Stocks dropped more than 2 percent in early trading on Wednesday as a spike in Italian bond yields prompted fears the region's debt crisis was spiraling.
After swallowing months of cost increases that have eaten into their bottom lines throughout 2011, the nation's largest restaurant chains are positioning themselves to dish out incremental price increases to patrons over the next couple of months.
Gold prices slipped Wednesday as skyrocketing Italian government bond yields signaled the beginning of a possibly terminal phase in that nation's economy.
Stock index futures tumbled on Wednesday as a spike in Italian bond yields sparked fears the country will need a bailout, ratcheting up the region's debt crisis to another level.
Activision Blizzard, Inc. and Take-Two Interactive both beat Wall Street consensus Tuesday, as the companies each reported better-than-expected sales for the current quarter. However, the similarities between the companies' results end there.
Stocks rose on Tuesday on news that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi would resign.
A federal judge blocked a U.S. rule requiring tobacco companies to display graphic images on cigarette packs, such as a man exhaling cigarette smoke through a hole in his throat.
Stocks were set for a higher open on Tuesday as Italian lawmakers prepared for a crucial vote on public finances that marks the latest turn in the long-simmering euro zone debt crisis.
Stock index futures rose on Tuesday as lawmakers in Rome readied for a crucial vote on public finances that marks the latest chapter in the euro zone debt crisis.
Stocks were little changed in choppy trading after being lower on Monday as Europe's debt problems dominated investors' concerns, with the focus heavily on Italy's political turmoil.
Gold and silver mining company stocks got a boost Monday from the rising price of their metals and a global resurgence of safe-haven investing.
Stocks fell on Monday as investors stayed focused on Europe, this time on the political turmoil in debt-burdened Italy, as a reason to sell risky assets.
Gold prices climbed from eastern Asia to Western Europe Monday as worries about Europe's sovereign debt crisis spreading to Italy offset news that Greece's prime minster will resign.
Stock index futures fell on Monday as political turmoil in Italy sparked worry the Eurozone debt crisis could consume the region's third largest economy.
Stock index futures pointed to a sharply lower open for equities on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500, for the Dow Jones and for the Nasdaq 100 down 1.2 to 1.3 percent.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has won a parliamentary confidence vote and avoided snap elections that would have affected Greece's bailout deal and the Eurozone's economic crisis.
Shares of Groupon rose from their $20 IPO price to close at $26.11, a 30.55 percent jump. However, the closing price was below its opening price of $28.
Stocks retreated on Friday after two days of gains as wealthier nations appeared to pull back from a European Union plan to broaden funding for a plan to deal with the region's sovereign debt crisis.
The Brazilian oil giant announced this week a new oil discovery in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and the starting up of its 104 megawatt wind farm in Brazil.
The U.S. economy added a modest 80,000 jobs in October -- below what economists expected -- but job gains for the prior two months were revised higher: September to 158,000 from the initially-released 103,000; and August to 104,000 from 57,000. And the latter suggests a job market that continues to heal.
Stocks were set to drop at the open on Friday, and a mixed report on the U.S. labor market could make trading volatile.
The uncertain outcome of Greece's sovereign debt crisis and its implications for Europe's economy kept U.S. stock futures mixed on Friday, with indexes little changed following two days of steep gains.
