Seeking elusive ‘alpha,’ investors scour the globe
NEW YORK — You can leap off a mountainside in extreme skiing, kick and claw to near death in extreme fighting and twist yourself into a pretzel in extreme yoga. Why not turn investing into an adventure sport? Professional money managers are scouring the world for oddball assets, desperate to find anything that moves to […]
Exxon facing questions about natural gas push
DALLAS — Exxon rode higher oil prices to a $30 billion profit last year. But shareholders at its annual meeting Wednesday are likely to ask pointed questions about its big push into natural gas. Since buying XTO Energy last year for $29 billion, Exxon Mobil Corp. has become the largest natural gas company in the […]
A short-lived attempted smackdown on Big Oil
The call to end federal subsidies to the big oil companies was pretty short-lived. Spurred in part by anger of gas prices north of the $4 mark, the so-called “Close Big Oil Tax Loophole Act” was supposed to punish oil companies like Exxon Mobil, BP, Shell, Chevron and Conoco Phillips by repealing the $4 billion […]
Cardin, Gansler criticize oil company tax breaks at Baltimore Shell station
U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin and Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler held a press conference Monday afternoon outside of the Shell gas station on Russell Street in Baltimore, criticizing subsidies and tax breaks for the five biggest oil companies: Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron, BP and Conoco Phillips.
Sen. Cardin pushes to end tax breaks for oil companies
Sen. Benjamin Cardin is pushing for an end of $4 billion a year in subsidies and tax breaks for the five biggest oil companies. Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler will join Cardin on Monday at a news conference in Baltimore. The Democratic senator is backing legislation that would end subsidies for Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron, […]
Chevron fined $8 billion in Ecuador
QUITO, Ecuador — An Ecuadorean judge ruled Monday that Chevron Corp. was responsible for oil contamination in a wide swath of Ecuador’s northern jungle. The plaintiffs’ attorney says the company was fined $8 billion. Chevron confirmed the ruling but not the amount of the fine. The company said in a news release that it would […]
Banking, other deals drive stock indexes higher
NEW YORK — Financial companies led the stock market higher Tuesday after another big banking deal raised hopes that more acquisitions could be on the way. Toronto-Dominion Bank is buying Chrysler Financial, the automaker’s old lending arm, from Cerberus Capital Management LP for $6.3 billion. It was the latest example of a relatively healthy Canadian […]
Caterpillar’s purchase of Bucyrus spotlights M&As
Big deals are a big deal again. From Caterpillar to Chevron to Google, some of the best-known names in corporate America are scooping up smaller companies, finally putting the piles of cash they’ve been sitting on to use and positioning themselves for a stronger economic recovery. The volume of mergers and acquisitions is still running […]