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November may be an early Christmas present for automakers. Sales have shown strong signs of recovery since the recession began two years ago, rising 14 percent in November. Read the rest of this entry »

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A large storm in Alaska has caused more than just inconvenience, it’s also causing high gas prices. Prices for a gallon of gas have reached $5.98 per gallon and jet fuel is at $6.77 a gallon. Read the rest of this entry »

No more soft sell, now it’s in your Facebook. Are people twittering when you walk by? They could be talking about the latest big online sale. Both brick and mortar stores and online retailers are engaging social networking in ways never seen before, and they are scoring big pocketbook wins with it. Retailers like Best Buy, Macy’s and Wal-Mart all sent out early Black Friday advertisements to Facebook to entice shoppers through their doors. But, adding a few promotional tweets or status updates are “old school” now and retailer are starting to engage social media in ways that increase interest and sales. Read the rest of this entry »

Initial public offerings (IPOs) took a hit in the recession with only 78 offered between the two years of 2008 and 2009. In 2010 they came back strongly with 2010 IPOs appearing in that year. However, the IPO glee was short-lived and in 2011, investors saw a decrease in IPOs with only 76 coming to light since the start of 2011. What can investors expect for IPOs in 2012? The trend shows that despite uncertainty in markets, IPOs should do quite well in 2012 with the number of IPOs increasing overall. Read the rest of this entry »

Businesses couldn’t ask for a better Christmas present, and it came only a day after Thanksgiving. Early store openings and heavily discounted promotions created a shopping frenzy that beat last year’s record. Read the rest of this entry »

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Rain or snow won’t keep the postman from arriving, but debt might. The U.S. Postal Service is having trouble keeping its doors open as it struggles with ballooning pension payments. This year, the post office only lost $5.1 billion, but that was because some pension payments to a retirement plan scheduled for this year were allowed to be delayed. Otherwise, they might have lost $10 billion. With these numbers, it’s not a surprise that the U.S. Post Office must find ways to generate revenue, meaning a hike in their prices.

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Halloween is long gone, but dress up as a super committee and you can still have a chance at spooking others. Hopes pinned on the committee to be able to find some solutions to $15 trillion of U.S. debt came crashing down this Monday when the committee conceded defeat. Not soon afterwards the stock market plunged as investors worried if this was another symptom of a “do nothing” Congress that would rather see the country burn than to risk making a move that can be used by enemies in the 2012 elections. Mounting fears over the Eurozone also contributed to the drop in the stock market. Read the rest of this entry »

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Mexico has long since benefitted from its close relationship with the United States, such that 88 percent of its exports went to America. However, after the crash of 2008, Mexico experienced a severe drop in American demand and began to rethink its strategy to service only the American market. These days, Mexico has diversified its export market so that only 80 percent of exports go to the United States, and more exports go to Latin American countries, Asia, and Europe instead. The share of exports going to America is expected to decrease further as Mexico is well-positioned to be the vendor of choice for emerging economies due to its unique market position. Read the rest of this entry »

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It’s not enough to lower the 9 percent unemployment rate, but it is still welcome news to millions of unemployed workers. The weekly number of people who filed claims has fallen to 388,000 and stayed below 400,000 for the last four weeks. In order for it to affect the unemployment rate, that number would have to consistently fall below 375,000. However, the fact that unemployment claims keep dropping is a welcome trend in a stagnant job market and signals good things to come. Read the rest of this entry »

No joke here. Lower prices for consumers could be just the spark to set the economy on fire. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) had good news for shoppers in October, with prices declining .1 percent. It is the first time since June that this has happened which seemed to trigger more sales as well. The CPI tracks the cost of various goods, including food, gas, and cars. Some categories happened to fall more than others. As long as inflation is kept in check, and deflation is not a factor, lower prices can help spur the economic recovery by giving consumers a reason to spend. With a decrease in prices comes an increase in consumer demand, which is very welcome news to retailers trying to increase holiday sales figures.

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