worldwide, making that market very attractive for companies selling LNG. Citing wellhead and city gate price projections in a recent NERA Economic Consulting report to the U.S. Department of Energy , Delman observed that LNG price spreads between the United States and South Korea are projected to remain solid for more than two decades. More...

  • May-20 -- The Tories must water these green shoots
    House prices are rising and the criteria for bank lending is also less strict than it was even a year ago - signalling a returning confidence.
    The scheme, which starts in January 2014, is due to run for three years and Sir Mervyn warned it must not be allowed to become permanent. More...

  • May-20 -- County jobless rate falls to 7%
    Georgia's unemployment rate fell to 8.2 percent in April -- the lowest level since December 2008 -- from 8.4 percent in March as employers added thousands of more jobs, the state labor department said Thursday.
    The April numbers, Seneca said, showed that two of three employment indicators are moving in the right direction - the number of employed increased by 11.3 percent, and the number of unemployed persons decreased by 15.7 percent. More...

  • May-20 -- Student debt weighs on overall economy - USA Today
    Sasha, a senior at Emerson College and intern at ASA, wants to start making extra payments to her student loans.
    The only solution is to get government out of the business of subsidizing student debt. More...

  • May-20 -- Bangladesh court orders action against factory owner in Nov fire
    An eight-storey complex of factories housing garment manufacturers collapsed in Bangladesh on April 24, killing 1,127 people.
    Until it shut down about two weeks ago, Aleya's factory was a cog in the wheel of the global fashion industry. More...

  • May-20 -- Bill Gates overtakes Carlos Slim as richest man in the world - Voxxi
    Bill Gates is once again the world's richest person.
    Carlos Slim's fortune decline is widely attributed to a bill passed recently by Mexican Congress aimed at deregulating the country's telecom industry. More...

  • May-20 -- After IRS Report, Pressure Is on Jacob Lew to Respond
    Treasury Secretary Jack Lew wrote a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) on Friday informing him that the debt limit will be reached May 18 and that Congress must raise it.
    Lew said Treasury will begin using 'extraordinary measures,' to avoid the limit. More...

  • May-20 -- Red Line construction project gets started
    The project, which means a total shut-down of the Red Line between Cermak and 95th Street, is expected to disrupt the commutes of some 80,000 South Side weekday L riders.
    The line will be closed for five months south of the Roosevelt Road station for a $425 million track replacement project on the Dan Ryan branch of the line. More...

  • May-20 -- Bernanke upbeat on innovation outlook in commencement address
    Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke touted innovation and information technology as drivers of economic change in a Saturday commencement speech at Bard College in Massachusetts.
    The subject of Bernanke's speech on Saturday should be of more interest to the business reporters in the audience. More...

  • May-20 -- Gains for a 4th Week in a Row, and Milestones, Too
    NEW YORK, May 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks advanced on Friday, with the S&P; 500 erasing declines in the previous session, putting the index on track for its fourth straight weekly advance as data helped support recent momentum.
    NEW YORK May 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks continued their climb into uncharted territory on Friday, racking up the fourth week of gains in a row as encouraging economic data prompted investors to pick up shares of growth companies. More...

  • May-20 -- Wyoming Reacts to Proposed Fracking Rule
    Comments on the new proposal will be accepted for 30 days.
    In a blog post responding to the new rules, scholars at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, wrote, "The public must have access to full information on where fracking is occurring, and what substances are being used, through a government-run website, not one that is industry supported. More...

  • May-20 -- GM Shares Roar Back to Old Levels
    The company's stock price cloud at $33.42 per share on Friday, which is up 3.18%.
    GM rose 3.2 percent to $33.42 at the close in New York after touching $33.77. More...

  • May-20 -- Ex Groupon CEO releasing an Album of Motivational Music
    Even though Groupon founder Andrew Mason is preparing a move to San Francisco this summer, he says he's not planning to sell his lakefront home in northeast Evanston and expects "to visit often."
    I came to realize that there was a real need to present business wisdom in a format that is more accessible to the younger generation." More...

Sunday


  • May-19 -- Facebook, a year after IPO
    One year after a catastrophic IPO that saw $10 billion wiped off Facebook's ( FB )value and after its shares shed 40% in just three months, the company is making a comeback.
    As it scrambles to make money from mobile, Facebook has to accommodate advertisers without alienating users. More...

  • May-19 -- Bernanke's advice for college grads
    Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke touted innovation and information technology as drivers of economic change in a Saturday commencement speech at Bard College in Massachusetts.
    Bernanke in past years has described "the essential complementarity of technology and economics in modern economies" (MIT, 2006); energy and productivity (Harvard, 2008); the economics of happiness (University of South Carolina, 2010); and "the inherent unpredictability of our individual lives" (Boston College School of Law, 2009). More...

  • May-19 -- US eases natural gas glut with second export terminal (+video)
    State Attorney General Scott Pruitt has asked the state's environmental agency to delay a hearing Monday on a new plan to deal with regional haze by Tulsa-based utility American Electric Power-Public Service Company of Oklahoma.
    The decision comes less than 24 hours after the Senate confirmed Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, whose position on exporting natural gas had been somewhat ambiguous. More...

  • May-19 -- Consumer Sentiment Index in U.S. Rose to 83.7 in May from 76.4
    With a rising stock market helping the rich and falling gas prices benefiting the middle class, Americans' sentiment has reached the highest point since July 2007.
    A gauge of future economic activity released on Friday also suggested the expected slowdown will be temporary, with the index rising in April to a near five-year high. More...

  • May-19 -- Tumblr In Talks With Yahoo; Facebook And Microsoft Also Said To Be Circling
    Original post : Internet icon Yahoo! is in talks to buy New York-based social blogging platform Tumblr for as much as $1 billion, according to multiple reports.
    One key question would be whether Yahoo can generate enough revenue from Tumblr to make the purchase price worth it without compromising the service's value to users. More...

  • May-19 -- Will American's New Boarding Process Work? It Failed at Virgin America.
    American Airlines announced a new boarding process that allows passengers with only one small personal carry-on item to board before those that have larger roller bags that need to go in overhead bins.
    American Airlines has introduced a new boarding procedure at O'Hare Airport, the carrier's second largest hub, that benefits passengers traveling light. More...

  • May-19 -- Mixed signals sent by California economy
    Related story: L.A. County's jobless rate under 10% for first time in 4 years The Inland Empire's unemployment rate fell to a 4 1/2-year low of 9.6 percent in April and the region added 900 jobs, the state Employment Development Department reported Friday.
    In April 2012, the county's unemployment rate was 15.8%. More...

  • May-19 -- Gains for a 4th Week in a Row, and Milestones, Too
    NEW YORK, May 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks advanced on Friday, with the S&P; 500 erasing declines in the previous session, putting the index on track for its fourth straight weekly advance as data helped support recent momentum.
    Based on the latest available data, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 42.47 points, or 0.28 percent, to end unofficially at 15,233.22. More...

  • May-19 -- Fed has not lowered interest rates enough: Kocherlakota
    Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Narayana Kocherlakota has gone from being one of the U.S. central bank's more hawkish characters to arguably its most dovish.
    Aiming to spur economic growth, the FOMC pledged on May 1 to keep buying $85 billion each month in bonds and to hold the benchmark interest rate near zero. More...

  • May-19 -- How JC Penney Can Stem The Tide Of Slumping Sales
    Last year, revenue of J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) declined by 25 percent to $13 billion under the management of Ron Johnson, who implemented strategies to transform the century-old department store chain.
    "We recognize the magnitude of the challenges that we face, and we believe we can put J.C. Penney back on a pathway to profitable growth." More...

  • May-19 -- Lew Orders Review of IRS Systems After Groups Scrutinized
    Treasury Secretary Jack Lew wrote a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) on Friday informing him that the debt limit will be reached May 18 and that Congress must raise it.
    To preserve its borrowing capacity, the Treasury Department said it will use the same measures it has used previously when Congress had failed to raise the limit. More...

  • May-19 -- Schumer: Block hike in Stafford student loan rate
    The interest rate for the majority of federally backed student debt exceeds 6 percent.
    The current 3.4 percent rate on federal loans is set to go up to 6.8 percent on July 1 unless Congress acts to extend the existing rate. More...

  • May-19 -- Bill Gates Has Xbox 720 To Thank For New Wealth Growth Spurt
    Bill Gates is once again the world's richest person.
    The Forbes list of the world's richest people is better known than the Bloomberg list. More...

  • May-19 -- Texas joins flood of states suing BP over 2010 Gulf spill
    Oil giant BP has petitioned a U.S. court regarding the company's payouts stemming from its 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, accusing a judge of allowing "absurd" compensation claims and a "raid on its coffers."
    Excluding a $32.2 billion charge for the disaster and other non-operating costs, the replacement cost profit was $4.98 billion, in line with the average forecast from a Reuters poll of 11 analysts. More...

  • May-19 -- EU to ban refillable olive oil jugs and dipping bowls
    Olive oil addicts, beware: the European Union has moved to ban refillable olive jugs and bowls from restaurant tables, and will now require all olive oil to be served in pre-packaged and factory made bottles, equipped with a dispensing nozzle.
    EU spokesman Olivier Bailly said consumers often get fooled by being served cheaper olive oil. More...

  • May-19 -- Former IBM Chief to Lead Bloomberg Privacy Review
    Samuel J. Palmisano, former Chairman and CEO of IBM , will serve as an independent advisor for the company's privacy and data standards, Bloomberg said in a press release.
    We want, however, to go even further and get the benefit of independent leading experts so that we set the new standard for privacy and data security. More...

  • May-19 -- Pipeline could run through Cumberland
    A total of 87 Utica wells -- representing less than 1 percent of all oil and gas wells in the state -- produced 12 percent of Ohio's total oil production and 16 percent of the total gas production for 2012, the state agency said.
    Now, data from Ohio's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) showed that in 2012, the first full year of drilling, oil output amounted to only 636,000 barrels -- about enough to fill a single small crude oil tanker. More...

  • May-19 -- Retailers Lack Data Tools To Prevent Factory Hazards
    Since 2005, at least 1,800 garment workers have been killed in factory fires and building collapses in Bangladesh, according to the advocacy group International Labor Rights Forum.
    The collapse in Bangladesh also follows a fire that killed 112 in November at a factory that made goods for companies that included Wal-Mart. More...

  • May-19 -- Affordable Care Act provides many benefits to Texas
    Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, said Republicans must begin serious legislating.
    Over the next year, the health care law is likely to succeed in some states and fail in others, analyst Blendon says. More...

  • May-19 -- For Real, Ex-Groupon CEO Andrew Mason Is Releasing An Album Of ...
    Even though Groupon founder Andrew Mason is preparing a move to San Francisco this summer, he says he's not planning to sell his lakefront home in northeast Evanston and expects "to visit often."
    TechCrunch reports that the daily deals site founder spent a week in L.A. recording "Hardly Workin'," which Mr. Mason describes as "a seven song album of motivational business music targeted at people newly entering the workforce." More...





Saturday


  • May-18 -- Hits and Misses in Facebook's History
    With Waze, Facebook would add advertising revenue from location-based services.
    Facebook stock's one last chance?: We recently learned of a new development at Facebook that is giving the company one more chance to turn things around. More...

  • May-18 -- Dow, S&P; 500 end week with more record highs - USA Today
    NEW YORK, May 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks advanced on Friday, with the S&P; 500 erasing declines in the previous session, putting the index on track for its fourth straight weekly advance as data helped support recent momentum.
    After some lackluster reports on the economy Thursday, including slowing manufacturing and an increase in applications for unemployment benefits, Friday's reports were a tonic for investors. More...

  • May-18 -- Consumer Sentiment Index in US Rose to 83.7 in May
    With a rising stock market helping the rich and falling gas prices benefiting the middle class, Americans' sentiment has reached the highest point since July 2007.
    Residential real-estate prices rose in February by the most since May 2006, with the S&P;/Case-Shiller index of house values in 20 cities up 9.3 percent from a year ago. More...

  • May-18 -- Unemployment rates drop in most states, Illinois climbs
    Employment was up 13,000 to just over 6 million.
    The rate fell to 5.1 percent last month from 5.3 percent in March. More...

  • May-18 -- Freeport Gas Export Project Gets US Energy Department Nod (1)
    The Energy Department has given conditional approval to a Texas company that wants to export liquefied natural gas, the second LNG export project the Obama administration has approved as it faces a wave of export requests.
    With critics calling for allowing only a limited amount of exports, supporters of the gas projects have raised concerns that the terminals at the front of the line will have an unfair advantage. More...

  • May-18 -- Yahoo sets event for Monday as Tumblr rumors swirl - USA Today
    Internet icon Yahoo! is in talks to buy New York-based social blogging platform Tumblr for as much as $1 billion, according to multiple reports.
    I do think the Tumblr folks are cool, though. More...

  • May-18 -- Treasury Prepares to Take Measures to Avoid Default - CNBC.com
    To preserve its borrowing capacity, the Treasury Department said it would employ the same measures it has used previously when Congress had failed to raise the limit, including halting investments in two different federal employee pension funds.
    Lew sidestepped questions about the length of time it has taken the Obama administration to nominate a replacement for IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman. More...

  • May-18 -- Dollar Climbs Above ¥103
    At 0604 GMT, futures for Euro STOXX 50, Germany's DAX and France's CAC were 0.1 to 0.4 percent lower.
    Investors took Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's latest growth strategy in stride. More...

  • May-18 -- Five Steps Toward Fixing the Hole In Your Retirement Plan
    The Pew Charitable Trust study released Friday explores how the recession and prolonged economic downturn affected the wealth and retirement security of baby boomers relative to younger and older age groups.
    By contrast, the replacement rate for people born during World War II is 99%, according to the study. More...

  • May-18 -- April Leading Indicators Index in U.S. Rises More than Forecast
    The strength on Wall Street comes on the heels of the release of a pair of better than expected U.S. economic reports, including a report showing a substantial improvement in consumer sentiment in the month of May.
    The gauge of lagging indicators also rose 0.1 percent after advancing a revised 0.2 percent in March. More...

  • May-18 -- Treasury Knew of IRS Inquiry in 2012, Official Says
    J. Russell George, the Treasury Department's Inspector General, disclosed during Congressional testimony on Friday that Obama administration officials in the Treasury Department knew about inappropriate targeting of conservative groups during the 2012 election.
    In all, the report found that 160 of the 296 applications in question were never processed, and that some had remained open for more than three years. 28 applications were withdrawn by groups, presumably due to intense scrutiny, while the other 108 were approved. More...

  • May-18 -- Bloomberg to review internal standards in wake of terminal-spying scandal
    Samuel J. Palmisano, former Chairman and CEO of IBM , will serve as an independent advisor for the company's privacy and data standards, Bloomberg said in a press release.
    We want, however, to go even further and get the benefit of independent leading experts so that we set the new standard for privacy and data security. More...

  • May-18 -- Bill Gates Retakes World's Richest Title From Carlos Slim
    Bill Gates is once again the world's richest person.
    Despite the switcheroo, Slim's not far behind the Microsoft maven. More...

  • May-18 -- Where Did All Those JC Penney Customers Go?
    Last year, revenue of J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) declined by 25 percent to $13 billion under the management of Ron Johnson, who implemented strategies to transform the century-old department store chain.
    Penney is hoping the revamp will help lure back some of the customers it lost, including Patricia Kellogg, 50. More...

  • May-18 -- Feedlots Buy 15.1% More Cattle as Dry Weather Spurs Sales
    Now we can add big data and data visualization company Tableau Software to the list of successful enterprise IPOs, as its share price has popped as much as 60 percent in early trading today.
    Marketo's IPO was somewhat upstaged by the biggest tech stock debut of the year by Tableau Software Inc. a Seattle-based data visualization software maker that was hatched at Stanford's computer science department about 15 years ago. More...

  • May-18 -- Tableau Software Rises After IPO Priced Above Range
    Now we can add big data and data visualization company Tableau Software to the list of successful enterprise IPOs, as its share price has popped as much as 60 percent in early trading today.
    Marketo's IPO was somewhat upstaged by the biggest tech stock debut of the year by Tableau Software Inc. a Seattle-based data visualization software maker that was hatched at Stanford's computer science department about 15 years ago. More...

  • May-18 -- Transocean chairman voted out, $2.24/share dividend backed
    Law360, Los Angeles (May 17, 2013, 4:34 PM ET) -- Shareholders of offshore oil rigging giant Transocean Ltd. voted Friday to approve its board's dividend proposal of $2.24 per share, rejecting activist investor Carl Icahn's proposal for an annual dividend of $4 per share but electing one of his nominees to the board.
    John Lipinski, the CEO of CVR Energy Inc., was the third nominee. More...

  • May-18 -- Amtrak Upgrades Wi-Fi Service on Trains
    "The new Amtrak locomotives will help power the economic future of the Northeast region, provide more reliable and efficient service for passengers and support the rebirth of rail manufacturing in America," said Joseph Boardman, president of Amtrak.
    Weekday and weekend train schedules will be impacted by the work, which will make one of the four tracks unavailable akin to "taking a lane out of service on a busy superhighway," NJ Transit Executive Director Jim Weinstein said. More...

  • May-18 -- For Real, Ex-Groupon CEO Andrew Mason Is Releasing An Album Of ...
    Even though Groupon founder Andrew Mason is preparing a move to San Francisco this summer, he says he's not planning to sell his lakefront home in northeast Evanston and expects "to visit often."
    Besides the occasional tweet, Mason has kept a low profile since exiting Groupon - until Thursday, that is. More...

  • May-18 -- European car sales in first rise for 18 months
    As overall sales in Western Europe slid 7.0 per cent from January through April to 3.9 million, Opel-Vauxhall's only fell 5.9 per cent to 264,000, hence the market share improvement to 6.7 per cent from 6.6 per cent in the same period of 2012, according to data from the European Car Manufacturers Association.
    European new car sales increased slightly in April, bringing an end to 18 consecutive months of declines. More...

Friday


  • May-17 -- Wall Street sags after Fed comments, but Cisco surges
    The three major U.S. stock indexes had earlier traded in a tight range, supported by a gain of more than 12 percent in Cisco Systems shares and as investors took in a batch of economic data that pointed to slower growth.
    Cisco Systems jumped 13 percent, or $2.68, to $23.90, the biggest gain of the 30 stocks in the Dow average. More...

  • May-17 -- UPDATE 4-Wal-Mart US sales weak; outlook below analysts' forecast
    Analysts expected $116.29 billion.
    Operating income in the company's international division totaled $1.256 billion, down 4.7% Total revenue in the division was $32.055 billion, up 2.9%. More...

  • May-17 -- Tesla Motors: Could electric cars 'refuel' faster than gas cars?
    Updated from 11:06 A.M. to include Musk comments from earnings call in third paragraph.
    Price talk on the bonds was revised to a coupon of between 1.5 percent and 2 percent with the conversion premium set at 35 percent. More...

  • May-17 -- JC Penney first-quarter loss widens
    Last year, revenue of J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) declined by 25 percent to $13 billion under the management of Ron Johnson, who implemented strategies to transform the century-old department store chain.
    Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares declined 2.05% to $78.22.The company, on May 16, reported a profit of $3.78 billion, or $1.14 a share, up from $3.74 billion, or $1.09 a share, a year earlier. More...

  • May-17 -- Unemployment in US comes roaring back - in a big way
    The U.S. four-week moving average of initial claims for unemployment insurance rose by 1,250 in the week ended May 11 to a level of 339,250 from the previous week's revised average of 338,000, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released today by the U.S. Department of Labor.
    The news on initial unemployment claims over the last several weeks was so encouraging, we were starting to get a little spoiled. More...

  • May-17 -- Dell 1st-Quarter Profit Down 79% as Revenue, Margins Slip
    The average of analyst estimates calls for Dell to post $13.5 billion in revenue for the latest quarter, and earnings of 35 cents a share, excluding some items.
    Shares of Dell, once the world's largest PC maker, edged up in after-hours trade by 0.15 per cent to $13.45, up by two pennies. More...

  • May-17 -- Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index Decreases to -5.2 From 1.3
    The New York Fed's "Empire State" general business conditions index reflected contraction in May, contrary to expectations for growth.
    The survey is considered a key regional factory survey, providing an important look at the health of the manufacturing sector. More...

  • May-17 -- US airline group sees pickup in summer air passengers
    There's some relief in sight for us passengers who don't have those big carry-on bags that fill the overhead bins and cause congestions in the aisle.
    The industry group said air travel was being aided by lower energy prices, increased corporate profits and higher household net worth. More...

  • May-17 -- Sector Snap: Makers of Computer Networking Gear
    Shares recently rose 12% to $23.79, after hitting an earlier high of $24.24.
    Shares of Sapient Corp. (US:SAPE) rose 6.3% to $11.90 in light volume after reporting first-quarter earnings of 12 cents a share on revenue of $303 million. More...

  • May-17 -- Hess's Peace Dividend
    TEST3 Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES) and Elliott Management finally peace-out on a four month long proxy fight.
    In a flurry of round-the-clock horsetrading just hours ahead of what was expected to be a rancorous annual meeting, John Hess ]] Hess Hess, CEO of Hess Corp., cut a deal with dissident shareholders from Elliott Management . More...

  • May-17 -- Senate confirms physicist Moniz as energy chief
    Moniz has most recently been serving as director of MIT's Energy Initiative and on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
    The Nuclear Energy Institute issued a statement of congratulations, expressing approval of the Moniz pick. More...

  • May-17 -- NY attorney general investigating fast food wage theft
    The nationwide flood of labor uprisings in the fast food industry hit Milwaukee, Wis., on Wednesday morning when workers at several major fast food and retail chains commenced a day-long strike.
    "We represent workers from more than 19 employers -- food and retail -- who are making tremendous profits, but do not pay employees like us enough to support our families and to cover basic needs like food, health care, rent, and transportation," the organization said. More...

  • May-17 -- Smugglers provide KFC delivery to Gaza Strip; they advertise on Facebook
    Now, thanks to an entrepreneurial Gaza-based delivery service, we can add a new -- if not entirely vital -- product to the list: Kentucky Fried Chicken.
    Gazans with a taste for the Colonel's secret recipe can now order a KFC - which is smuggled into the territory via tunnels. More...

  • May-17 -- April unemployment falls from March, but up from 2012
    Georgia's unemployment rate fell to 8.2 percent in April -- the lowest level since December 2008 -- from 8.4 percent in March as employers added thousands of more jobs, the state labor department said Thursday.
    Education and health services saw the greatest job gains in the state last month, with 3,700 workers added, according to the report. More...

  • May-17 -- NC Nuclear Plant Shut Down After Crack Discovered
    Duke Energy Progress shut down the Shearon Harris nuclear plant in Wake County on Wednesday after the company discovered that the reactor vessel, which contains the plant’s nuclear fuel, showed early indications of corrosion and cracking.
    NRC spokesman Roger Hannah said Thursday the quarter-inch flaw found at the Harris plant did not penetrate the retaining wall and there is no evidence of radiation leakage. More...

  • May-17 -- NetApp Is Said to Be Pushed by Elliott to Change Its Board (2)
    Shares of enterprise networked filed server technology vendor NetApp ( NTAP ) are higher by $2.41, or almost 7%, at $38.63, after Bloomberg's Serena Saitto this morning reported that activist investors Elliot Management have taken a "significant" stake in the firm, and is "pressing the data-storage company to change its board and study options to boost shareholder value," citing multiple unnamed sources.
    Elliott also has pressed for change at Compuware Corp. ( CPWR ), offering to buy the business-software maker for $2.3 billion in December. More...

  • May-17 -- Inside Harper's brain: PM dishes on NAFTA, Syria and G20
    Harper's trip was the latest in a series of visits to the United States by senior Canadian politicians to sell the merits of Keystone.
    "We're concerned about what happened in BC," says Bennett. More...

  • May-17 -- All Renewables, All The Time
    The grant focused largely on building "wind farms" and starting (or completing) photovoltaic projects designed to harness the power of the sun into clean and renewable energy.
    Department of Energy data show that as of March 1, 2010, 86 percent of all renewable-energy grants went to wind projects. More...

  • May-17 -- Fracking on Federal Lands Said to Get Scaled-Back Rule Proposal
    Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced new draft rules governing hydraulic fracturing during oil drilling on federal and Indian lands Thursday, calling them part of a pro-energy Obama administration policy.
    Natural gas is a key component to establishing a clean energy future in the United States, but the public must be confident that it is done safely and responsibly, and the proposed rule released today by the Department of the Interior misses the mark. More...

  • May-17 -- Inflation Gauge Barely Nudges
    WASHINGTON May 16 (Reuters) - A sharp drop in gasoline costs led U.S. consumer prices to tumble in April by the most in over four years, while a gauge of underlying inflation was so weak it could worry the U.S. Federal Reserve.
    "We believe raw material prices have been constrained due to relative low growth in the global economy," Roy Armes, the Findlay, Ohio-based tiremaker's chief executive officer, said during a May 9 earnings call. More...

Thursday


  • May-16 -- Cisco earnings up in'slow but steady' economy
    Analysts expect Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) to report adjusted earnings of $0.49 per share on sales of $12.2 billion.
    FBR Capital Markets upgraded shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) from an underperform rating to a market perform rating in a report released on Monday, TheFlyOnTheWall.com reports. More...

  • May-16 -- Recession in eurozone is now the currency bloc's longest, surpassing even ...
    The government's woes have fuelled speculation of an impending cabinet reshuffle, with the talk intensifying after Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Tuesday said the finance ministry lacked a proper "boss" to coordinate economic policy.
    Spain has been in recession for most of the past four years and has a record 27.2 percent unemployment rate. More...

  • May-16 -- US Home Builder Confidence Rises, Tops Forecast - CNBC.com
    Builder confidence in the market for new single-family homes improved three points to a 44 reading on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for May, released Wednesday, May 15, 2013.
    The builders are taking hope from the improvement in current sales conditions and expectations continue to rise. More...

  • May-16 -- Tesla: The Stuff of Short-Seller Heartburn
    DETROIT -- Tesla Motor Co. may draw about 11 percent of its revenue this year from selling "green" car credits to other automakers under pressure to meet clean air policies in U.S. states like California, an analyst said on Tuesday.
    While other companies -- from startups to giants -- have struggled with electric batteries, Straubel, as chief technology officer, has kept Teslas running. More...

  • May-16 -- Wednesday's movers: BlackBerry
    NEW YORK -- If you're wondering why shares of iPhone and iPad maker Apple fell some 17% in the first three months of the year, a big factor is likely one hedge fund titan slashing his Apple stake by more than 40% and another well-known hedge fund selling its entire holdings.
    The company's stake in Apple ( AAPL ) fell to 540,000 shares as of March 31, from more than 912,000 at the end of 2012. More...

  • May-16 -- Stern Advice-Retiring on 0.25 percent a year
    In the process, the Fed has undermined any rational functioning of the financial markets by basically establishing a maximum price control on (especially short-term) nominal interest rates not much above zero. (And when adjusted for CPI-measured price inflation, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, the "real" interest rates on Federal Funds and one-year Treasuries are more than 1.5 percent in the negative range.)
    The Fed's manipulations in the name of easing out of "monetary easing," however, will guarantee interest rates continue to not tell the truth about the real amount of savings in the economy to support potentially profitable investments. More...

  • May-16 -- Airlines' on-time rating falls below 80 percent
    WASHINGTON -- A continued decline in the federal budget deficit this year is resulting in a better than expected fiscal forecast for 2013 from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
    Basically, the change can be explained by a combination of a recovering housing market which has improved the finances of government-owned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac combined with a better-than-expected economy overall, which is boosting corporate and personal income tax revenues. More...

  • May-16 -- Congress's Fixation With 'Too Big to Fail' Banks
    WASHINGTON -- A continued decline in the federal budget deficit this year is resulting in a better than expected fiscal forecast for 2013 from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
    As reviving housing markets help along the U.S. recovery, people are doing more business and making more money, which has lead to a 15% increase in tax revenue. More...

  • May-16 -- Production Falls as US Feels Global Weakness: Economy
    Factory output, the largest component of industrial production, may be falling because businesses are concerned about the impact of across-the-board government spending cuts on economic growth.
    Economists had expected a 0.2 percent month-over-month drop in industrial output in April following a 0.4 percent increase originally reported in March. More...

  • May-16 -- Dow, S&P; 500 end at record highs again
    NEW YORK, May 15 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Wednesday, indicating the S&P; 500 may hold near its most recent record high ahead of a glut of economic reports, including data on inflation and manufacturing.
    The Dow fell, while S&P; and Nasdaq rose. More...

  • May-16 -- Airlines earn billions of dollars in service charges and fees - ABC Action News
    According to the data, airlines made $3.5 billion in baggage fees and $2.6 billion in reservation cancellations and change fees in 2012, up 3.8 percent and 7.3 percent, respectively, from the year previous, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
    The moves provoked an immediate outcry from fee-weary passengers, who accused the now-profitable airline industry of making a money grab just as the vacation season begins. More...

  • May-16 -- JANA Partners reveals stakes in Zynga, Groupon
    BOSTON May 15 (Reuters) - Zynga Inc. shares jumped 7.6 percent to $3.57 in morning trading Wednesday, shortly after hedge fund manager Barry Rosenstein said his Jana Partners had taken a new stake in the online games developer earlier this year.
    The Agrium defeat aside, Jana has successfully pushed for change at companies like McGraw-Hill Financial, which spun off its education business, and is currently engaged with Oil States International and has said it may take steps to bring about change at Ashland ]] Ashland Ashland. More...

  • May-16 -- Burger King's answer to the McRib
    McDonald's McRib has competition.
    "Australian consumers cheered when the Atlanta Pork McRib arrived there last summer as part of a special Summer Olympics menu." More...

  • May-16 -- Four Ways To Beat High Health Care Costs; Fidelity Says Recent Retirees Need ...
    The number is down from last year's $240,000 estimate.
    For more guidance on how individuals and couples can better plan for health care expenses in retirement, check out Fidelity's latest Viewpoint article at https://www.fidelity.com/viewpoints/health-care-costs-when-you-retire. More...

  • May-16 -- Man attempts to rebrand Abercrombie by giving clothes to homeless
    A Los Angeles filmmaker offended by comments from Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries, who said he prefers kids who aren't "so cool" or plus-size women to refrain from wearing his company's clothes, has decided to help re-brand the clothier with a unique campaign.
    Is that you? Thought not. More...

  • May-16 -- US Officials Deal Blow to Bitcoin
    Today, Dwolla, a payment service that had allowed users to transfer funds into and out of accounts at Mt.
    Bitcoins are a digital currency created by an algorithm that caps the amount of units that can ever be created at 22 million. More...

  • May-16 -- Factory, wholesale price data flag economy's woes
    WASHINGTON -- Sharp drops in fuel and food costs reduced a measure of U.S. wholesale prices in April by the most in three years.
    WASHINGTON (AP) -- The producer price index, a widely followed measure of inflation at the wholesale level, fell 0.7% in April, the government said Wednesday. More...

  • May-16 -- Deere Cuts Sales Forecast as Wet Weather Slows Construction (3)
    Looking ahead to the third quarter, the company said equipment sales are estimated to increase about 3 percent from last year, while analysts estimate revenues of $9.35 billion.
    Company equipment sales are projected to increase by about 5 percent for fiscal 2013 and by about 3 percent for the third quarter compared with the same periods a year ago. More...

  • May-16 -- Amnesty for undeclared dollars divides Argentina
    Eduardo Hecker, who was the head of the country's national securities commission at the time, said while the latest amnesty program might not succeed in bringing back a significant amount of assets from abroad, the increased monitoring of income and spending by the tax authorities could encourage investors to declare funds held inside the country.
    The cost to insure Argentine debt against default within the next five years through credit default swaps fell 42 basis points to 2,560 basis points at 11 a.m in Buenos Aires, the highest in the world, according to data compiled by CMA Ltd. More...

  • May-16 -- Young Americans Lead Trend to Less Driving
    Millennials' shift away from automobile travel is well documented , especially in last year's report, " Transportation and the New Generation ," by U.S. PIRG and the Frontier Group.
    "The shift away from the car is part of a new way of life being embraced by our younger citizens who are leading the trend away from driving," said Hilary Franz, executive director of Futurewise. More...

Wednesday


  • May-15 -- American Investor Targets Sony for a Breakup
    A former Sony senior management veteran described some sort of spinout of the entertainment assets as "inevitable." (Sony Entertainment, led by Michael Lynton, includes Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music, a 50 percent stake the number-one music publisher Sony/ATV, and the Hollywood studio Sony Pictures Entertainment.)
    Loeb does not have a well-known track record in Japan where activist investors have had little success, rebuffed by corporate boards packed with insiders and creditor banks that tend to side with management in maintaining the status quo. More...

  • May-15 -- Deficits falling faster than expected
    As a share of the economy, the deficit will be 4 percent of gross domestic product -- a lot better than 10.1 percent, where the deficit stood in 2009.
    The cumulative effect in the next decade of deficit spending through 2023 is projected to be $6.3 trillion. More...

  • May-15 -- Wall St jumps as banks lead indexes to new highs
    U.S. stocks resisted a profit taking-induced sell-off on Monday, thanks to surprisingly strong retail sales data, and ended mixed.
    Stocks rose to new highs in stronger volume Tuesday amid growing optimism about the U.S. economy. More...

  • May-15 -- S&P; 500, Dollar Rise on U.S. Optimism as Metals Fall on China
    Video: The "Squawk on the Street" news team reports on today's top business headlines, including a look at David Tepper's bullish outlook on the markets; Dan Loeb's call for Sony to break up; and Citi's removal of Wal-Mart from its "Top Picks" list.
    The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index opnbrktVIXclsbrkt, or VIX, rose 1.8 percent to 12.77. More...

  • May-15 -- A summer of higher airline fees coming our way
    U.S. airlines collected record baggage and reservation change fees from passengers last year.
    Delta Air Lines (DAL) will return $1 billion to shareholders over the next three years in a sign of how far airline balance sheets have rebounded over the last few years. More...

  • May-15 -- Import Prices Down 0.5% on Falling Oil Costs
    The Labor Department says import prices fell 0.5 percent last month compared with March, when prices had fallen 0.2 percent.
    The Labor Department said a 1.9 percent decline in petroleum prices more than offset a 6.1 percent increase in natural gas prices. More...

  • May-15 -- Dicker: U.S. Energy Independence at Hand
    The loss came after the Paris-based IEA, which advises 28 countries about energy issues, said rising U.S oil output will be the key source of new supplies over the coming five-year period.
    Van der Hoeven noted that, last year, the global oil market was able to "cope" with outages affecting the world's supplies of oil including sanctions on Iranian oil and supply disruption to some North African producers due to security issues. More...

  • May-15 -- EU Probes Oil Firms Over Price Setting
    "Furthermore, the Commission has concerns that the companies may have prevented others from participating in the price assessment process, with a view to distorting published prices," the Commission added.
    Following the Libor interest rate and gas-price fixing scandals, the world's guardians have been looking for the next big rigging target - and in recent months there has been a growing consensus that the price of black gold has also been routinely manipulated. More...

  • May-15 -- Navy's Historic Drone Launch From an Aircraft Carrier Has an Asterisk
    An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System demonstrator leaves the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush on Tuesday, May 14. The drone, propelled by a catapult, was the first to be launched from an aircraft carrier.
    The experimental aircraft, which looks like a smaller version of the B-2 stealth bomber, is supposed to clear the way for a new line of drones that would carry out bombing raids from a carrier. More...

  • May-15 -- Japan's Nikkei hits Jan 2008 highs as yen weakens
    NEW YORK, May 13 (Reuters) - The dollar gained for a third straight session against the yen and euro on Monday as data showing an unexpected rise in U.S. retail sales assuaged fears of an economic slowdown in the world's largest economy.
    Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive of PIMCO, which manages the world's largest bond mutual fund, said in the firm's outlook for the next three to five years that U.S. economic growth will not be "much greater" than 2 percent, while China will maintain growth in the range of 6 to 7.5 percent. More...

  • May-15 -- Square Stops Gun Sellers From Using Its Payment Technology
    Much like the Square Card reader for smartphone, the iPad stand uses the company's accompanying app and can process payments via credit card and any users who use Square's customer facing application.
    Four early employees would cram into the apartment to work until Dorsey wanted to get some sleep. More...

  • May-15 -- Las Vegas Sands Loses Trial Over Macau Gaming License Claims
    LAS VEGAS -- A Las Vegas jury is still weighing whether it will award Hong Kong businessman Richard Suen a judgment against Las Vegas Sands Corp., the casino giant run by billionaire Sheldon Adelson.
    "I'm not sure what Mr. Suen's claim is," Sauber told the jury at the end of the five-week trial in Nevada state court. More...

  • May-15 -- US companies drag their feet on Bangladesh factory safety
    Last Wednesday, 18 garment factories were shut down for safety reasons, amid growing concerns about industrial safety across the country.
    A copy of the safety agreement, dated May 12, was published online by the Worker Rights Consortium, a labor rights monitor that has been pushing for all big retailers to sign on. Here are the basic details . More...

  • May-15 -- Grand illusions of France's 'iTax'
    The French government is considering a new tax on smartphones, tablets and other devices used to access the Internet, in order to finance the country's cinema, music and literature content in the digital age.
    Lescure's report said taxes on sales of smart-phones and tablets, namely Apple's ( AAPL.O ) iPhone and iPad and Google ( GOOG.O ) Android products, could help fund culture because consumers were spending more money on hardware than on content. More...

  • May-15 -- The real thing? Man selling Coca-Cola's'secret' recipe online
    A Georgia man reportedly believes he has found the secret formula to Coca-Cola and he's hoping to sell the find for as much as $15 million.
    Relationship for more than a 100 years the people who make it guarded their super secret formula but kludge and his wife discovered in 1943 copy buried deep in this box of documents in an antique sale. More...

  • May-15 -- Fitch Upgrades Greece's Credit Rating
    The notes include an interest deferral feature at the option of the issuer for up to five years.
    The outlook for all ratings is stable. More...

  • May-15 -- Families reduced their debt load in first quarter to 2006 level
    Americans returned to their thrifty ways in the first quarter in every area except student loans, where they added $20 billion in borrowing, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said on Thursday.
    The so-called quantitative easing program, now reaching into the trillions of dollars of government subsidy, continues at the astounding rate of $85 billion in Federal Reserve expenditures every month to take toxic assets off the books of the banks and to otherwise float the very financial institutions that, as Warren never tires of pointing out, caused the great meltdown of our economy. More...

  • May-15 -- Two Unions Set Pact for US Airways-AMR Merger
    Currently, TWU represents mechanics, store clerks and fleet services workers at American while IAM represents the same work groups at U.S. Airways.
    At stake is nearly 30,000 union employees at the two carriers, more than one fourth of the 110,000 employees that work at the two airlines. More...

  • May-15 -- Taco Bell Tests Egg-Stuffed Waffles in California Stores
    Taco Bell Testing Out Waffle Taco: Taco Bell is trying out a new breakfast waffle taco with scrambled eggs, sausage and syrup.
    The waffle taco is being introduced in southern California, but people who have tried it - or hope to soon try it -- are pushing the chain to offer it elsewhere. More...

  • May-15 -- SoftBank leans on banks in effort to disrupt Dish's Sprint bid
    ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) (“DISH Network”) today announced that its subsidiary, DISH DBS Corporation (“DISH DBS”), plans to offer, subject to market and other conditions, approximately $2.5 billion aggregate principal amount of its senior notes.
    In a recent conversation with my Barron's colleague Tiernan Ray, sources at Barclays estimated that Dish could need $11.3 billion in total debt to finance the transaction, including about $9.3 billion bank or bond debt plus another $2 billion revolving credit facility, and that the combined firms would have roughly $44 billion in total debt. More...

Tuesday


  • May-14 -- Bloomberg users' messages leaked online
    The ability to snoop on Bloomberg terminal users came to light recently when Goldman officials learned that at least one reporter at the news service had access to a wide array of information about customer usage, sources said.
    Last month we changed our policy so that all reporters only have access to the same customer relationship data available to our clients. More...

  • May-14 -- Treasury Yields Rise as S&P; 500 Trades Little Changed
    U.S. stock index futures pared some losses Monday after the better-than-expected data on April retail sales, but remained in the red following last weeks rally that pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P; 500 to new record highs.
    The S&P; 500 index was little changed at 1,633.77. More...

  • May-14 -- Detroit emergency manager says city 'clearly insolvent'
    Build 16: 31 ms (NewsList).Completed macro ody_bottom_caro_eight.Build 9: 1203 ms (Content).Build 9: 0 ms (Content).Completed macro ody_conveyor.Parsing macro c4_inteltxt.Build 9: 32 ms (Content).Completed macro c4_inteltxt.Parsing macro ody_footer.Parsing macro ody_analytics.
    The Detroit Fire Detroit puts out a commercial fire at McGraw and Livernois Wednesday at sunset. More...

  • May-14 -- Clothing Makers Back Bangladesh Factory-Safety Pact
    "The UFCW applauds H&M; and other retailers for accepting binding building safety standards at Bangladeshi garment factories following the recent fire and building collapse that killed more than 1,000 garment workers in Bangladesh.
    Some smaller companies have been quick to decide how to proceed. More...

  • May-14 -- Hedge Fund Boss Gets 6 1/2 Years in...
    Sullivan presided over the jury trial last year that ended in Chiasson's conviction on conspiracy and securities fraud charges for trading on illegal tips on Dell Inc. and Nvidia Corp. Chiasson, 39, of New York, began his career on Wall Street at Salomon Brothers and later left Steven A. Cohen's SAC Capital Advisors LP to start his own hedge fund.
    Mr. Chiasson was tried last year alongside Todd Newman, a former portfolio manager at Diamondback Capital Management. More...

  • May-14 -- Stronger US dollar hits oil, gold; stocks pause
    NEW YORK, May 13 (Reuters) - The dollar gained for a third straight session against the yen and euro on Monday as data showing an unexpected rise in U.S. retail sales assuaged fears of an economic slowdown in the world's largest economy.
    Traders cheered the outcome of the G7 talks, which began a day after the dollar cracked the 100-yen level for the first time in four years. More...

  • May-14 -- Monsanto's Biotech Empire Gets A Supreme Boost
    The nation's highest court has ruled that the exhaustion doctrine "leaves untouched the patentee's ability to prevent a buyer from making new copies of the patented item."
    The high court disagreed. More...

  • May-14 -- Retail Stocks Mixed Despite Better-than-Expected April Sales
    Belying expectations of another negative growth, the Commerce Department's preliminary data released Monday showed that retail sales crept up 0.1% during the month, after a 0.5% fall in March, which had been the largest in nine months.
    While retail inventories fell by 0.5 percent in March after rising by 0.2 percent in February, wholesale inventories rose by 0.4 percent after falling by 0.3 percent in the previous month. More...

  • May-14 -- Schaeuble Says Slovenia to Avoid Aid as Yields Advance
    FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A top European Central Bank policymaker hit back at the German finance minister's call for a "two-step approach" towards European banking union, calling for resolution and supervisory authorities to be ready at the same time.
    A lack of vision, courage, and strength of purpose is on display in all European capitals, but especially so in Berlin (and on the part of the German government and opposition alike). More...

  • May-14 -- Geekwire: Amazon debuts Coins for Kindle Fire
    Amazon is following the likes of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), and Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) with the hopes of bringing in more in- app purchases to the online giant.
    Right now, Coins and regular currency can't be mixed, so you can't empty your Amazon account of virtual currency and then top-up the rest with normal dollars. More...

  • May-14 -- US fines Indian drug giant Ranbaxy $500 mn
    In 2009, the FDA accused the company of falsifying data and test results in drug applications and halted reviews of drugs made at a plant in northern India.
    The company said it fully cooperated with the investigation, which it said involved actions from several years ago, and expects "future growth in the U.S. and around the world." More...

  • May-14 -- Eurozone crisis: Bailout payments for Cyprus and Greece agreed - as it happened
    The government plans to restructure the country's stricken banking system, raise taxes and privatize swathes of state-owned companies.
    According to the founder of Thought4Action and economists, Slovenia is believed to be going through a similar situation with Cyprus regarding the increase in number of high profile firms and companies going through severe crises. More...

  • May-14 -- Tesla shares sizzle, but is it a tech stock? - USA Today
    Elon Musk's unbridled enthusiasm apparently is carrying over not only to Tesla showrooms but to Wall Street where short-sellers got a rude awakening as its stock price soared over $20 in one month.
    Tesla said revenue from credit sales would tumble over the course of the year. More...

  • May-14 -- Corn futures soar on demand, planting worries - Agriculture Online
    All the same, corn ending stocks for the 2013/14 marketing year would hit 2.004 billion bushels, the largest supply in nine years and marginally larger than traders expected.
    From that, 89.5 million acres representing a normal percentage of the total, is expected be harvested. More...

  • May-14 -- Stocks mixed as retail sales unexpectedly rise
    U.S. stock index futures pared some losses Monday after the better-than-expected data on April retail sales, but remained in the red following last weeks rally that pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P; 500 to new record highs.
    Thirty-year bonds also fell, sending yields up three basis points to 3.13 percent, the highest since March 26 on a closing basis. More...

  • May-14 -- Icahn's Dell bid may have secret admirer in Silver Lake
    "We believe that our proposal is superior to the going private transaction in that under our proposal, shareholders can receive $12 in cash and still share in the future of Dell, an opportunity that we think is worth significantly more than $1.65 per share," the letter stated.
    The company said it is not clear if it was an acquisition offer or an alternative if the pending 'going private' deal is not approved. More...

  • May-14 -- Amtrak rolls out new locomotives for East Coast routes
    "The loan will be repaid essentially from revenues from the Northeast Corridor," Karen Hedlund, deputy administrator of the rail administration, said today on a conference call with reporters.
    The new ride along the Northeast and Keystone corridors will be quieter and more reliable, said Joe Boardman, president of Amtrak, noting that the old locomotives have been in service for up to 35 years, traveling an average of 3.5 million miles each. More...

  • May-14 -- GM Channels Google, Facebook and eBay With New High-Tech Data Center
    Warren -- General Motors Co. said Monday it will spend $258 million to build and equip a new data center at its Milford Proving Ground operations in Milford Township -- one that will back up its $130 million new data center at the Warren Tech Center.
    Simulations by computer will generate data that will help in designing safer vehicles and save $350,000 for each crash test avoided, GM said. More...

  • May-14 -- State pension fund hits record high
    ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- The New York pension fund for state and local government workers has topped $160 billion after reporting a 10.4 percent return on investment for its last fiscal year, the state comptroller's office reported Monday.
    The California Public Employees' Retirement System, the largest U.S. pension, reached a market value of $260.8 billion after returning 13 percent in 2012, it said last month. More...

  • May-14 -- Oil ends at lowest close in over a week
    NIGERIA'S crude oil production has decreased from the 1.746 barrels per day it recorded in the month of March to 1.734 in April 2013, according to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
    The other panelist, Luay al-Khatteeb, CEO and founder of the Iraq Energy Institute, discussed the problem of the huge amount of gas that Iraq is required to flare, as 75% of the country's natural gas output is from associated gas produced with crude oil. More...

Monday


  • May-13 -- Japan's Weaker Yen Raises Hope and Fear
    The dollar was buying 100.60 yen after rising as high as 100.79 yen on the EBS trading platform on Thursday, helped by signs of further improvement in the U.S. labour market and renewed debate by U.S. Federal Reserve officials about scaling back the central bank's asset purchases.
    The company said yesterday it expects full-year net income will increase 37 percent to 235 billion yen. More...

  • May-13 -- Fed, Treasury looking at Bloomberg terminal access
    JPMorgan's concerns emerged a day after The Post first reported that Goldman Sachs had confronted Bloomberg brass with allegations of snooping.
    The Times reports that Bloomberg News editor-in-chief Matt Winkler called Goldman Sachs to apologize. More...

  • May-13 -- US STOCKS-Wall Street ends up, posts third week of gains
    While earnings and economic data have not been particularly strong, it's difficult to tell that from stock performance.
    Investors expect shares to continue trending higher given the Federal Reserve's accommodative monetary environment and encouraging data on the labor market, including jobless claims on Thursday and last week's payroll report. More...

  • May-13 -- Mixed signals for the global economy
    The challenge is much different for the political leaders who recently came to power in China, led by President Xi Jinping.
    Japan, facing population decline from 128 million to perhaps only 88 million people over the next 30 years and with extremely rapid ageing and a national debt of 240 per cent of GDP, is making a desperate gamble that it can shake off two decades of deflation by having the Bank of Japan engage in massive buying of assets. More...

  • May-13 -- G7 Tackles Bank Reform, Gives Japan the Green Light - CNBC.com
    Osborne said there was value in talks that were more informal than larger meetings of the world's major economies which form the Group of 20.
    UK Finance Minister George Osborne hosted the Global Investment Conference in London on Thursday, while the "Enough food for everyone if" campaign was reminding everyone he was ignoring the elephant in the room when money was tight tax evasion. More...

  • May-13 -- JPMorgan Directors Oppose Splitting Dimon's Role as 'Disruptive'
    JPMorgan Chase's largest shareholder is BlackRock, with about a 6.5 percent stake, and that firm has entrusted its shareholder votes to the London company Governance for Owners, which underscores how a few relatively unknown entities could have a major effect on JPMorgan's future at its May 21 shareholders meeting, described in a report by the New York Times.
    "JPMorgan Chase is akin to an A student that is now getting B grades. More...

  • May-13 -- Bangladesh plans to raise wages for garment workers after factory collapse ...
    Here is a developing country that, even without any 'natural advantages' to be in the garment business, managed to take advantage of Multi Fibre Agreement quotas to become the second largest exporter after China.
    "We expect that before fixing the new minimum wage, owners and workers will keep production on in the factories maintaining good relations." More...

  • May-13 -- Chicago's proposed casino: Tourist gem or drain on locals' paychecks?
    Revel took in just over $8 million last month, down from the $13.4 million it won in what was widely considered a disappointing opening month in April 2012.
    You need to win over a governor who has vetoed two similar bills because you keep writing special oversight rules for one or more casinos in a certain big city. More...

  • May-13 -- Officials: Hernando air traffic control tower will keep funding - Bay News 9
    The furloughs at all airport towers and air traffic control facilities caused widespread flight delays across the country for nearly a week before Congress stepped in.
    ALBANY, GA -- The Associated Press is reporting that 149 control towers at small airports that were slated for closure will remain - open at least through Sept. 30. More...

  • May-13 -- Sir Richard Branson gives passengers a serve on AirAsia flight from Perth
    Virgin tycoon Sir Richard Branson has donned lipstick and a red skirt to honour a bet.
    I went to extreme lengths to avoid being here (for the charity flight), but knew that one day I had to get it over with." More...

  • May-13 -- National Train Day brings families to Union Station - Standard-Examiner
    In the 1800s, the United States got its first transcontinental railroad, a line connecting the West Coast to the East Coast.
    Saturday was Amtrak's National Train Day, and Duluth had a visit from a very unique train to celebrate. More...

  • May-13 -- Clarksville letter carriers combat hunger
    The Letter Carriers food drive, coordinated by Local 2214 in Longview, is the second-largest local food drive of the year, after Walk n' Knock.
    Matson works a double duty, delivering mail and picking up loads of nonperishable food items people leave for the food drive, our sister station WLFI reports. More...

  • May-13 -- Actavis Said to Be in Early Talks to Acquire Warner Chilcott
    Generic drug producer Actavis ( NYSE: ACT ) (formerly Watson Pharmaceuticals) soared 12.2% after Bloomberg News reported that the company was in early stage talks to acquire Warner Chilcott ( NASDAQ: WCRX ), the company with a product line focused on women's health care.
    Post-merger, Actavis had $1.5 billion in sales and threw $98.8 million toward R&D; for the period ended March 31, 2013. More...

  • May-13 -- US Postal Service losing money, worried for the future
    A five-year restructuring "Plan to Profitability" has gathered dust for 15 months in the absence of action from Congress, which must approve changes in the service's business model.
    Some believe the 2006 Republican-backed legislation was designed to bankrupt the USPS and send the nation's postal service into privatization. More...

  • May-13 -- CNBC Excerpts: CNBC Exclusive: CNBC's Steve Liesman Speaks with Treasury ...
    LONDON (Reuters) - The United States must not delay raising its debt ceiling as ensuing uncertainty would hurt both the U.S. and the global economy, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in an interview on CNBC television on Friday.
    Lew's not just offering America advice. More...

  • May-13 -- EarthTalk®: Beer Brewers & Clean Water
    Apparently, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is a fan of craft beer.
    Technically, a craft brewer is any brewery producing 6 million barrels of beer or less per year, where an alcoholic beverage industry member (who is not a craft brewer) owns or controls less than 25% of the craft brewery. More...

  • May-13 -- Obama calls on Congress to help more homeowners
    "I've called on Congress to give every responsible homeowner the chance to refinance, and with it, the opportunity to save $3,000 a year.
    President Obama today declared that the housing market has reached a point where it is "healing" and reaffirmed the administration's commitment to promoting initiatives that benefit responsible homeowners, including measures encourage refinancing at low rates. More...

  • May-13 -- Berkshire Hathaway's Holds; GMCR's Bottom Line: Best of Kass
    Thanks to the savvy of investing legend Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway's book value per share has grown a mind-blowing 586,817% over the past 48 years.
    By joining Twitter, the Berkshire Hathaway Inc chief executive officer now stands in good mogul company. More...

  • May-13 -- True Religion board accepts $835-million takeover bid
    Law360, New York (May 10, 2013, 1:24 PM ET) -- TowerBrook Capital Partners has inked a deal to take True Religion Apparel Inc. private for $835 million, ending a seven-month sales process for the trendy jeans maker and marking the latest in a string of big retail buyouts.
    Let's take a look at the recent action surrounding True Religion Apparel, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRLG ). More...

  • May-13 -- AT&T; Park concession workers vote to authorize strike
    The last three years have been good to Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants, who won two World Series crowns and emerged as a contender to win another in 2013.
    Because unlike the ballclub, which has won two titles in the last three years, and unlike the likes of Matt Cain and Buster Posey, who signed record-breaking contracts, the union concession workers haven't had a new contract or a raise since the beginning of the 2010 season. More...

Sunday


  • May-12 -- Icahn and Southeastern Ready a Rival Bid for Dell
    Dell's largest independent shareholder has teamed with investor Carl Icahn in another challenge to founder Michael Dell's $24.4 billion bid to take the struggling computer maker private.
    Mr. Icahn and Southeastern's position runs counter to the apparent views of an investor consortium led by the Blackstone Group, which withdrew from bidding for Dell last month amid concerns that the computer maker's business was deteriorating faster and more badly than expected. More...

  • May-12 -- Bankers: College debt bubble mimics housing bubble - USA Today
    WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- In a speech devoted to the vulnerabilities in the financial system that the U.S. central bank is monitoring, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday identified "reaching for yield" as well as the threat of a run in money-market funds and the possibility that short-term wholesale markets could dry up in a crisis.
    The risk of another meltdown is also much broader than it used to be. More...

  • May-12 -- G7 reaffirms commitment not to depreciate currencies for domestic gain
    The yen's slide gathered pace after the Bank of Japan unveiled a massive stimulus plan last month.
    The moves were driven in part by Japanese investors shifting into foreign bonds, a trend expected since the Bank of Japan unveiled a massive stimulus plan in January. More...

  • May-12 -- Yen hits 4-1/2-year low versus dollar, oil and gold tumble
    The dollar was buying 100.60 yen after rising as high as 100.79 yen on the EBS trading platform on Thursday, helped by signs of further improvement in the U.S. labour market and renewed debate by U.S. Federal Reserve officials about scaling back the central bank's asset purchases.
    Japan's currency has fallen 1.7 percent versus the euro. More...

  • May-12 -- 5 Kan. control towers to stay open
    It was a long week, but Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport finally received the news it wanted to hear: Its air traffic control tower will remain open through the end of the federal fiscal year.
    "The lawyers are looking at it," LaHood told The Detroit News in an interview Wednesday on the sidelines of an event on teen auto safety. More...

  • May-12 -- Fed says in touch with Bloomberg on potential client data access
    JPMorgan's concerns emerged a day after The Post first reported that Goldman Sachs had confronted Bloomberg brass with allegations of snooping.
    Bloomberg LP Chief Executive Daniel Doctoroff said the firm had made a "mistake" by giving journalists access to data on clients' terminal usage, following reports that users of the terminals were investigating potential leaks of confidential information. More...

  • May-12 -- Obama talks housing in weekend address
    "From the day I took office, I've made it a priority to help responsible homeowners and prevent the kind of recklessness that helped cause this crisis in the first place," Obama said.
    I've called on Congress to give every responsible homeowner the chance to refinance, and with it, the opportunity to save $3,000 a year. More...

  • May-12 -- Taco Fusion may keep controversial lion tacos on menu
    After receiving a storm of backlash along with death and bomb threats, an exotic food eatery in Florida has decided to remove lion meat from its menu.
    A newly opened Florida taquer'a specializing in "exotic tacos" containing meats from carcasses of sharks, kangaroos, beavers, and other non-traditional fillers has been forced to remove its latest menu addition -- lion tacos -- due to significant uproar from social network users . More...

  • May-12 -- Actavis Said to Be in Early Talks to Acquire Warner Chilcott
    Generic drug producer Actavis ( NYSE: ACT ) (formerly Watson Pharmaceuticals) soared 12.2% after Bloomberg News reported that the company was in early stage talks to acquire Warner Chilcott ( NASDAQ: WCRX ), the company with a product line focused on women's health care.
    Post-merger, Actavis had $1.5 billion in sales and threw $98.8 million toward R&D; for the period ended March 31, 2013. More...

  • May-12 -- Fed Maps Exit From Stimulus
    "I think we should try as hard as we can" to turn things around, Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans said in an interview on Bloomberg TV, in a forceful defense of the bond-buying program, known as QE3 because it is the Fed's third round of quantitative easing since the Great Recession.
    The timing on when to start is still being debated. More...

  • May-12 -- Nearly a third of fliers left devices turned on during flights
    The study, Portable Electronic Devices on Aircraft, gauges consumer usage and awareness concerning PEDs on airplanes.
    APEX says that 99 percent of adult fliers travel with some sort of portable electronic device and many want to be able to use it during the whole flying process, including takeoff and landing. More...

  • May-12 -- Despite Wear, True Religion Finds a Buyer for $835 Million
    Law360, New York (May 10, 2013, 1:24 PM ET) -- TowerBrook Capital Partners has inked a deal to take True Religion Apparel Inc. private for $835 million, ending a seven-month sales process for the trendy jeans maker and marking the latest in a string of big retail buyouts.
    "We are excited to combine our retail and apparel expertise with Lynne (Koplin) and the True Religion team to help the company with brand building and international opportunities," Andrew Rolfe, a TowerBrook executive, said in a statement. More...

  • May-12 -- California Sues JPMorgan Chase Over Credit Card Cases
    JPMorgan Chase has been sued by the state of California over allegedly fraudulent debt-collecting practices during a three-year period from 2008 to 2011, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times.
    "Sewer service" litigation against borrowers was also used by Chase, the suit alleges. More...

  • May-12 -- Reward fracking communities with extra police officers, says IGas
    JACKSON Canadian energy company Encana estimates a new 80 percent state tax cut will save it up to $800,000 a year in oil and natural gas extraction taxes on wells it puts into production after July 1 in Southwest Mississippi's Tuscaloosa Marine Shale development.
    James LeBas, a fiscal consultant who also works as a lobbyist for the Texas Oil and Gas Association, estimates that oil and gas interests paid about $12 billion in taxes in Texas in fiscal 2012, up from $9.25 billion in 2011 and $7.4 billion in 2010. More...

  • May-12 -- Postal Service posts $1.9 billion loss despite efficiency efforts
    A five-year restructuring "Plan to Profitability" has gathered dust for 15 months in the absence of action from Congress, which must approve changes in the service's business model.
    "The decline in mail volume is why the Postal Service is actively looking into opportunities to increase efficiency by consolidating mail processing operations," agency spokeswoman Connie Chiricello said. More...

  • May-12 -- Jobless claims decline to 5-year low
    Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 323,000, the lowest level since January 2008, the Labor Department said on Thursday.
    Applications for unemployment insurance payments decreased by 4,000 to 323,000 in the week ended May 4, the least since January 2008, Labor Department figures showed Thursday. More...

  • May-12 -- Oil Options Volatility Rises for Second Day as Crude Declines
    U.S. crude oil futures ended the day 35 cents lower at $96.04 per barrel after trading more than $3 lower at $93.37.
    Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was down $2.60, or 2.7 per cent, at $93.79 a barrel in morning trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. More...

  • May-12 -- Falcone nears deal in hedge fund case
    Under the proposed settlement, Falcone's hedge-fund firm Harbinger Capital Partners LLC would pay about $18 million in disgorgement, interest and penalties to resolve Securities and Exchange Commission claims that he improperly borrowed money from his fund to pay his taxes, according to a public filing today.
    Under the terms of the loan, Falcone was supposed to pay interest equal to the cost of capital for the fund. More...

  • May-12 -- Cotton could bloom on Chinese demand
    All the same, corn ending stocks for the 2013/14 marketing year would hit 2.004 billion bushels, the largest supply in nine years and marginally larger than traders expected.
    Feed and residual use for 2013-2014 is projected up 925 million bushels reflecting a sharp rebound in residual disappearance with the record crop and an increase in feeding with lower corn prices. More...

  • May-12 -- SoftBank Says Dish's Sprint Bid Is Full of 'Wishful' Numbers
    The U.S. carrier is angling to return to profitability after the $36 billion purchase of Nextel Communications Inc. in 2005 saddled the company with debt and led to tens of billions of dollars in losses.
    I firmly believe churn will be lower as we move forward. More...





© Copyright 1998-2013, Power Text Solutions, All Rights Reserved.