Warren Buffett has bought 700 million shares of Bank of America at a significantly reduced price, gaining more than $11 billion. The move comes after his $5 billion investment in 2011 when the bank was floundering, which left him with the option to purchase discounted shares by 2021. “I am impressed with the profit-generating abilities… Continue Reading
Lloyd’s of London partnered with risk-modeling firm Cyence to publish a report examining the potential economic losses which would be incurred from a major hack of a cloud service provider or a cyber-attack on computer operating systems which are used by business across the planet. The report estimated that a major, global cyber-attack could result… Continue Reading
Softbank Vision Fund, the world’s largest private equity fund, recently said that it has raised over $93 billion to invest in technology. As they said in a statement, “The next stage of the Information Revolution is under way, and building the businesses that will make this possible will require unprecedented large-scale, long-term investment.” The fund… Continue Reading
First Quarter figures are in, and they are not pretty. The country’s GDP grew at a three-year low rate of only 0.7 percent during the first three months of 2017, the slowest growth since January-March 2014. The news of the poor economic performance comes in stark contrast to the great expectations held by newly elected… Continue Reading
The Commerce Department reported factory goods orders up by 1.2 percent in January. That increase followed a similar increase of 1.3 percent in December. The two data points signal that the recovery in the manufacturing sector is accelerating due to the rise in prices for commodities fuel a greater demand for machinery. Factory orders are… Continue Reading
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin explained on the Fox News program “Sunday Morning Futures” that President Donald Trump’s first budget proposal will refrain from any cuts to government entitlement programs. He also said that Trump’s scheduled address to the joint session of Congress this coming Tuesday will announce the new administration’s far-reaching plans to cut taxes… Continue Reading
The Department of Commerce reported that US business inventories were up better than expected in December, while sales rose by their biggest percentage since 2011. The announcement said that inventories went up by 0.4 percent, while November’s figure had to be re-stated as 0.8 percent in place of the previously announced 0.7 percent. Business inventories… Continue Reading
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