*North Korea Fires a Ballistic Missile off Its East Coast
published May 28th 2017, 5:37 pm, by Kanga Kong (Bloomberg) —North Korea conducted another missile test early Monday as Kim Jong Un’s regime continued to defy sanctions against nuclear weapons development and escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula. The missile, which appears to be a SCUD variant, was fired at
More Optimism About U.S. Buying Climate Signals Spending Rebound
published May 25th 2017, 8:45 am, by Michelle Jamrisko (Bloomberg) —Consumer spending may be set to emerge from a weak first quarter as Americans last week became more upbeat about the buying climate than at any time in the last 15 years and optimism about personal finances reached a decade
AT&T’s DirecTV Now Online Service Said to See Growth Sputter
published May 25th 2017, 2:45 pm, by Gerry Smith and Scott Moritz (Bloomberg) —AT&T Inc.’s live online video service, DirecTV Now, has seen its growth stall in recent months, according to people familiar with the matter, raising questions about consumer demand for the growing number of new web-TV services entering the
Taco Bell Adding Thousands of Stores in International Push
published May 25th 2017, 4:13 pm, by Leslie Patton (Bloomberg) —Taco Bell is running for the border. Yum! Brands Inc.’s Mexican-themed restaurant chain will open at least 100 new locations each in China, Brazil, Canada and India during the next five years, according to a statement Thursday. The plan will
The ‘Below Average’ Fund Fee Could Eat Your Retirement
published May 24th 2017, 8:45 am, by Suzanne Woolley (Bloomberg) —Average fees paid for U.S. mutual funds and exchange-traded funds fell to a new low of less than 0.6 percent in 2016, Morningstar reported on Tuesday. That’s good news for investors. But as fund companies drive down those expense ratios in a fight
Asia Stocks Look Mixed as Dollar Slips on Fed: Markets Wrap
published May 24th 2017, 5:18 pm, by Adam Haigh (Bloomberg) —Asian stocks were poised for a mixed start after the dollar declined with Treasury yields as investors assessed minutes from the Federal Reserve’s most recent meeting where officials said inflation remains muted. Fed policy makers said they needed to wait
U.K. Police Rebuke U.S. for Leaking Information on Terror Probe
published May 24th 2017, 7:05 pm, by Svenja O’Donnell, Alex Morales and Robert Hutton (Bloomberg) —British police condemned U.S. officials’ leaking of intelligence relating to the Manchester terror attack, calling it a breach of trust that risks undermining their investigations as the probe into the bombing extended to Libya. The
Trump’s Pentagon Budget Delays Big Defense Buildup He Promised
published May 23rd 2017, 4:46 pm, by Tony Capaccio (Bloomberg) —President Donald Trump’s first full-year defense budget would delay big increases in multibillion-dollar weapons systems while putting more money into troop readiness and precision munitions, such as 100 additional Tomahawk cruise missiles from Raytheon Co. The budget proposed Tuesday for
U.K.’s May Warns Further Terrorist Attacks Could Be Imminent
published May 23rd 2017, 6:40 pm, by Tim Ross, Robert Hutton and Thomas Penny (Bloomberg) —The British military will guard music and sports events in an unprecedented security operation as police hunt for potential accomplices of the suicide bomber who killed 22 people at a Manchester pop concert. After meeting
Devotional 5/24: A Prayer for Hugh Hefner
I am not a big fan of Deadpool (the Marvel character) or dead pools (polls that usually involve betting who will die in the present year). However, regarding dead pools, two men are usually at the top of them who I would just hate to see the world be without.