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Jillian Melchior

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  • Wall Street... Generosity?

    By Jillian Melchior - June 28, 2012 | Tickers: BAC, GS, HAL, WMT, WFC

    Corporate philanthropy held steady last year, according to a new report from Giving USA. Big businesses gave $14.55 billion throughout 2011.

    Plot twist: Wall Street accounts for some of America’s most open-handed benefactors. And overall, corporate giving is a total mind trip. Philanthropy’s list of Top Corporate Givers shows that some of America’s most hated companies are also its most charitable.

    Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), which more »

  • Cigars Succeed Despite Regulations, Recession

    By Jillian Melchior - June 22, 2012 | Tickers: BTI, ITYBY.PK, PM

    A fellow cigar-smoker taught me one of my first lessons in finance: Never get emotionally attached to an investment. Good advice, but with premium cigars, you can follow your heart. Though U.S. regulators have some nasty restrictions planned, premium cigar manufacturers will survive and thrive, as they did throughout the recession.

    Congress delegated regulatory power over tobacco to the Food and Drug Administration in 2009, and the agency is more »

  • Electric Cars Disappoint, Despite Having Every Advantage

    By Jillian Melchior - June 19, 2012 | Tickers: AONEQ, GM, NSANY.PK, TSLA

    Electric vehicles continue to be a flashy part of automakers’ lineups. Given that taxpayers have invested more than $6.5 billion in this sector over the last five years, it’s at least viscerally rewarding to see products hitting the market. But there’s still plenty of reason for investors to be wary.

    Electric vehicle manufacturers have had almost every advantage they could dream of -- lavish loan guarantees, tax credits more »

  • Burma's Do-Good Investors

    By Jillian Melchior - June 18, 2012 | Tickers: AAPL, CVX, KO, PEP, TOT

    After decades in house arrest, Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, finally got to accept her Nobel Peace Prize last weekend, 21 years after it was awarded. As Suu Kyi travels on her first overseas visit in decades, she has touched on the controversial topic of investment in Burma.

    The U.S. restored full diplomatic relations with Burma in May, also opening the door for American investment there for more »