February 17, 2011
UK unemployment total rises again
UK unemployment rose by 44,000 to almost 2.5 million in the three months to the end of December, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said. Youth unemployment rose to a fresh record high, with more than one in five 16 to 24-year-olds out…
February 17, 2011
Oil prices rising on concerns of spreading unrest
Oil prices climbed yesterday as anti-government demonstrations broke out in Libya and Israel’s foreign minister claimed that Iran is about to send two warships through the Suez Canal on the way to Syria. The news added to tension in the region…
February 17, 2011
Inflation will rise sharply, says Mervyn King
nflation will rise sharply in the first half of this year before falling back next year, the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, has said. But he said there were "large risks" that inflation could overshoot or undershoot the Bank's 2%…
February 15, 2011
Slash mortgage deductions for the rich
President Obama's plan to limit two popular deductions for wealthy taxpayers…
February 15, 2011
Chevron to fight multi-billion Ecuador ruling
Chevron has vowed to fight a multi-billion dollar judgment from an Ecuadorian court accusing the oil company of polluting the Amazon rainforest. "The Ecuadorian court's judgment is illegitimate and unenforceable," said Chevron, in a press release…
February 15, 2011
Stocks poised for weak ope
U.S. stocks were headed for a flat opening Tuesday, as investors digested a weaker-than-expected report on January retail sales. Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures were little changed ahead of the opening…
February 15, 2011
Chinese consumers squeezed by rising prices
Inflation in China has been on a tear lately, and Chinese consumers are feeling the pinch of rising food, energy and housing prices. "Fuel prices are rising, toll prices are higher, food prices are rising; but even if it's expensive, we still…
February 15, 2011
Nokia to get billions from Microsoft
Nokia, the world’s largest maker of phones, and Microsoft announced their alliance Friday. Both investors and employees reacted with dismay: Nokia’s stock dived 14 per cent and Finnish employees used flex time to go home early. On Sunday, a day…
February 15, 2011
Oil falls as US supplies outweigh Mideast tensions
The price of benchmark crude fell to its lowest level in 12 weeks yesterday as oil traders weighed growing US oil supplies against unrest in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 77 cents to settle at US$84.81 on the New York…
February 15, 2011
Obama’s wackiest budget cuts
The funding grants nobody wants. The "mobile" policing unit that doesn't get around much. How about the big fancy telescope that has been mismanaged? President Obama's 2012 proposal lists more than 200 programs that he wants to cancel or cut, for…