Global News

I am up early for Brazil and as I look out at the financial markets I see a tidal wave of markets crashing, all heading towards me.. ….and there is nothing I can do, but wait till it hits Brazil and BOVESPA when it opens later today..! As I write, Nikkei -7.3%, DAX  -2.5%, CAC […]

Do you remember what you were doing 13 years ago?  Probably still breathing a sigh of relief that the Y2K computer software issue didn’t really exist.  And, hey, things were looking good.  The key stock indicators looked great.  It was the start of a whole new millennium.  What could possibly go wrong? Well, a lot […]

Is it possible that BP (LSE:BP.) could be in deep water again?  Given the company’s activities over the past several years, including those minor headaches in the Gulf of Mexico and with their joint ventures with Russian oligarchs, it seems almost inevitable.  This time BP has reportedly been in cahoots with Royal Dutch Shell (LSE:RDSA) […]

Pound Sterling – On Monday the Pound was little changed as economists awaited the release of data which was expected to show that the number of people in the UK claiming unemployment benefits fell for a sixth consecutive month in April adding to hopes that the nation’s economy is making a recovery. On Tuesday it […]

High in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, in the quiet community of Lenoir, North Carolina sits a sprawling facility shrouded in mystery.  Lenoir used to be home to the most well-known scions of furniture manufacturing in the United States, but those factories and jobs have all been moved to China.  The most notable […]

Ratings agency Fitch keeps country on Negative Outlook Fitch Ratings has affirmed Japan’s Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) at ‘A+’ with a Negative Outlook. In a statement the agency said that the affirmation of Japan’s sovereign ratings “in part reflects the greater commitment of the Bank of Japan and government to […]

Mobile content provider Mobile Streams (LSE:MOS) continues to turn in stellar performance as demand for its apps, games, music, videos and eBooks increases around the globe.  The company that operates through the cleverly named storefront appitalism® has watched it share price rise from the 4.0 range, where it hovered for several years until September 2010, […]

Just one day after announcing a 300% increase in pre-tax profits and optimism that 2013 will be a better year operationally, Lonmin’s share price (LSE:LMI) took a hit when the company announced yet another labor-related problem at its Marikana mine.  Employees showed up for work, but refused to enter the shafts. Marikana had to suspend […]

How bold does a CEO have to be to say, “Our performance in the quarter reflects the results of the management action we have taken,” when the performance  was a net loss of $345 million? I’d say he’d have to be even bolder to make that statement especially when the company made a net profit […]

Yet another hurdle cleared this week as the UK flagship index went on to make a decisive breach of 6,600. The bulls are loving it, already eyeing up the pre-crisis highs of 6,760 and then even those of 6,940 before the dot.com bust. What has taken the FTSE up another 100 points during this shortened […]