A defeat of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's quest for another four-year term could raise the risk of a "double dip" recession if political jousting over a successor were to drag on for months, economists warn.
Mindful of soaring deficits and an anti-Wall Street mood, President Barack Obama wants a new 10-year tax on the country's largest banks to cover a projected $117 billion shortfall in the government's financial crisis bailout fund.
Stock futures are modestly higher Wednesday as investors avoid making big bets without knowing how potential policy changes could affect trading.
Upbeat bankers clashed with pessimistic economists on the opening day of the World Economic Forum, where the movers and shakers of global politics and business argued over whether to move forward with financial reforms — or to abandon what some claim would be a ruinous path toward over-regulation.
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered The Reserve Primary Fund, which last year roiled the $3 trillion money-market industry by "breaking the buck," to pay out its remaining assets to shareholders waiting to get their money back.
JPMorgan Chase is letting Facebook users help decide how to give away $5 million.
Investigators say the alleged fraud scheme run by a prominent South Florida lawyer is likely to exceed $1 billion and involve thousands of investors.
European stock markets recouped losses Tuesday after Wall Street unexpectedly rose at the open after upbeat U.S. corporate earnings and a stronger than anticipated consumer confidence survey combined to offset the gloom that had gripped investors' for most of the session.
A New Jersey man has been sentenced to 18 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $100 million in restitution for masterminding what a judge described as one of the biggest real estate frauds in state history.
