With today’s rally, the S&P 500 is once again back above the 1,100 level. The index has hovered above that threshold intraday on five different trading sessions during the past month. However it has fought some resistance there, failing to close above that level on each of those days. In fact, the S&P has not closed above 1,100 since October 2, 2008.    Read More

Fashion Week has long been recognized as a hub for the hottest trends. But with the retail sector getting pounded by the economy, has sponsoring the event gone out of style?    Read More

Trends in the last several months have been getting “less worse” in the hotel industry, said Patrick Scholes, hotel and lodging analyst at FBR Capital Markets. He told investors where they should be putting money to work.    Read More

Priceline.com was up 14% yesterday after beating Q2 earnings estimates on strong sales and bookings and guiding above expectations for its current third quarter. The company noted that its results have been and continue to be helped by strong demand for leisure travel this summer, which has been spurred by lower prices via heavy discounting.   Read More

The great American road trip is back, and that could be good news for Choice Hotels International, which franchises value hotel chains like Comfort Inn. We talked to CEO Steve Joyce, who says he sees signs of stabilization in his niche of the travel industry.    Read More

This commencement season, anxious graduates have gotten advice urging you to hang tough or “buck up” until things recover and you can begin climbing the career ladder of your choice...Forget false optimism. My business partner in the polling and research firm we run did a recent analysis of how extremely successful people found success in their chosen field.   Read More

Unemployment hit 8.9 percent in April and some predict that number could climb over 10 percent in 2009 as major companies further streamline operations to combat the recession.  While some industries are more labor intensive than others, employee productivity is a key measure that managers and investors look at when evaluating performance.  Take a look at which companies are squeezing the most out their shrinking workforces.   Read More