Top News

NEW YORK – A surprise drop in consumer confidence tripped up investors Tuesday, a day after a round of corporate takeovers set off a steep market rally.
Stocks slid after the Conference Board said its consumer confidence index fell in September. Economists had been expecting a reading of 57; instead it came in at 53.1.
The private […]

[Read more →]

The nation’s drive toward computerized medical records is getting a push from big hospitals, which hope not only to improve patient care but to gain an edge on competitors.
And an effort to be announced on Monday by a big New York regional hospital group may be the most ambitious effort of this type yet […]

[Read more →]

HONG KONG — The yen spiked to an eight-month high against the dollar on Monday, weighing on the stock market and casting a spotlight on the tricky economic policy decisions facing the new government in Tokyo.
As investors fretted about the pain that a strong currency means for export behemoths like Sony, Canon and Toyota, the […]

[Read more →]

LONDON (Reuters) – Kraft Foods Inc (KFT.N) is poised to launch a hostile bid for Cadbury Plc (CBRY.L) valuing the British confectionery business at around 11 billion pounds ($17.6 billion), a report in The Observer newspaper said.
In a separate interview with the Sunday Times, Kraft Chairman and Chief Executive Irene Rosenfeld said Cadbury CEO […]

[Read more →]

MOSCOW — Just a few years after compelling foreign oil companies to renegotiate their contracts in Russia, Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin has invited executives from some of the largest such companies to discuss new work on Siberian natural gas fields.
Executives from Shell, Exxon Mobil, Total and other companies met with Mr. Putin in […]

[Read more →]

Orders for manufactured goods like airplanes and machinery fell unexpectedly in August, the government reported on Friday, providing another sign that the recovery could be long and uneven.
New orders of durable goods slid by a seasonally adjusted 2.4 percent from July, reflecting a 40 percent monthly decrease in orders of civilian aircraft. Orders of computers, […]

[Read more →]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks fell on Thursday, with each of the major indexes sliding into negative territory after an unexpected fall in sales of previously owned U.S. homes in August.
* The National Association of Realtors said sales fell 2.7 percent to an annual rate of 5.10 million units, from 5.24 million units […]

[Read more →]

WASHINGTON — As a senior House Democrat announced an ambitious schedule to complete legislation overhauling the nation’s financial system, the Obama administration on Wednesday abandoned a symbolically significant provision in the face of widespread political and industry opposition.
At a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner announced that the […]

[Read more →]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as strong commodity prices and a weak dollar before a Federal Reserve meeting gave a boost to Wall Street.
Financials also contributed to gains as Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) shares rose after an analyst upgrade while Citigroup Inc (C.N) gained 5.0 percent.
Crude oil futures […]

[Read more →]

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) failed to meet a Monday midday deadline to hand over further details about its acquisition of Merrill Lynch to a congressional investigative committee, a panel spokeswoman said.
Bank of America "did not comply with the deadline," said the spokeswoman for House Oversight and Government Reform Committee […]

[Read more →]

NEW YORK — Last Tuesday, Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat and majority leader of the U.S. Senate, was asked by a reporter to appraise the odds that Congress, in the throes of debating health care changes, would manage to pass climate legislation in 2009 — including provisions for an emissions cap-and-trade plan.
“So, you know, […]

[Read more →]

World trade and climate change are the two most prominent issues at the summit talks in Pittsburgh Thursday and Friday of the G-20, the influential group that brings together key members of the developing world and the big economic powers. Agreements on trade and global warming have been out of reach so far, at least […]

[Read more →]

WASHINGTON/BERLIN (Reuters) – World leaders will probably agree next week to work together when the time comes to end their massive economic stimulus programs and they were also moving on Friday toward a stiffer line on bankers' pay.
A week ahead of the Sept 24-25 summit of the leaders of Group of 20 nations to […]

[Read more →]

BEIJING, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) — The first seven companies applying for listing on the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM), a Nasdaq-alike market in China, have got green lights from the country’s securities regulator on Thursday.
They are in the fields of software, medical equipment and medicines. They planned to raise 2.27 billion yuan (332.65 million U.S. […]

[Read more →]

European leaders are set to endorse a call for more government control over bankers’ pay ahead of the Group of 20 summit meeting next week in Pittsburgh.
In a statement expected to be adopted at a European Union meeting in Brussels on Thursday evening, the leaders called on G-20 members to stand by commitments made […]

[Read more →]

Filed at 12:47 a.m. ET
HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks rose Wednesday, lifted by better news about the U.S. economy and comments from the Federal Reserve’s chairman that the recession was likely over.
Major benchmarks in Japan, Korea and Hong Kong were up about 2 percent each, following on the heels of more gains on Wall […]

[Read more →]

SHANGHAI — Coca-Cola Inc. said Tuesday that a second manager who worked in the company’s Shanghai bottling plant has been detained by police on suspicion of accepting bribes or kickbacks.
The announcement came just days after Coca-Cola confirmed that a middle manager at the same facility, the Shanghai Shenmei Beverage & Food Co., was detained earlier […]

[Read more →]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures fell on Monday as a decision by the United States to impose special duties on Chinese tires sparked investor concerns about a possible trade dispute.
* The decision by U.S. President Barack Obama could open the door to a host of trade complaints against Chinese products, creating […]

[Read more →]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Shares of FedEx Corp (FDX.N) rose 4.5 percent to $75.90 in premarket trading on Friday, after the company said its first-quarter earnings would exceed guidance.
(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica)

[Read more →]

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — For more than a year, prosecutors have been cracking down on the corruption and kickbacks that thrived during the boom years in this Persian Gulf city-state. Dozens of executives have been arrested and charged in a high-profile effort to show that fraud will no longer be tolerated. Investigators say their […]

[Read more →]