FEDERAL RESERVE

When Benjamin Lawsky formally accused U.K.'s Standard Chartered bank of money laundering and a cover-up linked to Iranian financial institutions, the head of New York's newly formed Department of Financial Services was hardly described in glowing terms in the press. He was termed a rogue, an egomaniac and worse by unnamed scorned colleagues in New York and Washington. But in describing his ambitions, what these reports failed to take into account was the depth of his and Governor Andrew C...

Major data releases aplenty are on the economic calendar next week. In the U.S., investors will focus on July retail sales, industrial production, and consumer prices. In the euro zone, second-quarter gross domestic product figures across the major economies and the German ZEW index are the main highlights.

U.S. regulators directed five of the country's biggest banks, including Bank of America Corp and Goldman Sachs Group Inc, to develop plans for staving off collapse if they faced serious problems, emphasizing that the banks could not count on government help.

Most of the Asian markets rose Thursday as hopes for monetary easing measures to be announced by China grew following reports that the country's inflation slowed down in July compared to the previous month.

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.

Asian stock markets advanced for the third straight session on Wednesday as sentiment continued to improve on hopes that the major central banks around the world will soon announce new round of stimulus measures to spur economic growth.

U.S. stock index futures point to a lower open Wednesday as investor sentiment was weighed down by lack of stimulus measures from policy makers around the globe to rejuvenate the faltering economic growth momentum.

The S&P 500 rose above 1,400 for the first time since May 3 behind further calls for another central bank stimulus and hopes that the European Central Bank will take action.

U.S. stock index futures point to a higher open Tuesday as investors continue to expect the European Central Bank to implement new policy measures to rejuvenate the euro zone economy.

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.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said on Sunday that a fresh round of monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve would not help the fragile U.S. economy.

Most of the Asian markets advanced but pared the weekly gains as the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank did not announce any stimulus measures to revive the weakening economic growth.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday said it plans to sell $4.5 billion in American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) shares, further cutting its ownership stake in the bailed-out insurer.

The Fed will drop its wavering plans for a fresh spate of monetary stimulus measures, according to Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at the Economic Outlook Group.

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 .

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.

Asian shares eased Thursday as investors turned increasingly cautious with hopes of stimulus action by central banks fading ahead of a European Central Bank's meeting later in the day and after the U.S. Federal Reserve took no action a day earlier.

Unconventional times require unconventional measures, and with the U.S. economy growing at a truly tepid rate, perhaps it's time to try an innovative fiscal stimulus proposal recommended by an economist about three years ago.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday offered a gloomier view of the economy as the labor market showed no sign of improvement since its last meeting. However, despite mounting signs of a sharp slowdown in the U.S. economy, central bank officials decided to take more time to make up their mind and refrained from enacting another monetary stimulus.