The Street Beat

Wells Fargo has been a big winner in the mortgage market lately, but the decision to forego third-quarter profits on home loans shows the bank knows the party won’t last. The country’s largest mortgage banker kept $9.8 billion worth of new conforming mortgages on its books this past quarter rather than selling them to investors. […]

Citigroup is cutting costs like it’s going out of style. The third-biggest bank by assets announced it will chop 11,000 jobs, or about 4 percent of its workforce, today to boost profitability and scale-down the once-heralded financial supermarket. After former CEO Vikram Pandit left in mid-October, Citigroup (C) realigned focus toward operations and efficiency. Mike […]

It’s no news that Research in Motion [RIMM] and its BlackBerry platform has been struggling to compete against Apple’s iPhones and Google’s Androids. But according to a new report released by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech on Tuesday, BlackBerry has hit a new low. Its market shares have shrunk to 1.6 percent in the U.S., ultimately sending […]

Facebook has had a rough year. Since going public at $38 a share on May 18, the social networking company’s stock price has fallen about 12 points or 31 percent. But earlier this week, Facebook’s (FB) stock price rose more than 8 percent after some analysts upgraded their recommendations on the stock. By midday trading […]

Oil and gold prices fell Wednesday as the fiscal cliff nears and a decision on Greek debt is still impending. Light crude (CLC1) was down 1 percent or 87 cents at $86.31 per barrel in mid-day trading. Crude oil futures (CLF13.NYM) for January delivery were down 1.20 percent at $86.13 a barrel on the New […]

Costco Wholesale Co. (COST) stock rose by 5.3 percent as of 1 p.m. Wednesday, after the bulk retailer announced that it will increase its dividend by $3 billion, or $7 a share, and same-sale store sales that beat analysts expectations. This is the second time Costco increased its dividend this year prior to the “fiscal […]

Black Friday is one of the most important shopping days of the year for retailers. But investors weren’t bowled over by the weekend’s sales. Stocks for many major retailers got a boost during shortened trading on Friday, but by Monday, most had pared their gains. Walmart was a big winner on Black Friday. The retailer […]

By Ken Christensen

The U.S. stock market finished at two-week lows Tuesday despite upbeat signs from the nation’s housing market and growing optimism among consumers. By the closing bell, the three benchmark indices for the market dipped to their lowest levels since Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke announced a third round of bond-buying to stimulate the nation’s […]

It was no surprise that traders bet against Yelp, Inc. in the days before the company released 52 million shares of stock. Just two weeks earlier, Facebook, Inc. stock fell to a record low as insiders dumped shares after the company’s first lockup period expired. Other tech companies like Groupon, Inc. and Angie’s List, Inc. […]