By Alison Griswold NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks dipped on Wednesday as investors awaited a Federal Reserve statement that could provide clues about the central bank's future stimulus efforts, a key to the market's current rally. The Fed will release a policy statement at 2 p.m. which will sum up policymakers' views on the economic outlook and also shed light on when the Fed might scale back its bond-buying, meant to stimulate growth and bolster the job market. Chairman Ben Bernanke will hold a news conference beginning at 2:30 p.m. ...
(Reuters) - News Corp's publishing and entertainment arms began trading separately on a preliminary basis on Wednesday, one of the last steps before Rupert Murdoch's company officially splits in two on June 28. Shares of the new News Corp, the publishing arm that includes properties such as The Wall Street Journal, opened at $15.28 on Nasdaq, trading on a "when-issued" basis under the symbol "NWSAV." The shares were up 4.5 percent at mid-morning at $15.95 and were the second-most-active issue on Nasdaq with more than 20 million shares changing hands. ...
By Ruben Sprich BERNE (Reuters) - Swiss lawmakers dealt a death blow on Wednesday to a draft law which aimed to protect the country's banks from criminal charges in the United States for helping wealthy Americans evade tax. The Swiss government has warned that the bill's failure could prompt impatient U.S. prosecutors to indict banks, though it could still use an executive order to allow them to hand over data to try to avoid criminal charges. ...
By Alwyn Scott and Maria Sheahan PARIS (Reuters) - Orders at the Paris Airshow surpassed $100 billion on Wednesday, as planemakers Boeing and Airbus cashed in on demand for fuel-efficient jets and growth in both budget carriers and emerging markets. Ryanair, Europe's biggest low-cost airline, finalized an order for 175 Boeing 737-800 aircraft worth around $15.6 billion at list prices on day three of the aerospace industry's showcase event, the largest single order ever placed by a European airline with the U.S. group. ...
By Margaret Chadbourn and Emily Stephenson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four of the largest U.S. mortgage servicers failed to adhere to some of the new standards set out in a landmark settlement meant to help consumers facing foreclosure, a court-appointed monitor said on Wednesday. Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo need to make improvements in handling loan modifications, said Joseph Smith, who oversees the $25 billion settlement between banks and the U.S. government. ...
By Bernard Vaughan NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday limited the extent to which former Goldman Sachs Group Inc vice president Fabrice Tourre can argue that he was acting on the advice of company lawyers in his defense against charges that he misled investors. The ruling could be another setback for Tourre ahead of his trial on July 15, after the judge earlier this month rejected his argument that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should narrow its case against him. ...
By Valentina Accardo PARMA, Italy (Reuters) - A court-appointed commissioner has recommended Italian dairy group Parmalat cut the price it paid to its parent company Lactalis to acquire its North American cheesemaking division by $151 million, a move that will please minority shareholders. Parmalat , which is 83-percent owned by French dairy firm Lactalis, initially agreed last year to buy Lactalis American Group (LAG) from the parent for $904 million, a move that angered minority shareholders who accused management of acting in the parent company's interest by overpaying. ...
By Paul Ingrassia and Mike Peacock LONDON (Reuters) - The World Bank is concerned about the spillover effects on developing countries of a slowing of U.S. money creation and will move to provide affordable capital when borrowing costs rise, its president said on Wednesday. The U.S. Federal Reserve has sparked a bout of financial market turmoil since its chief, Ben Bernanke, announced on May 22 that the Fed could, before the year is out, begin slowing the pace at which it creates dollars. ...
PARIS (Reuters) - The new chief of the Eurofighter Typhoon will lay out plans by the end of this year to make the fighter jet cheaper and decision-making quicker, as the aircraft gears up to vie for more business in an increasingly crowded and competitive market. Alberto Gutierrez, the former head of operations at EADS unit Airbus Military who became Eurofighter's chief executive in April, said the goal was to win at least 25 percent of 1,000 potential aircraft sales in the global market. ...
FRANKFURT/LONDON (Reuters) - Vodafone is discussing a 7.6 billion euros ($10 billion) cash bid with Germany's No. 1 cable operator Kabel Deutschland and is confident its offer and absence of antitrust issues put it in a better position than rival Liberty Global, two sources familiar with its thinking said on Wednesday. Liberty Global , which owns Unity Media, Germany's No. 2 cable operator, made an 85-euro-a-share offer on Tuesday, two people familiar with the matter said, just days after sources said Vodafone had offered 81-82 euros a share or 7.2 billion euros in cash. ...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Worry and speculation have consumed investors since Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke to Congress last month about the Federal Reserve's drive to keep long-term interest rates at record lows.
SEATTLE (AP) — Passengers from a United Airlines Denver-to-Tokyo flight that diverted to Seattle Tuesday when the Boeing 787 had an oil filter issue are on their way again.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department violated its own rules when it secretly seized records for thousands of phone calls to and from journalists for The Associated Press as part of a leak investigation, the head of the company said Wednesday.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — If doctors and patients used prescription drugs more wisely, they could save the U.S. health care system at least $213 billion a year, by reducing medication overuse, underuse and other flaws in care that cause complications and longer, more-expensive treatments, researchers conclude.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Prospects for House passage of a new farm bill could turn on the level of food stamp cuts as Republicans leaders scrambled Wednesday to secure support for the five-year, half-trillion dollar measure.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service is about to pay $70 million in employee bonuses despite an Obama administration directive to cancel discretionary bonuses because of automatic spending cuts enacted this year, according to a GOP senator.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil was down slightly Wednesday as traders waited to hear the latest on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy from chairman Ben Bernanke.
Frank Lloyd Wright may have died in 1959, but his architecture is alive and well. A recent story in the Wall Street Journal revealed the cost to upkeep some of his historic homes may be more than buyers bargain for, but others clamor to invest in history.
The judge presiding over the lawsuit against Martha Stewart and J.C. Penney ruled on Friday allowing the sale of Martha Stewart merchandise in J.C. Penney stores.
An elderly couple in Brooklyn, N.Y., found a huge pile of cash–what they reckon was $100,000–in cash in a bank’s safe deposit box. Joe Valinoti, 82, and his companion, Kathleen Ricigliano, 81, said they opened a safe deposit box account with Sovereign Bank in February....
Three men were indicted this week for shipping millions of packs of untaxed contraband Marlboro cigarettes that were part of a sting conducted by the FBI. Jia Yongming, Yazhou Wu, and Ricky Le were indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Monday in a U.S....
Three men were indicted this week for shipping millions of packs of untaxed contraband Marlboro cigarettes that were part of a sting conducted by the FBI. Jia Yongming, Yazhou Wu, and Ricky Le were indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Monday in a U.S....
A rare psalm book from 1640 could fetch between $15 million to $30 million at a Sotheby’s auction on Nov. 26 in New York. “It’s going to be far and away the most expensive book ever sold,” David Redden, vice chairman of Sotheby’s auction house,...
A rare psalm book from 1640 could fetch between $15 million to $30 million at a Sotheby’s auction on Nov. 26 in New York. “It’s going to be far and away the most expensive book ever sold,” David Redden, vice chairman of Sotheby’s auction house,...
McDonald’s has apologized for a Big Mac ad that enflamed the fast food giant in a whopper-sized controversy. The ad, a poster placed on Boston mass transit, featured a photo of a seemingly despondent woman with her head buried in her hands next to the...
Retail sales fell by 0.4 percent in March, according to the Commerce Department, the biggest drop in nine months. The major stock market indexes slid on the news. Taxes went up at the beginning of the year for everyone who gets a paycheck and that...
A former home of rock legend Stevie Nicks and silent-movie star Vilma Banky is on sale for $1.625 million. The 4-bedroom home in the Hollywood Hills has a guest apartment, sunset views and spans 3,538-square feet. Nicks purchased the property in the late '70s and recorded numerous demos there, according to Curbed. Banky reportedly lived there after it was built in the late '20s. The home was last purchased in December 2000 for $1.15 million.
Those Californians who missed out on the state’s first Powerball drawing on Wednesday, which did not yield a winner, will have another chance at the estimated $60 million jackpot during the second drawing on Saturday. Homebound residents or anybody else who doesn’t feel like visiting...
Morning Business Memo… Dozens of current and former NFL and NBA players may have been the victims of an investment scam. FINRA – the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority – filed a cease-and-desist order against Success Trade Securities, alleging the online investment firm ripped off 58...
Those Californians who missed out on the state’s first Powerball drawing on Wednesday, which did not yield a winner, will have another chance at the estimated $60 million jackpot during the second drawing on Saturday. Homebound residents or anybody else who doesn’t feel like visiting...
Those Californians who missed out on the state’s first Powerball drawing on Wednesday, which did not yield a winner, will have another chance at the estimated $60 million jackpot during the second drawing on Saturday. Homebound residents or anybody else who doesn’t feel like visiting...
A former home of rock legend Stevie Nicks and silent-movie star Vilma Banky is on sale for $1.625 million. The 4-bedroom home in the Hollywood Hills has a guest apartment, sunset views and spans 3,538-square feet. Nicks purchased the property in the late '70s and recorded numerous demos there, according to Curbed. Banky reportedly lived there after it was built in the late '20s. The home was last purchased in December 2000 for $1.15 million.
With round one of the Masters Golf Tournament underway, tickets for the famous game in Augusta, Ga., are still being sold online today. Though ABC News’ Darren Rovell reports prices on web sites like StubHub have dropped to $3,000 to $4,000 today, some badges were...
With round one of the Masters Golf Tournament underway, tickets for the famous game in Augusta, Ga., are still being sold online today. Though ABC News’ Darren Rovell reports prices on web sites like StubHub have dropped to $3,000 to $4,000 today, some badges were...
Microsoft Corp. shares took a beating today after Goldman Sachs issued a sell recommendation amid news that PC shipments dropped 14 percent in the first quarter, in part because Windows 8 hasn’t caught on. Microsoft fell 5.1 percent to $28.75 at 2:35 p.m. Until today, it had been slightly...
Microsoft Corp. shares took a beating today after Goldman Sachs issued a sell recommendation amid news that PC shipments dropped 14 percent in the first quarter, in part because Windows 8 hasn’t caught on. Microsoft fell 5.1 percent to $28.75 at 2:35 p.m. Until today, it had been slightly...
Microsoft Corp. shares took a beating today after Goldman Sachs issued a sell recommendation amid news that PC shipments dropped 14 percent in the first quarter, in part because Windows 8 hasn’t caught on. Microsoft fell 5.1 percent to $28.75 at 2:35 p.m. Until today, it had been slightly...
BERLIN -- In 2008, some 200,000 people packed the streets near this city’s Victory Column and listened raptly to candidate Barack Obama promise to lead a different America on the chaotic global stage – one that would embrace action to fight climate change, shutter the Guantanamo Bay prison for suspected extremists, seek to eliminate the [...]
The producers of an upcoming documentary on TWA Flight 800—which exploded and crashed into the waters off Long Island, N.Y., on July 17, 1996, killing all 230 people on board—claim to have proof that a missile caused the Paris-bound flight to crash. And six former investigators who took part in the film say there was [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Illegal immigration into the United States would decrease by only 25 percent under a far-reaching Senate immigration bill, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office that also finds the measure reduces federal deficits by billions.
SAO PAULO (AP) — Scattered street demonstrations popped up around Brazil Wednesday as protesters continued their collective cry against the low-quality public services they receive in exchange for high taxes and rising prices.
STOCKHOLM (AP) — A WikiLeaks spokesman who claims to represent Edward Snowden has reached out to government officials in Iceland about the potential of the NSA leaker applying for asylum in the Nordic country, officials there said Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Worry and speculation have consumed investors since Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke to Congress last month about the Federal Reserve's drive to keep long-term interest rates at record lows.
HAVANA (AP) — A State Department official says the United States and Cuba have agreed to resume bilateral talks on migration issues next month, in the latest evidence of a thaw in chilly relations.
OAKLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — The excavation of a rural field in suburban Detroit has failed to turn up the remains of former Teamsters union leader Jimmy Hoffa, the FBI announced Wednesday, adding another unsuccessful chapter to a nearly 40-year-old mystery.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A heat wave hitting Alaska may not rival the blazing heat of Phoenix or Las Vegas, but to residents of the 49th state, the days of hot weather feel like a stifling oven — or a tropical paradise.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service is about to pay $70 million in employee bonuses despite an Obama administration directive to cancel discretionary bonuses because of automatic spending cuts enacted this year, according to a GOP senator.
SAO PAULO (AP) — Scattered street demonstrations popped up around Brazil early Wednesday as protesters continued their collective cry against the low-quality public services they receive in exchange for high taxes and high prices.
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Seven al-Qaida-linked gunmen detonated a pick-up truck rigged with explosives at the gate of the U.N. compound in Somalia's capital Wednesday, launching a bombs-and-gunfire assault that saw militants pour into the complex, killing at least nine people, including three foreigners, officials said.
