Gold purchases by Chinese consumers jumped 41% last year to a record, according to data released Monday by the China Gold Association. The increase was enough to overtake India, which for decades, if not centuries, held the No. 1 spot as the world’s biggest gold buyer, according to estimates from several analysts.
(Source: Wall Street Journal)
The percentage of people who voluntarily left their job in the U.S.—the nation’s “quit rate”—hit 1.8% in November, the highest in the recovery and up from a low of 1.2% in September 2009, according to the Labor Department.
(Source: Wall Street Journal)
In the fourth quarter, Twitter said it added just 3.8% more new monthly active users, down from 6.4% growth a month earlier. Shares plunged in after-hours trading.
(Source: Wall Street Journal)
RadioShack is planning to close around 500 locations in the coming months, according to people familiar with the matter.
(Source: Wall Street Journal)
The expiration of the Federal tax provisions will almost certainly have an adverse impact on a wide swath of taxpayers; increasing the effective tax rate of both large and small businesses, with additional collateral damage to individuals and charitable organizations. Notable expired provisions include higher Section 179 limits, bonus depreciation, energy tax incentives, the R&D credit, and many others.
At the time of this writing, the prospect for retroactive extension of these provisions is unclear at best. Sen. Harry Reid introduced an extender bill (S. 1859) in December that failed to pass by unanimous consent. The Senate Finance Committee is working on another extender bill, but members of both parties have expressed their preference for comprehensive tax reform in favor of tax extender legislation. Whether or not such legislation will be enacted prior to the upcoming mid-term election is anyone’s guess, but by historical standards prospects for near-term, comprehensive tax reform are dim.
Access this comprehensive list now to find out which Expiring Federal Tax Provisions (2013-2023) impact you »
Online insurance company Esurance was the most-tweeted brand of Super Bowl night, with a total of 1.9 million posts on Twitter, according to Nielsen Co., despite the fact that it didn’t buy an ad during the game broadcast.
(Source: Wall Street Journal)
That is Amazon’s sales figure for the fourth quarter, a 20% increase from a year earlier. However, it wasn’t enough to match Wall Street projections.
(Source: Wall Street Journal)
That is how many pounds our ice sculpture of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell weighs. Preparing for the first outdoor cold-weather Super Bowl this weekend, our sports department is employing a creative method to help fans gauge how much they will need to bundle up. The more layers Mr. Goodell’s icy replica sheds, the more layers eventgoers can shed. You can follow the sculpture on Twitter @frozenroger.
(Source: Wall Street Journal)
Capitalization rates, used by real-estate investors to measure the annual return of income-producing properties, declined for many property types in 2013, according to data from Real Capital Analytics in New York. Meanwhile, the spread between cap rates and yields on 10-year Treasury notes narrowed. The average cap rate for all property types was 6.74% last year, down from 6.76% in 2012. Cap rates fell fastest for office buildings, which had an average cap rate of 6.93% in 2013 compared with 7.15% in 2012.
(Source: Wall Street Journal)
