Initial Unemployment Claims Rolling Average Worsens. We Have Been

Blue Line 4 Week Average The market was expecting the weekly initial unemployment claims at 278,000 to 295,000 (consensus 286,000) vs the 313,000 reported. The more important (because of the volatility in the weekly reported claims and seasonality errors in adjusting the data) 4 week moving average moved from 287,750 (reported last week as 287,500) to…

The Biggest Tech Turkeys Of 2014

Technology companies can make our lives easier and even change the world. But just as often they can mess up. Spectacularly. And 2014 delivered ample proof that even smart people do stupid things. It was a year of extreme bad-boy behavior, from former RadiumOne CEO Gurbaksh Chahal being charged with battering his girlfriend to anonymous…

EU Announces Job Creation Scheme

According to the latest figures from Eurostat, a shade over 10% of the European workforce is idle. The figure for the 18 nations which use the Euro is slightly higher, standing at 11.5% (both figures from September 2014). This equates to 24.5 million European citizens are currently out of work. For comparison, a low of…

Lockheed Martin Wins Three Defense Contracts Worth $626M

Defense major Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT – Analyst Report) received three contracts from the U.S. Department of Defense worth nearly $626.3 million. The largest among the three contracts is worth $492 million, awarded by the U.S. Navy to provide non-air vehicle spares, support equipment, Autonomic Logistics Information System hardware and software upgrades, supply chain management, full mission simulators and non-recurring…

The Old Enemy: Aging

The last ten years’ progress in biotechnology and medicine has outpaced the previous ten years significantly. The same thing is true of the ten years prior to that ten years. The next ten years, it’s safe to say, will see greater progress than any other period in history. Powered by exponential advances in the biological…

Fear Your Platinum American Express Card

Afraid you won’t have enough to retire comfortably? You’re not alone, and a debt-fueled lifestyle is often a big part of the problem. As the 2014 EBRI Retirement Confidence Survey notes: Fifty-eight percent of workers and 44 percent of retirees report having a problem with their level of debt. Furthermore, 24 percent of workers and…