The minutes from the policy-setting meeting of the Federal Reserve on January 24-25 shows a board divided on whether a new bond-buying program should be launched to help give a boost to the economy. Feds Split on Bond-Buying Option Although there appear to be some Fed officials in favor of such a bond-buying program now,… Continue Reading
Today’s economy is a challenge for just about everyone. Here are a few pithy quotes to help you and your business get past the obstacles and head on into a more successful and optimistic future. • “You have to pretend you’re 100 percent sure. You have to take action; you can’t hesitate or hedge your… Continue Reading
Moody’s credit rating agency announced that it is considering downgrading several countries in Europe and has already cut the ratings for Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Slovakia by one level. Spain was cut by two levels. This follows Standard and Poor’s downgrade of European countries over a month ago on January 13. S&P cut the… Continue Reading
West fears that Iran will use oil as a weapon to undermine western economies. America and the west are placing financial sanctions on Iran hoping to stop it from developing nuclear weapons. The sanctions have made it very hard to make payments to and from that Iran. The country has not stopped or slowed down… Continue Reading
Dagong Global Credit Rating Co., Ltd, unlike Moody’s, S&P and Fitch credit rating agencies, is not traded on American stock exchanges. Dagong claims that the above companies have a an unintentional western bias and therefore their company and country ratings are skewed. For example, the S&P did not downgrad United States credit worthiness until August,… Continue Reading
Retalix Ltd. (RTLX) is a company whose stock has gone from $12.35 to $18.39 in less than five months. Analysts at both JMP securities (December 2nd) and at Rodman and Renshaw (on January 24, 2012) have rated this stock “market outperform.” Retalix provides software solutions and services to the most sophisticated retailer businesses. On January… Continue Reading
Yesterday Motorola Solutions, Inc. announced that it will increase its stock repurchase program from $2 billion worth of stock to $3 billion. This initiative began in July, 2011 and since then $1.1 billion of stock had been repurchased by December 31, 2011. There remains $1.9 billion of stock repurchase from the 2012 repurchase budget. The… Continue Reading
Given imaging Ltd. (GIVN) is a stock that over the last 2 years has fluctuated between $14 and $22. The stock is currently on its way up from its low of 14.25 on September 19, 2011. On January 26 the stock closed at $18.56. The stock is trading $1.32 over its 50 day exponential moving… Continue Reading
Healthstream Inc. (HSTM) supplies both internet based learning and internet research abilities in the U.S. The HSTM learning segment provides education and training with management and administrative tools and other courses. It serves the healthcare industry, training health care workers for a large variey of jobs. The research segment of Healthstream provides research into various… Continue Reading
Stanley Black and Decker Inc. Company’s fourth quarter net income rose by 20%. The company attributed this success to higher prices, stronger sales and an acquisition. The company earned $165.3 million equaling 99 cents per share in the fourth quarter. In the 4th quarter of 2010, the company made 137.8 million equaling 81 cents per… Continue Reading