May 24 2013 9:00 AM

Deciding when, how, and where to invest isn’t easy. If it were, more people would do it and everyone would be rich. Investing is tricky and there’s an amount of risk that goes into investing whether it’s stocks, gold, or a budding company.

May 24 2013 8:33 AM

The euro improved modestly on Friday morning following better than expected data that showed the eurozone's service sector and factory output improved in May. However, gains were narrow as both figures, although improved from last month's readings, still indicated a contraction. Bloomberg reported that a composite index drawn from a survey of purchasing managers rose to 47.7 in May compared to 46.9 in April. Most economists were expecting 47.2, so the data came as a pleasant surprise for the region.

May 23 2013 11:53 AM

If you want an objective view of energy, ask an economist, who can tell you what to expect to pay at the pump in the coming years, and why, as well as what to expect from medium- and long-term economic growth and what the real drivers will be. These are questions that are crucial to a pending decision by the US government over natural gas exports, and while we know where big oil stands versus its manufacturing rivals—it's the economist who can set things straight. Mark Thoma is a macroeconomist and time-series econometrician at the University of Oregon. His research focuses on how monetary policy affects the economy, and he has also worked on political business cycle models. Mark is currently a fellow at The Century Foundation, a columnist at The Fiscal Times, an analyst at CBS MoneyWatch, and he blogs daily at Economist's View.

May 23 2013 8:22 AM

Struggling diversified technology company Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ [FREE Stock Trend Analysis]) released its fiscal second-quarter earnings results after the closing bell on Wednesday. Over the last five years, the company's share price has been more than halved as a secular decline in the PC business and a failure to innovate have weighed on sales and income.

May 23 2013 7:57 AM

The euro slipped to $1.2838 on Thursday morning following Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony to Congress and the release of the bank's latest policy meeting minutes. Bernanke told Congress that the Fed would consider easing back on its bond buying stimulus if the country's economic improvement continued. His comments boosted the dollar and sent the euro downward as a result.