The stock market ended a down week with light selling as investors grew uneasy about a rising dollar and spiking demand for the safest government debt.
Posted: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:41:08 GMT
There are signs of recovery in the nation's heartland, including Elkhart, Ind., but the rebound is faint, uneven and faces many threats.
Posted: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:43:17 GMT
For Lawrie Covey and millions of other unemployed workers, life remains a day-to-day struggle. Instead of working on RVs in a factory, she may soon be living in one.
Posted: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:04:28 GMT
In a sharp improvement, more than half of U.S. states added jobs in October, though economists said many of the gains likely occurred in temporary employment.
Posted: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:52:21 GMT
Natural gas prices have dropped by more than 12 percent in the past month as the country continues to sip at its energy reserves and a balmy November allowed homeowners to leave the heat off.
Posted: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:26:47 GMT
J.M. Smucker Co.'s acquisition of Folgers Coffee Co. continues to pay off for the jam maker, helping to more than double its fiscal second-quarter profit, as consumers continue to turn to the company's well-known brands and eat at home more during the recession.
Posted: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:39:20 GMT
It is time to withdraw some of the policy measures that supported the financial system through the credit crunch, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet says.
Posted: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:55:34 GMT
The government watchdog overseeing economic stimulus spending said Thursday that, in its rush to take credit for saving hundreds of thousands of jobs, the Obama administration was overly confident in its job-counting.
Posted: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:14:34 GMT
A private forecast of economic activity over the next six months edged up less than expected in October, signaling slow, bumpy growth next year.
Posted: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:01:23 GMT
A rising proportion of fixed-rate home loans made to people with good credit are sinking into foreclosure, adding to concerns about the strength of the economic recovery.
Posted: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:37:16 GMT
The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for jobless insurance was unchanged last week, but the four-week moving average of claims dropped to its lowest in almost a year.
Posted: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:37:16 GMT
Dell Inc. said Thursday that its net income dropped 54 percent in the latest quarter and amid signs the company isn't fully benefiting from the computer industry's fledgling recovery.
Posted: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:12:58 GMT
Sears Holdings Corp. said Thursday it lost money for the second consecutive quarter as customers spent elsewhere even as the retailer offered a series of early holiday season promotions to bring them back to its brands.
Posted: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:40:14 GMT
About one million laid-off workers will see their unemployment benefits end in January unless Congress acts quickly to renew existing federally paid extensions.
Posted: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:48:07 GMT
If you want to win the stimulus sweepstakes, it helps to have one of the planet's nastiest toxic waste sites in your back yard.
Posted: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:00:08 GMT
President Barack Obama gave his sternest warning yet about the need to contain rising U.S. deficits, saying on Wednesday that if government debt were to pile up too much, it could lead to a double-dip recession.
Posted: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:40:35 GMT
Construction of new homes plunged last month as builders waited to see whether lawmakers would extend a tax credit for homebuyers.
Posted: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:54:14 GMT
Consumer prices edged up faster than expected in October, driven higher by another increase in energy prices and the biggest jump in new car prices in 28 years.
Posted: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:24:48 GMT
100 metro areas — one out of four across the U.S. — has started to recover, according to the latest Adversity Index from Moody's Economy.com and msnbc.com.
Posted: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:04:51 GMT
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Wednesday called on banks to "get back to the business of lending" and said a tough credit environment for small businesses will slow economic recovery.
Posted: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:05:15 GMT
Factory production declined in October, signaling that U.S. consumers and businesses remain cautious in their spending and suggesting a sluggish economic recovery.
Posted: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:41:07 GMT
Foreign demand for long-term U.S. financial assets rose in September as China and other countries boosted their holdings of Treasury securities.
Posted: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:39:10 GMT
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday said the central bank will keep a close eye on the sliding U.S. dollar even as he pledged anew to keep interest rates at record lows.
Posted: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:23:59 GMT
With a close over 10,220 on Nov. 9, the Dow Jones had its best showing of 2009.
Posted: Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:54:44 GMT
U.S. consumer sentiment fell in early November to the weakest in three months amid grim expectations for job and income prospects, a survey showed on Friday.
Posted: Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:10:03 GMT
As Elkhart and other areas show steps toward economic recovery, local governments are also trying to help business along by providing tax incentives — a strategy that experts say to use with caution.
Posted: Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:24:08 GMT
J.C. Penney Co. is reporting a 78 percent drop in its third-quarter earnings because of a big expense to fund its pension plan.
Posted: Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:23:50 GMT
The Walt Disney Co. posted a surprise 18 percent increase in fourth-quarter earnings Thursday and announced an executive job switch that might point to an eventual successor to Chief Executive Robert Iger.
Posted: Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:04:15 GMT
The Obama administration on Friday pushed back against a proposal in the U.S. Senate to create a single bank super-regulator and strip the Federal Reserve of its supervisory powers.
Posted: Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:51:39 GMT
The U.S. trade deficit widened in September by an unexpectedly large 18.2 percent, the most in more than 10 years.
Posted: Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:32:02 GMT
Capitalism is still alive and well, say the world's two richest men, despite lingering shocks from the longest, deepest recession since the Great Depression.
Posted: Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:42:11 GMT
Fewer people are claiming unemployment benefits — but still too many to signal that the economy is close to gaining jobs.
Posted: Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:44:01 GMT
The Obama administration's pay czar said Thursday that he is "very concerned" about scaring away top talent at seven firms that took the biggest bailouts.
Posted: Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:37:33 GMT
As the Federal Reserve has come under increased scrutiny, Ben Bernanke, its chairman, is nurturing political ties.
Posted: Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:54:44 GMT
As reports and data generated by the federal Recovery Act pile up, tracking stimulus outlays and results is fast becoming a hot cyber parlor game. Msnbc.com's Mike Stuckey reports.
Posted: Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:27:24 GMT