MARKETS / FINANCE

A three-day Senate standoff over efforts to overhaul financial regulation ended on Wednesday as Republicans dropped efforts to block a Democratic bill in exchange for a handful of concessions.

The Senate on Wednesday unanimously agreed to take up a sweeping financial reform bill, breaking a partisan logjam that had paralyzed the chamber for three days.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday Greece's international bailout must be accelerated for the sake of the entire euro zone, as the far bigger Spanish economy suffered a credit rating downgrade.

Australian Dollar: The Australian Dollar opens at 0.9250 this morning higher against the Greenback after another night of volatile trade.

Sometime during the recession, work -- or the lack of it -- became funny.

A majority of U.S. workers do not clearly understand how to help their companies' meet objectives and most say they don't get useful feedback from supervisors, according to research released on Wednesday.

Hewlett-Packard Co said it has struck a $1.2 billion deal for Palm Inc , offering a 23 percent premium to expand into the smartphone market.

SAP AG will start selling a long-delayed suite of Web-based software for running small to mid-sized businesses in July, a top company executive said on Wednesday.

Bank of America Corp named Charles Holliday as its chairman on Wednesday, hours after the largest U.S. consumer bank concluded its 2010 annual meeting.

U.S. Senate Republicans on Wednesday were poised to clear the way for formal debate to begin on the most sweeping overhaul of financial regulation since the 1930s as they dropped efforts to block the bill.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve pointed to signs of strength in the economy, comments that gave some relief to investors worried about possible debt defaults in Europe.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve pointed to signs of strength in the economy in comments that gave some relief to investors worried about debt defaults in Europe.

Almost two decades ago, as interim chairman of Salomon Inc, Warren Buffett worked to restore order at the Wall Street firm after a Treasury auction scandal. Integrity mattered more to him than a few dollars lost.

Bank of America Corp investors peppered Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan with questions and complaints about its lending policies and dividend, but they rejected all but one of seven shareholder proposals at the company's annual meeting on Wednesday.

Senate Republicans blocked progress on landmark financial reform legislation for a third day on Wednesday, prompting Democrats to schedule an unusual overnight session to weaken resistance.

Calamos Investments sold its Goldman Sachs Group Inc holdings when the news of the civil fraud charges against the bank hit, fearing the stock was at best dead money, Co-Chief Investment Officer Nick Calamos said on Wednesday.

If the unemployment rate remains high, it is received political wisdom that President Barack Obama's ruling Democrats will be punished by the voters in congressional elections in November.

The Federal Reserve offered a more upbeat view of the U.S. economy and employment prospects on Wednesday, even as it left interest rates on hold near zero and promised to keep them low for an extended period.

The Federal Reserve offered a more upbeat view of the U.S. economy and employment prospects on Wednesday, even as it left interest rates on hold near zero and promised to keep them low for an extended period.

ATHENS, April 28 (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said the euro zone member state was ready to make the changes needed to emerge from its debt crisis.

Dow Chemical Co posted a stronger than expected first-quarter profit on Wednesday as higher pricing and volume pushed revenue up around the globe, news that lifted shares more than 5 percent.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday left interest rates near zero and renewed a promise to keep them low for an extended period, though it sounded more upbeat on the economic recovery and jobs.

The Dow and the S&P 500 recovered after a sharp selloff on Wednesday, sparked by a credit downgrade of Spain, as investors scooped up beaten-down shares of financial companies.

The Dow and the S&P 500 recovered after a sharp selloff on Wednesday, sparked by a credit downgrade of Spain, as investors scooped up beaten-down shares of financial companies.

Last month, EIA published its semiannual report on the possible impacts of refinery outages on gasoline and diesel fuel markets for March through June 2010. The report focuses on gasoline because U.S. gasoline consumption typically increases during these months. Historically, large gasoline price increases can occur during the spring and early summer and refinery outages have sometimes played a role in those increases. The same outage during a tight market can have a more significant effect tha...

For a third consecutive day, the U.S. Senate will hold a procedural vote to try to take up a sweeping reform of banking rules, Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Wednesday.

Wall Street erased most gains on Wednesday after Spain's rating was downgraded as investors awaited Federal Reserve comments at the end of a two-day policy meeting.

Web company Yahoo said services that allow consumers to find local information based on the location of their mobile phone were very interesting but would not comment on reports it may buy industry player Foursquare.

U.S. Senate Democrats sought to break a stalemate over their sweeping reform of financial regulation on Wednesday, planning a third vote in as many days as Republicans held out for a compromise bill.