Palash Ghosh

The news about jobs, deficits, and poverty seem to get worse in the western nations and Japan day by day, while the economic and financial developments in the emerging markets appear to get rosier.

Shares of BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ) are surging this morning after the New York Post reported that a private equity firm may launch a hostile bid for the warehouse retailer.

Molycorp (NYSE: MCP) is rising following the decision by China to cut its exports of rare earth materials next year.

Up to 200,000 jobs could be cut next year due to harsh economic conditions and government cuts in the public sector, pushing U.K. unemployment to a 17-year high, warned the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Stocks finished narrowly mixed in very light holiday trading as the bitter cold weather in the eastern U.S. helped to push up energy stocks. Traders seemed to shrug off an unexpected dip in consumer confidence and more bad news on housing prices.

Bruce Berkowit, president of Fairholme Capital Management has a huge stake in bailed-out insurance company American International Group (NYSE: AIG) which has just about doubled in price year-to-date (from just under $30 per share to just under $60).

U.S. consumer confidence fell in December to 52.5, weighed down by worries about jobs, the Conference Board stated.

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) shares are up this morning after the company agreed to pay more than $137 million to settle bribery charges brought by the SEC and the Justice Department.

Euro zone reforms designed to penalize spendthrift peripheral nations are still not adequate to alleviate the currency bloc’s problems, said European Central Bank (ECB) governing council member Yves Mersch.

The government of Vietnam said it will provide interest-free loans to state-owned shipbuilding company Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) to pay wages, after the company was unable to make the first repayment on a $600-million loan to Credit Suisse.

Stocks finished narrowly mixed in very light trading as a monstrous snow storm on the East Coast likely kept many traders home and a rate hike over the weekend by China dampened some investor sentiment.

Basili Alukos, an equity analyst at Morningstar, estimates that U.S. airlines may lose between $130-million and $190-million of revenues per day due to the winter blizzard.

David Rosenberg, chief economist at Gluskin Sheff, said that investors are not being realistic about the likelihood of a major price declines for housing next year.

Shares of H&R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB) are dropping after the tax preparation company said that HSBC Holdings Plc (NYSE: HBC) has ended funding its refund-anticipation loans (RALs).

India’s Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has introduced a new stock index which comprises companies that satisfy the legal codes of Islam.

Shares of American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) are soundly higher this morning after the company said it entered bank credit facilities totaling $3-billion.

China’s decision over the weekend to raise interest rates could turn out to be positive development for Japan, according to a Tokyo-based economist.

By keeping interest rates at all-time low levels, the U.S. faces the potential for a second major financial crisis, cautioned David Einhorn, the hedge fund manager.

The principal transport union in Bolivia, The Drivers' Confederation, has called for an indefinite strike to protest against the government’s decision to sharply raise the price of fuel.

Stocks finish flat on the last trading day prior to the Christmas holiday. A slew of economic data made little impression on investors.

Onions may not be taken as a very serious subject, but the rapid rise in the price of this odorous vegetable in India reflects growing inflation fears in the emerging markets.

The revelations produced by WikiLeaks will remain a big issue in the coming years, not only for governments, diplomats and journalists, but especially for corporations.

Although some progress appears to be being made in the euro zone sovereign debt crisis – including the passage of an austerity budget by the Greek Parliament today and a capital injection into Allied Irish Bank (NYSE: AIB) – the most important member of the euro currency bloc, Germany, is unlikely to foot the total bill that will be required to truly resolve this issue.

Sales of new single-family houses climbed 5.5 percent in November 2010 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 290,000, according to estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Despite waves of national protests and demonstrations, the Greek parliament approved its 2011 budget, thereby introducing a slew of comprehensive austerity measures.

Stocks rose moderately higher, given a slight boost by a small upward revision to third-quarter GDP and an uptick in sales of existing homes.

This is the best time in decades to buy U.S. stocks, according to Elaine Garzarelli, the analyst who became famous by correctly predicting the stock market crash of October 1987.

Shares of Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP) are climbing today following the filing of an SEC document last night which revealed the company had entered into a new change-in-control (CIC) agreement with several top executives.

Regional bank stocks are getting a big lift today from the agreement by Hancock Holding Co.’s (Nasdaq: HBHC) to acquire another Gulf Coast bank, Whitney Holding Corp. (Nasdaq: WTNY) in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at almost $1.5 billion.