Markets

There have been a lot of challenges lately on the playing field for the world’s leading athletic brands. The sporting goods industry, like others in the retail sector, hasn’t been robust. Nike kept growing, though, with strong sales overseas and powerful branding in performance sneakers. But lately, upstart competitor Under Armour has come on fast. […]

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates about a quarter percent today, but yields on 10-year Treasury notes have been trading just around their 2017 lows — about 2.21 percent. That’s the interest rate paid to the borrower of these notes. Yields rise when traders expect inflation to increase, and, therefore, interest rates climb. So what […]

Verizon is expected to close on its $4.4 billion acquisition of Yahoo today after nearly a year of negotiations. Verizon will combine Yahoo with its property AOL to create Oath, the largest digital media company in the United States, with more visitors than Google. Will Oath have a chance to compete with Google and Facebook […]

General Electric announced today that its CEO, Jeff Immelt, is stepping down. He’ll be replaced by John Flannery, who had been in charge of GE’s health care division. Shareholders have not been happy with the company’s stock performance under Immelt’s leadership. GE will have to let go of some segments dragging it down. Click the […]

New York City’s pension funds announced they’re selling $48 million in stocks and bonds invested in three private prison companies. It’s the first group to publicly divest from that industry, and cited recent reports of inmate deaths, as well as concerns of overcrowding and understaffing. Private prisons are expected to grow under President Trump. That’s […]

These past few years have been rough for the European economy. The Greek debt crisis; shaky banks in Italy; widespread unemployment in Spain. Now, though, there are signs that things are picking up. The European Central Bank, which frames economic policy for the eurozone — the 19 countries that use the euro as their currency […]

The gross domestic product of South Africa, one of Africa’s largest economies, contracted nearly a full percent between the last quarter of 2016 and the first quarter of this year. Some  blame President Jacob Zuma for the country’s lackluster performance. Click the audio player above to hear the full story.

Shares of Google parent Alphabet flirted with $1,000 today, and Amazon finished up at $1,011. In the past, when a company thought its stock was getting a little too expensive, it would do a split. That would reduce the price of each share by raising the number outstanding. That basically made the stock more accessible […]