Equities ended mixed in unusually tight trading. Buffett was a buffer against broader declines with his big railroad bet but a downgrade of the semiconductor sector left Intel (INTC) (-2.68%) et al railing against the unfairness of it all. See also Inventory in Semiconductors Looking Lean. Hardware stores fared far better than software stocks; Stanley Works (SWK) (+10.06%) and Black & Decker (BDK) (+30.97%) moved up on their merger while Microsoft (MSFT) shed 1.26% possibly on Seinfeld’s sell out. Gold gapped up to another new nominal high and Madoff's ex-accountant found fuzzy math doesn’t pay Friehling filing a guilty plea for fraud. As ...

It was March 31 1984. My buddy Benji Schneider and I were high up in the rafters of Madison Square Garden chaperoned by Benji’s dad to see Van Halen.None of us had any idea that we were about to see David Lee Roth’s final tour with the band after which Van Halen became Van Hagar with former Montrose frontman Sammy Hagar on vocals. Photo by Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images “My first intention was just to have this little tequila brand for my friends at the cantina and then bring it to America " Hagar said. "I thought it'd be awesome ...

Europe’s second-biggest spirits group, Pernod Ricard, sees fiscal first-quarter sales fall 6.3%, on weak consumer demand for wine and champagne.

At best it’s been hailed as “recession-proof.” At worst it’s been called “recession-resistant.” Whatever you call it the liquor industry has absolutely defied the rough financial climate that has plagued just about every other market on the globe. Jumping on a unique opportunity the industry is shifting its branding strategy by casting its lot with some very famous people.Pick almost any state in the union and you’ll find a sudden upswing in liquor sales despite (some have speculated because of) the troubling recession. Even Utah considered among the more conservative states in the country saw the state government’s revenue ...

Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Wednesday’s session are Abbott Labs, Altera, CKE Restaurants, CSX, Host Hotels, Intel, Linear Technology, J.P. Morgan Chase and Valero.