Is there a conflict of interest by Wall Street brokers who peddle certain retirement investments onto clients? The Obama administration believes so, and it is now urging the Department of Labor to initiate a new regulation that would crack down on the conflicts of interest that … [Read more...]
Canadian Retail Sales Nosedive 2% in December
Canadian consumers were extra cautious this holiday season as retail sales took a dive in the month of December, even with tumbling gasoline prices that provided consumers with a little bit of extra money in their pocket. According to a new report from Statistics Canada, retail … [Read more...]
Poll: One-third of Millennials Would Text During Job Interview
Are you so addicted to your smartphone that you actually text during a crucial job interview? At a time when the labor market remains on shaky ground and the availability of jobs is limited, a significant number of millennial workers have the temerity to text throughout a job … [Read more...]
Weak Economic Data Makes Fed Question Interest Rate Hike
Here we go again...the Federal Reserve is still undecided as to whether or not it will begin raising interest rates this summer, citing an array of economic factors that will contribute to its final decision. According to the latest minutes released Wednesday from last month's … [Read more...]
500,000 Walmart Employees Getting a Raise Thanks to Q4
As part of its fourth-quarter earnings report, discount retail juggernaut Wal-Mart announced it would be giving a pay increase to about half-a-million workers at its retail outlets across the United States as well as at all Sam's Clubs. The wage hike will begin offering hourly … [Read more...]
Nestle Betting it All on Natural Flavors, Ditching Everything Artificial
Nestle confirmed this week that it will become the first major candy maker to get rid of all artificial colors and flavors from its line of chocolate products. The company's executives believes consumers will not be able to tell the difference. The move, which is scheduled to be … [Read more...]
U.S. Household Debt and Student Loan Delinquency Rates Rise
American consumers' appetite for debt is ferocious. A few years after the Great Recession, United States households still haven't made any significant reductions in their debt levels, and in fact they are only adding greater amounts of debt. Also, today's millennials are having a … [Read more...]
Tim Hortons Deal Is a Whopper Loss in Fourth Quarter
Restaurant Brands International lost a whopper in the fourth quarter on the closing costs relating to its Double-Double deal that would see Burger King and Tim Hortons merge. According to its fourth-quarter earnings, Restaurant Brands lost $154.2 million, or $2.52 per share. At the … [Read more...]
New York Building Inspectors Turn a Blind Eye to Safety Violations
New York City is suffering once again from a serious case of corruption among its public departments and officials. It was reported by the New York Post that the city has launched one of the biggest corruption crackdown cases in years after it was discovered that a dozen or so … [Read more...]
Bank of England Hints (Again) at 2016 Interest Rate Hike
Will the Bank of England (BOE) finally raise interest rates after years of hints? Perhaps, but it won't be this year. The central bank's quarterly Inflation Report released Thursday signalled that a rate hike won't occur this year and the decision will yet again be pushed back to … [Read more...]
New York’s ‘Secret’ Real Estate Market and the Investors Behind It
An influx of wealthy foreigners are propping up New York's lucrative real estate market in order to shield their money from their governments and take advantage of the lax laws in the United States, says a new 8,000-word report authored by the New York Times. The investigation … [Read more...]
Massive Amount of Debt Leaves Canada Exposed for Economic Crisis
Canada is known for many things: a polite general public, a high standard of living and corrupt government officials. However, there is another attribute to add to the image of the Great White North: a world leader when it comes to debt. A new report published by the McKinsey … [Read more...]
Federal Reserve President Proposes Series of Bank Reforms
Richard Fisher, who is one of the most well-known members of the Federal Reserve, will be stepping down next month as president of the Dallas Fed after 10 years. He delivered his final speech to a New York audience Tuesday in which he called for a series of reforms for the century-old … [Read more...]
Corporate News: U.S. Coca-Cola Sales Up, Canon to Buy Sweden’s Axis
Coca-Cola beat Wall Street estimates, Canon is going to buy Sweden's Axis and Molson and MillerCoors saw weaker holiday sales this year. These are the headlines dominating Tuesday's business news. Coca-Cola not fizzling out It seems Coca-Cola isn't dead yet in North America as … [Read more...]
Home Depot Goes on Hiring Binge Looking for 80k Workers
With spring still a couple of months away, Home Depot is getting ready for the very busy home improvement selling season by announcing Tuesday that it is hiring more than 80,000 seasonal workers. This is the busiest time of the year for the company and it wants to ensure it has both … [Read more...]
Consumers Seek Healthier Food and McDonald’s Sales Suffer
McDonald's, the global fast food juggernaut that has been the victim of shifting consumer habits, experienced further negative data after it reported Monday that its international sales in the month of January declined 1.8 percent, mostly in Asian regions, particularly in China and … [Read more...]
Unemployment Rate Hits 5.7% with Addition of 257,000 Jobs
The latest employment figures coming out of the Department of Labor are a mixed bag of sorts. According to a new report from the federal department, the unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percent from 5.6 percent as the United States economy added 257,000 in January, which has many … [Read more...]
IRS releases ‘Dirty Dozen’ Tax Scams List 2015
We're on the cusp of the very busy tax season, when millions of Americans either give the taxman more of their hard earned money or they receive a portion of their money back. At this time of the year, one of the biggest concerns that both the Internal Revenue Service and taxpayers … [Read more...]
U.S. Trade Gap Widens and Productivity Takes a Dive
The latest United States economic figures were released Thursday and they may very well place a barrier in front of the economic recovery. In summary: the U.S. trade deficit widened, productivity fell and weekly jobless claims were up. But markets are being distracted by the recent … [Read more...]
ECB Warns QE May End before Sept. 2016
Last month, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its own version of quantitative easing and confirmed that it is acquiring 60 billion euros ($69 billion) worth of government bonds over the next 18 months, and noted that the program is open-ended. The purpose of the move is to … [Read more...]
