BEN BERNANKE

Ben Bernanke received an unlikely defense of his work at the U.S. Federal Reserve by a top Mitt Romney adviser, who said on Tuesday that he should be considered for a third term as chairman

Gold prices are set for a 12th consecutive year of gains despite posting the largest quarterly drop since 2008 in the second quarter, a view likely shared by the World Gold Council, and billionaire investors George Soros and John Paulson.

Two years after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced plans for a massive second round of monetary stimulus at a yearly Fed summit in Jackson Hole, Wyo., market watchers are beginning to take odds on the chances that his speech at this year's Jackson Hole summit could produce a similar announcement.

Most of the Asian markets fell Wednesday as investor confidence was weighed down by the lack of stimulus measures from policymakers to support the global economy and regain the growth momentum.

Two non-voting members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors have broken a long-standing taboo against wading into politics by publicly talking about how election-year considerations affect the decisions of U.S. central bankers.

The Federal Reserve sent some strong messages in its latest policy statement that it is heading toward new easing measures to buck up the weak economy. But the central bank may have a different caliber of weapon in mind other than launching another round of large-scale asset purchases, or QE3.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Monday that although broad measurements of the economy point to recovery, many people and businesses are facing tough times.

Next week will be a reasonably quiet one for both the U.S. and the euro zone, but China will be dumping a whole bunch of macro data for July .

ECB President Mario Draghi was in policy hell Thursday after disappointing market-watchers at what was the most anticipated and important press conference of his career as a monetary policy leader.

Asian stock markets declined Thursday as investors awaited the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting later in the day after Federal Reserve did not offer any new monetary measures overnight.

Asian markets were mixed Thursday as investors remained watchful ahead of the European Central Bank meeting later in the day in which stimulus measures to boost the faltering euro zone economy are expected to be announced.

Most of the European markets fell Tuesday but investors remained cautious with the hope that the central banks all over the world would soon announce stimulus measures to tackle the weakening global economy.

Next week could see some major worldwide financial implications, depending on what three of the world's largest central banks do at their scheduled meetings.

The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell last week to near a four-year low, a hopeful sign for a labor market that has shown signs of weakness.

Asian markets rose Thursday amid hopes that central banks all over the world would soon announce stimulus measures to tackle the weakening global economy.

Ron Paul's so-called "Audit the Fed" bill, aimed at making the U.S. Federal Reserve more transparent and accountable, passed the U.S. House of Representatives in a rare moment of bipartisanship on Wednesday.

In a fairly light week of data, Friday's first take on the U.S. second-quarter gross domestic product will be the main event. Economists expect a feeble reading of 1.4 percent. This will be the final major data point to influence participants at the July 31 - Aug.1 meeting of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee.

Asian markets were mixed this week as investors continued to have concerns about the faltering global economy and the mounting debt crisis in the euro zone.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner appeared on a CNBC-sponsored conference Wednesday morning toeing the government's party that the New York Fed is not to blame for helping keep the evolving LIBOR rate-fixing scandal under wraps, even though they knew it was going on since at least 2007.

U.S. stock index futures point to a higher opening Thursday as corporate earnings reported for the second quarter exceeded expectations, indicating that business conditions are on the path of revival.

Asian markets rose Thursday as investors were encouraged by healthy earnings reports from the U.S. companies which alleviated concerns of faltering business conditions.