INVESTMENT

Valero Energy Corp , the top independent U.S. refiner, is working to sell its remaining plants on the U.S. East Coast and in the Caribbean, the Wall Street Journal said.

The Swiss government needs to resolve the legal impasse which threatens to derail a deal with U.S. tax authorities over UBS client data, the bank's chairman Kaspar Villiger was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

The New York Federal Reserve Bank actively supported insurer American International Group's regulatory requests to keep its bank counterparties confidential but did not pressure the bailed-out firm for secrecy, the bank's top lawyer said on Tuesday.

The financial sector led a stock market drop in late trading today, after expectations that new government policies could force major banks to divest themselves of some of their operations.

Options activity on Yahoo Inc suggests traders do not have conviction on which way the Internet portal giant's stock will move once it reports quarterly results after the bell on Tuesday.

Financial and basic materials stocks closed lower on Tuesday, sending the S&P 500 Index, Nasdaq Composite Index, and Dow Jones Industrial Average into negative territory after posting gains earlier in the day.

U.S. stock index futures were down on Tuesday after China clamped down on lending requirements, weighing on overseas markets.

Major U.S. stock exchanges are pressing the regulator to allow price quotes in increments as small as one-tenth of a cent, the Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower opening on Wall Street on Wednesday, following declines in Asia after China implemented an increase in higher reserve requirements for some lenders.

In the coming decade, nobody can stop the rise of gold, that is what the opinion of Owen Hegarty, an Australian expert in mineral resources. He told a Chinese news agency that gold prices are expected to remain on an upward track in a decade to come despite recent fluctuations. For the foreseeable future, or at least in this decade, all reasons to buy gold are positive, he said.

Charles Schwab Corp added a record number of wealth adviser teams as clients last year, benefiting from a wave of breakaway brokers leaving traditional firms to launch their own shops.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc , in the crosshairs of the pay debate, is capping compensation at $1.6 million for its partners in the UK, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Carsten Kengeter, co-chief executive of UBS Investment Bank, is stepping back from his additional role as joint head of fixed income, currencies and commodities , following two high profile appointments in the securities business. UBS appointed Neal Shear, 55, as head of global securities on Monday and named Roberto Hoornweg, 41, as global head of securities distribution, as it loo...

U.S. stocks edged higher in choppy trade on Monday as investors scooped up shares beaten down in last week's sell-off, including materials and technology stocks, but caution persisted over plans to curb bank risk-taking.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday he saw growing support for some form of international levy on banks to fund support for the industry.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a strong gain at the open on Monday and looked set to reverse a three-day selling spree that wiped out index gains for the year as U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke edged closer to winning support for a second term.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to gain at the open on Monday after the worst 3-day slide in 10 months following fears a White House plan to curb risk-taking by banks would cut profits.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a 1 percent rise on Monday after the worst 3-day slide in 10 months, which came on fears that the White House plan to curb bank risk-taking would cut profits.

Stock index futures pointed to a rebound on Wall Street on Monday following last week's sharp sell-off, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.82 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.74 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.51 percent at 4:15 a.m. EST.

Gold prices recovered in Asian trade Monday as the dollar dropped, reviving demand for the precious metal as an alternative asset. Spot gold was seen trading at $1,099.81 an ounce at 12.00 noon Singapore time while February delivery in New York was at $1,099.20 an ounce at the same time. The precious metal, which touched an all-time high of $1,226.56 last month, slumped to a one-month low of $1,081.95 an ounce on Jan. 22.

Investor holdings in the by Goldessential monitored (pure-play) gold-backed exchange-traded funds were seen decreasing 4.106 tonnes (-132,025 ounces) or 0.25 pct in the week from January 15th up to and including January 21st, in-house calculations based on official data showed on last Friday. Our gold ETF monitor furthermore added the ETFS Physical Swiss Gold (SGOL) to the standard list, bringing the total number of monitored tracked to thirteen. As per January 21st, the single trust held 309,54...