Earnings

Here???s what we have our eye on today: Fourth-quarter profits are trickling in. Ford's pretax profits declined to $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011, down from around $1.3 billion in the year-ago quarter. Pretax profits for all of......

Here's what we have our eye on today: BMW posted record annual profits for 2011, though fourth-quarter net income fell 12% as the German automaker spent cash to introduce global redesigns for the 3 Series and 1 Series, according to......

Corporate earnings reports have pacified investors this week after a bout of selling followed renewed concerns about a global slowdown last week. It's not that companies have provided dazzling first-quarter results. Many are continuing to make their...

(Editor's note: The CBS reality series "The Job" was canceled after this column had already gone to press. We are certain it was a coincidence. And that's all we have to say about that.) Early in the first episode of the new CBS reality show "The Job,"...

How would you like to inexpensively start your own business that could, just maybe, lead to bigger money than you're making now? You could work for yourself and work from the comfort of your home. That's the allure of multilevel marketing, also called...

How do you like it when someone tells you what to do? I do not always like it. Especially if the tone isn't right, the directions given can get under a person's skin.  How do you like it, though, when you get to tell someone else what to do? In my house...

It's a cliffhanger — one that no one will find entertaining if the final episode leads to the economy plunging into a recession next year. Investors can't decide if they should use the threat of the potential tax shock of the "fiscal cliff" as...

Dear Liz: I am increasingly annoyed by the entitlement attitude of today's students. Why should the taxpayers (me) pay to educate somebody else's children? I remember when there was no such thing as a student loan. If I wanted to go to college and didn'...

Earnings stung investors last week, showing that in a global economy U.S. investors will get hurt when a good chunk of the world is in pain. And there definitely is pain. As much of Europe sinks deeper into a recession, Spain reported a 25.02 percent...

While Illinois officials remain mired in debate over all forms of gambling, WMS Industries is predicting that casinos will soon become ubiquitous — via your computer and cellphone, at least. The Waukegan-based slot machine maker last month received...

With U.S. stocks near five-year highs, the unmistakable reality of a sputtering global economy has hit home, stifling U.S. corporate sales and spooking investors. They started heading for the stock market exits last week, and they picked up the pace...

With the urgency of the "fiscal cliff" behind the nation and the earnings hurdle for companies low, investors have pushed the stock market close to the high that occurred before the financial crisis. The Standard & Poor's 500 closed the week at 1472,...