Global markets these days have become more and more unpredictable with the US and Chinese stocks' consistent historical upswings and plunges in the past few months. To make things worse, the oil price has hit a six and a half year low. The condition can finally be compared to the days right after the 9/11 attacks.
Industry
Kmart brings back layaway program, launches No Money Down Leasing for holiday shoppers
Starting last week, Kmart, the U.S. retail company under Sears Holding Corp. brings back its No Money Down Layaway Program and launches No Money Down Leasing for holiday shoppers.
Beauty products are the next big thing in Korean export
While Korea is hurting from a long drop in exports, one industry is booming in shipments and posts double-digit growth. This draws the attention of policymakers seeking for a new way to grow its export.
Europe milk over-supply makes it cheaper than water
Milk is overflowing in Europe for a lot of reasons, chief of these is that Russia has stopped the importation of milk while Chinese demand has lessened. There is so much splashing around the European Union that makes milk always less expensive than bottled water. In U.K., a liter of bottled water costs $1.50 while a liter of milk costs only $1. The same is almost true in France. In German supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl, a liter of milk costs only about 55¢ while a liter of bottled water costs around 72¢.
One Third Of US Workers Say They're "Free Agents," Not Tied To Just One Boss
More and more U.S. workers don't want to work for the "Man" anymore and be tied up to just one boss as they consider themselves "free agents." In a report by CNN Money, 31% of workers in the US consider themselves "free agents," according to a survey from Kelly Services, a recruiting and employment firm. These "free agents" consider themselves contractors, small business owners, temps, freelancers, and moonlighters, but never "traditional employees." This means, they don't get their income from just one boss. Most of these free agents said they entered their type of work willingly, and only 10% said they were forced into it due to economic conditions.
Latest News
Recent prediction reveals that starting salaries of professional roles could have a 4.1% increase next year. The 2016 Salary Guides from Robert Half shows that among the five fields tracked the expected salary for professional roles could increase on average by that rate in 2016, with the technology sector to gain higher pay grades in its 5.3% expected increase base pay.
Retailers are experiencing a mixed season, so are the department stores. Not a lot of consumers are going in hoards to spend their money in department stores. It may be due to this year's later Labor Day, or maybe they'd rather be in the beach than shopping in the malls.
Shoppers are demanding more transparency with what they buy, which could mean the end of that black and white stripes on the products, more familiarly known as barcodes.
In celebration of International Day of Peace on September 21, Burger King is asking long-time rival McDonald's to team up and make a McWhopper that would feature the best of both fast-food companies' burgers.
The US consumer confidence has risen to 10.5 points in August, hitting its highest level in 7 months while the Conference Board's consumer index reached 101.5 this month.
Durable goods orders were up two percent in July on month-on-month (m-o-M) basis giving wider scope for the US gross domestic production (GDP) to reach over 2.8 percent in the third quarter this year as latest research reports forecast.
The US services sector's growth slowed down in early August but surpassed the forecast. According to the financial firm Markit Economics, the flash US Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) recorded 55.2 points in August from 55.7 points in July.
Chinese factor is impacting significantly growth plans of several economies in the Asian region. The uncertainty in the stock markets and volatility in the foreign exchange (forex) have kept the many Asian nations in a gripping situation.
One can cite several reasons for the ongoing crash of equity values across the global markets. The major reason that no one can afford to avoid is Chinese factor. The slowdown in the world's second-largest economy, China's latest devaluation of its currency Yuan, drop in manufacturing output, mining companies reporting worst performance, etc, all these developments are impacting the global markets in fact all the countries including developed and emerging economies as well.
