Frankly, I'm worried about General Motors (GM). More and more people are suggesting that the company might have to go into bankruptcy protection in order to reorganize its debts. This definitely would not be good for the North American economy. The stock, however, is another matter. It might…

Cheap labor is the overwhelming factor why many international companies have turned to China for jobs normally done at home. In Canada and the United States, thousands of North American jobs have been cut, as large companies have moved their operations to China to increase their bottom line.…

I still remember October 19, 1987, Black Monday, as if it were yesterday. I had just graduated from business school and was training at my first real job in the credit department of a large financial institution. The world of finance was exciting, and I was raring to…

Unemployment claims continue to rise in the United Kingdom, continuing an eight-month increase. This is the longest period of rising unemployment claims the United Kingdom has seen in close to 13 years. This does not bode well for the second largest economy in Europe.  Economists predicted that an…

For the first time in four months, retail sales have risen in Japan. Much of this has been attributed to an increase in salaries and personal bonuses.  Year-over-year retail sales for the month of August were 1.5% higher than in July, well above the 0.6% that economists had…

I know Michael already discussed Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's recent speech to the National Association for Business Economics, but there's more to the story that I want to tell today. New research, conducted under the supervision of America's favorite 79-year-old financial talking head, shows that Americans are…

"This has the potential to be a real powerful storm, and after the damage cause by Katrina nobody's taking any chances."  The above quote comes from Justin Fohsz, a Starsupply Petroleum Inc. broker. He, like everyone else in the oil and gas industry, is focused intently today on…

Earlier this year, The World Health Assembly, The World Health Organization's (WHO) governing body, met to discuss contingency plans in the case of a flu pandemic sweeping the globe. China's recent troubles with the Avian Influenza, a subtype of what we know as "the Flu" have been putting…

The stock market is holding up so well! I can't get over it. The second quarter really was impressive from my perspective. As I've mentioned before, the earnings success really is, in my opinion, a testament to the strength and health of this economy. It's funny how things…

The U.S. economy has been the brunt of a lot of bad news recently. Take a look at the Wall Street Journal or just about any other popular source for financial information, and you can see reports of doom and gloom for the future of the American economy…

It's no secret that more than a handful of North Americans look at the French as a haughty and uber-confident culture. The fact of the matter, however, is that, these days, such stereotypes couldn't be further from the truth. Last week, the confidence of France's manufacturers sunk to…

Between May 6, 2005 and May 12, 2005, Merrill Lynch (one of the world's leading and most respected financial management and advisory companies) surveyed 339 fund managers from around the world on their views of the global economy. Let's just say the results weren't very encouraging. Fund managers…

Returning home from a recent trip to London, I was in a duty- free store at Heathrow where I met a retail clerk. The young man was British and worked in a retail shoe store. He told me his wife also worked in the retail field. Anyhow, the…

As I write today's commentary, I find myself drawn to a picture of Abraham Lincoln that adorns a wall in my office. Lincoln was one of my favorite presidents, not because he was such a great president, but because of the obstacles he overcame to be elected. Lincoln…

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Discover the bio-tech breakthroughs that will help make you wealthy from a very small investment... no matter what the stock market does! Dear Profit Confidential Reader: Each $250 invested in the mid-`90s in a medical breakthrough stock named Amgen (AMGN) is now worth a staggering $302,780. If you…