UNITED STATES

From dresses, to handbags, diamonds and music downloads, consumers in Asia are taking to Internet shopping like never before as the region becomes one of the world's fastest growing e-commerce markets. I like to shop for clothes online because no sales girls will pester me, said Cecelia Wang, a 23-year-old university student in Taipei, who spends about T$1,500 ($44) each ...

ST. JOHN'S, Antigua - Hundreds of people lined up to withdraw money from banks in Antigua and Caracas affiliated with Texas billionaire Allen Stanford, a day after the tycoon was charged with an $8 billion fraud. The brash, 58-year-old financier's whereabouts remained unclear on Wednesday, a day after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused him of operating a fraud centered on the ...

NEW YORK - Stocks fell to three-month lows on Wednesday as investors confronted fresh signs that the recession is deepening after data showed the U.S. housing market deteriorated further last month. News of the Obama administration's plan to stem foreclosures was met with skepticism, sending the Dow Jones home construction index down nearly 6 percent. Investors worried the plan...

The U.S. economy is facing an unwelcome disinflation, but bold policy action will restore growth in the second half of this year, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Sandra Pianalto said on Wednesday.

High-grade credit is likely to outperform equities as pressure intensifies on governments to prop up troubled companies, a move which would increase the odds for the sort of stagnation seen in Japan in the past decade.

President Barack Obama on Wednesday unveiled the next step in his multi-pronged efforts to lift the United States out of recession Wednesday, pledging up to $275 billion to help stem a wave of home foreclosures that sparked the U.S. financial meltdown.

NEW YORK - Stocks slid on Wednesday as worries about the severity of the recession persisted, following government data that showed U.S. housing starts and building permits slid to record lows in January. News of the Obama administration's plan to stem foreclosures was met with skepticism. The Dow Jones home construction index fell nearly 6 percent. The Dow Jones industrial ave...

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co plans to cut 5,000 jobs worldwide in 2009, or 6.7 percent of its staff, after a prolonged downturn in vehicle demand led to a deeper-than-expected loss in the fourth quarter.

President Barack Obama unveiled his much-anticipated plan on Wednesday to fight the U.S. housing crisis, pledging up to $275 billion to help stem a wave of foreclosures sweeping the country.

NEW YORK - Stocks headed for a bounce at the open on Wednesday as investors looked to snap up beaten-down shares after Tuesday's slide to three-month lows. A speech later in the day by President Barack Obama to announce a plan to stem home foreclosures would likely offer investors more direction after government data showed U.S. housing starts and permits dropped to record lows in January. Adv...

WASHINGTON - New U.S. housing starts and permits dropped to record lows in January, data showed on Wednesday, as builders held back on construction amid an overhang of unsold houses and a slump in demand. Housing starts tumbled 16.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 466,000 units, the lowest since the Commerce Department started keeping records in 1959, from December's upwardly re...

NEW YORK - NRG Energy said on Wednesday it has expended an enormous amount of time and resources considering Exelon Corp's unsolicited takeover offer and it continues to view it as inadequate. We would support a deal with Exelon at a fair price but, at this point, we have no reason to believe they are willing to offer a fair price, said NRG, in an open letter to ...

Corrects S&P 500's year-to-date drop in last paragraph to 'more than halved' from 'erased' By Ellis Mnyandu NEW YORK - Stock index futures rose on Wednesday as investors looked to snap up beaten-down shares following the prior session's slide. A speech due later in the day by U.S. President Barack Obama to announce a plan to stem home foreclosures would likely offer investors more di...

NEW YORK - Stock index futures rose on Wednesday as investors looked to snap up beaten-down shares following the prior session's slide. A speech due later in the day by U.S. President Barack Obama to announce a plan to stem home foreclosures would likely offer investors more direction, a day after Wall Street slid to three-month closing lows. Advancers before the bell included Citigroup Inc &l...

NEW YORK - Comcast Corp , the largest U.S. cable television provider, posted a better-than-expected fourth quarter profit as it tightened its costs but lost subscribers reflecting stiff competition with phone and satellite companies for customers. Excluding a $600 million writedown of its stake in wireless company Clearwire Corp and other one-time expenses, its quar...

Global chipmakers, battling slower technology demand, are betting size matters as they pin their hopes for future growth on small and easy to carry mobile devices such as netbooks and smartphones.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Tuesday it will reconsider a Bush administration rule to let new coal-fired power plants open without taking climate-warming carbon emissions into account.

NEW YORK - Comcast Corp , the largest U.S. cable television provider, posted a 32 percent drop in fourth quarter net profit on Wednesday, due to a writedown related to its Clearwire Corp stake and said it lost 233,000 subscribers. Net profit fell to $412 million, or 14 cents a share compared with $602 million, or 20 cents a share in the year ago quarter. The compan...

Flagstar Bancorp Inc (FBC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), one of the largest savings and loans based in the U.S. Midwest, said MatlinPatterson Global Advisers LLC completed a $25 million investment in the company through the purchase of its shares.

Texas billionaire Allen Stanford and three of his companies were charged with massive fraud on Tuesday as federal agents swooped on his U.S. headquarters.

Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Tuesday the current global recession will surely be the longest and deepest since the 1930s and more government rescue funds are needed to stabilize the U.S. financial system.