WASHINGTON—Several senior Republicans have joined negotiations with Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.) over how to construct consumer-protection rules, potentially bringing more Republican votes to a broader revamp of finance rules—if Democrats can stomach more concessions. “We’re very, very, very close to a deal,” Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.) said in an interview. The [...]
WASHINGTON–Key senators were close to a deal on legislation to overhaul financial regulations, people familiar with the matter said, bringing the U.S. a step closer to sweeping changes to the way banks interact with consumers and the markets alike. Top senators from each party were near a breakthrough agreement to create a new consumer-protection [...]
The stock market extended its winning streak to four days as investors returned their focus to U.S. economic policy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly slipped into the red late in the session during a speech by President Obama calling for further action on banking regulation, health-care reform, and other issues. However, it [...]
AP - The Federal Reserve predicts unemployment will stay high over the next two years because recession-scarred Americans are likely to stay cautious making for only a moderate-paced economic recovery.[Read more...]
Stocks posted their biggest gain in three months, commodities jumped and the euro soared amid improving U.S. economic data and rising confidence in Europe’s efforts to help Greece. Investors, back from Monday’s holiday, rushed into assets linked to economic growth, putting aside their worries of late last week, when fears of slowdowns in China [...]
Investors battered by market upheaval, including a 6% stock slide in recent weeks, have a new mantra for their portfolios: preserve, protect and defend. But they should be prepared to pay up. Ray Bartkus The price of portfolio safety is soaring. Low interest rates and high market volatility make it more expensive to [...]
WASHINGTON—Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will begin this week to lay out a blueprint for a credit tightening, to be followed once the Fed decides the economy has recovered sufficiently. The centerpiece will be a new tool Congress gave the central bank in October 2008: an interest rate the Fed pays banks on money [...]
WASHINGTON—Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will begin this week to lay out a blueprint for a credit tightening, to be followed once the Fed decides the economy has recovered sufficiently. The centerpiece will be a new tool Congress gave the central bank in October 2008: an interest rate the Fed pays banks on money [...]
The first month of the year is ending with a thud for stocks, which are on track to record their biggest loss since the final sell-off of the bear market last February. Even a solid vote by the Senate to give Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke another four-year term didn’t remove enough uncertainty [...]
The Federal Reserve offered a slightly rosier economic outlook and reaffirmed it would stop buying mortgages in March, on the eve of the Senate vote Thursday on Ben Bernanke’s nomination for a second term as Fed chairman. More Mortgage Bulls Bid Fed Adieu Interactive Map: Interest rate [...]
Early Iraq results: PM battling secular challenger
(AP)
More quakes hit Chile as new president takes over
(AP)
Strong Aftershocks Rattle Chile
Pinera sworn in as new quake hits
Pelosi says Dems near deal on health care bill
(AP)
Law bars Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi from elections
(AP).jpg)
Contractors ‘divert Somalia aid’
Apology for women raped by father
Gates: Some troops could leave Afghanistan early
(AP)
Iran attacks US over AfghanistanObama pushing on health care end game
(AP)
Inmate reoffending ‘costs £10bn’
Biden condemns new Israeli settlement plan
(AP)
US attacks East Jerusalem plans
Feds to probe cause of runaway Prius in California
(AP)
Troop bomb training ‘inadequate’
Massacres Shake Uneasy Nigeria
Biden urges Israel to take risks for peace
(AP)
US eyes chance for Mid-East peace