Bank of England Inflation Report: no rate hike while recovery remains 'unsustainable and unbalanced' … Bank severs link between unemployment rate and an interest rate hike, and caveats bullish growth assessment with concerns that the recovery is currently unsustainable. Interest rates are unlikely to rise before 2015, the Bank of England signalled on Wednesday, as it warned the recov...Read More
More Americans should work abroad … On Thursday, House Speaker John Boehner told members of the press that though immigration is "an important issue in our country" (thanks for that, John), it will be difficult to move immigration legislation this year. According to Boehner, the chief stumbling block is that Republican lawmakers simply don't trust the Obama administration to im...Read More
Economy U.S. stocks rose, giving benchmark indexes the biggest four-day rally in more than a year, as comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen fueled bets the economy is strong enough to weather further stimulus cuts … "The market likes consistency and what we've heard this morning has been consistent with what we've heard for months," Steven Rees, head of U.S. equ...Read More
House approves increase in debt ceiling with no strings attached, bill heads to Senate … The House voted Tuesday to raise the government's borrowing limit, as GOP leaders backed down from a potential confrontation with Democrats by declining to seek any concessions in exchange for the increase. The debt-ceiling bill passed on a 221-201 vote, and now goes to the Senate for final approval....Read More
Economy U.S. stocks rose, giving benchmark indexes the biggest four-day rally in more than a year, as comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen fueled bets the economy is strong enough to weather further stimulus cuts … "The market likes consistency and what we've heard this morning has been consistent with what we've heard for months," Steven Rees, head of U.S. equ...Read More
House approves increase in debt ceiling with no strings attached, bill heads to Senate … The House voted Tuesday to raise the government's borrowing limit, as GOP leaders backed down from a potential confrontation with Democrats by declining to seek any concessions in exchange for the increase. The debt-ceiling bill passed on a 221-201 vote, and now goes to the Senate for final approval....Read More
Voters in Switzerland have narrowly approved a rightwing proposal to curb immigration. It imposes limits on the number of foreigners allowed in and may signal an end to the country's free movement accord with the European Union. The initiative was approved by just 50.3% of the votes and was passed by a majority of cantons. The move by the Swiss People's Party – known for its anti-for...Read More
The booming marijuana industry attracts enthusiasts and entrepreneurs … Working from a small booth on the fringes of a trade show packed with thousands of enthusiasts, Sean Donahoe says these are heady times to be in the marijuana business. "In a gold rush, you sell picks and shovels,'' says Donahoe, deputy director of the California Cannabis Industry Association. The young orga...Read More
Voters in Switzerland have narrowly approved a rightwing proposal to curb immigration. It imposes limits on the number of foreigners allowed in and may signal an end to the country's free movement accord with the European Union. The initiative was approved by just 50.3% of the votes and was passed by a majority of cantons. The move by the Swiss People's Party – known for its anti-for...Read More
The booming marijuana industry attracts enthusiasts and entrepreneurs … Working from a small booth on the fringes of a trade show packed with thousands of enthusiasts, Sean Donahoe says these are heady times to be in the marijuana business. "In a gold rush, you sell picks and shovels,'' says Donahoe, deputy director of the California Cannabis Industry Association. The young orga...Read More
- Marc Johnson, CFAHere's a quick and easy way to spot a possible takeover candidate.First, add the company's total debt plus other obligations that an acquiror would have to assume. Then add its market capitalization (the share price times the diluted number of shares). This is the offer price.Compare this number to the dollar value of the firm's tangible assets. If the value of the tangible asse...Read More
The End of American Exceptionalism … From the moment Barack Obama appeared on the national stage, conservatives have been searching for the best way to describe the danger he poses to America's traditional way of life. Secularism? Check. Socialism? Sure. A tendency to apologize for America's greatness overseas? That, too. But how to tie them all together? … Newt Gingrich publis...Read More
Foreign Office caught asking Spanish press to undermine Scottish independence … The Foreign & Commonwealth Office has again been accused of meddling in the referendum, after it emerged that the British Embassy in Madrid has been urging newspapers in Spain to publish criticisms of Scottish independence. A letter published this month in the Tenerife News included a request from Simon Mont...Read More
The End of American Exceptionalism … From the moment Barack Obama appeared on the national stage, conservatives have been searching for the best way to describe the danger he poses to America's traditional way of life. Secularism? Check. Socialism? Sure. A tendency to apologize for America's greatness overseas? That, too. But how to tie them all together? … Newt Gingrich publis...Read More
Foreign Office caught asking Spanish press to undermine Scottish independence … The Foreign & Commonwealth Office has again been accused of meddling in the referendum, after it emerged that the British Embassy in Madrid has been urging newspapers in Spain to publish criticisms of Scottish independence. A letter published this month in the Tenerife News included a request from Simon Mont...Read More
Reagan's true legacy: The Tea Party … Tea Party Challenging the status quo is the correct condition of American conservatism. At the end of the American Revolution, Benjamin Rush, who had signed the Declaration of Independence, vowed that though the war with Great Britain was over, the Revolution would go on. The stirrings of original American conservatism were found in such sentiments....Read More
"F*** the EU": Top State Dep't official's phone call to U.S. ambassador in Ukraine leaked online. I'd call it a bombshell, not because of what's being said but because we're able to listen to it at all. The identities of the speakers haven't been officially confirmed but Jay Carney didn't deny when asked that this is Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nulan...Read More
Reagan's true legacy: The Tea Party … Tea Party Challenging the status quo is the correct condition of American conservatism. At the end of the American Revolution, Benjamin Rush, who had signed the Declaration of Independence, vowed that though the war with Great Britain was over, the Revolution would go on. The stirrings of original American conservatism were found in such sentiments....Read More
"F*** the EU": Top State Dep't official's phone call to U.S. ambassador in Ukraine leaked online. I'd call it a bombshell, not because of what's being said but because we're able to listen to it at all. The identities of the speakers haven't been officially confirmed but Jay Carney didn't deny when asked that this is Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nulan...Read More
Coming to a Post Office Near You: Loans You Can Trust? … The poor pay more, and that's one of the reasons people get trapped at the bottom of the economic ladder. But it doesn't have to be this way. In the same remarkable report this week, the OIG explored the possibility of the USPS offering basic banking services – bill paying, check cashing, small loans – to its custom...Read More