UNITED STATES

Asian stocks fell on Tuesday after rating agency Standard & Poor's lowered its U.S. credit outlook to negative, prompting a global flight to other assets.

Japanese cabinet ministers on Tuesday moved to shore up confidence in U.S. debt after Standard & Poor's threatened to lower its credit rating on the world's largest economy due to a bulging budget deficit, touching a nerve with one of the largest holders of Treasuries.

Novartis AG is likely to be the latest drugmaker to show it too has been hit by a collapse in sales of pandemic flu medicines when it posts its first-quarter results on Tuesday.

U.S. stocks suffered a rout after Standard & Poor's cut its outlook on the U.S. government debt, warning that the U.S. fiscal profile may become meaningfully weaker than that of other triple-A-rated countries if policy makers can't tame the budget deficit. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 140.24 points, or 1.14%, to 12201.59, led lower by Bank of America and Caterpillar, which each fell 3.1%.

Volkswagen AG showed off a redesigned Beetle small car on Monday at auto shows in Shanghai, Berlin and New York.

Federal Reserve officials offered clashing views on Monday of whether soft U.S. growth or inflation pose a greater risk to the economy but the face-off looked unlikely to alter the Fed's ultra-loose stance for now.

Anxiety over a possible Greek debt restructuring and an outlook warning on the United States spurred safety bids for U.S. Treasury bills and pushed their rates lower on Monday.

President Barack Obama will focus on two kinds of finances this week. The United States' and his own. Obama will take Air Force One to the West Coast this week in a trip combining talks on reducing the deficit at a pair of town hall gatherings and at a pair of fundraisers for his 2012 Presidential re-election campaign.

Microsoft Corp urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to make it easier to challenge some patents as part of its appeal of a record $290 million jury verdict for infringing a small Canadian software firm's patent.

Microsoft Corp urged the Supreme Court on Monday to make it easier to challenge some patents as part of its appeal of a record $290 million jury verdict for infringing a small Canadian software firm's patent.

Microsoft Corp urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to make it easier to challenge some patents as part of its appeal of a record $290 million jury verdict for infringing a small Canadian software firm's patent.

Standard and Poor’s Rating Service cut its outlook on the US Government’s long-term debt to negative this morning and the implications are quite resounding.

Microsoft Corp urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to make it easier to challenge some patents as part of its appeal of a record $290 million jury verdict for infringing a small Canadian software firm's patent.

U.S. stock indexes fell more than 1 percent in heavy volume on Monday after Standard & Poor's downgraded the credit outlook of the United States, adding to worries about the global economy after China moved to curb liquidity.

Higher gas prices weakened U.S. economic growth early this year in the eyes of one Federal Reserve official, while other policy-makers worried about the potential inflationary impact of energy price rises in remarks on Monday.

The International Monetary Fund on Monday said the policy response by emerging market economies to deal with a surge in capital inflows was insufficient and warned it could lead to a hard landing.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Monday it agreed to buy social media company Kosmix for an undisclosed sum, as the world's largest retailer aims to win over more tech-savvy U.S. shoppers.

This past Thursday, Moody's Investors Service downgraded China's property sector from stable to negative.

Microsoft Corp urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to make it easier to challenge some patents as part of its appeal of a record $290 million jury verdict for infringing a small Canadian software firm's patent.

For some 20 million Americans, tax season means powering up the computer, opening a TurboTax software program and, if all goes well, getting their finances in order.

With the April 18 tax filing deadline here, last minute filers can take advantage of the Internal Revenue Services' Ten Tips for Last-Minute Filers.