The stock market is going gangbusters —but whether this reflects the economy’s underlying strength or runaway speculation is a question that stumps many experts. Hence, the need for this column: a primer on the red-hot stock market. Will it sustain the economy or ultimately kill it? The boom is undeniable. In 12 out of the first 15 trading days of ...

Although the world economy is in its eighth year of expansion, a casual observer might be forgiven for thinking things have just got going. Don’t worry; they will keep going for a while, according to the International Monetary Fund, which released an update to its World Economic Outlook this week. Thank the existing growth momentum and, yes, the often-maligned tax ...

It’s starting to look like smartphones are no longer the ever-reliable driver of global semiconductor demand. For the past decade, it was those touch-screen, internet-connected, selfie-taking devices that propped up the industry as the appetite for computers declined. STMicroelectronics NV on Thursday added to the chatter when it pointed to “unfavorable seasonal dynamics for smartphone applications” in forecasting a dip ...

Invoking a 1974 law intended to safeguard companies from unfair competition, the Trump administration has announced new tariffs on foreign-made solar panels and washing machines. Both measures are deeply misguided. At best, they will raise prices, threaten jobs, antagonize allies, encourage retaliation, and impede clean-energy development, all without offering any real benefits. At worst, they may herald a perilous new ...

Whatever you might say about Prime Minister Narendra Modi—and plenty of people have had a lot to say in the past—not even his critics have called him an uninspiring speaker. He has held spectators at vast election rallies spellbound, even groups of overseas Indians in arenas like Wembley Stadium. He is a big room, big occasion speaker, always able to ...

Despite the best labour market in a generation, Americans remain worried about the future of employment. Lately, the big worry is automation of jobs. Experiments like Amazon Go’s cashier-less store will perpetuate this anxiety. Americans perhaps should be more worried about an old-fashioned employment maneuver, however: outsourcing. The tech sector is already leading the way. Outsourcing tech jobs is nothing ...

The saga of Amazon.com Inc.’s search for a home for its second headquarters continues. The online retail giant recently announced that it has narrowed the field down to 20 cities. I’m happy to see that Raleigh, North Carolina, my own top pick, made the list. But there’s a worry that the scramble to lure HQ2 will give rise to wasteful ...

Bloomberg Saudi Aramco’s trading unit started swapping the kingdom’s crude oil for products refined in other countries, allowing the company to tap new markets, according to its chief executive officer. The company has supplied crude to refiners in the Mediterranean region and gotten fuel in return, Ibrahim Al-Buainain, chief executive officer of Saudi Aramco Products Trading Co., said by phone. ...

DAVOS / Reuters US Energy Secretary Rick Perry told oil super-powers Russia and Saudi Arabia he believed US shale oil boom would not become a spoiler for oil markets because new production would be absorbed by fast rising global demand. Perry, a former governor of Texas, the heartland of the US shale oil boom, was speaking at a rare joint ...

BEIJING / Reuters Russia held firm as China’s top crude oil supplier in December for the 10th month and racked up its second year as the largest supplier in 2017, customs data showed, leaving rival exporter Saudi Arabia in second place on both fronts. Exports from Russia hit 5.03 million tonnes in December, down 0.2 percent from a year earlier, ...