After spilling more than 4 million barrels of crude oil — enough to fill two supertankers — into the Gulf of Mexico, the Deepwater Horizon oil well was sealed by BP on July 15. While the disaster’s environmental impact may take … Continue reading
One of 2010′s biggest initial public offerings is not a young, cutting-edge business but one of America’s best-known companies, General Motors. While improved conditions within the auto industry make the opportunity interesting, it’s important to kick the tires. General Motors … Continue reading
While Germany emerged from Europe’s recent turmoil with accelerating economic growth and strengthening exports, the Eurozone still faces imbalances. Growth accelerated despite debt turmoil For the second quarter, Germany reported a stronger-than-expected expansion of 2.2% — its best quarterly result … Continue reading
A mergers and acquisitions M&A binge would be like a tonic for market psychology right about now, as confidence is lacking and big deals provide a feel-good antidote. The recent mini-wave of announced deals, including Intel’s bid for McAfee, HP’s … Continue reading
The International Energy Agency estimates that China has just surpassed the United States in overall energy consumption. What opportunities does this present for investors? Robust growth in China’s energy consumption Consumption of energy in China has doubled over the past … Continue reading
There has been much speculation over the past few weeks about the possibility of the Obama Administration working with government-sponsored housing entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to ease restrictions on mortgage refinancing rules. While there are a number of … Continue reading
The recent Dodd-Frank Act introduced sweeping changes to the derivatives market. Daniel Farrell, Putnam’s Head of Equity Trading, discusses how Putnam uses derivative contracts and the impact of the bill on Putnam equity funds. Broadly speaking, what are derivatives and … Continue reading
For much of the past three decades, emerging markets were seen as the domain of only the most aggressive, risk-tolerant investors, and even then emerging markets typically garnered no more of an allocation than 2% to 5% of an investor’s … Continue reading
Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis’s pending bid to acquire majority ownership of Alcon, an eye care products maker, in a deal valued at about $40 billion, stood out against a backdrop of only 3% mergers-and-acquisitions growth across industry sectors globally for … Continue reading
