US News

A roller-coaster ride for markets this week and a perfect example of how important central bank communication (read US Federal Reserve) has become and how markets can move indiscriminately on changes in sentiment regarding the future of the highly accommodative monetary policy  (read Fed’s QE3), something that has supported the global rally and recovery hopes […]

While the investment world focuses on Japan today, the news at JP Morgan has failed to make the make the headlines it would have on any almost other day.  The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has levied a fine of £3,076,200 “for systems and control failings related to its provision of retail investment advice and portfolio investment services” […]

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) […]

Internet giant promises not to “screw it up” Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Tumblr have announced that they have reached an agreement for Yahoo! to purchase micro-blogging site Tumblr for $1.1bn. Per the agreement and their promise not to screw it up, Tumblr will be independently operated as a separate business. David Karp will remain […]

Tableau Software Celebrates Public Debut as “DATA” on the New York Stock Exchange Tableau Software, Inc., a provider of business analytics software, opened for trading today on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol “DATA” after its initial public offering. The company’s stock opened on the NYSE at $47, up 52% from […]

This week’s hurdle proved more resilient, the FTSE100 index struggling to gain traction above 6,700, but we have made much progress. The move up from 6,600 was faster than expected, however, limited gains above 6710/15 for much of the week, all the while with support just 45pts below, suggests we may have had the sideways […]

The loonie has had a very bullish day, driven by weak economic data in Canada that were released during the day. The loonie rose to 1.0300 psychological level, finding strong resistance there, after having formed a lower high pattern below 1.0200 level. Now, the USDCAD has an important challenge is to try to break the […]

Michael Dell’s message on the Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) website begins with these words:  “Successful, innovative companies tend to aspire to a greater purpose that goes beyond the bottom line.”  If there were ever a time to test how much he really believes that, it is now. The boardroom discussions must be increasingly more intense at Dell […]

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 […]