Consumers may be seeing higher food prices in 2018 due to transporation and freight costs increasing at almost double the current rate of inflation. Hormel Foods, General Mills and other food companies are already in talks with retailers about ways to pass on the increased shipping costs to consumers. The American economy is finally starting … Continue reading “Rising Transportation Costs Outpacing Inflation”

The current market price for one Bitcoin isn’t looking that good after the cryptocurrency failed to stabilize at the $10,000 mark that it hit in the recent weeks. Most of the investors are left wondering what might come out next. However, it seems like most of the experts aren’t concerned about what is happening right … Continue reading “Finance Expert Thomas Lee: Bitcoin Will Set a New Record High by July 2018”

In February 2018, Jerome Powell was appointed as the new Federal Reserve chairman replacing Janet Yellen. His first day on the job started with him releasing his testimony, later on, he appeared before the House Financial Service Committee. He then took time and responded to questions from the Senate Banking Committee before proceeding to his … Continue reading “5 Things to Know About Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell”

Picking up stock in emerging green companies appears to be a logical financial move. After all, climate change has prompted a global shift to renewable energy and manufacturers are assured growth, right? Well, not so fast. The fact of the matter is that makers of green products have been just as subject to economic volatility … Continue reading “Lithium Mining Investment Less Risky Than Product Companies”

The Home Depot’s profit and overall revenue topped Wall Street predictions for the straight quarter as more people streamed into America’s number one home improvement retail store and spent more than they have in a long time. According to the data released on Tuesday, Home Depot’s stock was climbing by at least one percent. The … Continue reading “Home Depot Earnings Top Wall Street Forecasts”

The days of the American farmer growing crops and selling them in the local marketplace are a thing of nostalgia. Today’s farmers must contend with global forces and the potential for a trade war with China and other external forces have American soybean growers on edge. The Asian superpower has emerged as one of the … Continue reading “American Farmers Fear Trade War With China”

The price of Bitcoin is still on the rise after the cryptocurrency started to gain value again in the recent weeks. The price of one Bitcoin stood at $11,500 on Wednesday morning. This was a significant increase compared to its price several days ago when it was $8,000. Interestingly, all the other cryptocurrencies also gained … Continue reading “Bitcoin Price Soars as the US Threatens Cryptocurrency Laws”

On Jan. 31, 2018, Xerox Corporation died as an independent company at the age of 115. “Xerox Cedes Control To Fujifilm, Ending Its Independence” is how Bloomberg.com reported the news about a Japanese photography and imaging company acquiring a 50.1 percent stake in an American company that was once a corporate powerhouse, a symbol of … Continue reading “Why Did Xerox Fail? The Impact of the ‘Competency Trap’”

After years of being bull, on February 5th, the stock market finally took a tumble. It was the first of a series of up and down nail-biting days for investors that finally ended up with the market doing what financial experts call a correction. In a two-day period, the Dow dropped over 1,800 points with … Continue reading “Why the Recent Market Correction is No Reason to Panic”

You’ve passed your 50th birthday; now it is time to get serious about saving for retirement! With only about 15 years to save, there is no time to lose. You must begin to ramp up your savings plans. But what is the best strategy for people at this stage of life? The following tips can … Continue reading “Smart Money Tips for People in Their 50’s”

Let’s flashback to September 2017 when Equifax, one of the “big three” credit reporting bureaus, announced that it had been the victim of a massive data hack. As you may recall, it’s estimated that about 145 million Americans potentially had confidential information, such as social security numbers, birth dates and more, compromised. In a nutshell, … Continue reading “The Equifax Hack is Actually Worse than We Originally Thought”

In an effort to drive up prices and control the world’s supply, the OPEC oil cartel and Russian government bandied together to reduce excess fossil fuel resources for more than a year. However, the co-conspirators recently received news that will be keeping them up at night. According to a report by the International Energy Agency, … Continue reading “Booming American Oil Could Unseat OPEC As World Leader”

Reuters recently reported that China has announced that it will respond to the pressure of having many million unemployed citizens with an “employment first” strategy. The idea will be to put these unemployed people to work, and that job of finding employment will be made more difficult because there will be millions of new college … Continue reading “The Challenge of China’s 18 million Unemployed”

In July 2017, Jeff Bezos overtook Bill Gates to become the richest person in the world, with a net worth of more than $90 billion. Then, in February 2018, their companies also switched position. With the market value of Amazon leapfrogging over Microsoft for the very first time. Amazon is now the third largest company … Continue reading “Amazon is Now Worth More than Microsoft”

Baozun (NASDAQ: BZUN) rocketed nearly 25 percent in January. The Chinese e-commerce solutions company is often referred to as the country’s version of Shopify — Baozun provides IT infrastructure services, merchandising, online store setup and design, marketing campaigns, order fulfillment, warehousing and more. In fact, Baozun even sells an array of branded products through its … Continue reading “A Serious Look at Baozun – is it Worth Your Investment?”

British oil and gas giant BP will increase investments in the United States, Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley announced on Tuesday. Dudley, himself a U.S. citizen, cited the lowering of tax rates under President Donald Trump. “It is important for us; there is no doubt we will increase investments,” he said. “The regulatory system in … Continue reading “BP to Boost U.S. Investment after Tax Reform”

The inevitable market correction of the Trump administration is here. While the administration’s critics try to blame the natural movement of the market on President Trump and his successful economic policies, real economists know that no market moves up in a straight line. This sell off is simply people taking a few of the profits … Continue reading “How to Create Wealth in a Volatile Economy”