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• Thursday, 29 July 2010

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• 2010's First Quarter Results Remain Under Spotlight - 19 April 2010

The trickle of first quarter results released last week is set to gain momentum in the week ahead as 123 companies, representing around 25 percent of the S&P 500, make their results known. Last week's results from Intel, Google, Bank of America, General Electric and JP Morgan Chase, turned out to be better than expected, sparking a wave of optimism that this positive trend will continue in the weeks ahead. Companies expected to take the lion's share of attention include IBM, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Apple and Goldman Sachs – the financial powerhouse currently facing fraud charges relating to real estate securities and involving investor losses of up to $1 billion.

• The Conference Board - 30 July 2009

Promoted as providing "Trusted Insights for Business Worldwide", The Conference Board is a well-respected authority in the business world. With its main offices based on Third Avenue in New York City, this non-profit global business organization also has offices in Hong Kong and Brussels. Functions of The Conference Board include holding conferences with high profile executives from all over the world, and conducting business management research relevant to the current global market. One of the reports compiled by The Conference Board is its Consumer Confidence Index, which is of great interest to stock market traders, bearing in mind that a healthy economy is largely reliant on consumer spending.

• Job Loss Slow Down Encourages Investors as They Look to the Week Ahead - 8 June 2009

Friday saw the Dow Jones industrial average edge higher, gaining 12.89 points (0.15 percent) to an unofficial close of 8,763.13, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 dropped 2.37 points (0.25 percent), ending the day at an unofficial 8,763.13, and the Nasdaq Composite closing virtually static. This is the eleventh out of thirteen weeks that the Dow has ended on a higher note and one of the reasons cited for this continued rally was the slowing pace of job losses as reported by the Labor Department on Friday. Employers cut 504,000 jobs in April and analysts were forecasting a job loss figure of 520,000 for May, so when the job loss figure was reported as 345,000 for the month of May, it came as a pleasant surprise to stock market traders. There is no denying that this is still a huge number of job losses and far from the desired scenario of flat job loss figures, it nevertheless indicates that, while things are still bad, they are "less worse" – a term commonly used in financial circles today.

• Goldman Sachs Starts Reporting of First Quarter Results on a Positive Note - 14 April 2009

Goldman Sachs was set to release its first quarter earnings on Tuesday, but apparently the news was too good not to share and the New York-based investment giant announced on Monday that it earned a $1.81 billion profit for the quarter ending 31 March. This was an impressive recovery for the company after having reported a loss for the last quarter of 2008 – its first since it was listed as a public company in 1999.

• January’s Dismal U.S. Stock Market Trading May Signal Tough Times in 2009 - 2 February 2009

While losses over the past trading week on U.S. stock markets were not the biggest seen to date, added to the previous three consecutive weeks of declines in January the month closed reflecting substantial losses, which many believe are an indication of worse to come. The Dow closed the month just above the 8,000 mark at 8,000.86, while the S&P 500 closed at 825.88 and the Nasdaq Composite at 1,476.42.

• Post-Election Markets Remain Volatile - 6 November 2008

Instead of the anticipated post-election euphoria, U.S. stock markets gave way to post-election anxiety with major indexes plunging on Wednesday following Barack Obama’s history-making victory. While investors can lay to rest the uncertainty surrounding who would next be in the driving seat of the world’s superpower, the U.S. and the rest of the world are still facing enormous financial challenges for which there is no quick fix. The Dow Jones industrial average lost as much as 513 points during the day, rallying slightly later to close at a loss of 486 points, or 5 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index dropped 5.3 percent and the Nasdaq composite index declined by 5.5 percent.

• Talk of Additional Stimulus Package to Aid U.S. Economy Recovery Boosts Markets - 21 October 2008

U.S. stocks rallied on Monday morning as investors responded to signs that the credit market is improving. Remarks by Federal Reserve chief, Ben Bernanke, that Congress should look into passing an additional stimulus package to speed up recovery of the economy also served to lift the mood at U.S. stock exchanges. The early morning rally continued through the day with the Dow finishing at 9265 points, being 413 points, or 4.7 percent higher. Although encouraged by this result, the ongoing volatility of the market has taught stock market players not to get too excited when the market rallies as it did on Monday.

• Ur-Energy Inc Received AMEX Listing Approval - 23 July 2008

Mining company Ur-Energy Inc. recently announced that it has received approval for the company’s common shares to be listed on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) with trading expected to commence on Thursday 24 July 2008 under the symbol “URG”. Ur-Energy will retain its current listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange (URE-TSE).

• Are Investments in Innovations Worthwhile? - 25 June 2008

The ultimate goal of innovation is to implement positive change, and innovation is an important factor for the increase of wealth in an economy. However, often the financial benefits of innovation are only realized in the long term. This can be a problem for a management team that is focused on appeasing investors above all else and are, therefore, driven by quarterly results. They may be reluctant to invest in innovation, no matter how promising, for fear of negatively impacting on short-term financial performance.