*John McCain Targets Rabbit Massages, Puppetry, in ‘America’s Most Wanted’ Spending Report
©2015 Bloomberg News NO085L6KLVRG (Bloomberg Politics) — Wanted: Elephants suspected of bilking American taxpayers. Arizona Senator John McCain released a report Thursday “highlighting, naming and shaming outrageous pork projects funded with your taxpayer dollars,” and it singled out those profligate pachyderms for the $50,000 grant they—or, presumably, those who research
There’s One Part of the World Where the Oil Industry Is Booming
©2015 Bloomberg News NNY4SJ6K50YC (For Energy column alerts: SALT NRGI ) (Bloomberg) — As the oil industry tightens its belt after the worst price slump in a generation, the state-owned giants of the Middle East are taking the opposite tack. Saudi Arabian Oil Co., Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. and
Euro-Area Bonds Caught in QE Paradox as Short Sellers Book Gains
©2015 Bloomberg News NNY7DW6JTSEG (Bloomberg) — The European Central Bank’s bond-buying program has landed investors in a quandary that’s whipping up volatility in the region’s fixed-income markets. Signs the plan is helping turn around the euro area’s economy triggered a 1.4 percent loss on the region’s government bonds in April, the
SEC Approves Plan to Boost Traders’ Interest in Small Stocks
©2015 Bloomberg News NNYA936K50YF (Bloomberg) — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved a two-year program designed to test ways to boost investors’ interest in smaller stocks. The trading experiment, championed by small-business advocates and opposed by big investors such as Fidelity Investments and D.E. Shaw & Co., will widen the
Never Mind Oil, Iran’s About to Shake the World Pistachio Market
©2015 Bloomberg News NNW51P6KLVRN (For Commodities columns alerts: SALT CMMKT ) (Bloomberg) — Iran is ready to return to the global commodities market, flooding it with fresh supplies and risking a slump in prices. Oil? Possibly, but there’s a second industry that could be even more disrupted by a nuclear
*Mike Huckabee and the GOP’s Small ‘Save Social Security’ Caucus
©2015 Bloomberg News NNWCFZ6JTSEI (Bloomberg Politics) — In the middle of Mike Huckabee’s presidential announcement, his populism took him to a land many Republican candidates fear to tread.”There are some who propose that to save the safety nets like Medicare and Social Security, we ought to chop off the payments
Comcast Plans to Create 5,500 Jobs to Improve Customer Service
©2015 Bloomberg News NNWFJ96JIJV0 (Bloomberg) — Comcast Corp., the biggest U.S. cable-TV provider, will create more than 5,500 jobs during the next few years to improve customer service. Three new customer-support centers employing 2,000 workers will be set up in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Spokane, Washington; and Tucson, Arizona, Philadelphia-based Comcast
Greek Aid Talks Gain Urgency as Breakthrough Remains Elusive
©2015 Bloomberg NNSDOK6K50XU (Bloomberg) — Greece and its international creditors are still far apart on key elements of the country’s bailout agenda after four days of intensive negotiations. Differences remain on issues ranging from fiscal assumptions to asset sales and labor and pension reforms, according to three people familiar with
America’s Tax Wish List: The Arcane, The Petty, The Greedy
©2015 Bloomberg News NNO9Y96JTSE8 (adding editor name) (Bloomberg Politics) — Since members of Congress and President Barack Obama haven’t been able to make much progress on reforming the tax code, the Senate Finance Committee in March asked the general public for ideas. And America, you came through, with more than
Female Breadwinners Dwindle Back to Near 21-Year U.S. Average
©2015 Bloomberg News NNU0NT6S972M (Bloomberg Business) — For all the talk of shifting gender dynamics within the American nuclear family, surprisingly little has changed when it comes to who brings home the bacon. For one: The share of married heterosexual couples with children under 18 in which the mother is the sole