Finance Roundtable

Friday was a good day for stocks, the S&P 500 gaining 1.5 percent as investors responded to some strong economic data from the US.

US nonfarm payrolls increased by 243,000 in January, the fastest pace in nine months, pushing the unemployment rate down to 8.3 percent, the lowest since ...

In a commentary on 2 February, Doug Kass says it is time to be contrarian and go long on stocks.

Today's dominant investor classes -- individual investors, hedge funds and pension funds -- have de-risked and are relatively uncommitted to equities.

A re-allocation into stocks (and out of bonds) represents an ...

Wednesday's economic reports showed that global manufacturing activity accelerated in January as JPMorgan's global manufacturing index improved to 51.2 in January from 50.5 in December.

The US led the way among developed economies as the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing PMI climbed to 54.1 in January from 53.1 in ...

Tuesday's economic data were mixed.

The day started positively in Japan where the Markit/JMMA manufacturing PMI rose to 50.7 in January from 50.2 in December. Industrial output rose 4.0 percent in December, reversing a 2.7 percent fall in November. Household spending rose 0.5 percent in December from a year ...

US economic data on Monday were mixed.

US consumer spending was flat in December but income rose 0.5 percent. Adjusted for inflation, spending dipped 0.1 percent last month.

Meanwhile, however, demand for business loans increased for the fourth quarter as a whole, according to a Federal Reserve survey of senior ...

Last week's economic data should further ease concerns of a global economic recession.

The United States economy showed good growth at the end of last year. The Commerce Department reported last week that real gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter, faster than ...

The Commerce Department reported on Friday that the US economy grew at a 2.8 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, accelerating from the 1.8 percent rate in the prior quarter. Growth was boosted by a large increase in inventories.

An improvement in consumer sentiment in January provides hope that ...

Thursday's economic data indicated that the US economy maintained growth at the end of 2012 and is likely to continue to do so in early 2012.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index rose to 0.17 in December from minus 0.46 in November. The three-month moving average rose to minus 0.08, ...

The Federal Reserve looks set to keep monetary policy highly accommodative for a few more years. Bloomberg reports on the outcome of the Fed's monetary policy meeting on Wednesday:

Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the Federal Reserve is considering additional asset purchases to boost growth after extending its pledge to ...

The IMF has cut its global growth forecast for this year to 3.3 percent from a September forecast of 4 percent. Olivier Blanchard, the IMF’s chief economist, told a news conference on Tuesday that the “epicenter of the danger is Europe but the rest of the world is increasingly ...