Financial markets have been sizzling this year, with prices of key food commodities leading global markets higher. Here’s a look at some of the top performing assets this year. They smell delicious.
The Paris-based think tank known as the OECD is just out with its semi-annual survey of how different economies stack up in terms of social well-being. (Well-being is basically the polite way economists talk about happiness.) The organization even has a new data visualization to let you see where your country ranks in certain key measures.
So it looks like Crimea is going to be Russian again. And the markets don’t really seem to care.
Greece. A land of rich history, catastrophic recession, and, apparently, far too many pharmacists.
We’re looking at you, Russia.
On first glance, Canadians seem like fairly reasonable people.
The Irish have been in a good mood lately. Unemployment, though still high, is falling. The country managed to “exit” its bailout agreement. In fact, by some measures, Irish consumer sentiment is as good as it was during the best of the pre-crisis boom.
For those who work on Wall Street, 2013 was a good year. Average bonuses paid to workers in New York City’s securities industry rose 15% to $164,530. That’s the third highest level on record for average bonuses, according to a report from the comptroller of the state of New York (though still about 14% lower than the 2006 peak of $191,360). Broader bonus pools—from which individual bonuses are drawn—were also up 15% to $26.7 billion.
Dr. Copper is looking ill.
At least three people are dead and more than 50 people were injured by an explosion and building collapse in uptown Manhattan’s East Harlem district, The New York Times reports. Among the wounded were three children and a 15-year-old reported to be in critical condition, according to the Guardian.
This post has been corrected.
Does it “elevate the brand”?
Not bad. The US economy generated 175,000 jobs in February, up from 129,000 in January, and better than economic prognosticators had prognosticated. The unemployment rate rose a tenth of a percentage point to 6.7%.
This winter’s messy weather will likely be a complicating factor in tomorrow’s US jobs report for February. The consensus among Wall Street analysts is that the report will show that the US economy added 145,000 new jobs in February. Unemployment is expected to stand at 6.6%, according to data compiled by FactSet.
It may come as no surprise to Indian women, but their menfolk do some of the least housework in the world. At least, that’s what the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development found when they looked at gender disparities in various nations.
Early signs suggest that US president Barack Obama’s health care overhaul is driving the cost of healthcare lower, according to Goldman Sachs analysts, spotlighting yesterday’s data on consumer spending and prices.
While oats had their brief moment in the sun, coffee is emerging as the king of the financial markets so far in 2014. (And breakfast as an asset class hasn’t done badly either.)
When Anheuser-Busch InBev—the world’s largest beer-maker by sales— swallowed Chicagoland craft brewery Goose Island back in 2011, the rationale for the $39 million deal was simple: Put the full distribution firepower of the brewing giant behind an increasingly popular independent brand. That happened in late 2012. The result? Sales volumes are booming. Last week, Anheuser-Busch InBev disclosed that, through the fourth quarter, Goose Island volumes were up 70% over the previous year.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway failed to beat its target … again.
It would be a mega-merger for international preppy fashion.
US growth wasn’t quite as good as we thought in the fourth quarter. A just-released revision to US GDP data shows that the world’s largest economy expanded at a 2.4% annualized rate in the fourth quarter. An earlier estimate clocked US growth at 3.2%.
A Belgian-style wheat beer by the name of Shock Top is the fastest growing craft beer in the US, according to Moody’s. Production of Shock Top surged by 64% between 2011 and 2012, according to data the ratings firm recently collected.
People don’t mention it very often, but Pimco—the bond trading and money management giant piloted by Bill Gross—is actually a subsidiary of the German insurance giant Allianz, which bought it in 1999. Allianz reported profits this morning and the results were disappointing. Analysts were expecting a 9% profit year-over-year, but the Munich-based insurer was only able to generate 1% in profit growth. (paywall)
US big-box retailer Target posted earnings that actually weren’t as bad as Wall Street feared. Still, profits fell 46% and sales slipped 5.3%. Perhaps most striking was the 5.5% decline in customer transactions during Target’s fiscal fourth quarter compared with the previous quarter. That shows how traffic at Target tanked after news that hackers stole data from 40 million credit and debit cards used at Target between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15. (Because of its atypical reporting calendar, Target’s fiscal fourth quarter covers November 2013 through January 2014.)
