U.S. Steel

When is a 27% increase in sales, and a doubling of profits, bad news? It certainly sounds like an exceptional circumstance, but that's where Alcoa finds itself today, having missed earnings estimates and facing a discouraging free cash flow.

Does this picture look homey to you? Travelodge, one of Britain's primary hotel chains, has just opened a property in Uxbridge, in far west London, that's made almost entirely out of 86 shipping containers. Each room was pre-fabricated in China (where else?) with a built-in bathroom, shipped to...