Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle Corp., decided to refuse his annual bonus for the fiscal year 2013, as the company missed profit estimates. Thus, he will get the $78.4 million annual salary, a decrease of 18% from the previous year. Currently he is ranked eighth richest man is the U.S., as his fortune is estimated at $41.8 billion. Oracle
Angela Merkel won the Sunday-held Bundestag election with 41% of votes and will most probably remain the Chancellor for four more years. Despite that, the Southern Europe did not expect such a result, as they blame Merkel for spending cuts, unemployment and debt crisis. Now they hope for a Merkel coalition with Social Democrats that can change the current crisis
Soybeans dropped for a third day on speculation dry weather conditions in the U.S. Midwest in upcoming days will improve maturing crop and harvest. December delivery corn declined 0.4% to $4.4925 per bushel, while December delivery wheat added 0.2% to $6.475 per bushel. November delivery milling wheat trading on NYSE Liffe Paris lost 0.1% to 185.75 euros per ton.
Experts point out that the U.S. economy is integrating to the global tendencies much faster than it was earlier. Economists say that the new Fed chairman will have to think more globally, determining its monetary policy, as those decisions will indirectly influence the entire world. Moreover, problems outside the country will also have more negative impact on the health of
Stanley Fischer, former governor of the Bank of Israel, expects the Fed to taper some amount of stimulus before the current Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke finishes his term in January of the next year. Meanwhile, he pointed out that the central bank should not cut support by a large amount of money. Last week the Fed decided not to begin
One of the biggest oil and gas producers, French Total SA, announced and confirmed its plan to raise worldwide oil production to 2.6 million barrels per day by 2015 and to 3 million barrels per day by 2017. Moreover, the company is going to start new extraction projects in Kazakhstan, Brazil, Mexico and Iraq. On Monday, Total SA shares in
The Pound advanced after a free-day drop against the Dollar before reports to show increase in economic recovery speed, while house prices and consumer confidence gained. The Sterling added at least 1% against all of its 16 most-traded peers in the last six months. The British currency soared 0.3% to $1.6047 as of 9:06 a.m. in London while climbing 0.3%
The greenback weakened for a second day versus the Japanese Yen before the Fed speeches. The Yen soared versus each of its 16 most-traded peers and gained most in a week versus the common currency. The Dollar dropped 0.4% to 98.98 Yen as of 9:56 a.m. in London after giving away 0.1% on September 20. The Dollar was stable at
China's Manufacturing Index soared to six-month peak in September, indicating that economic recovery in world's second largest economy is gathering speed. The preliminary result of 51.2 for PMI released today, exceeding the estimated 50.9 median. The Shanghai Composite Index added 1.3%, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index of equities rose 0.3% as of 5:26 p.m. Tokyo time.
European stocks were stable, following a three-week rise, as investors considered the German election outcome. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added almost 0.2% to 314.39 as of 9:12 a.m. London time, while S&P's 500 Index futures gained 0.2%, following a 0.7% loss on September 20. The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index declined almost 0.1% as Japanese holiday kept its
Apple Inc. today starts its new iPhone 5C and 5S sales and lots of people were ready to buy new devices in the early morning. Analysts expect that this weekend's sales may grow to a record, as Apple started shipping its products to China on first day, along with U.K., U.S., Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore and France. Apple Inc. stocks
Gold prices turned to a strong up-trend, as the Federal Reserve announced that it will not taper stimulus in September. Immediately after the Fed's decision gold futures jumped 4.1%. The current spot price is $1357.90 per ounce. Meanwhile, this year is going to be the first in 13 years, when gold prices can drop on the annual basis. Since April
British government has increased its tax income by 1.4% in August, while the country's spending declined 2.2%, making the deficit to slash to 13.2 billion from 14.4 billion in August, 2012. British economy recovers faster than the Eurozone's one, therefore Britain is likely to meet its fiscal targets in 2013. Moreover, the economic recovery pushed up the rating of ruling
Pier Paolo Baretta, Italy's Finance Ministry Undersecretary said on Friday that his country must do everything to meet EU budget requirements this year, leaving budget deficit under 3% of GDP. In April the government forecasted the deficit to reach 2.9% in 2013. Meanwhile, the government will need to cut spending or raise taxes by additional 1.5 billion euros to meet
Politics experts predict that the current German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is very likely to remain at his office, even if Angela will not preserve its coalition with Free Democrats, whose ratings point on their failure in the elections. Schaeuble played one of the key roles, solving the Eurozone's problems during the crisis and Merkel's opponents may agree to leave
Lithuania, the possible nineteenth member of the Eurozone, will ask the EU officials to approve its joining the monetary union earlier than usually. The reason for such a request lays in next year's European Parliament elections, which can put Lithuania's approval under more pressure. For example, Latvia that joins euro on January 1 in 2014 got approval of joining only
One of the biggest U.S. banks, JPMorgan Chase & Co, will have to pay a $920 million fine for providing incorrect financial information to U.S. and international regulators, as well as to its management board. Both Fed and Securities and Exchange Commission will receive $200 million each. This Thursday JPMorgan Chase & Co stocks are losing 0.56% to $53.11 per
Roche Holding AG, a Swiss based health care company, plans to acquire a California-based BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc., a company, which produces and develops drugs for treating rare diseases and cancer. A possible cost of the deal can reach $15 billion, and Roche will not borrow extra money to pay for BioMarin. On Thursday Roche Holding AG stocks add 0.03% to
The next year the ECB will start a new portion of stress tests at Eurozone's banks, introducing a new system of determining the health level of banks. This time the ECB will review banks' risks before checking their balance sheets, adding some concern to investors about success of such a control system. After last two stress tests that took place
Business outlook from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia showed a significant jump in U.S. manufacturing activity, while the corresponding index surged to its highest value since March 2011, reaching 22.3 points versus 9.3 points a month earlier. Economists predicted the index to increase slightly to 10.3 points. 36% of American firms reported a rise in activity, while only 14%
After its meeting yesterday, Fed's FOMC decided to keep stimulus amount at the current level of $85 billion per month. Almost nobody expected such a decision from the Central Bank. Fed's announcement made stocks surge, while Treasuries jumped the most since 2011. Analysts point out that Ben Bernanke wants unemployment to go down even further by maintaining current monetary policy.
Possible social-democratic government of the Czech Republic is planning to end austerity policy that began with current government, as Social Democrats are likely to win elections in October. Austerity measures taken by current government made bond yields go down, but cut the growth perspectives of the county, as the Czech Republic could be the only economy in Eastern Europe to
Asian stocks advanced as the Fed surprisingly decided to maintain its level of monthly bond purchases, with the benchmark regional index rising to a one year high. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 2.2% to 141.73 at 6:59 p.m. Hong Kong time, while S&P's 500 Index futures gained 0.4%. Japan's Topix Index climbed 1.9% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index
European equities advanced to the highest level in over a five years as the Fed decided to keep its monetary policy intact. U.S. Index futures and Asian stocks soared. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.9% to 316.19 as of 11:39 a.m. London time, while the S&P's 500 Index futures added 0.5% and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 2.2%.