UNITED STATES

Fed anticipates; G20's Shift; BofA Urges

Ambac Financial Group , Bank of America and Germany's central bank are among new entities claiming assets against Lehman Brothers after banks and investors worldwide took losses to the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Cadbury Plc CEO Todd Stitzer said on Friday he did not believe Kraft's offer for the company made strategic sense, as he tried to clarify remarks he made that drew scrutiny from Britain's Takeover Panel.

An estimated 5.7 million U.S. families live in substandard housing, with one in every three houses in U.S. metropolitan areas plagued by health hazards, according to a study released Thursday.

The Black Eyes Peas' I Gotta Feeling reigned for a 13th week on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart Thursday, besting the 12-week stay at the summit of Boom Boom Pow, the hip-hop band's previous single that directly preceded its follow-up at No. 1.

Bank of America Corp urged a federal judge to dismiss the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's complaint accusing it of misleading shareholders about bonuses it let Merrill Lynch & Co pay employees before the companies' January 1 merger.

AT&T Inc said any new net neutrality rules imposed by U.S. regulators need to apply to Web companies like Google Inc as much as to phone companies to ensure a level playing field.

Stocks fell on Friday as investors wrestled with disappointing data on durable goods orders and housing, while Research In Motion's lackluster results dented recent optimism about technology spending.

The Group of 20 will become the forum for global economic management, giving rising powers such as China more clout, and will roll out tougher rules for banks by the end of 2012, a draft communique said on Friday.

U.S. commercial banks reported a drop in trading revenues for the second quarter as earnings from interest products plunged, though revenues were boosted by improving credit markets, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said on Friday.

U.S. stocks fell for a third straight session on Friday due to weaker-than-expected data on durable goods and home sales, while disappointing results from BlackBerry maker Research in Motion weighed on the Nasdaq.

President Barack Obama's pay czar said on Friday he will not cap compensation for the top employees at bailed-out companies, and will not reveal names, when he releases the first wave of decisions within a few weeks.

President Barack Obama's pay czar said on Friday he will not cap compensation for the top employees at bailed-out companies, and will not reveal names, when he releases the first wave of decisions within a few weeks.

U.S. commercial banks reported that trading revenue dropped dramatically during the second quarter to $5.2 billion, compared with record revenue of $9.8 billion in the prior quarter.

U.S. President Barack Obama and the leaders of Britain and France accused Iran on Friday of building a secret nuclear fuel plant and threatened tough new sanctions unless Tehran comes clean about its nuclear program.

Oil prices rose above $66 a barrel on Friday, supported by evidence of improving consumer sentiment and heightened tension around Iran's nuclear program.

Sales of newly built U.S. single-family homes rose to their highest level in nearly a year in August, according to government data on Friday that indicated the housing market was gradually recovering from a three-year slump.

Nearly one out of five U.S. drivers surveyed has read or sent a text message while behind the wheel, even though nearly all of the respondents in an AAA survey released on Friday considered such action unacceptable.

If you plan to show up in court, it may be best to dress up for the occasion.

Dalton Chiscolm is unhappy about Bank of America's customer service -- really, really unhappy.

The New York Federal Reserve said on Friday it bought $1.970 billion of U.S. agency debt with maturities ranging from April 2016 to March 2019.