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Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities Research pulls no punches in his latest Apple Inc. AAPL 1.92% In a recent note, Chowdhry called for the "completely clueless" Tim Cook to be replaced. He cited a culture of "bozos" at Apple destroying $486 billion in shareholder value under Cook's management. Apple's PE multiple under Steve Jobs was consistently above the S&P 500 PE and above 20X according to Chowdhry. The S&P 500's current 20.5X PE dwarfs the 11.5X PE Apple generated under Tim Cook and Luca Maestri leadership. The lack of reward (positive yearly stock performance) is the market's way of telling...

In this day and age it seems like almost everything is disposable, and many employers have found that they can make a lot more money if they have a workforce that can be turned on and off like a faucet. In America today, there are more than 17 million “independent workers”, and they represent a bigger share of the workforce than ever before. Federal laws give a lot of protection to “full-time workers”, but for temporary and contract employees it is a much different story. Temp workers don’t get health insurance, vacation time or retirement benefits. They are simply paid...

Right now, we're hearing much celebrating from the media, the White House and Wall Street about how unemployment is "down" to 5.6%. The cheerleading for this number is deafening. The media loves a comeback story, the White House wants to score political points and Wall Street would like you to stay in the market. None of them will tell you this: If you, a family member or anyone is unemployed and has subsequently given up on finding a job -- if you are so hopelessly out of work that you've stopped looking over the past four weeks -- the Department...

**SNIP** Clinton, however, told the truth (it must have been an accident) to a questioner during a political rally. QUESTIONER: "Hi, I just want to know why there is discrimination against the part-time workers when so many companies are going to part-time when it comes to FMLA?" HILLARY CLINTON: "Well, that’s why they are going to part-time. That, and also, the Affordable Care Act. You know, we got to change that because we have built in some unfortunate incentives that discourage full-time employment." The Democratic front-runner therefore said openly that legislation she supported, and still supports, resulted in loss of...

'He is positioned to win the GOP nomination and the White House despite all odds' They treated his campaign announcement as a joke. They tried to destroy his business. They called him every foul name they could come up with. But at the end of 2015, the biased journalists, political consultants, leftist activists, snarky comedians and embittered critics of every stripe had to concede one man had beaten them all. Donald J. Trump is the Republican favorite for president of the United States. There's no indication he'll fall from the top spot any time soon. And he's the WND 2015...

For American drillers, the New Year will likely bring more of the same - financial pressure and mass layoffs. The U.S. petroleum industry hasn't seen this many bankruptcies in one quarter since the Great Recession, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas says, counting nine Chapter 11 court filings in the year's final three-month period. And that's just a third of the year's domestic casualty count. The Dallas Fed also estimates in a new report on Thursday the nation has lost about 70,000 oil and gas jobs since October 2014, a 14.5 percent drop in the 14 months after the domestic...

Groups question keeping Four Corners Power Plant open for 25 more years. A coalition of environmental groups has filed a notice of intent to sue the Office of Surface Mining, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others over a July decision to allow the Four Corners Power Plant to operate through 2041. A coalition of environmental groups announced earlier this week its intent to take legal action against several federal agencies for extending operations at the Four Corners Power Plant and Navajo Mine just outside Farmington. On Dec. 21, San Juan Citizen Alliance, among other regional and national conservation groups,...

State AG sues major tech support provider alleging deceptive scam By Connie Thompson Wednesday, December 16th 2015 State investigators just sued one of the rising stars in the tech-support industry claiming part of the operation is based on a scam. The company, called iYogi, is accused of tricking people into paying for tech support services they don't need. According to investigators iYogi engaged in a different twist on the notorious tech support scams where someone call you claiming your computer has problems. What's significant in this case is workers don't call you, you call them. And iYogi is one of...

Illinois losing 1 resident every 5 minutes to out-migration The U.S. Census Bureau report released Dec. 22 is compelling evidence that Illinois needs pro-growth, pro-jobs reforms. The report shows that Illinois recorded its first six-digit loss of residents to other states, with Illinois losing 105,000 more people to other states than it gained from July 2014 to July 2015. The border war losses were so bad that Illinois total population shrank by 22,000 people on the year, the worst ever. Similar to last year 2013-2014 data, Illinois is the only state in the region to have a shrinking population. The...

Every major presidential candidate, even those most beholden to Wall Street, says he or she opposes the offshoring of American jobs. Like vows to "defeat ISIS" and "repair our crumbling infrastructure," the nationalist cri de couer against "shipping jobs overseas" has become a bipartisan catchphrase of the 2016 race. But political rhetoric is one thing and economic reality is another. Offshoring has become an effective way for U.S. companies to build and manage their products and services. Look at Apple Computer. Except for the Mac Pro personal computer, possibly the best company in the history of American business doesn't produce...

Tuesday on Newsmax TV's "The Steve Malzberg Show," former Nixon and Reagan aide and conservative commentator Pat Buchanan said Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump could do well among blue-collar Democratic voters who are concerned about the border and unhappy with Bill Clinton-era trade deals. Buchanan said, "My view about Donald Trump is he's got some real capabilities I think to break out from the normal pattern of basically moderate conservative Republican against centrist Democrat. Part of that I think is his issue with the border, which reaches across party lines, and secondly his issue on trade against NAFTA and GATT...

More Houston-area energy jobs are on the chopping block next year as Dresser-Rand announced plans to shutter a North Houston support facility and lay off 72 people who work there. The company said it will "cease operations at the facility" at 20120 E. Hardy Road, with the shutdown slated to finalize between Feb. 21 and March 5, Dresser-Rand said in a letter to the Texas Workforce Commission. Dresser-Rand, which makes turbo compressors, turbines, valves and other components for the energy industry, was acquired by German industrial conglomerate Siemens earlier this year. Like other companies that manufacture and maintain equipment for...

United States Steel Corp. has put on hold the construction of an electric arc furnace at its Fairfield Works in Birmingham, Ala. U.S. Steel said in a statement Monday afternoon that the decision was made due to the poor oil and gas market, which is a major customer of steel. It specifically cited low oil prices and a cut to the number of rigs operating in the U.S. "The company continues to feel the effect of these energy market conditions, along with low steel prices and continued high levels of imports," U.S. Steel said in a statement. The $230 million...

Trust me, Hillary Clinton is scared. Smart Democrats are panicking. Leading Democrats keep saying in the media that Donald Trump can’t win the general election. Really? That may be what they’re saying out loud, but it’s not what they are whispering in private. I think leading Democrats know exactly what I know. Donald Trump can win New York State. And if he does, Hillary’s goose is cooked. If the GOP wins New York, Democrats have no electoral path to the White House. Donald Trump is the consummate New Yorker. Donald Trump is New York. Hillary was a carpetbagger from Arkansas....

The unique base of support that has pushed Donald Trump to the top of the Republican presidential field in national polls is also likely to give him boost this spring when the campaign shifts to the South. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has drawn wide attention for his own efforts in Southern states, many of which will vote as part of the big, March 1 "SEC Primary" when more convention delegates will be awarded than on any other day. Mr. Cruz, who is surging in the polls, is focusing on evangelical Christian voters and other social conservatives, which form the...

Not long ago, Donald J. Trump and Russell Simmons were close. The hip-hop mogul and his brother Rev. Run would fly on Mr. Trump's private plane to Mar-a-Lago, the real estate developer’s lavish Florida resort. Mr. Simmons even had a playful nickname for Mr. Trump: Richie Rich. When Mr. Simmons was going through a divorce, Mr. Trump's teasing phone calls lifted his spirits. "He'd say funny stuff," Mr. Simmons said, adding that he had put Mr. Trump on speakerphone so that others could hear Mr. Trump's jovial taunts about his ex-wife getting the upper hand in the divorce. "He'd say,...

The unique base of support that has pushed Donald Trump to the top of the Republican presidential field in national polls is also likely to give him boost this spring when the campaign shifts to the South. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has drawn wide attention for his own efforts in Southern states, many of which will vote as part of the big, March 1 "SEC Primary," when more convention delegates will be awarded than on any other day. Mr. Cruz, who is surging in the polls, is focusing on evangelical Christian voters and other social conservatives, which form the...

The holiday season can bring stresses -- what with the shopping, shipping, baking and bills -- but for workers in the energy sector, this December is turning out to be especially tough thanks to industry layoffs. Take Robin Ewan, who, for more than 30 years, worked as a test engineer for Schlumberger, a global oilfield service company. Not anymore. "This is the first time around Christmas that I've been laid off, and it has a bit of an effect, because now, you know, you're wondering who to buy presents for and what presents. You're going to make it more meaningful...

Many people may be adding "find a new job" to their list of resolutions in 2016, and the good news is that it's a job-seekers' market. The national unemployment rate dropped to 5% last month, the lowest it's been since 2008. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 271,000 new jobs were created, many of which were in technology, health care, and retail, building on a trend that's been gaining steam this year, as twice as many employers are looking to fill jobs as there are candidates who are applying. To determine which jobs are most in demand heading into...

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is climbing to his highest support yet in a new national poll. The real estate mogul earned a broad 41 percent support from Republicans and Republican-leaning registered voters in a new national Monmouth University poll released today.