Asia stocks sideswiped by Wall Street, but China motors on

Asian shares were mostly under water on Friday after a sudden slump on Wall Street spilled over globally, though a surprisingly strong pick up in manufacturing helped Chinese markets hold at seven-month highs. In a promising omen for world growth China's official measure of industrial activity (PMI) rose to 51.7 in July from 51.0 in June, beating forecasts of 51.4 and the highest in 27 months. All of which helped China's stock markets top up the week's hefty gains. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was off 1 percent.

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RBS warns Scottish 'yes' vote would materially impact business

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) said on Friday that a vote by Scotland to become independent from the rest of the United Kingdom could significantly increase its costs and have a material impact on its business. It said in its half-year results announcement that such an outcome "could significantly impact the group's costs and would have a material adverse effect on the group's business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects".

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U.S. auto sales party seen increasingly dependent on easy money

The U.S. auto industry hasn’t appeared so healthy for years. They argue that a combination of cheap loans with extended terms, deep incentives from some dealers, and unsustainably high values for used cars, is making it far too easy for many Americans to buy new vehicles. Among those seeing a glass half empty is Morgan Stanley auto analyst Adam Jonas who says we may be heading towards what he terms “peak auto.” Jonas, one of the industry's top analysts based on Institutional Investor's 2013 annual rankings, says that cheap and extended loan terms and inflated residual values on leases are making it far too easy for many Americans to buy new vehicles.

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U.S. job growth seen slowing, but remaining solid in July

Still, it would mark the sixth straight month that employment has expanded by more than 200,000 jobs, a stretch last seen in 1997. The unemployment rate likely held at a six year-low of 6.1 percent, but could surprise on the downside after surveys showed Americans becoming more upbeat about jobs. "As long as we have job growth going in the right direction and the labor market tightening up, we are still in a good place," said Robert Dye, chief economist at Comerica in Dallas The Labor Department will release its employment report, which is closely watched by financial markets around the globe, at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT) on Friday.

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Asia taken aback by Wall St swoon, pins hopes on China

Asian shares stumbled on Friday after a month-end swoon on Wall Street, though some were hoping China would offer better news on manufacturing and help steady investor sentiment. The Chinese surveys on ...

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China July official PMI rises to 51.7 from 51 in June

Activity in China's factory sector quickened to a 27-month high in July, a government survey showed on Friday, adding to signs that the economy is regaining momentum after a burst of government stimulus ...

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Consumer Staples Just Got Destroyed

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Target may have bigger problems than its CEO

Target is getting a new CEO but is that enough to get the stock going?

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7 truths investors simply cannot accept

Josh Brown gives us his 7 truths investors have a hard time accepting

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Tesla posts $61.9 million loss as second-quarter sales climb

Tesla Motors Inc, the California-based maker of luxury electric cars, said it lost $61.9 million, or 50 cents a share, in the second quarter, as revenue nearly doubled to $769.3 million. On a non-GAAP ...

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Action camera maker GoPro reports bigger loss

GoPro shares fell 9.3 percent to $43.50 in extended trading. The net loss attributable to GoPro stockholders widened to $19.8 million in the second quarter from $5 million a year earlier, in the company's first quarterly results after its debut on the Nasdaq last month.

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LinkedIn revenue rises 47 percent

Corporate networking site LinkedIn Corp reported a 47 percent increase in quarterly revenue, helped by higher demand for its hiring solutions. Revenue rose to $533.9 million in the quarter ended June 30 ...

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Wall Street hammered, Dow closes down more than 300 points

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended Thursday down 1.87%, at 316.80 points in the red. The drop wiped out all but a tiny fraction of the major average’s gains for 2014, and put an end to a five-month winning streak for stocks.

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In a mature bull market, financial engineering trumps business innovation

Whole sectors of the market have been swept up in financial contortions, from high-risk mergers to "tax inversions" to far-fetched conversions of companies into real estate investment trusts. What it means when the paper shufflers are driving the market.

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Inflation looks real this time

Labor costs are rising--which ought to get the Federal Reserve's attention.

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Argentina blames US, 'incompetent' judge for default

Argentina blamed the United States Thursday for the legal battle that forced it into its second default in 13 years, accusing the judge and mediator in the case of "incompetence." The country officially went into default Wednesday night after the failure of 11th-hour talks with two US hedge funds refusing to accept a write-down on their Argentine bonds. Argentine President Cristina Kirchner's cabinet chief, Jorge Capitanich, blamed the American government for the default, brought on by a US court ruling that blocked Buenos Aires from servicing its restructured debt without also paying the hedge funds the $1.3 billion it owes them. There's a responsibility of the state here, of the United States, to create the conditions for the unconditional respect of other countries' sovereignty," he told a press conference in Buenos Aires.

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France's Iliad makes buyout offer for T-Mobile U.S.: WSJ

French telecoms operator Iliad has made a buyout offer for T-Mobile USA Inc , the Wall Street Journal cited sources as saying, a surprise bid that counters an offer by Sprint Corp . Details of the offer, ...

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What it takes to get a good manufacturing job now

The biggest requirements are surprisingly simple--yet many don't qualify.

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Is the iPad doomed?

Tablet sales are "crashing," says Best Buy's CEO! IPad sales are sinking fast! Is this the beginning of the end for the tablet? Easy, there, tiger. Tablets are still popular and sales are growing ...

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Argentina defaults and its stocks ...rise?

Usually a sovereign default is negative for a country's markets, but Argentina's markets have rallied to 20-year highs despite the overhanging threat.

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Ackman says ‘my bad’ on Herbalife presentation

Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has two words to sum up his Herbalife Ltd. (HLF) presentation last week: "My bad." Investors may have missed the point because the event was long and overhyped, Ackman said in an interview.

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As US job market strengthens, many don't feel it

The U.S. unemployment rate has plunged since the start of last year to a five-year low of 6.1 percent. And the July jobs report being released Friday will likely show a sixth straight month of healthy ...

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Don’t be fooled, all is not well for stocks

For those who only watch the headlines, the stock market looks as if it’s doing a pretty decent job digesting 6 years of gains. Or maybe this is just the calm before the storm.

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U.S. jobless claims up, wage growth starting to push higher

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, but the underlying trend pointed to a continuing strengthening of labor market conditions. Other data on Thursday suggested a long-awaited acceleration in wage growth was imminent, with labor costs recording their largest increase in more than 5-1/2 years in the second quarter. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 302,000 for the week ended July 26, the Labor Department said. "Unemployment claims have come down a lot as of late and suggest that labor market conditions continue to improve," said Yelena Shulyatyeva, an economist at BNP Paribas in New York.

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3 ways Target's new CEO can become a retail legend

The nation's second largest mass-market discounter is coming off years of missteps and a humiliating 2013 full of scandals, revolts and credit card fraud. The place needed new blood and Brian Cornell seems like the right man for the job.

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Live: Target taps new CEO; Whole Foods struggles; Jobless claims

Join Hot Stock Minute live now for the latest premarket headlines.

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Exxon Mobil quarterly profit jumps 28 percent

Exxon Mobil Corp, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, said on Thursday its quarterly profit jumped 28 percent on higher prices for crude and natural gas. The company posted net income of $8.78 ...

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MasterCard quarterly profit rises 10 percent

MasterCard Inc, the world's second-largest debit and credit card company, posted a 10 percent rise in quarterly profit, as more customers used cards to make purchases. The company's net income rose to ...

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Stock futures fall after Argentina default, data awaited

U.S. stock index futures were sharply lower on Thursday, after Argentina defaulted for the second time in 12 years, raising concerns the country's weakness could spread to the region. A big market decline would mean that all three major U.S. indexes may lose their gains for July, which had been set to be the sixth positive month for both the Dow and S&P 500. * Investors had hoped for a midnight deal with holdout creditors in Argentina, but the plan fell through. Dow Jones industrial average e-mini futures fell 85 points and Nasdaq 100 e-mini futures lost 25.25 points.

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Cash is king as the bull market ages

The bull market remains intact and yet this is still a good time to move some money out of mega-cap US stocks says Jonathan Hoenig of CapitalistPig.

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Mid-Wage Work Comes Back as U.S. Moves Past Burger-Flipping Jobs

Ryan Kenny has been testing chainsaws for the last seven months and getting paid for it. He's an example of how America's earnings scale is becoming more balanced as employment expands in occupations within manufacturing, sales and construction that require greater skills. Hiring in such fields has increased 2.9 percent since the start of 2013, outpacing overall employment, according to research by JPMorgan Chase & Co. That marks a respite in a decades-long shrinking of the middle tier as payrolls picked up at the top end of the scale and in low-wage occupations such as food and retail services. "There's a hint of an end to job polarization," said Robert Mellman, a senior U.S. economist at JPMorgan in New York.

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Target picks Pepsi veteran as new CEO

Target Corp. is bringing in PepsiCo Inc. executive Brian Cornell as its new chief executive, turning to an outsider for the first time in its history to repair a battered corporate culture and navigate a sea change in Americans' shopping habits. Reuters Brian Cornell will become chief executive of Target Corp. Mr. Cornell, age 55, steps into the role vacated three months ago by Gregg Steinhafel, a Target veteran who left after a revolt by key lieutenants who worried the cheap-chic discount retailer had lost its way.

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Target appoints Pepsi executive Brian Cornell as CEO

Target Corp appointed PepsiCo Inc executive Brian Cornell as CEO as it tries to regain customer confidence after a devastating data breach last holiday season. Cornell resigned earlier this week as head ...

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Time Warner Cable profit up residential data services growth

Time Warner Cable Inc , the second-largest U.S. cable TV operator, reported a 3.7 percent rise in quarterly profit as it signed up more residential subscribers to its high-speed data services. Net income ...

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World stocks drift after US Fed stays course

Global stock markets were uninspired by an upbeat report on the U.S. economy, with most drifting lower Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would make further cuts to its monetary stimulus.

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Panasonic, Tesla to build big US battery plant

American electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc. is teaming up with Japanese electronics company Panasonic Corp. to build a battery manufacturing plant in the U.S. expected to create 6,500 jobs. The companies ...

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Whole Foods plans major marketing push

Whole Foods is getting ready to launch its first national marketing campaign and expand home delivery as it looks to fend off bigger players muscling into the organic and natural foods category. The company, ...

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Probe exposes flaws behind HealthCare.gov rollout

Management failures by the Obama administration set the stage for computer woes that paralyzed the president's new health care program last fall, nonpartisan investigators said in a report released Wednesday. ...

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Russia ordered to pay another $2.5 bln for Yukos

The European Court of Human Rights has ordered Russia to pay out nearly 1.9 billion euros ($2.5 billion) to shareholders of Yukos, the oil producer that the government had dismantled over a decade ago. ...

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Samsung earns $6.1 billion, shares plunge

Samsung earned $6.1 billion last quarter but investors were dissatisfied, sending its share price down 4 percent. The panoply of numbers in its earnings report for the April-June quarter show why. — MONEY ...

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European court rules Russia must pay Yukos shareholders 1.9 billion euros

MOSCOW/STRASBOURG (Reuters) - Europe's top human rights court awarded shareholders in Yukos 1.9 billion euros ($2.6 billion) in damages on Thursday, a new blow to Russia days after some of the former oil company's shareholders won $50 billion in The Hague. The Strasbourg-based court found that Russia had failed to "strike a fair balance" in its treatment of Yukos, once run by former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and had forced the company to pay excessive fees.

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Dollar shines, U.S. yields surge on upbeat U.S. data

The dollar stayed strong and U.S. bond yields held firm on Thursday after data showed solid U.S. economic growth, even as the Federal Reserve repeated its message that it is in no hurry to raise interest rates. While the prospect of a solid U.S. recovery underpinned equities, many Asian shares slipped on profit-taking after

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Argentina braces for market reaction to second default in 12 years

Argentina defaulted for the second time in 12 years after hopes for a midnight deal with holdout creditors were dashed, setting up stock and bond prices for declines on Thursday and raising chances a recession could worsen this year. After a long legal battle with hedge funds that rejected Argentina's debt restructuring following its 2002 default, Latin America's third-biggest economy failed to strike a deal in time to meet a midnight deadline for a coupon payment on exchange bonds. "It is going to complicate life for businesses like YPF which were going to look externally for financing," said Camilo Tiscornia, a former governor of Argentina's central bank. State-controlled energy company YPF (YPFD.BA) needs funds to develop Argentina's huge Vaca Muerta shale formation.

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Fed nods to firmer prices yet still focused on labor weakness

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday reaffirmed it was in no rush to raise interest rates, even as it upgraded its assessment of the U.S. economy and expressed some comfort that inflation was moving up toward its target. After a two-day meeting, Fed policymakers took note of both faster economic growth and a decline in the unemployment rate, but expressed concern about remaining slack in the labor market. "Labor market conditions improved, with the unemployment rate declining further," the Fed said in a statement. "However, a range of labor market indicators suggests that there remains significant underutilization of labor resources."

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Argentina fails to reach debt agreement, default imminent

BUENOS AIRES/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Argentina faces its second default in more than 12 years after talks with holdout creditors failed on Wednesday. The country's economy minister, Axel Kicillof, speaking at a news conference at the Argentine consulate in New York, repeatedly referred to the holdout hedge funds as "vultures" after two days of talks failed to produce an agreement. A last-ditch plan for Argentine commercial banks to buy out the non-performing debt held by hedge funds and avert a default collapsed on Wednesday, a senior banking executive and a second source from the financial market said. "Unfortunately, no agreement was reached and the Republic of Argentina will imminently be in default," Daniel Pollack, the court-appointed mediator in the case, said in a statement on Wednesday evening.

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Whole Foods fails to deliver

Whole Foods is the second worst performing stock in the S&P 500 this year, and it's about to get worse.

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Yelp surprises with first quarterly profit since IPO

Yelp Inc, the operator of consumer review website Yelp.com, reported its first quarterly profit as a public company, shrugging of analyst forecasts of a loss, as it won more small businesses customers.

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Fed offers no clearer hint on first rate increase

The Federal Reserve is further slowing the pace of its bond purchases because it thinks an improving U.S. economy needs less help.

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Snapchat's Facebook snub looks smart as Alibaba weighs stake

Take that, Facebook Inc. A year after rebuffing a $3 billion takeover proposal from Mark Zuckerberg, Snapchat Inc. is in talks to raise money from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA), people with knowledge of the matter said. The valuation being considered is about $10 billion, more than three times what Facebook Chief Executive Officer Zuckerberg was willing to pay, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. The extra billions would make Evan Spiegel -- the 24-year-old frat boy-turned-CEO who founded Snapchat when he wasn't organizing keg parties at Stanford -- look prescient, assuming the details get worked out. Alibaba would also get a bigger stake in disappearing-message technology that's all the rage among teens while gaining a wider toehold in the U.S. -- more than 700 million disappearing "snaps" are sent per day -- where it's planning an initial public offering in the coming months.

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Bank of America ordered to pay nearly $1.3 billion in mortgage case

In determining the penalty, Judge Rakoff calculated how much Fannie Mae and Freddie lost from the defective mortgages that were originated as part of a program that was nicknamed the “hustle.”

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