Month: September 2018

Europe’s main stock gauge edged higher Wednesday, set to deliver its fourth straight winning session as banks and materials stocks posted gains. Danske Bank AS stood out among the losers as its top executive stepped down over a money-laundering scandal. What are markets doing? The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, +0.29%  was up 0.2% at 379.48, in a week that has... Read More

A hospital staffer looks at a Yemeni child suffering from malnutrition lying on a bed at a hospital in the northern district of Abs in the northwestern Hajjah province on September 19, 2018. The three-year conflict between Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and Huthi rebels linked to Iran has pushed the already impoverished country to the brink of famine. The global population... Read More

You’re unlikely to get the right answers—unless you ask the right questions. That’s especially true when it comes to managing money. We have answers thrust in our faces all the time, as marketers and salespeople exhort us to buy this mutual fund, that car, this stock, that home and this insurance policy. But are these really what we want or... Read More

U.S. stocks rose in early trading on Wednesday, in the latest example of investors ignoring escalating tensions between the U.S. and China on trade policy to focus instead on improving economic fundamentals. The day’s gains were widespread, with nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors higher on the day. Material and financial stocks were among the biggest gainers, up... Read More

BRUSSELS—European Union regulators said Wednesday that McDonald’s Corp.’s tax arrangement in Luxembourg is legal, dropping an investigation against the U.S. fast-food giant while lauding efforts to close tax loopholes in the probe’s wake. The closure contrasts with a slew of fines and tax bills slapped on other American companies, particularly tech giants. President Trump and his predecessor, Barack Obama, have... Read More

Leonardo da Vinci’s rediscovered painting of Christ as the world’s savior, “Salvator Mundi”—auctioned last year for a record-setting $450.3 million—has been owned by British kings and Russian oligarchs. But until now no one knew much about the nearly half-century it spent lost in obscurity in the U.S. Fresh details have emerged about the da Vinci’s whereabouts and the unsuspecting Louisiana... Read More

One of the supposedly biggest risks facing the U.S. stock market has so far proven a nonfactor, with equity benchmarks levitating near record levels despite rising tensions on trade policy. For months, investors have said that the prospect of a trade war between the U.S. and other major economies was the most severe threat facing Wall Street. However, even as... Read More

President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions President Donald Trump freshly criticized his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions, in an interview with the Hill, suggesting he’s frustrated with him on a variety of issues. “I don’t have an attorney general. It’s very sad,” Trump told the Hill in a video interview. “I’m not happy at the border, I’m not... Read More

President Trump recently signed an executive order to make it easier for small employers to offer 401(k)s through multiple-employer plans and to review the rules on required minimum distributions (RMDs). Expanding access to multiple employer plans is a good idea and a central component of the Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act of 2018, which is winding its way through Congress.... Read More

The #MeToo movement has many people expressing confusion regarding what constitutes sexual assault, concern they will be targeted with accusations, and has left a question mark surrounding what can be done about the apparent epidemic of sexual assault and harassment. One step forward, health experts say, would be to start funding better sex education programs. Studies show sex education programs... Read More