December was a great month of optimism among America’s small businesses as it soared its greatest amount since 1980. The presidential election is partly responsible for the surge, according to observers. Washington-based National Federation of Independent Business’s index climbed by 7.4 points in December, arriving at its highest since 2004, at 105.8. Seven of its… Continue Reading
As consumers continue to make the switch from brick and mortar shopping to on-line, old fashioned stores who can’t compete, will be forced to close, analysts say. “If you are weaker player, it’s going to be a very tough 2017 for you, ” said RJ Hottovy, a consumer equity strategist for Morningstar. Consumers are heading… Continue Reading
Analysts are hopeful that the economy is rebounding steadily as corporate investment is stabilizing, signaled by a better than expected uptick in business equipment orders. November’s figures for non-defense capital goods, not including aircraft, climbed by 0.9 percent, the highest since August, and higher than was forecast. A Bloomberg survey predicted 0.4 percent growth. “There’s… Continue Reading
As consumers begin to move away from prepared and processed foods and towards fresher, more wholesome ingredients, giant companies like General Mills and ConArgra Brands have had to make changes to keep market share. General Mills has been steadily removing synthetic dyes from their breakfast cereals such as Trix for years, and are finally seeing… Continue Reading
Brendan Lindsay, founder and 90 percent owner of kitchen plastics company Sistema, said yes to Newell’s second offer to purchase his company for $660 million. In 2014 Lindsay turned down a similar offer because Newell would not commit to keeping the factory and its 700 jobs at home in New Zealand. This year, after visiting… Continue Reading
Some of America’s largest businesses are worried enough about global warming to send off an open letter to the president-elect, Donald Trump, urging him not to flee from the agreement signed in Paris to slow down climate change. The three-hundred companies include 72 which bring in more than $100 million in annual revenues. Among the… Continue Reading
Patrick Coveney took over the Irish food company Greencore in March 2008. At that time the company did not even earn one penny of revenue in the United States. The CEO saw his mandate as changing that, in a big way. Coveney got going right away with several strategic acquisitions, organic growth, while constantly speaking… Continue Reading
If Cyber Monday and Black Thursday are among your favorite days of the year, and you crave for more buying-at-a-discount action, then Single’s Day is for you! Scheduled for November 11 every year, it is the Chinese version of Cyber Monday, only bigger, much bigger. With the help of Alibaba, the Chinese version of Amazon,… Continue Reading
Even today, when most music is purchased and listened to digitally, there are still many people that take their music in hard copy, on an old-fashioned compact disc, or CD. These small metal discs, laser-etched with beautiful sounds for the customers’ listening pleasure, go for about $10 each. When created, and sold by legitimate companies,… Continue Reading
The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics published a report stating that half of all the money spent on research and development in the US is spent in only five states. The report focuses on the R&D expenditures for 2013, the total of which was $255 billion. It showed that business R&D is more… Continue Reading