Record ahead
With 72 percent of corporate earnings exceeding analysts’ estimates, it may be difficult for stocks not to reach a record in 2013. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is 5.1 percent below the all-time high in October 2007. Profits in the benchmark gauge are forecast to exceed $1 trillion this year, or 31 percent more than when the gauge peaked, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Even if the price-earnings ratio doesn’t expand, the S&P 500 is poised to recover.
Huawei oath
Chinese telecom maker Huawei promised to start disclosing more financial and shareholder data as it tries to assuage investor fears over suspected links to the military.
HSBC hire
HSBC hired Ruth Horgan as global head of regulatory compliance after David Bagley quit in July over the lender’s failure to prevent money laundering.
Boeing probe
Investigators looking for the cause of problems that forced the grounding of Boeing’s flagship Dreamliners have turned their attention to GS Yuasa, the Japanese maker of the jets’ batteries.