IBT Staff Reporter

The release of the RBA board minutes suggested just what the market had expected and in fact had already begun pricing in – interest rates are at normal levels.

Stocks fell on Wednesday as Germany's unilateral action to ban specific trades on some stocks and bonds sparked a fresh wave of uncertainty and risk aversion among anxious investors.

General Electric Co expects to tell shareholders by the end of this year it is ready to raise its dividend as well as resume share buybacks, and return to profit growth in 2010, its CEO said.

In an exclusive for Oilprice.com, the Wayne Madsen Report (WMR) has learned from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sources that U.S. Navy submarines deployed to the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast have detected what amounts to a frozen oil blob from the oil geyser at the destroyed Deep Horizon off-shore oil rig south of Louisiana. The Navy submarines have trained video cameras on the moving blob, which remains frozen at depths of ...

Consumer prices fell for the first time in a year last month and the closely watched core inflation rate posted its smallest annual gain since 1966, pointing to a lack of price pressure as the economic recovery gathers steam.

Stocks fell on Wednesday as Germany's unilateral action to ban specific trades on some stocks and bonds sparked a fresh wave of uncertainty and risk aversion among anxious investors.

Wireless Linux group LiMo expects three major operators to offer handsets using its platform this year, to compete with news rivals Google and Apple, its executive director said. So far only Vodafone has launched a model in Europe, using its Linux-based operating system, while 60 handsets were launched using the platform, mostly in Japan and South-Korea.

One in every seven U.S. households with a mortgage ended the first quarter behind on payments or in foreclosure, although a peak in unemployment could mean repayment stress is easing, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.

New York's wealthy are returning to summer beach retreats in the nearby Hamptons, but the global financial crisis has subdued their tastes and left people wary of flashing cash, real estate experts say.

Deere & Co reported a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, and raised its full-year outlook, citing improving business conditions including a recovery in the hard-hit market for construction equipment.

Internet gambling should be legalized and taxed in the United States to raise $42 billion in revenue over a decade and legitimize gamers who bet online, backers argued before a congressional panel on Wednesday.

Consumer prices fell for the first time in a year last month and the closely watched core inflation rate posted its smallest annual gain since 1966, pointing to a lack of price pressure as the economic recovery gathers steam.

The Federal Reserve raised its forecasts for economic growth and debated eventually selling mortgage debt, according to minutes of an April meeting that offered no hints of imminent changes in monetary policy.

General Electric Co expects to post a higher profit this year, resume share buybacks and say by the end of the year whether it will raise its dividend, its CEO said on Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve raised its forecasts for U.S. economic growth and discussed strategies for eventually selling mortgage assets at their last meeting in April, minutes of the gathering released on Wednesday showed.

The author of a sweeping Wall Street reform bill in the Senate backed away on Wednesday from a confrontation with another powerful Senate committee chairman over swaps market regulation.

Mortgage applications declined 27.1 percent last week compared to the previous week, on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association weekly survey.

Stocks fell on Wednesday as Germany's decision to ban naked short-selling of certain financial instruments fanned investor worries about exposure to riskier assets and about the global economy.

Germany declared war on speculators by banning some types of trade on Wednesday, triggering big falls in the financial markets and wrongfooting other European governments, which said they were not consulted.

General Electric Co sees upside to its 2010 financial framework, which calls for profit to be roughly flat with last year, and expects to resume opportunistic share buybacks by the end of this year.

Discount retailer Target Corp and warehouse club operator BJ's Wholesale Club Inc posted higher-than-expected quarterly earnings as consumers began to spend on more than just necessities.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Between 1 and 2 percent of children in the U.S. and Canada may have allergies to peanuts or tree nuts, with the U.S. rates seemingly on the rise, two new studies suggest.

A handful of Senate Democrats on Wednesday were pushing at the eleventh hour to make a sweeping Wall Street reform bill even tougher, but they were running out of time as a key procedural vote approached.

Drugmaker Novartis AG must pay $250 million in punitive damages to more than 5,000 current and former women employees, a jury ruled on Wednesday, two days after finding a U.S. division of the company discriminated against women over pay, promotion and pregnancy.

Europe's debt crisis shows the risks for the United States if it does not get its budget deficits under control, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker said on Tuesday.

A handful of Senate Democrats on Wednesday were pushing at the eleventh hour to make a sweeping Wall Street reform bill even tougher, but they were running out of time as a key procedural vote approached.

Stocks fell on Wednesday as Germany's decision to ban naked short-selling of certain financial instruments fueled investor worries about exposure to riskier assets and about the global economy.

(Corrects name in 4th paragraph to Ruskin, instead of Raskin)

Senior Senate Democrats clashed on Tuesday over the last disputed pieces of a sweeping Wall Street reform bill headed for final passage within days.