English: Halliburton Annual Revenue (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Halliburton Profit Jumps 17%

Halliburton beat its earnings expectations with a seventeen percent profit jump this week, owing largely to its operations on a global scale. The oilfield company, which as traditionally seen dominance in U.S. markets, points to its expansion efforts in the Eastern hemisphere as its source of success. The company states that it has invested over one billion dollars in new facilities (notably in Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Brazil) and cites its continued global expansion as a major source of profit. Halliburton was not the only company to post gains on Monday - its two largest rivals continued their own oil-drilling growth and increased their profits handily.

TaxACT Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

TaxACT Purchases Balance Financial

If you have been following the news surrounding TaxACT as of late, you may have noticed that they just purchased a financial tools provider known as Balance Financial. This is a huge move for the company, and bodes very well for the future of TaxACT. At the same time, it gives the smaller Balance Financial the stability that is needed to continue working on the stellar tools that they have been making, which have been recognized by both Entrepreneur Magazine and CNN Money for their high level of quality.

English: Royal Bank of Scotland Portre, Isle of Skye. Note the RBS logo in Scottish Gaelic Français : Banque RBS à Portre, île de Skye, à noter le nom de la banque écrit en écossais (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Rating Royal Bank Of Scotland Today

Royal Bank of Scotland Group operates in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Its operations in other countries are minimal in comparison. Either way, RBS functions as the holding company for a financial services and global banking group. The company features expansive operations worldwide, which isn't surprising given its hefty stock price. Unfortunately, investors can't figure out a consensus on the company.

Rite Aid (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Near 52 Weeks High Stocks

A company's stock, which has been consistently high over a period of time is what investors prefer. The stock price is a good indicator of how popular a stock is and also how well the company is performing. The near 52 weeks high is a dependable indicator that helps those investing in stocks know their present value and predict future market trends. The highest price a stock traded in during a 52 week period is termed as a 52 week high, and the lowest at which it traded is called a 52 week low. When the price of a stock nears a 52 week high or a 52 week low, investors either buy or sell the stock.

Cummins Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cummins Inc. Stock Expected To Increase

Cummins Inc. is an international and publicly traded company that designs, develops, manufactures, and eventually sells service engines and a wide variety of related accessories.  The company has been in business for nearly 100 years, is headquartered in Indiana, and is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Parkett-Boerse in Ffm (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Another Glitch In Option Exchanges

Option trading was interrupted once again following a system glitch, according to the Options Monster website this week. Business was halted for approximately 30 minutes due to technical problems that emanated from the Options Price Reporting Authority (OPRA) that distributes price quotes across the board.

These technical problems saw a big swing in option trading. During the period, trading was at its worst. However, efforts to restore the trading brought relief at around 1.40 p.m EST. These issues demonstrate the significance of option trading, which reduces the losses that arise from big options swings.

Royal Bank of Scotland (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bank Of Scotland Rating

In July of this year, Moody's Investor Service announced that they would review the Royal Bank of Scotland rating in order to determine whether or not the lending institution deserved a further downgrade in rank.  The bank, which current has only a woeful D+ financial strength rating (similar to a credit assessment of baa3), may greatly suffer from a further downgrade.  Investors thinking of putting their assets in the hands of the Royal Bank may quickly regret it if the lending institution hits another bump in the road.

Image via CrunchBase

Social networking sites may have made the world smaller, but they have also resulted in an added security threat to businesses. Almost a third of all Internet users are on Twitter with around 175 million tweets being circulated a day. The speed at which information travels is the basis of how stock market swindlers work. It is difficult to pinpoint the source of a piece of information that has gone viral, and in the while that it takes to find and shut it down, the damage can be done.

Google Chromecast (Photo credit: Scott Beale)

Does Chromecast Make Google A Good Investment?

Even if you don't consider yourself particularly well-informed with regards to the stock market, the financial success and industry dominance of Google as a company is enough for most people to throw their money behind it. With this summer's release of Chromecast, however, many investors are wondering if they should change their stance on this investment opportunity. How will the release of Chromecast affect Google's viability? Will the Chromecast, the digital media screening adapter that is now the newest competitor of similar devices released by Apple, NetGear, and Logitech prove to be yet another reason to invest in Google?

Icahn Lab Conference Room (Photo credit: Joe Shlabotnik)

Carl Icahn Invests in Apple Inc.

It wasn’t too long ago that the drop in Apple stock seemed like it would not stop as the price dropped all the way down to $400 a share after the death of legendary CEO Steve Jobs. Now the stock has turned the corner and is on the way back up, but to $700 is a level that not many are predicting. Carl Icahn does feel good about $600 a share and invested 1.5 billion in the stock recently. Icahn feels that the stock is easily worth $625 even without any growth in earnings. In addition to investing in the stock he has spoken with the current CEO, Tim Cook, trying to get the company to purchase more of their shares back from the public.