BEN BERNANKE

President Barack Obama said on Friday that he was seeing glimmers of hope across the recession-hit U.S. economy but that it still remained under severe strain.

President Barack Obama will discuss financial conditions in a meeting this morning with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp head Sheila Bair, Securities and Exchange Commission chief Mary Shapiro and Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan.

The U.S. Treasury Department is asking banks not to mention the regulatory stress tests as part of their first-quarter earnings results, according to a source familiar with government discussions.

The U.S. Treasury Department is asking banks not to mention the regulatory stress tests as part of their first-quarter earnings results, according to a source familiar with government discussions.

President Barack Obama plans to meet on Friday with top financial regulators to sketch out the next steps to take with the stress tests being conducted at the 19 biggest U.S. banks, a source familiar with the meeting said on Thursday.

Author Kevin Phillips expects rising inflation, similar to the 1970s, as the economy recovers from the current recession.

European Central Bank Executive Board member Juergen Stark on Tuesday criticized the decision made at the G20 summit to boost the IMF's Special Drawing Rights as ill thought through and potentially inflationary.

Asian shares climbed to a six-month high on Monday, as hopes that the global economic downturn is nearing its bottom spur demand for riskier assets while hitting the yen and safe-haven government bonds.

U.S. crude oil futures on Monday gained more than $1 from the previous close as weak U.S. jobs data did little to dampen investors' improved appetite for risk and their expectation of a global economic recovery.

Asian shares climbed to a six-month high on Monday, as hopes that the global economic downturn is nearing its bottom spur demand for riskier assets while hitting the yen and safe-haven government bonds.

Feb Chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday the central bank's strategy to ease the financial crisis is working and he also acknowledged that the Fed was “extremely uncomfortable” about last year's bailouts for big financial companies.

Stocks rose on Friday, with the Dow marking its best four-week winning streak since 1933, lifted by robust results from Research in Motion and comments by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who said the central bank will do everything it can to stabilize banks.

Stocks rose on Friday, with the Dow marking its best four-week winning streak since 1933, lifted by robust results from Research in Motion and comments by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who said the central bank will do everything it can to stabilize banks.

The U.S. unemployment rate soared to 8.5 percent last month, a 25-year high, as employers slashed jobs and cut workers' hours to the lowest level on record, the government said on Friday.

Top Federal Reserve officials pledged on Friday to use all the tools at their disposal to spur lending and a U.S. economic recovery, but warned a rebound could be slow in coming.

The Federal Reserve’s programs to boost credit and liquidity in financial markets have more than doubled the size of the central bank’s balance sheet and it is set to grow much larger, Fed chief Ben Bernanke said today.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday said the Fed will use all tools to stabilize markets and set the stage for an economic recovery but provided no time frame for when a recovery will occur.

The Dow Jones industrial average briefly turned positive on Friday as technology stocks extended gains and financials reversed an earlier drop.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday said the Fed will use all tools to stabilize markets and set the stage for an economic recovery but provided no time frame for when a recovery will occur.

In a bid to quash Wall Street excesses that nearly caused the collapse of the U.S. financial system, the Obama administration will propose tough restrictions on financial firms, hedge funds and derivatives markets.

U.S. President Barack Obama and his top two economic officials on Tuesday dismissed suggestions by emerging economic powers that the world move away from using the dollar as the world's main reserve currency.