Basic Materials

December 22 2011 8:49 AM

The fact is everyone in the financial services or wealth management business has thought about what they feel the markets will do next year. Following are the 10 market predictions for 2012 from Oliver Pursche, co-portfolio manager of GMG Defensive Beta Fund.

December 21 2011 12:16 PM

To be sure, it's not a U.S. stock market for rookies, or the squeamish -- it's a market that also can bring out the reactive in even the most experienced investor. Hence with the above in mind, here are 5 time-tested axioms that every investor should keep close by.

December 20 2011 11:35 AM

Shell confirmed the loss of 319 barrels of drilling fluids from a booster line, which is separated from the actual well bore but provides additional drilling fluids. The company has decided to temporarily abandon the well in order to make needed repairs. The source of the leak is not yet disclosed.

December 19 2011 5:35 PM

Roughly 2,600 gallons of oil have leaked off the Brazilian coast since Sunday. The spill, reported Agence France Presse, threatens an area of the country's coast line that Carlos Minc, Environment Secretary in Rio de Janiero state, called an ecological treasure.

December 19 2011 12:37 PM

Canadian fertilizer giant Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan is seeking approval from the Israeli government to increase its stake in rival Israel Chemicals Ltd. to 25 percent, according to media reports.

December 17 2011 5:09 PM

With India's economic growth buckling and the rupee at an all-time low, other companies, too, are expected to struggle to meet debt obligations in the coming months.

December 16 2011 10:18 AM

Friday's settlement is the fourth involving companies that in some shape or form worked on the Deepwater Horizon with BP, or supplied it with equipment. Previous settlements involved MOEX and Anadarko, BP's partners in the Macondo well, and Weatherford, the company that made the float collar used at the well.

December 15 2011 1:48 PM

Although still at levels above the five-year national average, natural gas inventories shrunk in the week ending in Dec. 9 from previous weeks, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

December 15 2011 11:18 AM

ExxonMobil and the Iraqi central government have been at odds with each other since November, after the U.S. oil company signed contracts for several exploration rights in the semi-autonomous region of the country.