Joseph Lazzaro

Europe's markets closed slightly higher Friday, but ended 2011 with large losses. In 2011 London's FTSE 100 declined 5.6 percent, Germany's DAX fell 14.7 percent, and France's CAC 40 finished the year with a 17 percent decline.

European shares were poised to register their biggest annual drop since 2008 on Friday after a year marred by the Eurozone debt crisis that has threatened to drag down the global economy.

Japan's leading share average ended higher on Friday but marked a 17 percent loss for 2011, a tumultuous year in which massive natural disasters triggered a nuclear crisis and Europe's debt turmoil drained volumes, leaving investors uncertain of a turnaround next year.

European shares advanced on Thursday as upbeat data from the United States helped fuel a low-volume rally in the afternoon, although volatility also rose as investors hedged against lingering uncertainty in the Eurozone.

You can’t blame Americans for wanting to drop investing in U.S. stocks like a bad habit as the new year begins. Is the Dow’s recent rise above 12,000 a buy signal or another false rally?

European shares steadied on Thursday in low volume as investors remained wary after Italian 10-year bond yields stayed near 7 percent, deemed by many analysts as unsustainable, following a disappointing debt auction.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei slipped on Thursday ahead of an Italian debt sale that could prove challenging in thin volumes, while the euro's tumble against the yen to a 10-year low pressured exporters. Meanwhile, most other Southeast Asian bourses edged higher on Thursday, helped by late bargain-hunting in big caps and dividend-yielding stocks

European shares tracked Wall Street into the red in light trade on Wednesday, with auto makers the steepest fallers as investors cashed in on a recent rally.

Persian Gulf oil producing nations are prepared to compensate for any loss of oil in the world market, a senior Saudi official said after Iran amped-up its rhetoric Tuesday about blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a key supply route for the world’s oil.

European shares rose on Wednesday in a low volume rally after investor sentiment was given a boost as short-term debt costs halved at a debt auction in Italy and improved confidence about demand for Thursday's Italian long-term bond sale.

Japan's Nikkei average dropped below a key support level in holiday-thinned trade on Tuesday, on track for a flat performance in December and double-digit losses for the year.

President Barack Obama will nominate Harvard economist Jeremy Stein and Jerome Powell, an investment banker and former Treasury official, to the two empty seats on the Federal Reserve's policy-setting board of governors.

European shares steadied on Tuesday in low volume after strong gains in the previous week, with Italian banking stocks hit after the country's bond yields rose on worries thin liquidity would make a sovereign debt auction in Italy on Thursday tough.

Oil Shock III -- could another surge in oil prices to the stratosphere jeopardize another U.S. economic recovery? Indeed, it is possible, with oil pushing $100 per barrel as 2011 ends, and with little sign of retreating substantially despite sub-par U.S. gasoline demand.

European stocks crept higher on Tuesday, catching the tailwind of a pre-holiday U.S. rally, while the euro was hamstrung by the prospect of a large Italian debt auction later in the week.

Japan's Nikkei average dropped below a key support level in holiday-thinned trade on Tuesday, on track for a flat performance in December and double-digit losses for the year.

To reduce/eliminate climate change, the U.S. must sub nuclear power for coal at electric power generating plants, until more-advanced energy forms are available. And France is a good model to follow: it generates almost 79 percent of its electricity from nuclear technology and has successfully reprocessed nuclear fuel for decades.

European shares turned in their best weekly performance since early December on Friday on optimism about a global recovery, after some positive data from the United States during the week provided evidence the economy was growing.

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, has predicted rising inflation and a collapse of the dollar due to the U.S.’s fiscal and monetary policies, but roughly three years into the economic recovery, inflation remains moderate. And the dollar? It’s holding its own and may strengthen in 2012.

You can rage, rage against gas prices, or you can align your interest with oil producers/refiners by considering shares in an oil play. And here are five.

European stocks rose to their highest in two weeks on Friday, tracking Wall Street gains as the U.S., the world's biggest economy, showed further signs of recovery, especially in the labor market.

Asia'a markets rose more than 1 percent and U.S. index futures also gained on Friday, as signs of a strengthening economy in the United States encouraged a year-end bounce for riskier assets.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, signaled that if the payroll tax reduction extension deal is not approved by the House via unanimous consent on Friday, he'll call the House back into session for a vote next week. Odds are, given the tax cut's popularity, the House GOP will approve it Friday, but as Yogi Berra famously said, It ain't over til it's over.

A paradigm shift regarding U.S. energy policy on oil has to occur. No, it won’t occur given the current make-up of the U.S. Congress, but eventually, for energy independence reasons, a paradigm shift is mandatory.

European shares rose on Thursday, helped by mostly upbeat U.S. economic data, and with banks gaining after taking advantage of cheap finance offered by the European Central Bank.

Amid the holidays and making your list and checking it twice, what better time to consider one of 3 stocking-stuffer stocks that you can place by the chimney with care: General Electric (GE), CVS (CVS), Intel (INTC). These 3 companies are the kind of stock that you can buy for child's college fund, and in 10 years, you'll be really glad you did.

European shares were higher early Thursday afternoon in low volume that exaggerated movements, with investors hoping a batch of U.S. data would confirm an improving economic picture.

Japan's blue-chip index snapped a two-day winning run on Thursday and met strong resistance near its 25-day moving average, with the machine tools sector weighed down by a brokerage downgrade.

Which areas of the United States are likely to receive a White Christmas and which are not?