IBT Staff Reporter

Department store operator J.C. Penney Co Inc posted a 51 percent drop in fourth quarter profit on Friday, and said its loss in the current quarter would be deeper than Wall Street estimates as shoppers hold off on spending. The most recent quarter's results were better than analysts expected, helped by efforts to cut inventory and expenses amid the weakest holiday shopping season i...

U.S. stocks fell on Friday, pinning the Dow to levels not seen for more than six years, as investors worried that a financial sector rescue might involve nationalization of major banks, wiping out shareholders. The mounting fear sent investors scurrying to the relative safety of U.S. government bonds and gold, which rose briefly above $1,000 an ounce. Shares of Bank of America fell...

The whereabouts of embattled Texas financier Allen Stanford were a mystery again Friday after the FBI served him a formal complaint in this historic hub noted for ghost stories. Television crews maintained a vigil outside the family home of a woman reputed to be a girlfriend of Stanford, but there were no signs that he was at the house overnight. Lights were out from early evening. The modest, t...

The Walt Disney Company has paid an undisclosed amount for Kerpoof Studios, a creator of online tools that kids can use to make artwork, write stories and create short movies.

they are sidelining the dollar strength, sidelining deflationary concerns and lower oil prices. They are very much buying gold as a safe-haven asset, Cooper said. There is potential for us to breach the $1,000 level. Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen said the deteriorating macroeconomic picture and inflows into exchange-traded funds were currently the main influences on the gold price, n...

Citigroup Inc plans to sell its 17 percent stake in Brazilian credit card company Redecard, sources with direct knowledge of the plans said on Friday, potentially raising 3.05 billion reais ($1.27 billion) for the struggling U.S. banking giant.

Mining group Anglo American Plc (AAL.L) (AGLJ.J) scrapped its 2008 final dividend on Friday to conserve cash and said it will cut 19,000 jobs as it posted a 1 percent fall in profit, missing analysts' forecasts.

Right-wing leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday accepted a mandate to form Israel's next government and immediately called for a broad, national unity coalition with centrist and left-wing partners.

Bank of America Corp and Citigroup Inc shares plummeted for a sixth straight day on Friday, hammered by fears that the U.S. government could nationalize the banks, wiping out shareholders.

U.S. stocks tumbled on Friday, depressing the Dow to levels last seen more than six years ago as investors worried a financial sector rescue might involve nationalization of major banks, wiping out shareholders. The mounting fear sent investors scurrying to the relative safety of U.S. government bonds and gold, which rose above $1,000 an ounce. Shares of Bank of America tumbled mor...

U.S. stocks dropped at Friday's opening, extending a rout which has pulled the Dow Jones industrials to a fresh bear-market low, as worries about the fate of major banks escalated. * Fears that the U.S. government's bank rescue plan might involve nationalization and that the recession is worsening had investors scurrying toward the relative safety of U.S. government bonds as stocks plummeted in...

Shares of Bank of America Corp and Citigroup Inc plummeted for the sixth straight day on Friday, hammered by increasing fears that the U.S. government could take the control of the banks, wiping out shareholders. Bank of America shares were down 6.6 percent to $3.66 in premarket trading, their lowest level since 1984, while Citigroup fell 12.3 percent to $2.20, their lowest price since 1991. The ...

U.S. stocks headed for a drop at Friday's opening that would extend a rout which has pulled the Dow Jones industrials to a fresh bear-market low, as worries about the fate of major banks escalated. Fears that the U.S. government's bank rescue plan might involve nationalization and that the recession is worsening had investors scurrying toward the relative safety of U.S. government bonds as stoc...

U.S. consumer prices rose in January as energy costs rebounded, government data showed on Friday, temporarily easing fears of deflation amid a severe economic downturn. The Labor Department said its closely watched Consumer Price Index rose 0.3 percent, advancing for the first time since July, after falling 0.8 percent in December. The increase was bang in line with market expectations. U.S. sto...

Department store operator J.C. Penney Co Inc posted a higher-than-expected profit on Friday, but said its loss in the current quarter would be deeper than Wall Street estimates as shoppers hold off on spending. Penney's performance in its fourth quarter, which ended on January 31, benefited from the company's efforts to cut inventory and expenses during the weakest holiday shoppin...

U.S. consumer prices rose in January, advancing for the first time since July as energy costs rebounded, government data showed on Friday, but a severe economic downturn was likely to keep inflation pressures muted in the months ahead. The Labor Department said its closely watched Consumer Price Index rose 0.3 percent after falling 0.8 percent in December. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast ...

U.S. consumer prices rose in January, advancing for the first time since July as energy costs rebounded, government data showed on Friday, but a severe economic downturn was likely to keep inflation pressures muted in the months ahead. The Labor Department said its closely watched Consumer Price Index rose 0.3 percent after falling 0.8 percent in December. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast ...

President Barack Obama on Thursday assured Canada, his country's biggest trading partner, that he would not pursue protectionist policies, and the two neighbors agreed to cooperate on cleaner energy technology.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Thursday could not say whether the Obama administration was against another oil output cut by OPEC when the producer group meets on March 15, and that he would have to find out the administration's position.

Department store operator J.C. Penney Co Inc posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Friday, helped by steps to cut inventory and expenses during the weakest holiday shopping season in decades. Its net profit fell 51 percent to $211 million, or 95 cents per share, from $430 million, or $1.93 per share, a year ago. Earnings were 94 cents per share from continuing operation...

making the Alpine state the world's biggest offshore center. Tax-dodging schemes are increasingly under attack by governments scrambling to find revenue needed to finance the soaring costs of government stimulus programs. John Christensen, director of the Tax Justice Network which campaigns against bank secrecy, said he also saw a dramatic shift in public opinion against tax havens. It is c...

U.S. stock index futures fell on Friday, putting Wall Street on track to extend a rout that has pulled the Dow Jones industrials to a fresh bear-market low as worries about the fate of major banks mount. Fears that the U.S. government's bank rescue plan might involve nationalization and that the recession is worsening had investors scurrying toward the relative safety of government bonds, with s...

Electric cars emit gases indirectly if they use widely available power from fossil fuel electric plants which burn coal, natural gas and petroleum and release greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide.

The telephones have been ringing off the hook at U.S. mortgage lenders since President Barack Obama pledged $275 billion on Wednesday to help stem a wave of home foreclosures.

Google Inc is famous for pampering its employees, but some shareholders feel like they're getting a raw deal.

Bank of America Corp Chairman and Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis was subpoenaed last week by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is investigating whether the bank violated state law by withholding information from investors, the Wall Street Journal said late Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The world's largest diamond group, De Beers, said its three shareholders have agreed to loan the company $500 million to help it weather the economic downturn, following muted sales in 2008. De Beers Managing Director Gareth Penny said on Friday the global economic crisis was having a negative impact on sales of retail diamond jewelry, liquidity and demand for rough diamonds, which had hurt the ...

U.S. consumer prices are estimated to have risen in January as a recent rise in energy prices defied the economic downturn and disinflationary trends, according to economists polled by Reuters. As energy prices rose, a median forecast culled from a poll of more than 70 economists estimated that consumer prices overall rose 0.3 percent in January from December, while prices excluding food and ener...

and would likely continue to worsen for the time being. Japan has been hit particularly hard by the global slump, triggered by the U.S. housing market meltdown, due to its heavy dependence on exports and chronically weak domestic consumption. Crude inventories in the United States, the world's top consumer, fell slightly last week on lower imports and higher demand, the U.S. Energy Information...