MARKETS / FINANCE

Societe Generale has put up for sale its stake in Newedge, a futures and clearing brokerage it co-owns with Credit Agricole , a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday, as the No. 2 French bank looks to shrink its balance sheet and sell risky assets.

A favorite defense of auditors against securities lawsuits may have some holes when applied to a massive case against Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd stemming from the subprime mortgage crisis.

Accenture Plc reported market-beating quarterly results, and the technology outsourcing and consulting company also forecast a strong 2012, allaying fears of an industry-wide slowdown triggered by a slowing U.S. economy and debt crisis in Europe.

Greece faced a new hurdle in its attempt to avoid bankruptcy on Wednesday as international auditors headed to the Mediterranean state to scrutinize new austerity measures they must endorse for Athens to stay afloat.

Amid the second-largest gold sell-off since 1983, the casual observer could be forgiven for thinking that investors were dumping bullion in droves.

Stocks rose for a third day on Tuesday on efforts by euro-zone officials to solidify the region's rescue fund and alleviate a sovereign debt crisis, boosting optimism.

Four hedge funds appealed on Tuesday a ruling in the Washington Mutual Inc bankruptcy that found viable claims they had engaged in insider trading, an opinion one fund called a gross injustice.

U.S. businesses should support the role of multilateral development banks in trying to bolster global growth because their efforts help boost export markets, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Tuesday.

Stocks rose for a third day on Tuesday on efforts by euro-zone officials to solidify the region's rescue fund and alleviate a sovereign debt crisis, boosting optimism.

A Manhattan federal judge on Tuesday threw out part of a $1 billion lawsuit against owners of the New York Mets baseball team by the trustee seeking money for victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme.

Reaction to the Icahn rumor may reflect the immense amount of investor frustration over a company that has rapidly lost its way.

Americans worried about their incomes as they struggled to find work in September, holding consumer confidence near 2-1/2-year lows and pointing to weak spending in the months ahead.

Stocks rose for a third day on Tuesday on efforts by euro-zone officials to solidify the region's rescue fund and alleviate a sovereign debt crisis, boosting optimism.

Stocks rose for a third day on Tuesday on efforts by euro-zone officials to solidify the region's rescue fund and alleviate a sovereign debt crisis, boosting optimism.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel may fall short of a majority in her own coalition for a crucial reform of the euro zone rescue fund meant to stop a sovereign debt crisis spreading, in what would be a severe blow to her authority, a test vote showed.

The U.S. economy is on a knife edge between growth and contraction, and if it were a dashboard, it would be flashing watch out, danger ahead on all gauges, Dallas Federal Reserve Bank's top economist said on Tuesday.

Stocks extended a recent rally and rose more than 2 percent on Tuesday on euro- zone officials' efforts to solidify the region's rescue fund in an attempt to alleviate the debt crisis.

Stocks rallied on Tuesday, once taking a cue from efforts by euro zone officials working to beef up the region's rescue fund to ease the debt crisis.

Talk of beefing up the euro zone's bailout fund lifted stocks on Tuesday but complicated the debate in Germany where Angela Merkel is struggling to unite her coalition behind more modest steps to aid Europe's weak economies and banks.

Gold surged nearly 4 percent Tuesday on bargain hunting and increased Asian purchases of bullion, both of which were aided by a sharply lower U.S. dollar.

The cost of health insurance continues to climb for U.S. companies and workers, with annual family premiums this year growing at a pace triple that of 2010 and outpacing wage increases, according to a survey.

Two leading lawmakers on privacy -- a Republican and Democrat -- have asked the Federal Trade Commission to look into MSN.com and Hulu.com's installation of cookies onto users' computers that cannot be deleted.

The U.S. securities regulator is considering a plan that would improve a 23-year-old circuit breaker that did not trip during last year's flash crash to make it more sensitive to extreme market moves.

Americans worried about their incomes as they struggled to find work in September, holding consumer confidence near 2-1/2 year lows and pointing to weak spending in the months ahead.

The cost of health insurance continues to climb for companies and workers, with annual family premiums this year growing at a pace triple that of 2010 and outpacing wage increases, according to a survey.

The Greek parliament is expected to approve a deeply unpopular property tax on Tuesday to lure international lending inspectors back to Athens and release vital aid, even as demonstrators stepped up protests against more austerity.

Amanda Knox, who was convicted of murdering Meredith Kercher in 2007, waits for a judge to hand down a verdict in her appeals trial. Knox has been in prison since 2009.

Stocks extended their rally on Tuesday, sparked by euro zone officials' efforts to solidify the region's rescue fund in an attempt to alleviate the debt crisis.

Sales of gold by European central banks and the International Monetary Fund fell to their lowest annual level since an agreement governing such transactions was ratified in September 1999, the World Gold Council said Tuesday.