Hurricane Ian, now a Category 3 storm, could slam Tampa as a storm at least that strong. It would be the most powerful storm to hit the region in over a century. The destructive effect of the storm on homes in the region may be a record $258 billion, which does not include damage to other structures. Ian has strengthened […]

Smiths Group Plc (SMIN.L), a British engineering business firm, on Friday posted a decline in pre-tax earnings for the fiscal 2022. However, revenue improved from last year. For the 12-month period to July 31, the London-headquartered company reported a pre-tax profit of 103 million pounds, compared with 240 million pounds a year ago. Statutory post-tax income, which includes profit from […]

Australian share prices have fallen about 10 per cent since the start of the year, presenting good opportunities for canny investors to buy shares in high-quality companies at bargain-basement prices. Equity analysts at Morningstar have provided their “best ideas” from among the companies they track that they believe are trading at discounts to their “fair value”. Morningstar analysts see some […]

Once they get over the thorny question of when to let kids have a mobile device, parents have to negotiate a new world of telco products to which they’ve never paid much attention. Does your child need a monthly post-paid plan or a pay-as-you-go pre-paid SIM? Or is a family plan a better option, with multiple SIM cards attached to […]

Germany industrial production declined in July on widespread falls across consumer, capital and intermediate goods, official data showed Wednesday. Industrial production fell 0.3 percent on a monthly basis, reversing a 0.8 percent rise in June, Destatis reported. Output was forecast to decline 0.5 percent. Excluding energy and construction, industrial output was down 1.0 percent in July. Declines in production were […]

Welcome back to a tripartite world, where Labor has returned to power and its union mates are back inside the tent – and at last week’s jobs summit could be seen moving in their furniture. For those who don’t remember the 1983 glory days of Bob Hawke, Paul Keating, consensus, the Accord, and former ACTU secretary Bill Kelty as an […]

Germany’s business confidence weakened for the third straight month in August to the lowest since mid-2020, signaling that the economy is sliding into a recession, survey results from the ifo Institute showed Thursday. The business climate index fell to 88.5 points in August from 88.7 points in July. This was the lowest score since June 2020 but well above economists’ […]

Holiday gift sales usually drive the annual profits for retailers. After 10 months of losses, the surge in demand pads their bottom lines. Many retailers desperately need strong sales in November and December. Large and relatively healthy retailers like Target and Macy’s should survive what may be low consumer demand. While their earnings may disappoint, as they have in the […]

Grafton Group plc (GFTU.L) reported that its profit before tax for the six months ended 30 June 2022 decreased to 132.38 million pounds from 142.88 million pounds last year. Profit attributable to owners of the company for the period decreased to 109.43 million pounds or 45.8 pence per share from 231.42 million pounds or 96.6 pence per share in the […]

Mortgage applications continued to fall last week, slipping to the lowest level in 20 years amid rising interest rates. However, mortgage applications from first-time homebuyers actually increased last week, based on the number of government mortgage applications. Mixed Data On Mortgage Applications The Mortgage Bankers Association released its latest data on mortgage applications. The organization said that overall demand for […]