Politics, mobile overshadow Alibaba’s fairy-tale run
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s underwhelming holiday quarter performance and an escalating war of words with a powerful Chinese industry regulator highlight two major risks to its seemingly fairy-tale ascent: politics and the shi…
Zero profit growth expected for U.S. companies in first quarter
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Falling oil prices, a soaring dollar and concern about weaker global demand have increasingly pessimistic analysts predicting Standard & Poor’s 500 companies will see no earnings growth at all in the first quarter of 2015.
Shake Shack IPO is hot but can it match Chipotle?
(Reuters) – Growth-hungry investors are lining up for shares of burger chain Shake Shack Inc , whose initial public offering will be priced after the U.S. stock market closes on Thursday.
GM to suspend production at its Russian plant for two months
DETROIT (Reuters) – General Motors Co will suspend production at its St. Petersburg auto assembly plant in Russia from mid-March to mid-May and is raising prices for its products because of the weak and volatile Russian rouble, a company spokesman said…
U.S. homeownership hits 20-year low, but new households growing
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. homeownership fell to a 20-year low in the fourth quarter, but a sharp rebound in the rate at which Americans are setting up home is expected to help drive a pick-up in housing.
Conoco, Occidental and Shell cut 2015 budgets on crude slide
HOUSTON/WILLISTON, N.D. (Reuters) – ConocoPhillips and Occidental Petroleum Corp on Thursday slashed exploration spending plans for this year, as the third- and fourth-largest U.S. oil companies attempt to cope with a steep slide in crude prices.
Conoco has quarterly loss, cuts capex again on oil slide
(Reuters) – ConocoPhillips , the largest independent oil and gas company, on Thursday reported a quarterly loss and again slashed its 2015 capital expenditures, citing lower crude prices.
Blackstone seeks energy investments as fourth-quarter profit falls
(Reuters) – Blackstone Group LP , the world’s largest alternative asset manager, said on Thursday it had reduced its exposure to oil prices and was eyeing new opportunities in the energy sector as it reported a 6 percent decline in fourth-quarter profi…
U.S. jobless claims drop sharply to near 15-year low
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits tumbled last week to its lowest level in nearly 15 years, adding to bullish signals on the labor market.
Standard Chartered board to discuss CEO succession at meeting: sources
LONDON (Reuters) – Standard Chartered’s board will discuss succession planning at a meeting in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, people familiar with the matter said, following speculation it was seeking a new chief executive.
