MARKETS / FINANCE

Switzerland said it would no longer accept untaxed money into its banks as it tries to ease pressure on its $2 trillion offshore banking industry from key trading partners seeking to boost tax revenues.

Dear Sam: I recently saw your column in my local newspaper and thought I would check out your blog.

New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods excluding transportation unexpectedly fell in January, while the number of workers filing for jobless benefits rose last week, suggesting a loss of momentum in the pace of economic recovery.

Coca-Cola Co is in talks to buy most of its largest bottler for roughly $15 billion, including debt, marking a shift in its strategy to keep its bottling operations separate, a person familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.

Royal Bank of Scotland posted the largest 2009 loss of its European peers but shrank from record-breaking levels, despite a sharp jump in bad debts which it says may now have peaked.

Lehman Brothers Holdings has agreed with JPMorgan Chase & Co to settle about $7.68 billion in collateral obligations that were pending following Lehman's bankruptcy filing in 2008, court documents showed.

Morgan Stanley Chairman John Mack said on Wednesday he is disappointed that decisions coming from the Obama administration are being motivated by politics.

Key senators pushed for a bipartisan agreement on a package of reforms to tighten rules for financial industry behavior as President Barack Obama on Wednesday blasted critics who call his policies socialism.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress on Wednesday a weak job market and tame inflation warrant low interest rates for an extended period, curbing speculation the central bank was moving closer to raising borrowing costs.

The top communications regulator offered to pay television broadcasters to give up their rights to airwaves worth an estimated $50 billion as it looks to overcome a looming scarcity of wireless spectrum for advanced mobile phone services.

Corrects paragraph 3 to show that National Broadband Plan will be released March 16, not March 17; changes headline for space consideration

The top U.S. communications regulator offered to pay television broadcasters to give up their rights to airwaves worth an estimated $50 billion as it looks to overcome a looming scarcity of wireless spectrum for advanced mobile phone services.

(Corrects that National Broadband Plan will be released March 17, not March 16 in paragraph 3)

Securities regulators adopted a new rule to restrict short selling more than a year after the financial crisis provoked cries to rein in investors who bet on a stock's decline.

The number of affluent investors worrying about jobs and the political environment rose in February as bipartisan cooperation remains elusive in Washington and the economy struggles with high unemployment.

Sales of new homes unexpectedly fell to a record low in January while demand for loans to buy homes hit a 13-year low last week, fanning fears of renewed weakness in the housing market.

President Barack Obama launched a vigorous defense of his economic agenda on Wednesday, rejecting critics who say it amounts to socialism and insisting his policies would boost U.S. competitiveness.

Sanjiv Ranjan Das, a professor at California's Santa Clara University, last fall attacked the problem of underwater mortgages often cited as an Achilles' heel to the U.S. housing market.

Senate negotiations toward a bipartisan agreement on financial regulatory reform moved forward on several fronts on Wednesday and hopes were high for a pact early next week.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress on Wednesday a weak job market and tame inflation warrant low interest rates for an extended period, dampening speculation a policy tightening might be nearing.

Switzerland will ask parliament to turn a deal with Washington that got bank UBS off the hook in a tax evasion case into binding law, plugging a legal hole that is stopping Berne from honoring the agreement.

More than three-quarters of scientists in China use the search engine Google as a primary research tool and say their work would be significantly hampered if they were to lose it, a survey showed on Wednesday.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress on Wednesday a weak job market and tame inflation warrant low interest rates for an extended period, dampening speculation a policy tightening might be nearing.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Wednesday repeated his call for Congress to pass financial reform legislation that curbs risk-taking by big financial firms and ensures they can absorb their own losses.

Sales of newly built single-family homes unexpectedly fell to a record low in January, according to government data on Wednesday that hinted at potential trouble for the fragile housing market recovery.

Private equity firm Blackstone Group LP will cut the $20 billion debt load of its hotel chain, Hilton Worldwide Inc, by almost $4 billion in a restructuring, according to court documents.

In his semi-annual testimony to the House Committee on Financial Services, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke attributes poor credit conditions as a major factor in hindering key areas of the economy from recovery.

The number of mass layoffs by U.S. employers edged up in January as manufacturers stepped up job cuts, data showed on Tuesday, but probably not enough to alter views that the economy is on the brink of creating jobs.

New York-based SkyBridge Capital is in advanced talks to purchase Citigroup Inc's $4 billion hedge fund business, according to the Wall Street Journal.