US stocks edge down as turmoil in the Middle East continues to rage on.
U.S. stocks closed down, snapping a three-day winning streak on Tuesday, even as investors adjusted to the insecurity created by events in Japan, the Middle East and North Africa.
Income for top investment banks fell by almost a quarter last year to $167 billion from a record performance in 2009, according to an industry report.
Microsoft and federal agents took down Rustock, a botnet responsible at its peak for nearly half of the world's spam.
Microsoft Corp claimed credit on Thursday for taking down one of the biggest producers of spam e-mail in a joint effort with federal authorities across the United States.
Japan dismissed the need for joint action to curb the soaring yen ahead of a conference call of G7 finance ministers and sources said the group of rich nations was more likely to offer general pledges of solidarity as Tokyo struggles to contain a nuclear crisis.
Leading Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun has said in an editorial the worsening nuclear crisis is comparable to the Chernobyl disaster, saying four nuclear reactors standing in a line are simultaneously spinning out of control.
Kraft Foods Inc said on Monday its chief financial officer will step down in mid-2011 and be replaced by the executive who oversees the food maker's operations.
An explosion was heard at the quake-hit nuclear plant of Japan on Saturday, soon after speculations of melt-down were made following the failure of the cooling system of the plant due to Friday's powerful earthquake and tsunami.
U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday, as a weak outlook from Texas Instruments weighed on the Nasdaq and pushed an index of chip makers below a key technical level in a worrisome sign for the market's six-month uptrend.
President Barack Obama went back on his campaign promise to close down Guantanamo Bay detention center for suspected terrorists and signed an executive order to create a system for indefinitely holding suspects at the military prison.
Brent crude fell below $115 on Tuesday on reports Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was looking for a way to step down and end the fighting that has slashed the nation's oil exports, while OPEC's assurances of supply also soothed investors.
Internet entrepreneur Art Norins was sick of the nonstop phone calls and e-mails from people seeking to buy shares of his company.
U.S. stocks closed down and erased most of gains for the week on Friday as fears of more geopolitical turmoil and higher oil prices threaten to stifle rallies in coming weeks.
Rich nations could tap strategic oil reserves if needed to ward off the risk that Middle East political unrest triggers an inflationary price spiral, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday.
The rancor over bank bonuses means investment bankers across the globe are now getting a higher level of fixed pay but industry groups in Europe still feel their financial sector is facing much tougher rules than the rest of the world.
The Senate voted on Tuesday to strip controversial provisions out of a bipartisan bill to revamp the U.S. patent system and clear a years long backlog of patent applications.
James Franco and Anne Hathaway were chosen as the hosts for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards with the hope of appealing to a younger demographic. Even so, the pair failed to pull big ratings during the awards ceremony.
Euro zone inflation was lower than initially estimated in January but still well above the European Central Bank's target and likely to rise further in February due mainly to more expensive oil.
Sudanese riot police and security agents surrounded organisers of a protest against alleged election fraud on Sunday, witnesses said, in the latest sign of a clampdown following uprisings across the Arab world.
The Federal Reserve would react to higher oil prices only if the increases spilled over into broader areas, officials of the U.S. central bank said on Friday, with one policy maker calling the risks manageable.
U.S. stocks rose on Friday, bouncing back from a three-day sell-off as oil prices stabilized, but unease over the Libyan rebellion could be enough to keep buying in check.