INVESTMENT

U.S. home mortgage interest rates fell again this week, and the average 30-year fixed rate is now at a low 4.19 percent -- which creates an opportunity for prospective home buyers with good credit histories.

The leading chipmaker for PCs is fighting for the tablet market.

Gold, and only gold, will be our salvation when the value of companies, banks, countries and even money itself melts away. Gold, not shifting currencies, is the foundation of wealth and security. Gold is back, for good.

Gold eased on Thursday from record highs struck earlier in the session after the CME Group raised margins on COMEX gold futures, but turmoil in the global financial markets and fears of slower growth will buoy sentiment.

India's annual industrial output growth probably slipped further in June to 5.5 percent from a nine-month low of 5.6 percent in May, indicating taut monetary policy and soaring inflation were hindering growth momentum, the median forecast in a Reuters poll showed.

HSBC plans to dispose of its 8 percent stake in Bank of Shanghai, a Chinese newspaper reported on Thursday, citing unidentified sources.

Beijing should move rapidly to diversify its foreign exchange reserves, buying more euro and yen rather than dollar assets, after U.S. debt was downgraded by one rating agency, a paper run by China's central bank cited local banking sources as saying.

Economic fears are weighing heavily on Americans, with a large majority saying the United States is on the wrong track and nearly half believing the worst is yet to come, a Reuters/Ipsos poll said on Wednesday.

Despite a mix of scandals and failed business purchases, News Corp. was able to beat the Street's expectations with its fourth quarter earnings.

California's latest monthly revenue report shows revenue weaker than expected even before the stock market, a key source of revenue for the state, began sliding in response to Standard & Poor's downgrade of U.S. debt, anxiety about Europe's finances and the risk of the U.S. economy slipping back into recession.

Crude oil historically trades at about 8 times the price of natural gas. Currently, it's trading at about 20 times natural gas. Is oil overpriced, natural gas underpriced, or is it a combination?

Gold and silver prices settled higher Wednesday as investors extended their retreat from stocks and bid up the precious metals on fears that France's sovereign debt would be the next nation's credit to be downgraded.

Apple topped Exxon Mobil as the world's most valuable company on Wednesday, but can the company be able to keep up the momentum if the country's economy continues to slip?

In essence, the Federal Reserve has inadvertently and implicitly extended the maturity of the average money market fund from less than 1 year to up to 5 years.

A reorientation of Russia to East from West could be a complete economic game-changer.

Gloomy comments from South Africa's central bank on the impact of global financial turmoil on the country's capital formation, key to growth, were the backdrop to a fall in bond yields and a volatile day for the rand, which ended down against the dollar.

Groupon amended its IPO filing. Surprise! Groupon says now the company is unprofitable.

Gold and silver prices rose Wednesday, but a falling stock market pulled down shares of silver mining companies and left gold mining company stocks mixed in midday trading.

World shares clawed back more ground on Wednesday as investors rattled by a run of heavy losses took comfort from the Federal Reserve's pledge to keep interest rates near zero for two more years.

The Federal Reserve released a statement Tuesday saying that the Federal Open Market Committee, which met in June, accepted that the economic growth so far this year has been slower than its expectations.

U.S. stocks rebounded sharply on Tuesday after a major sell-off, but markets remained vulnerable to selling if the Federal Reserve fails to ease fears of a double-dip recession.