IBT Staff Reporter

General Electric Co acknowledged that three former traders at a finance unit engaged in bid-rigging of municipal bonds and agreed to pay authorities $70.4 million in penalties and damages, the latest settlement in a long-running probe that has ensnared some of the largest financial institutions.

The S&P 500 turned positive for the year and closed out its third week of gains in four on Friday as equities extended their rally after a string of unexpectedly strong economic data.

The S&P 500 turned positive for the year and closed out its third week of gains in four on Friday as equities extended their rally after a string of unexpectedly strong economic data.

Consumer spending was tepid in November and a gauge of business investment fell for a second straight month, suggesting the economy lost some of its recent momentum.

Ron Paul said in a 2007 interview with Meet the Press that Abraham Lincoln should have bought the South's four million slaves and freed them instead of fighting the Civil War. But this idea is based on a completely unrealistic view of history.

Europe faces another year of dismal economic performance in 2012 that will weigh on global growth, but emerging markets and the United States should at least keep the world economy moving in the right direction.

CME Group Inc fined a trader $50,000 for running a rapid-fire trading strategy that malfunctioned last year, sending thousands of erroneous orders to the New York Mercantile Exchange and sparking a $1 surge in oil prices.

Research In Motion, still smarting over having to change the name of its yet-to-come operating system, faces a similar trademark challenge to its popular instant-messaging service BlackBerry Messenger.

Halliburton Co Chief Executive David Lesar has just made a gift of $1 million worth of shares in the company, according to a regulatory filing on Friday, rounding out a year in which he reduced his stake by a third.

The year began with a shooting in Tucson, Ariz., that left six people dead and 14, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, injured, and it ended with the last troops coming home from Iraq. It began with Congress deadlocked over spending and taxes and ended with Congress, well, deadlocked over spending and taxes.

U.S. companies Facebook, Google and Yahoo, and other internet firms, have been ordered by two Indian courts to remove material considered religiously offensive, the latest skirmish in a growing battle over website content in the world's largest democracy.

The European debt crisis roiled markets all year, producing the most volatile trading since the 2008-2009 meltdown. That is, except in one market -- the euro.

The S&P 500 turned positive for the year on Friday as equities rallied again on a run of better-than-expected economic data, though volume continued to be seasonally weak.

Singer Michael Buble is taking his Christmas spirit into the virtual realm, collaborating with popular Facebook game CityVille and giving an interactive gift to his fans over the holidays.

Shares of United Continental Holdings fell about 7 percent on Friday as some analysts cut their fourth-quarter profit estimates, citing weaker-than-expected revenue.

Shares of United Continental Holdings fell about 7 percent on Friday as some analysts cut their fourth-quarter profit estimates, citing weaker-than-expected revenue.

Mike Bell likens his new job at Intel Corp to piloting a glider.

Wall Street stocks rose on Friday as the S&P 500 rallied for a fourth straight day and turned positive for the year after a run of better-than-expected economic data.

Wall Street extended a year-end rally on Friday as the S&P 500 rose for a fourth day and turned positive for the year after a recent run of better-than-expected economic data.

Bank of America Corp is lagging behind its major U.S. competitors in complying with new capital rules, leading the bank to consider even more asset sales, sources said.

Digital goods are the fastest-growing category online this holiday, led by e-books, suggesting Amazon.com Inc's strategy of blanketing the world with cheap e-readers and tablet computers may be producing some early gains.

UBS will sacrifice its place in the top ten investment bank rankings as stricter capital rules force it to give up riskier fixed-income business, the Swiss bank's financial head said.

The backlash against twenty-four-hour connectivity has started.

Stocks edged higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 on track for a fourth straight day of gains as a batch of economic data pointed to an economy that continued to grow at a modest pace.

Three days after Bob Vander Plaats endorsed Rick Santorum for president, the evangelical leader is being accused of illegally soliciting money from Santorum's campaign to promote the endorsement -- a charge he and Santorum both deny.

The half a trillion euros the European Central Bank pumped into the financial system buys hard-hit banks valuable time but will not in itself protect them from threatened rating downgrades, one of Standard and Poor's top executives said.

Stocks were set to climb at the open on Friday, with the S&P 500 on track for a fourth straight day of gains as modest durable goods and consumer spending data was not enough to dampen optimism the U.S. recovery remained on track.

The half a trillion euros the European Central Bank pumped into the financial system buys hard-hit banks valuable time but will not in itself protect them from threatened rating downgrades, one of Standard and Poor's top executives said.

Stock index futures pared gains on Friday after mixed data on U.S. durable goods orders and consumer spending.