thenews / Profile

WHEN we made our annual foray into the executive pay gold mine in April, chief executives’ earnings for 2012 showed what appeared to be muted growth on the year. The $14 million in median overall compensation received by the top 100 C.E.O.’s was just

When it blew the lid open on the NSA domestic spying scandal in conjunction with the Guardian, the Washington Post released the first batch of slides revealing the preliminary details of which Internet firms cooperate in secret with the NSA

The third quarter begins with a bang this week. The main highlights include four major central bank meetings, Japan's quarterly Tankan survey, monthly purchasing managers' surveys and the US employment report. The larger context in which the data and

Japanese manufacturers' sentiment has turned positive for the first time in nearly two years, the Bank of Japan's Tankan survey has indicated. The big manufacturers' index rose to plus 4 in the April-to-June period, from minus 8 in the previous

For European lenders with private-banking aspirations, a presence in Switzerland used to be a must. Now, with bank secrecy eroding and rising compliance costs chipping away at profits, more are saying adieu. The number of foreign-owned Swiss banks

The latest ISM survey results on the health of the American manufacturing sector are out, and the report contains mostly good news. (Production and new orders are both growing, and the rate of growth for both accelerated in June. Same goes for

The most important story in the world is the change of direction in U.S. interest rates, which coincides with the change in tone out of the Federal Reserve. On Wednesday the Fed indicated that so long as its economic projections come to pass, it

Last Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told us that the Fed could begin to taper, or gradually reduce its monthly purchases of $85 billion worth of bonds. The markets appeared to take this very seriously as reflected by all-out havoc

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) says banks have done their bit to help economic recovery and now governments must do more. The Basel-based organisation - usually dubbed the "central banks' central bank" - believes it is time to end the

Fed Monetary Course Difficult for a Bernanke Successor to Alter The Federal Reserve under Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has committed itself to a monetary strategy for this year and beyond that will be difficult to undo under a new chairman. Under

For the best part of a year, the minds of European policymakers have focused on one overriding issue - banking union. By establishing stricter oversight of Europe's banking sector and a unified system for dealing with any problems, they hope to draw

Over the last several days, fears have grown that the world's central banks were going on strike. China was letting overnight liquidity dry up. Bernanke was signaling that the march towards the exit would begin. The Bank for International Settlements

Sales of new homes rose in May to the highest rate since mid-2008 and purchases for the prior three months were all revised higher, reflecting the continued resurgence in the U.S. housing market. The Commerce Department on Tuesday said sales last

The vast majority of Americans are going to be absolutely blindsided by what is coming. They don't understand how our financial system works, they don't understand how vulnerable it is, and most of them blindly trust that our leaders know exactly

The European Central Bank has done as much as it can to stabilize markets and support the economy, Governor Mario Draghi said Wednesday. Now governments and parliaments should do all they can to raise growth potential and build a stronger and more

Gold slumped to a near three-year low on Wednesday as healthy U.S. data supported the Federal Reserve's plan to cut back its stimulus, while reassurance that Europe was not about to follow suit bolstered the region's stocks and government bonds

Since the seizure of Liberty Reserve’s operations last month, it has put all alternative payment providers in focus. Specifically under review are firms utilizing e-currency solutions. In these programs, customers create accounts with the payment

As shown two months ago, the marginal cost of production of gold (90% percentile) in 2013 was estimated at $1300 including capex. Which means that as of a few days ago, gold is now trading well below not only the cash cost, but is rapidly approaching

FA Insights is a daily newsletter from Business Insider that delivers the top news and commentary for financial advisors. George Soros: The Efficient Market Hypothesis Has Run Into Bankruptcy (Institute For New Economic Thinking) In an interview with

Everyone is still digesting the unexpected downward revision to Q1 GDP growth to 1.8% from an earlier estimate of 2.4%. High Frequency Economics' Jim O'Sullivan is convinced that the number is missing some information, and it's likely to be revised