UNITED STATES

The U.S. economy faces a weak recovery that will likely warrant extremely low interest rates for the foreseeable future, a top Federal Reserve official said on Tuesday.

BofA Blues for Top Job; Dodd Seeks Teeth for Reforms; Cautious on Recovery

Three top Federal Reserve officials on Tuesday struck a cautious note on the U.S. economy, citing high unemployment, heavy reliance on government support and commercial real estate woes as hurdles to recovery.

Two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers were found not guilty of fraud, a decision that could make government prosecutors less likely to bring criminal charges against Wall Street executives for their role in the financial crisis.

In the end, Garth Peterson, a rising star at Morgan Stanley in China, was undone by his pursuit of guanxi.

U.S. Bancorp , the sixth-largest U.S. bank by assets, is looking to expand its credit card business and is actively marketing its cards nationally, Chief Executive Richard Davis said at a conference on Tuesday.

Pushing for tougher changes in U.S. financial regulations, the Senate's top banking legislator on Tuesday proposed a new super-cop to police banks, a systemic risk agency and strong consumer protections.

Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc said on Tuesday said it expected fourth quarter revenue to drop 30 percent, but blew past Wall Street's expectations by nearly $100 million, and the company's shares rose 5.4 percent in after-hours trading.

The board of General Motors Co has approved a plan to produce a plug-in hybrid for the luxury Cadillac brand that will adapt technology developed for the upcoming Chevrolet Volt, according to people briefed on the decision.

Activision Blizzard Inc's hugely anticipated Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 video game went on sale on Tuesday, welcomed by eager fans who lined up hours in advance of the release.

Veterans Day on November 11 is the day honoring all those who were in the war and for school children in public schools they will have no school but will be home working on Veterans Days assignments.

About 20 percent of struggling U.S. homeowners eligible for loan workouts have entered into a trial modification, but it is unclear how many of them will be able to keep the lower payments permanently, the Treasury Department said on Tuesday.

U.S. stocks closed mostly loweron Tuesday as differing views on whether the market can build on recent gains stalled the S&P 500's six-day winning streak.

The Australian Dollar opens steady against the greenback today at 0.9280. During local trade, the Aussie nudged a calendar-year high above US93 cents ahead of importer interest and profit taking which took the unit back down to 0.9270. Several major currencies have moved higher in recent days after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the U.S. Dollar was overvalued. An upbeat NAB business confidence survey also underpinned the local unit yesterday. During offshore trade, the Aussie moved b...

Voter registration for a Palestinian election failed to get under way as scheduled on Tuesday, adding to signs that President Mahmoud Abbas might be bluffing about a make-or-break vote in January.

President Barack Obama vowed on Tuesday to make sure the gunman who killed 13 people in a rampage at a U.S. Army base in Texas pays for his crimes.

American Express Co said credit card spending increased in October from September in another sign that the worst of the financial crisis may have passed for the largest U.S. credit-card company, sending its shares up 1.5 percent to a 14-month high.

A reserve fund must be established ahead of time to give the government the working capital it needs to dismantle large, troubled financial companies, a top U.S. bank regulator said on Tuesday.

The Australian Dollar opens steady against the greenback today at 0.9280. During local trade, the Aussie nudged a calendar-year high above US93 cents ahead of importer interest and profit taking which took the unit back down to 0.9270.

U.S. stocks closed little changed in light volume on Tuesday as differing views on whether the market can build on recent gains stalled the S&P 500's six-day winning streak. Investors paused to assess the rally just one day after the Dow average jumped a little over 200 points to close at a 13-month high.

Apple overtook Nokia in the third quarter as the cellphone maker generating the highest total operating profit in the industry, research firm Strategy Analytics said on Tuesday.