On September 7, 2017, Equifax, one of the three main credit reporting agencies, announced a massive data security breach that exposed vital personal identification data — including names, addresses, birth dates, and Social Security numbers — on as many as 143 million consumers, roughly 55% of Americans age 18 and older.1 This data breach was [...]
Each time you connect to the Internet, you risk becoming the victim of a cybercrime. It's the price we pay for living in a digital world — whether it's at home, at work, or on your smartphone. According to the Identity Theft Resource Institute, the number of U.S. data breaches in 2016 increased by 40%. [...]
The Markets (as of market close September 8, 2017) Retail gas prices surged as Hurricane Harvey forced refineries to shut down, leading to curtailed petroleum shipments. Higher gas prices cut into investors' pockets, prompting them to move money from stocks to bonds. Each of the indexes listed here lost value last week, with the exception [...]
The Markets (as of market close September 1, 2017) Equities were back in the black last week, with each of the indexes listed here posting end-of-week gains. The Nasdaq soared to its largest weekly gain of the year. The large caps of the Dow and S&P 500 enjoyed noticeable gains, despite last Friday's mundane jobs [...]
The Markets (as of market close August 25, 2017) Amid a scarcity of economic data and the lightest trading levels of the year, stocks managed to end the week in positive territory, as measured by the indexes tracked below. The Russell 2000 was the week's leader, notching a weekly gain of nearly 1.5%, with all [...]
The Markets (as of market close August 18, 2017) Last week saw domestic and global conflicts heighten investors' concerns, pushing stocks lower in what was a slow week for trading. The Dow lost over 270 points last Thursday, offsetting robust gains the prior Monday. The S&P 500 fell 0.65%, while the Nasdaq dropped .64% last [...]
The Markets (as of market close August 11, 2017) Investors may have been disturbed by the rising tensions between the United States and North Korea last week, resulting in a shift from stocks to long-term bonds. The Dow, which had surged to a new record high the prior week, sunk over 1.0% last week, while [...]
The Markets (as of market close July 31, 2017) The last day of July saw each of the indexes listed here post gains over their June closing values. Despite slumping tech stocks at the end of the month, the Nasdaq led the benchmarks for the month, closely followed by the Global Dow, as each index [...]
The Markets (as of market close August 4, 2017) Last week ended with a mixed bag of stock market performances. The Dow, influenced by a favorable jobs report and strong corporate quarterly earnings, surged to a new record high. The S&P 500 also ended last week in positive territory. Tech stocks did not fare as [...]
The Markets (as of market close July 14, 2017) Both the Dow and S&P 500 reached record highs last week, and each of the indexes listed here posted gains. While the large-cap indexes reached new highs, the tech-heavy Nasdaq had the best week, climbing over 2.50% by last week's end, followed by the Global Dow, [...]
