Americas

It may be difficult to pin a precise value to Dell’s shares at a moment when so much is in flux, but StarMine data suggest that at $13.65 a share, Michael Dell and his private equity be partners may be getting a bargain. What is the fair value of Dell’s shares? For that matter, how [...]

With the fourth-quarter earnings season heading into the home stretch, even some sectors that analysts had expected would report underwhelming results are delivering positive surprises. One week after the next, companies in the S&P 500 have reported stronger than expected earnings. Of the S&P 500 companies that reported last week, 75% reported better-than-expected results and [...]

The US trade balance narrowed sharply in December, highlighting the country’s increasing energy independence. The data suggest that the advance estimate of GDP in the fourth quarter, which was released at the end of January and showed the first fall in output for more than three years, is likely to be upwardly revised. Refresh Chart [...]

In spite of a brief selloff and some economic clouds on the horizon, investors continued to emphasize equity fund investments, with mutual funds and ETFs together reporting $6.1 billion of fresh inflows in the week ended February 6. Investors pushed key stock market indices to new highs during the week ended February 6, a period [...]

Across the board, retailers posted significantly better-than-expected advances in same-store sales in January, with the cold weather helping the index record its biggest advance since September 2011. Retail sales posted a better-than-expected gain during January, as the Thomson Reuters Same Store Sales Index registered a 5.8% jump over year-earlier levels. Although including the results from [...]

Investors threw themselves into “risk-on” investments at the start of the new year, although the odds of greater volatility and uncertainty remain high. After a wary and uncertain end to 2012, investors celebrated the advent of 2013 by once again embracing the concept of risk. They seized on respectable if not dramatic gains in corporate [...]

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Shoppers found bargains in discounted cold-weather merchandise in January, and analysts expect to see a 3.1% gain in the Thomson Reuters Same Store Sales Index for January 2013. Cold weather sent some shoppers to the mall in search of warm weather apparel during January, while others were tempted into stores in search of other sale-priced [...]

While those S&P 500 companies that have yet to report their fourth-quarter results are disproportionately made up of companies in sectors and groups that analysts expect to post disappointing or lower earnings, that may not put as much of a dent in overall earnings growth rates as analysts fear. With over half of the companies [...]

Equity mutual fund net inflows hit a four-week total of $20.7 billion, the largest recorded since April 12, 2000. With only a single day left in the first month of the new year, investors continued to allocate funds to equity funds of all kinds, often at a rate not seen in years. Indeed, the net [...]