"Tax prep specialist H&R Block Inc late Tuesday said its fiscal fourth quarter earnings fell 11 percent from last year, owing to restructuring costs and store closures.
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"The best IPO this week was that of cloud service provider, ServiceNow, which gained 37 percent on its debut on Friday. Its stock closed at $24.60 a share on the New York Stock Exchange, up from its IPO price of $18. "
"The number of foreclosures in the first half of the year dropped by 11 percent. Bank repossessions also led to overall foreclosure activity dropping in the second quarter because of a dip in bank repossessions.
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"Credit Suisse Group AG said that it is confident that it will report a profit for the group and all divisions for the second quarter. The bank's shares jumped as much as 4.8 percent in Swiss trading, and rose 2.9 percent to 17.06 francs by 9:55 am local time. "
"A takeover bid of A$1.7 billion ($1.74 billion) by a virtually unknown UK-based private equity fund for acquiring David Jones, Australia's second largest department store chain, has been withdrawn. After surging 15 percent, its shares slipped back 8.5 percent.
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"Another round of 350 job cuts has been announced by J.C. Penney, reducing the headquarters workforce by nearly 30 percent. Penney's shares dropped nearly 8 percent Tuesday, showing that investors have lost faith in its new strategy.
As J.C. Penney Co is struggling with a transformation, the workers of the department store chain are feeling the heat as its new CEO announced Tuesday another round of job cuts at its headquarters in Plano, Texas."
"Intel Corp has decided to invest $4.1 million to acquire 15 percent stake in Dutch chip-equipment maker ASML Holding NV with the intention of reducing the time needed to adopt new production techniques by two years."
"Glencore International Plc's 16.9 billion pound ($26.4 billion) bid for the rest of Xstrata Plc was opposed by the Qatar Holding LLC, the second-largest shareholder in Xstrata asking for the bid to be increased by 16 percent."
"Richard Schulze, the founder of Best Buy, is trying to take the struggling electronics retailer private by working out a bid for the purpose. He is negotiating with Credit Suisse bankers to put up the bid. He is the retailer's largest shareholder with a stake of 20.1 percent. "
"Almost out of nowhere, Pinterest has emerged as the third most popular social networking site in February. The traffic on this site increased 50 percent from January to February this year. "
"Standard Chartered has forecast that it may achieve high single-digit revenue growth in the first half and maintain its targets for the full year. It said revenue from markets including China, Indonesia and Malaysia is expected to grow by 10 percent or more."
"Japan's industrial output dropped to its lowest level since the March 2011 earthquake, down 3.1 percent in May from the previous month. Automobile output was limited by weakness in European demand."
"Nike's earnings in the fiscal fourth quarter dropped 7.6 percent missing Wall Street expectations as a result of weaker gross margins and higher marketing costs tied to product launches and two key global sporting events."
"The pioneer of the mobile email, RIM is passing through a difficult period as it has postponed the make-or-break launch of its next-generation BlackBerry phones until next year. It shares slumped 14 percent at $7.86."
"The US economy is cooling off, which is evident from the government data released on Friday that showed consumers spent less in May and increased their savings. Personal spending dropped less than 0.1 percent in May, which represented the first decline since last November.
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"The field conditions have been hot and dry from early spring similar to what happened 24 years ago leading to significant crop losses. The US corn prices have risen 17 percent this month due to the drought and over concerns that crop losses will badly impact the United States.
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"German industrial gas producer Linde AG announced Sunday that it will acquire Lincare Holdings Inc, a Florida-based provider of oxygen and respiratory therapy services to patients in the home, for $4.6 billion, to take advantage of the potential growth rate of 6 to 9 percent annually in the home care market."
"The Australian dollar reached a level which was just 0.6 percent less than a record high against the euro just before the European Central Bank and Bank of England are scheduled to meet to discuss ways to provide economic stimulus for boosting demand for currencies tied to growth.
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"Volkswagen has acquired the 50.1 percent stake in Porsche that it does not own already, for $5.6 billion. It had to reach an agreement with the German tax authorities before it could proceed with the transaction."