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PAMD (NYSE: AMD) led the tech sector higher on Tuesday, soaring nearly 15 percent on an upgrade.P Barclays analyst Tim Luke said an improving PC market, new products and legal progress against Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) are among the factors that could lead to AMD’s resurgence, while AMD foundry partner ATIC’s acquisition of Chartered Semi (NASDAQ: CHRT) also boosted AMD shares.P The rest of the chip sector was up more than 2 percent on the day, while Morgan Stanley upgrades boosted shares of QLogic (NASDAQ: QLGC) and Lexmark (NYSE: LXK), as the Wall Street firm made a bullish call on the hardware sector. Read full post…

pNEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street’s mettle will be tested this week as traders return from summer vacations to resurfacing signs of weakness after a six-month rally for stocks./p p The specter of September may also make investors more inclined to sell. Markets closed the first week of the month with the worst weekly performance since early July, though the bulk of losses were recouped Friday as the monthly employment report was deemed to be less dire than expected./p p Increased volume last week has investors keen to see what direction the market will take after the long Labor Day holiday weekend. U.S. m Read full post…

pNEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday as investors focused on the bright side of a mixed payrolls report that showed smaller-than-expected job cuts in August, although the unemployment rate hit a 26-year high./p pThe market was relatively flat in morning trade before sharply rising around noon, with all major indexes gaining around 1 percent./p pYes, the unemployment rate was a little worse than expected, but the wild card was the non-farm payrolls, which came out better than forecast, said Robert Francello, head of equity trading for Apex Capital in San Francisco./p pIt’s providing relief as we get near the close, and some people are covering shorts here before the long weekend./p pGains were broad-based, with technology shares leading the charge. Read full post…

pA lot of small business entrepreneurs are encouraged to get a business credit card to meet their expenses. However just like any type of credit card, credit cards for business need to be handled with care to avoid the trap of bad debt. Below are smart strategies for entrepreneurs on how to effectively manage credit card debt./p pstrongChoose a credit card that matches your business./strong strongCredit cards for business/strong come in all varieties so you should choose the one that perfectly complements the demands of your business. If you prefer to get a business credit card with rewards, show around first to explore your options./p pstrongHow do you intend to pay off your balances? /strong Another important factor to consider when choosing a business credit card is how you plan to mange repayment. Read full post…

pHONG KONG (Reuters) – Japan’s stocks slipped and the yen hit a seven-week high on Thursday on unease that Friday’s U.S. employment picture may reflect a slower recovery than investors have priced into markets, raising uncertainty about riskier assets./p pGovernment bonds edged higher and gold remained near a three-month high reached on Wednesday, after a survey of the U.S. private sector labor market in August showed more job losses than expected, increasing nervousness about the official payrolls figure at the end of the week./p pThe data clouded the outlook further, with investors torn between a quicker-than-expected recovery in manufacturing around the world and optimism in the technology sector on one hand, and on the other evidence that U.S. Read full post…

pNEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks opened lower on Tuesday as ongoing concerns over the strength of the economic recovery looked set to eclipse data expected to show U.S. manufacturing expanded in August./p pAfter a 50-percent run up in the SP 500 index since early March, analysts said investors were pausing to assess whether the gains are justified by economic fundamentals./p pThe Dow Jones industrial average .DJI dropped 38.39 points, or 0.40 percent, to 9,457.89. The Standard Poor’s 500 Index .SPX shed 3.73 points, or 0.37 percent, to 1,016.89. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC fell 6.92 points, or 0.34 percent, to 2,002.14./p p(Editing by Padraic Cassidy)/p /p