Economy

U.S. Corporations Earn A Record $1.9 Trillion In Overseas Earnings And Offshore Accounts

Submitted by News Desk 2 on Wed, 05/08/2013 - 16:17

U.S. companies have earned a record $1.9 trillion in profits in overseas operations and offshore accounts according to reports.

Multinational Conglomerate General Electric earned the most profit in its overseas operations at $108 billion, and coming in second was drugmaker Pfizer at $73 billion.

Under current tax rules, corporations do not have to pay taxes on income earned overseas as long as they do not intend to bring the money back into the United States.

As Economy Recovers, The Rich Get Richer And The Poor Get Poorer

Submitted by News Desk 2 on Thu, 05/02/2013 - 10:53

As the nation's economy continues to recover from the last recession, the disparity between the rich and the poor has grown according to the Pew Research Center.

The top 7% of American hold holds saw their net worth grow by 28%, while the bottom 93% of U.S. households fell by 4%. In fact, the top 7% owned 68% of all household wealth in the U.S. as of 2012.

U.S. Retail Sales Fall As Sequestration, Higher Taxes And Weak Hiring Set In

Submitted by News Desk 2 on Fri, 04/12/2013 - 09:56

Washington, D.C. -

The Commerce Department is reporting that retail sales fell by the greatest amount in nine months as resident are faced with higher taxes due to sequestration, and weak hiring by employers, down .04% from February to March.

Analyst say that despite the lower number in consumer spending, its not exactly as bad as one might think, for one reason, spending on gas is down significantly, 2.2%, but that is because of lower gas prices and the report does not take into account price fluctuation.

Mortgage Rates Dip To Near 30-Year Low

Submitted by News Desk 2 on Thu, 01/17/2013 - 14:37

Washington, D.C. -

The 30 year fixed mortgage has dropped to 3.38%, just above the 3.31% this past November when it was the lowest since 1971. The 15 year fixed was down to 2.66%, also near record lows according to Freddie Mac, the nations second largest mortgage buyers and a semi-private government corporation.

Low mortgage rates have helped the weak housing market along in a struggling economy. Most economist expect the housing market to recover sometimes in 2013.

Stock Market Jumps 308 Points After Congress Averts Fiscal Cliff

Submitted by News Desk 2 on Wed, 01/02/2013 - 17:24

New York City -

The Dow Jones jumped 308.41 points today, the first trading day of the new year, following congress' budget deal averting the dreaded fiscal cliff.

This was the biggest gain in over a year, with the Dow closing at 13,412.71.

Other indexes were up as well, with the Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX jumped 36.23 points, or 2.54 percent, to 1,462.42. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC rose 92.75 points, or 3.07 percent, to close unofficially at 3,112.26.

President Obama And Congress Set To Return To D.C. Thursday To Avoid Fiscal Cliff

Submitted by News Desk 2 on Wed, 12/26/2012 - 10:00

Washington, D.C. -

President Obama will end his Christmas vacation in Hawaii early and return to the capital on Thursday along with Congress in an attempt for lawmakers to avoid the self imposed "fiscal cliff" they created last year while trying to pass a budget.

So far, the republican controlled House of Representatives, lead by John Boehner, has not been able to reach a deal with the President and democrats as the more conservative member of his party balk at any type of a tax increase.

FedEx Says Profits Dropped Almost 12 Percent After Hurricane Sandy

Submitted by News Desk 2 on Wed, 12/19/2012 - 11:35

Fedex has announced that profits have dropped 11.9% in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and that online buyers are increasingly choosing cheaper ground shipping methods.

The nation's second largest parcel shipper had originally planned for an increase in sales and hired about 20,000 extra season workers to cope with the holiday demand. Shipping was down considerably in the New York and New Jersey areas after Hurricane Sandy tore through leveling much of the coastal areas.

Miami Man Arrested On Fraud Charges For Stealing $40 Million From Investors With His InnoVida Firm

Submitted by News Desk 2 on Mon, 12/10/2012 - 13:52

Miami, Fla. -

Police in Mimi have arrested the chief of InnoVida 54-year-old Venezuelan born Claudio Osorio on 21 counts of fraud and money laundering charges, along with 64-year-old Craig Toll, who was the company's CFO.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has accused Osorio of stealing $40 million from investors, many of which are NBA players, between 2007-2011 in an effort to support his lavish lifestyle.

Richard Klugh, Toll's attorney said in a statement that Toll was "an honorable employee of the company and should not have been charged with anything."

146,000 New Jobs Added In November, Unemployment Drops To 7.7%

Submitted by News Desk 2 on Fri, 12/07/2012 - 09:46

Washington, D.C. -

The Labor Department released figures for November showing that the private sector economy added 146,000 new jobs and the unemployment rate had dropped to 7.7%.

News of continued improvement on the jobs front has also helped the consumer confidence, which continues to see people spend more during the holiday period than last year.

Citigroup Say It Will Cut 11,000 Jobs And Take $1 Billion Charge

Submitted by News Desk 2 on Wed, 12/05/2012 - 11:43

New York City -

Citigroup has announced that it is laying off 1,900 from its institutional clients division, 6,200 from its consumer banking business and 2,600 from its operations and technology group, for a total of nearly 11,000 in workforce reductions.

Citigroup has been undergoing a transition with Chairman Michael E. O’Neill leading the financial giant after ousting former CEO Virkam S. Pandit.