R ecessions often strike like a hammer – you lose your job, your home or a big customer. The onset of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression was more subtle for Pee Dee Sharp, a waiter and bartender at the Capital Grille in downtown Charlotte, N.C. His customers – the free-spending bankers, traders and deal makers who inhabit the gleaming financial towers of Tryon Street – actually began to pay attention to the cheques laid before them at the chic eatery, where a steak will set you back at least $40 (U.S.)

T he world’s largest public energy company is making an enormous bet on a commodity most had counted out. Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM-N said Monday it will pay $31-billion (U.S.) in an all-share buyout of XTO Energy Inc., XTO-N a Fort Worth, Tex.-based energy concern with major production of hard-to-extract unconventional natural gas.

Monday, December 14, 2009 8:57 PM Big firms that deliver outsized profits Allan Robinson W HAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR? Today we look at the ability of large-capitalization companies (excluding natural resources) to generate superior profits based on their return on capital. Matt Kacur, president of FSA Financial Services and Art Ltd.

The climate these days in the world of economics and investments is un-surety, although the US is reporting up turns in their economy plus many other countries including the United Kingdom, Germany and the new power house China, there is still a stench of post traumatic economic death syndrome lingering about our newspapers and airwaves. We can’t help but wonder what exactly this has all taught us and even still, are we actually out of the paper forest fire that ran through nearly every bank across the world. At the height of the monetary disaster, investors rushed and pushed a lot of their funds into gold bullion as a safe haven for their wealth for fear of an all out collapse of the Dollar, the Sterling and Euro

Although we live in this world, the Bible tells us in Romans 12:2 that we should not conform to the ways of the world. As Christians, we are held to different standards, higher standards. Are we useless?

W ells Fargo & Co. WFC-N said on Monday it will repay the entire $25-billion (U.S.) it received from the U.S. government under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, after selling $10.4-billion of common shares.

When taking a vacation or traveling to a new place, many people rent a car for convenience. Major companies that provide rent-a-car services usually require credit card payment.