Americas

The BEA today announced that the US economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter. Growth was revised up from a 2.0% annualised pace, to 2.7%, and things should continue to improve. According to the latest OECD forecasts, the US economy is the only G7 member expected to grow at 2% or above over [...]

Retailers threw themselves into the holiday shopping season with even more energy than usual, opening earlier and offering a steady stream of big deals. Still, analysts aren’t expecting SSS gains to measure up to those recorded in November of last year. Despite the push by retailers like Wal-Mart Stores (WMT.N) and Target (TGT.N) to open [...]

The initial selloff in response to the election results may have given way to a stock market rally last week, but as of the day before Thanksgiving, investors were still pulling money out of stock funds, according to Lipper data. In the week following the U.S. presidential election, U.S. stock markets plunged amidst fear that [...]

Uncertainty around the U.S. fiscal cliff and a holiday shortened week appear likely to have contributed to a low level of corporate insider buying for the week ended November 25, 2012.  Insider buying for the top 1500 market capitalization stocks tracked by Thomson Reuters Stock Reports Plus totaled only $35.8 million, compared to the four [...]

Every year, the holiday shopping season has its “category killers”: companies whose product lists include must-own items ranging from the hottest new technology device to the latest video game. Here are three to watch for 2012. Every holiday shopping season kicks off on Black Friday – the day after Thanksgiving – in the United States, [...]

Retailers are offering holiday deals earlier than last year. They are ramping up hiring for the biggest shopping season, offering layaway earlier this year, prepping up their online presence, and fighting online competitors with price matching strategies. On top of that, consumer houses are going up in value, making them feel more secure about their [...]

Analysts have trimmed their earnings outlooks so much that, they have set the stage for a return to respectable levels of earnings growth in the fourth quarter, especially among Consumer Discretionary stocks. After S&P 500 companies reported third-quarter earnings that were largely flat over year-earlier levels, investors are looking forward to seeing a return to [...]

The fiscal cliff looms large ahead; this week’s Chart of the Week tries to capture the numbers around which the political debate revolves. For several weeks to come, the outlook for financial markets – especially in the United States – is likely to revolve in large part around the question of whether the U.S. will [...]

Investors unloaded funds they viewed as more risky in the week ended November 14, including most kinds of equity mutual funds or exchange-traded funds. But pockets of strength remain in equity income and emerging market stocks and low-risk bond funds. Fund investors responded to the post-election stock market swoon by withdrawing assets from stock mutual [...]

Despite Hurricane Sandy, the looming fiscal cliff and still-high unemployment levels, shoppers seem willing to spend this holiday season and high levels of consumer confidence are contributing to analysts’ upbeat views. To make sure they win the battle for sales and market share, however, retailers are becoming increasingly aggressive, planning to open their doors on [...]