FEDERAL RESERVE

U.S. households continued to shave debt in the fourth quarter as mortgage balances declined, while there were tentative signs Americans are increasingly willing to spend, according to a report released on Monday by the New York Federal Reserve.

U.S. households continued to shave debt in the fourth quarter as mortgage balances declined, while there were tentative signs Americans are increasingly willing to spend, according to a report released on Monday by the New York Federal Reserve.

Business conditions in Texas-area manufacturing continued to expand at a solid pace in February, according to a report released Monday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa said on Saturday policy makers are closely watching the impact of looser monetary policy on crude-oil prices. Along with the European Central Bank and the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan is taking unconventional steps to boost the economy.

Anyone looking for more evidence of a strengthening U.S. economic recovery needs only to consider conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, where businesses ranging from railroads and electric utilities to furniture and candy stores are racking up record profits.

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams defends the Fed's aggressive monetary policy, citing continuing reverberations from the housing crash.

No matter which direction investors faced Friday, whether it was the recent past or the immediate future, all the signals were positive. Investors responded by boosting prices for stocks, bonds and commodities.

Top Federal Reserve officials said on Friday the U.S. central bank's ultra-easy monetary policy is appropriate for a sluggish economy but one policymaker said further easing would only be warranted if conditions worsen.

Next week will be packed with important data releases. The key policy event will be Chairman Bernanke's semi-annual policy testimony before Congress.

The recent U.S. housing bubble and resulting severe recession discouraged an entire generation of potential home buyers, who see ownership of a residence as far riskier than preceding generations did, a top U.S. central banker said Friday.

The Federal Reserve should only embark on a third round of large-scale bond purchases if the U.S. economy deteriorates and inflation drops, and we are not there yet, a top Fed official said on Friday.

Housing, the weakest of the three legs of the stool supporting the U.S. economy, is finally firming up, or so it seems to investors, economists, real estate agents and buildings after a string of heartening reports so far this year.

At least one large financial institution has approached the Federal Reserve Bank of New York with an offer to buy out the remaining mortgage-backed toxic waste bonds it received from AIG as collateral for a $19.5 billion bailout in 2008, according to Bloomberg News, as banks are looking to profit from what many see as an incipient turnaround in the U.S. housing market.

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher said on Thursday U.S. economic conditions were improving and repeated his view that further easing from the U.S. central bank was not needed.

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher said on Thursday U.S. economic conditions were improving, and he cautioned against viewing the central bank's 2014 projection for raising interest rates as an iron-clad promise.

Claims for jobless benefits held at 351,000 after falling for three straight weeks and the four-week moving average continued to decline. Economists expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates sooner if jobless claims stay near 350,000 per week or fall substantially.

U.S. central bank officials have good reason to be skeptical about the strength of the economy: excessive optimism has caught them flat-footed before.

Gold jumped to a three-month high on Wednesday, reversing early losses after bullish technical factors triggered fund buying, and platinum prices hit their highest in five months on supply worries.

U.S. home resales rose to a 1-1/2 year high in January, pushing the supply of properties on the market to the lowest level in almost seven years in a hopeful sign for the housing sector.

When it comes to the debate on whether the United States is experiencing inflation, it is typically not a yes or no interchange. If you have read the first two parts (Part 1, Part 2) of my series on inflation, you are well aware that I am on the side that inflation is already upon us. My counterparts, typically, will not only disagree, but will also bring up the issue of deflation.

Only 54 percent of Americans have more emergency savings than credit card debt, according to a February study by Bankrate.com.