Lou Gutheil

It was 18 May 2012.  I remember it well.  I wished my daughter a Happy Birthday, then turned my attention to watching what was supposed to be a day of fanfare on the NASDAQ as Facebook was about to open its IPO.  Perhaps never before has the entire world been so highly focused on an […]

In a bold and stunning presentation today, BHP Billiton (LSE:BLT) lived up to its slogan of “Resourcing the Future“.  In its coal review, the company revealed that it is shifting gears to align the company operations to be  in snyc with their projected outlook for supply and demand for metallurgical coal. Frankly, I am impressed […]

Don’t even bother to check the five-year charts for AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN).  If you want to see the big picture, you have to go back more than twice that amount of time to see that the AZN’s share price reached an 11 year high today as is soared by 107.50 pence (3.14%) to 3537.00 this morning. […]

The Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE:RBS) captured headlines over the weekend with two major stories.  It was just three days ago, on 24 May, we reported that RBS had yet another service issue, this time with it’s mobile banking app.  Of course it wasn’t especially ‘news’ to some two million who tried to access the […]

You know RBS (LSE:RBS).  People used to think that the acronym stood for the Royal Bank of Scotland.  Lately, UK citizens, all of whom collectively own 81% of the bank, are beginning to recognize that RBS better describes Really Bad Service, especially those poor blokes and ‘blokettes’ who are customers of the bank. As if […]

While the investment world focuses on Japan today, the news at JP Morgan has failed to make the make the headlines it would have on any almost other day.  The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has levied a fine of £3,076,200 “for systems and control failings related to its provision of retail investment advice and portfolio investment services” […]

With exquisite timing, both Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY) and Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE:RBS) issued updates regarding their capital positions this morning in advance of today’s visit by representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with Chancellor George Osborne.  As expected, the IMF urged Osborne to divest the taxpayers’ stake in both banks as quickly […]

Do you remember what you were doing 13 years ago?  Probably still breathing a sigh of relief that the Y2K computer software issue didn’t really exist.  And, hey, things were looking good.  The key stock indicators looked great.  It was the start of a whole new millennium.  What could possibly go wrong? Well, a lot […]

Is it possible that BP (LSE:BP.) could be in deep water again?  Given the company’s activities over the past several years, including those minor headaches in the Gulf of Mexico and with their joint ventures with Russian oligarchs, it seems almost inevitable.  This time BP has reportedly been in cahoots with Royal Dutch Shell (LSE:RDSA) […]

Michael Dell’s message on the Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) website begins with these words:  “Successful, innovative companies tend to aspire to a greater purpose that goes beyond the bottom line.”  If there were ever a time to test how much he really believes that, it is now. The boardroom discussions must be increasingly more intense at Dell […]