Chemicals contribute to a significant portion of all American exports. According to the American Chemistry Council, the chemicals industry accounts for 12 percent of exports at a value of about $189 billion.

Thoma Bravo LLC, a private equity investment firm, has completed its acquisition of Elemica, provider of a supply-chain operating network for the process industries.

Wal-Mart is one of the nation's largest private energy consumers, having to power millions of square feet of store space. So when the Obama administration wanted to cut energy bills for the Air Force - which consumes more energy than any other U.S. agency - it turned to the person who had led similar efforts at Wal-Mart for six years.

Mergers and acquisitions activity in the first half of 2016 fell by 26.6 percent compared to the same period last year, and the decline was a whopping 66.8 percent when compared to the second half of 2015, data compiled by Mergermarket showed.

It used to be that the only way to get to outer space was through the government.

Natural gas has crept past coal as the largest source of electric energy in the United States and is now gaining globally, opening new markets for drillers, processors and transport companies.