“In the coming year, the Securities and Exchange Commission will complete its examination of the [nation’s rating agencies] role in rating residential mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations linked to subprime mortgage loans.” So said… Read More

Everything is relative, especially market valuation. A utility, for instance, with its steady, slow-growth business, is never going to command the earnings multiple of a rapidly growing biotech firm or high-tech upstart. That’s why it’s best to make valuation comparisons within industries. It’s also… Read More

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) earned $2.7 billion this quarter, up +36% from $2.0 billion in the second quarter of 2008. Morgan earned 28 cents a share, a -47% decline from 53 cents a share a year ago. The results reflected a charge of $1.1 billion, or 27… Read More

ProShares, a leader in “short” and “ultrashort” shares that profit when baskets of stocks fall in price, has released a new fund with a hybrid strategy of buying certain companies and short-selling others. The fund is the ProShares Credit Suisse 130/30 and trades… Read More

Biogen Idec (Nasdaq: BIIB) said it earned $143 million in the second quarter, or 49 cents a share, down -31% from last year, when the company earned 70 cents a share. The results reflect a $110 million expenditure on Fampridine, a new drug to treat multiple sclerosis. Excluding the purchase,… Read More

Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) said second-quarter earnings fell -91% from a year ago. The manufacture of iconic motorcycles said it earned $19.8 million, or 8 cents a share, versus last year’s profit of $222.8 million, or 95 cents… Read More

ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) said it will spend $600 million to develop biofuel from algae. The petroleum giant, the most profitable company in the United States, will work in partnership with privately held Synthetic Genomics. Exxon will spend $300 million on its research and provide… Read More

Manufactured home builder Palm Harbor Homes (Nasdaq: PHHM) said it lost $10.0 million, or 44 cents a share, in its fiscal first quarter, compared with a loss of $0.5 million, or 2 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue fell -36.6%, to $82.4 million, from a year ago. The company… Read More

After looking at some of will have a better journey elsewhere. 10. Croatia With its long, beautiful coastline down the Adriatic Sea, tourism accounts for about 20% of the country’s GDP. The slowdown in that industry explains a big portion… Read More

Healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) said this morning that second-quarter earnings amounted to $1.15 a share. The results, a -4.7% decline from a year ago, beat expectations, despite challenges facing the company’s pharmaceutical unit and a stronger dollar. The company said… Read More