Author: FX_Trdr

Call it the Bernanke Boost. The stock market, which has been marching higher for a week, got extra fuel after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank will keep supporting the economy.

For the second quarter, S&P 500 earnings are expected to grow just 2.6 percent, according to Wall Street analysts estimates compiled by Thomson Reuters. But projections for third-quarter earnings growth, on the other hand, are seen at 8.4 percent, with fourth-quarter growth seen at 12.8 percent.

A Japanese company has unveiled an e-scooter that combines smartphone technology with an eco-friendly electric machine with a price tag of about $4,500. (July 11)

Two sources familiar with the transaction said Germany’s Siemens has received tentative offers for the postal automation and baggage-handling division being sold in its effort to streamline operations and shed non-core assets. The postal operation, which counts the U.S. Postal Service and Deutsche Post among its customers, has benefited from the growing number of consumers shifting to internet shopping.

Sales at U.S. retailers, including Costco Wholesale Corp and the company that runs Victoria’s Secret, suggest that overall U.S. consumer spending is improving while discretionary spending may remain under pressure. Analysts expect a 3.6 percent rise in June sales at stores open at least a year across the 11 U.S. chains that report this data each month.

Apple broke antitrust laws and conspired with publishers to raise electronic book prices significantly in spring 2010, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. (July 10)

Stocks drifted lower ahead of the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy-meeting.

Ladies and gentlemen: Here’s your new Tonight Show host! After illustrious stints on Saturday Night Live and, of course, as the current host of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, we now know that Jimmy Fallon will be the host of The Tonight Show after the 2014 Olympics.

A Spanish political party that triggered a high profile court investigation into the near collapse of bailed-out bank Bankia has asked for Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, to testify as a witness. The Union for Progress and Democracy which last year persuaded the high court to open an investigation into the bank’s listing and near demise, asked the judge leading the case to call Lagarde and another IMF official to be questioned.

Fox Business senior correspondent Charlie Gasparino said insider trading cases have been used politically to show we’re cracking down on Wall Street, but they have nothing to do with the mortgage crisis, that started the call for a crackdown.