Gyrations in the U.S. stock market have been capturing headlines worldwide, but European stocks have had it even worse. While the S&P 500 Index was down roughly 4% through the end of August, German and French stocks had fallen 17% year-to-date, while English stocks had lost 8% of their… Read More

In investing, there’s a time to focus on reward and a time to focus on risk. And in a clearly growing economy, it always pays to find the companies best positioned to grow steadily. In better times, investors have been amply rewarded for their… Read More

It’s the safest investment on the planet. There’s no arguing that. Take a look at how it has performed over the past month: The chart above compares this investment to some of the other safe havens — including gold and the Swiss franc. Read More

Since the middle of July, the business headlines have been relentlessly scary as governments, corporations and individuals scramble to stay afloat in a weak global economy. Yet for airline industry executives, each day brings more good news. Oil prices are falling and look set… Read More

Washington has a mess on its hands. To close the budget gap and start paying down the nearly $15 trillion in debt we’ve already incurred, legislators will have to make some very tough choices regarding which programs to cut. Defense, education, transportation, social security, homeland security —… Read More

The markets, which had looked to be edging back toward historical valuation levels, closed down nearly 2.5% across the board Friday, Sept. 2 on poor jobs data, and I don’t mean Steve. The Labor Department… Read More

Following the stock market in August was simply exhausting. The S&P 500 entered the month with a six-session losing streak at 1,293 and then managed to fall another 14% by August 8 to 1,119. A few more neck-snapping moves after that, and we’re now back up above the 1,200 mark… Read More

For nearly two years, economists have warned that China’s economy may soon be hit with a jolt — a jolt that will be felt round the world. Although their concerns have proven unfounded so far, the day of reckoning may finally be at hand. Why now?… Read More

Over the decades, companies have sought to find the right amount of debt to carry on their balance sheet. Just enough debt is a good thing — it can boost earnings per share (since fewer shares… Read More

Every two weeks, investors have a chance to parse the level of short interest among all stocks on the major exchanges. It’s helpful to glance at these lists, which can be found on The Wall Street Journal’s website, Nasdaq.com and elsewhere to see which companies are increasingly in the targets… Read More