Wednesday, May 18, 2016

The Millennial Problem



Millennials are America’s biggest generation and, like it or not, they’re going to change the world. The question is, will this change be for the better? According to a new Gallup poll, Gen X and Baby Boomers must change along with these millennials to make sure the future goes well.  Gallup recently released an extensive study detailing how Millennials function in the workforce. Not surprisingly, millennials are a very different breed of employee. One of the most notable pieces of data is workforce engagement. Whiles it’s no secret millennials are the least employed generation, 55% percent are unengaged at work. This number is astonishing! Combined with the 16% who actively disengage at work, a meager 29% of millennials are actually engaged in their job.  This number is lower than any other generation. [more...]

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Messy Breakup: Halliburton to Pay Baker Hughes $3.5 Billion After Failed Merger

By Michelle Seiler-Tucker

Halliburton, the oil services provider few look at fondly, paid rival firm Baker Hughes $3.5 billion in terminations fees after an attempted merger was shot down from every direction. Halliburton is the second largest such company, with Baker Hughes in third (first goes to industry giant Schlumberger). Once valued at $34.6 billion in 2014, this merger would now have only been worth $28 billion given the precipitous fall of oil over the last two years. The oil industry’s near collapse was a major factor leading to the scuttled deal. Halliburton and Baker Hughes both rely on oil company contracts; and, given that oil was, until recently, too expensive to pull out of the ground for many producers, their services saw little request. But the oil industry is slowly recovering. So what else killed this deal? Hint: the government. [more...]

Apple has been 'The Biggest Wealth Destroyer' for Investors

By Jeff Cox - Finance Editor for CNBC.com

Investors managed to make it through a volatile April modestly ahead of the game, though individual returns were held back by one principal culprit: Apple. The tech giant was "the biggest wealth destroyer" for market participants during the month, according to Openfolio, a social networking platform that compares more than 65,000 shared portfolios within its community.  [more...]

Monday, May 2, 2016

Could Puerto Rico Be the First Falling Domino of Financial Doomsday?



On Sunday May 1, America's Caribbean Island Puerto Rico defaulted on a debt payment of $422 million. This island that Spanish explorers named “rich port,” Puerto Rico, is roughly the size of Connecticut and is home to 3.5 million U.S. citizens. How has it run up a staggering total debt of more than $72 billion, more than any U.S. state except New York and California? Puerto Rico has been turned into a cash-short poor port by U.S. economic manipulation along with welfare and government pension politics. The U.S. government built Puerto Rico's current economy on exotic tax breaks, especially for drugs. At one point, nine of America's 12 biggest drug companies had major facilities in Puerto Rico. [more...]