(Smart Money) — Determining the price of a publicly traded company seems simple enough. Multiply the stock price by the number of outstanding shares. Google (GOOG: 486.25, -2.31, -0.47%) costs about $156 billion. Verizon (VZ: 29.06, -0.02, -0.06%) goes for around $83 billion. However, companies aren’t like cans of peas. They have something called a capital structure, which can make the true […]
(Smart Money) — GOOD MORNING. Asian shares finished higher, and European markets are rising. US futures are pointing to a positive opening. How are homebuilders feeling? At 10 a.m. today, the National Association of Home Builders will release its Housing Market Index, which tracks builders’ confidence about current single-family home sales, as well as the prospects […]
(New York Times) — Although BP generates billions of dollars in profit every quarter, theoil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is rattling both government and investor confidence in the London-based oil giant’s ability to handle the economic consequences. As the administration continued to pressure BP on Monday to set aside money in a fund dedicated […]
(NYTimes.com) — How strongly is pay linked to productivity? Conventional economic theory tells us that people earn more when they contribute more to society — competitive markets should reward intelligence, effort and innovation. But many high earners seem disconnected from this idealized picture. Top banker bonuses soared even as bank profits tanked and public bailouts […]
(Bloomberg) — The U.S. Treasury Department plans to sell “up to” 1.5 billion shares of Citigroup Inc. in the government’s biggest step yet to exit the 27 percent ownership of the bank it rescued during the financial crisis. The Treasury will give its agent, Morgan Stanley, “discretionary authority” to sell the amount, and expects to […]
Tiffany reported a stellar fourth quarter helped by holiday sales, but fell short of The Street’s predictions, sending shares of the upscale chain lower. The New York-based company said it earned $140.4 million, or $1.10 per share, compared with $31.1 million, or 25 cents per share, a year earlier when the company suffered one-time charges […]
(Daily Finance) Given that Best Buy’s livelihood (BBY) depends on consumers spending on nonessential goods, one might suspect the company would be in a bit of a predicament right now. That’s not the case, says Goldman Sachs (GS). The investment bank lifted its rating on Best Buy shares to buy from neutral on Friday, making […]