American misery down, but not on Wall Street
Time to break out the champagne, America. The country's Misery Index is at a 56-year low.
In a recent note, Gluskin Sheff chief economist David Rosenberg referred to the index, considered a market-based proxy for sentiment, which has not been this low since May of 1959.
The weaker economic data so far this year "is likely to be transitory in nature," Mr. Rosenberg believes, "with the consumer likely to play a lead role in a rebound over the remainder of this year."
But the happy feelings don't seem to have spread on to Wall Street, where just 22 per cent of people in the finance sector said they were content with their jobs, the Business Insider report added.
Those surveyed said they feel under appreciated and that their efforts are not sufficiently recognized. No word in the survey if they feel underpaid or not.
Looking for fun? Go grocery shopping
The online grocery shopping business continues to grow, but that doesn't seem to be a threat to your local grocery store.
A Nielsen survey has found that as much as a quarter of shoppers worldwide have gone cyber-shopping for food, and a majority said supermarket shopping was an "enjoying and engaging" experience," Quartz reports.
And the outings appears to foster a sense of togetherness, too: Fifty-seven per cent reported that roaming the aisles was a "fun day out for the family." There's just no accounting for what some people think is a good time.
BG chief's rueful goodbye
BG Group chief executive Helge Lund jumped ship from Norway's Statoil just three months ago, and already he's preparing to clear out his desk.
In that time, he struck a deal to sell the company to Shell at a 50-per-cent premium in the biggest oil merger in a decade.
"I do have slightly mixed emotions as I was looking forward to taking BG forward ," he said at Tuesday's annual meeting.
Disclosures can't imagine them being too mixed for long: Mr. Lund will receive about £32-million ($59-million) when he departs, according to a Reuters analysis.
Despite the big gain for investors, many were less pleased with the CEO's platinum parachute. "This really represents an outrageous sum in the current climate," shareholder Mark Bentley said.
Remains of RadioShack hit the auction block
Bankrupt U.S. electronics chain RadioShack is selling off everything, including the kitchen sink. The sad part is that what remains, including its name, isn't likely to fetch much at all at next week's auction.
"There's kind of a funny smell for any brand that goes through bankruptcy, unless it's relatively unknown," restructuring expert Lawrence Perkins told Bloomberg.
Mr. Perkins doesn't hold out much hope for the 94-year-old chain's name, either.
"It's almost like they're being punished for the notoriety of RadioShack, and the long fall it had." To put it into perspective, he added: "Imagine selling the name Enron."
Ackman sees a budding Berkshire in Valeant
"You'd think after 25 years people would realize. And Valeant is a very early-stage Berkshire."
Pershing Square Capital founder and shareholder activist Bill Ackman likens Canadian pharmaceutical giant Valeant to Berkshire Hathaway, which he says has always been undervalued.
Could Apple Watch fuel other sectors?
The Apple Watch was barely released before tattooed owners discovered a particular failure to communicate: The watch's heart-rate mechanism gives false readings when worn over inked wrists.
"Our tests on solid black and red [inks] initially produced heart rate misreadings of up to 196 beats per minute," according to iMore.com, in a MarketWatch report.
The glitch could provide a boom in other areas: the already surging tattoo removal business, and unaware Apple Watch owners stampeding to hospital cardiac departments.