U.S. natural gas prices in early morning trading on May 3 surged to their highest levels since September 2008, as faltering domestic gas production and the Russian invasion of Ukraine continue to disrupt global energy markets. Natural gas prices have jumped more than 8 percent over the last two sessions, following a nearly 30 percent […]

Commentary  On Oct. 19, 1987, the U.S. stock markets collapsed. They had enjoyed a stellar run supported by the bull market, which started in August 1982. The ‘Roaring Eighties,’ that is, the economic boom of the 1980s, drove equity markets to new records. But in October, indications of a slowing economy, rising interest rates, and stock […]

WASHINGTON—U.S. factory activity grew at its slowest pace in nearly two years in April amid a rise in workers quitting their jobs, and manufacturers are becoming more anxious about supply over the summer because of new COVID-19 lockdowns in China. The survey from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) on Monday described manufacturing as remaining […]

Commentary It might seem that Vladimir Putin doesn’t have a propaganda problem, at least at home. George Orwell presented a vision of the totalitarian future—based on what Stalin’s Russia was already like—in his 1949 dystopian novel “1984.” It’s a world where opposition can’t even be thought. In Orwell’s fictional world, Big Brother sees everything; all […]

TOKYO—Japan’s manufacturing activity grew at a slower pace from the previous month in April as supply chain disruptions and strict Chinese coronavirus lockdown measures hurt overseas demand. Activity in the sector was held up by resilience in output, overall orders, and optimism about the year ahead, even as producers grew more wary of persisting price […]

LONDON—The dollar rose back towards a 20-year high on Monday as the euro struggled around the $1.05 mark, with investors preparing for a busy week of central bank meetings including a likely Federal Reserve interest rate hike. The euro also came under pressure after a survey showed that eurozone manufacturing output growth stalled last month […]

Seeing China’s financial hub Shanghai, home to 25 million people, come to a standstill amid more than four weeks of lockdowns has made those residing in Beijing nervous. The capital city has detected growing COVID-19 outbreaks and has rushed to conduct mass testing in a bid to contain the virus. Almost all 22 million inhabitants […]

“They’re going to go element by element through their economy and see which of those is still open to attack from the West … to seal those up prior to invading Taiwan.” Previously, in part one of my interview with retired Brigadier General Robert Spalding, he broke down the Chinese regime’s strategy of unrestricted warfare, […]

An inflation measure closely tracked by the Federal Reserve hit a 40-year-high. The Commerce Department’s Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index increased by 6.6 percent in the 12 months from March last year, the highest annual gain since January 1982, outpacing February’s year over year gain of 6.3 percent. The PCE price index shot up 0.9 […]

Shares of Amazon.com Inc. fell 14.05 percent on Friday in its steepest one-day drop since 2006, leaving the widely held stock near two-year lows. Late on Thursday, the e-commerce giant delivered a disappointing quarter and outlook, swamped by higher costs. Amazon lost $3.8 billion in the first quarter of 2022, largely due to a slump in […]

Since the Chinese regime imposed the National Security Law in Hong Kong on July 1, 2020, almost all independent and pro-democracy media outlets have been forced to close, and many journalists and media executives have been jailed and are awaiting trial. The freedoms of the once-flourishing international media center were almost completely dismantled by the […]

Catharine Littlefield, born in 1755 in what was then the British colony of Rhode Island, would grow up to become a dedicated wife and supporter of those around her, as well as a woman who could take action on her own when needed. Her mother died early during her childhood, and she was sent to […]

JAKARTA—Indonesia should be able to tackle its cooking oil shortage in the next few weeks and lift an export ban on palm oil and its refined products in May, an industry body said on Thursday, a day after a last-minute policy U-turn sparked more alarm for markets. The world’s top palm oil producer expanded an […]

News Analysis Nury Turkel, one of the world’s most prominent Uyghurs, is under pressure from Beijing. The Washington-based American lawyer was instrumental in legislative and executive actions by the U.S. government to support Uyghur human rights in China. In the context of rising transnational repression by Beijing, including violent attacks linked to the Chinese Communist […]

Amgen Inc on Wednesday said the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is seeking additional back taxes of $5.1 billion, plus interest and penalties, related to the drugmaker’s 2013 to 2015 accounting for profits between the United States and Puerto Rico, the location of most of its manufacturing operations. Shares of Amgen, which also reported higher […]

Boeing Co unveiled $2.7 billion in charges and added costs across its aircraft portfolio on Wednesday, and expressed doubts over hitting jet delivery targets as technical problems, inflation and supplier risks cloud its path toward recovery. Shares of the U.S. planemaker fell to a nearly 1-1/2 year low after it posted a quarterly loss and […]

WASHINGTON—Contracts to buy U.S. previously owned homes dropped to the lowest level in nearly two years in March as soaring house prices and mortgage rates reduced the pool of buyers. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Wednesday its Pending Home Sales Index, based on signed contracts, fell 1.2 percent last month to 103.7. […]

Boeing said Wednesday that it lost $1.2 billion in the first quarter as it took large write-downs and lost money in both its civilian airplane and defense businesses. The loss was bigger than Wall Street had forecast, and the company’s quarterly revenue also fell short of expectations. Boeing burned through $3.2 billion in cash. “Messier […]

FRANKFURT—Deutsche Bank posted a better-than-expected 17 percent rise in first-quarter profit on Wednesday as investment banking revenues climbed, but its share price fell as it warned that the Russia-Ukraine conflict could hurt annual earnings. This year is crucial for Germany’s largest lender and Chief Executive Christian Sewing as he tries to deliver on targets he […]

By Randy Sadler If 2020 and 2021 showed us anything, it’s that the unexpected can and will happen—whether it’s a global pandemic, a cargo ship blocking one of the world’s busiest trade routes, or a storm creating a widespread power outage. These unforeseen risks are difficult to predict and insure against, which made captive insurance, with […]

TOKYO—Japan’s jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 2.6 percent in March, hitting the lowest rate since April 2020, although the number of furloughed workers remained high due to effects of the pandemic, official data showed on Tuesday. The world’s third-biggest economy has been struggling to drive a sure-footed recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Ukraine […]

Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday forecast double-digit revenue growth for the next fiscal year, driven by demand for cloud computing services, and its shares jumped about 4 percent. Microsoft forecast Intelligent Cloud revenue of $21.1 billion to $21.35 billion for its fiscal fourth quarter, driven by strong growth in its Azure platform. That compared with a […]

GAINESVILLE, Fla.—After 24 years of teaching advanced math, Will Frazer calculated how the COVID-19 plan would affect students during the 2020-2021 school year and cringed.  Though Florida was one of the least-restrictive states in the country when it came to COVID-19 measures, he couldn’t compute how remote viewing of classes from home could further learning. […]

LONDON—The dollar roared to a two-year high on Tuesday and the euro hit its weakest since March 2020 as concerns about the economic impact of China’s COVID-19 lockdowns and rising expectations for a big U.S. interest rate hike next week boosted the greenback. With markets facing many risks, including central banks’ tightening policy, just as […]

MILAN—World shares steadied on Tuesday after a late revival on Wall Street, although global growth fears stoked by China’s COVID-19 curbs and fears of aggressive Fed tightening sapped risk appetite, lifting the dollar to new two-year highs. The MSCI world equity index was up 0.2 percent from six-week lows at 1117 GMT, helped by a […]

Singapore’s manufacturing activity dropped further last month, showing the slowest rate of expansion in more than a year-and-a-half. The March reading of the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) dipped 0.1 point to 50.1, which is the lowest since August 2020, according to data published by the Singapore Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management (SIPMM). The PMI […]

Commentary Home prices keep going up. But for how long? For the first time, in March the median home price in Orange County soared above $1 million, according to the research group DQNews/CoreLogic. Los Angeles County was $840,000. Throughout all Southern California, it was $735,000. But there’s a good chance prices have peaked. Prices largely […]

The latest on the Russia–Ukraine crisis, April 22. Click here for updates from April 21. Satellite Imagery Purports to Show 2nd Cemetery Near Mariupol Satellite imagery released on April 22 by Maxar Technologies purported to show freshly dug trenches in a cemetery east of Mariupol. An image taken from space on March 29 appeared to show newly dug trenches along the perimeter of the cemetery. […]

Though Germany is moving “as fast as possible” to end its dependence on Russian energy supplies, such a move cannot be implemented soon, according to Christian Lindner, the country’s finance minister. “We have to be patient,” Lindner said in an interview with the BBC. “We are willing to stop all energy imports from Russia, it’s just […]

Attorneys for actress Amber Heard sought to undermine Johnny Depp’s libel lawsuit against her Thursday by spending hours in court focused on the actor’s drinking, drug use, and texts he sent to friends—including one about wanting to kill and defile his then-wife. Heard’s lawyers referenced Depp’s history of trashing hotel rooms and his smashing of […]