A clearing house is an intermediary between buyers and sellers of financial instruments. Further, it is an agency or separate corporation of a futures exchange responsible for settling trading accounts, clearing trades, collecting and maintaining margin monies, regulating delivery, and reporting trading data.
All the world's 10 most valuable companies, including Alphabet, Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT), are based in the U.S., according to a USA TODAY analysis of data from S&P Capital IQ based on the S&P Global 1200 index. Alphabet's rise to No. 1 with a market value Tuesday of $554.8 billion is a historic moment.
Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Gucci and Prada are the most valuable luxury brands in the world (in that order). Image Courtesy: Reuters. Louis Vuitton's brand value declined 12% from last year, simmering down to $22.7 billion, Millward Brown Optimor estimated in its 2013 BrandZ Study.