The Dow Jones Industrial Average or the Dow 30 is one of the most watched US benchmarks. Created in 1896, investors have closely tracked its performance on a daily basis for more than a century. But is it still significant or is it in need of a reboot?
Monday Moguls: Jim Rogers tells you where to invest
On Wall Street, many people ask the question, “What is the ‘smart money' doing?” I believe it makes sense to follow the best and brightest minds no matter what field you are in. So from time to time, we will take a look at the smart money in a series called Monday Moguls. If you don't want to miss out on the next one, please subscribe to our blog (directly to the right for desktop users or at the bottom of the page for mobile readers).
US Service Sector grows, hiring improves in January
The US service sector growth picked up in January after two months of slower growth.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported that its service index grew to 54% in January, up from its 53% December reading. This narrowly beat expectations of 53.7 from forecasters surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires. This marks the 49th consecutive month of growth. A reading above 50 indicates the sector is expanding.
New York Fed Announces New Service Sector Survey
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York this month began publishing the Business Leaders Survey covering service firms in New York, northern New Jersey, and southwestern Connecticut. The new survey makes sense for a region of the U.S. that is more closely connected to finance, tourism, and media than it is to manufacturing.
Kerchunker Profile: LifeLock to benefit from Target data breach
Cybercrime is on the rise. In the past, you only needed to worry about pickpockets or losing your wallet. You knew could cancel your credit cards the next day and not have to worry much. Today criminals are focused on stealing millions of identities at a time. This is proved by Target's recent data breach of up to 110 million customers' data including credit card numbers, PIN numbers, names and addresses. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, about 7% of people aged 16 or over were victims of identity theft in 2012. This translates into over 12 million Americans who had to deal with the hassle of the aftermath. Identity theft resulted in over $21 billion in costs to victims and businesses. Today your data may be floating around the black market and you don't know when the actual identity theft will occur. 15% of identity theft victims don't know until 4 or more years has past.
US Service Sector steady in December, but new orders contract
The US service sector slowed again in December but more alarmingly new orders contracted for the first time since 2009.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported that its service index fell to 53% in November, a decrease from its 53.9% November reading. This missed expectatoins of 54.5 from forecasters surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires. This marks the 48th consecutive month of growth. A reading above 50 indicates the sector is expanding.