Ah, the Christmas season. The hustle, the bustle, the inevitable familial strife over whether everyone can afford exchanging gifts this year.While most folks are preparing for the holidays by weighin

Editor's Note: Welcome to Love It or Hate It, a regular dual-column feature that will capture the love-hate relationship America has with some of its biggest, most controversial companies. For past c

Getting kicked down stairs at a small home-improvement company made Kenneth Langone rich and has saved millions of do-it-yourselfers big bucks.In 1978, the legendary investor got into a tiff with the

This... is the lobby of the Petersham Hotel -- nine miles northeast of Trafalgar Square. The noise you hear is the sound of room service handing me my tuna sandwich. At some point after the blitz,

American charities have weathered a significant drop in giving this year, and while they're hoping for a holiday miracle, a recent survey shows they will probably see a decrease in year-end generosit

Many people are finding the holiday tradition of making charitable donations difficult again this year, particularly if they're unemployed or worried about the economy. Charities, many of which norma

Editor's Note: The following article was written by Raymond James Chief Investment Strategist Jeff Saut. It has been reproduced with permission for the benefit of the Minyanville community.&lsq

The United States, long an exporter of popular culture, may be exporting obesity to Europe, Asia, and Africa thanks to strong fast-food sales led by McDonald’s (MCD).The World Health Organizati

The US economy appears to face a classic chicken-or-the-egg conundrum: The economy is slow because consumers aren’t spending, and consumers aren’t spending because the economy is slow, gi

The United States economy might not be doing so well, but local economies are fighting back.To combat outsourcing of goods and services, and to keep revenue within the community, many areas have inst