With Chinese President Hu Jintao in Washington this week, a lot of talk has turned to the largest business the U.S. has with China – currency. Mr. Jintao said making the yuan “an international currency will be a fairly long process.”  Yet it has begun. One of the first steps in giving the redback some [...]

With the Bush tax cuts set to expire at the end of December, there has been much talk about what to do. Republicans, of course, want to make the tax cuts permanent. Democrats, President Obama included,want to see the tax cuts expire for the rich, and make them permanent for the poor. What needs to [...]

The unemployment rate dropped for June, to 9.5%, even though 125,000 jobs were lost. The reason is that the rate is defined by people who are out of work and looking for work. The decline in the civilian labor force demonstrates that people are not looking for work any more. What happens when they do, [...]

Estonia joined the E.U. yesterday, becoming the 17th member. The small Baltic state will switch from the kroon to the Euro on Jan. 1 2011.. There remains mild concern over the sinking currency, as voiced by Dmitri Medvedev. Austerity measures are being enacted all around the Euro Zone – France will up their retirement age [...]

On Thursday the Dow was up almost three percent to 10,172. Foreign reports boosted markets as Australia had stronger than expected employment figures, New Zealand raised interest rates, Japan’s economy grew 1.2% in the first quarter, and the European Central Bank boosted its expectations for the European growth this year. China also boasted a $19.5 [...]

New job data is helping American markets as 55,000 jobs were added to the private sector during May, while jobless claims fell. Tomorrow’s job data is expected to boost markets higher. Euro jitters are still around though, and overgrowth in Asia was expected to dampen the markets.  World wide factory activity grew this month however, [...]

After bailing out the banks, governments have kept interest rates low, and as a result, profits have soared. News about the 1st quarter was slightly disappointing today, but 3% growth ain’t bad. Two big factors this week: geopolitical fears coming from the Pacific Rim, and foreign (European) debt. Many investors worry that if European governments [...]

United and Continental have merged and will be called United in a deal that will make them the largest airline in the world. Globally, the airline would have a 7% part of the airline market, and 20% domestic share. For consumers, this means higher airline prices and fewer routes. Over the course of the past [...]

European officials predicted weak growth for their continental economy at 0.7% which, from last year’s 4% contraction, is a marked increase. These expectations come from improved export rates, but investment remains weak and there are other problems within the E.U. Greece is the largest one. The Mediterranean country finds itself in a position similar to [...]

Forbes has recently compiled a ranking list for America’s super rich. This year, for only the fifth time since 1982, the collective net worth of The Forbes 400 Richest Americans has declined – falling $300 billion in the past 12 months from US$1.57 trillion to US$1.27 trillion. Faltering capital markets and real estate prices, along [...]