FEDERAL RESERVE

MetLife Inc. (MET), the largest U.S. life insurer, said Tuesday that it's shutting down the business of originating residential mortgages, three months after the company said it would seek a buyer for the unit. Goldman Sachs upgraded MetLife to "buy" as the company scales back to meet targets for shareholder returns.

Federal Reserve officials on Tuesday signaled more help for the U.S. economy may be necessary despite recent data that suggested the recovery was picking up steam going into 2012.

One of the driving forces causing this decoupling to occur has been a growing string of strong economic data in the U.S.

A deteriorating European with slower growth and the longer we go without economy and weak global growth will keep the Bank of Canada from raising rates for at least another year, though an interest rate cut looks highly unlikely, according to a Reuters survey.

The federal government will soon begin selling government-owned foreclosed properties in bulk to investors as rentals, in a new effort to dispose of its growing portfolio of distressed properties.

As the U.S. government nears a deal with top banks to resolve mortgage abuses, the Justice Department has begun reaching out to other banks to gauge their interest in joining the wide-ranging settlement, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Going on a short media blitz Monday afternoon, Wall Street power and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon sounded a highly optimistic note on the American economy, the housing market and even the chances of customers bilked by bankrupt broker-dealer MF Global getting their money back.

Consumer credit surged in November by the most since October 2001, rising 10.0 percent on higher credit card debt and more student loans doled out by the government, a Federal Reserve report showed on Monday.

Here is an overview of Ron Paul's economic plan, including his proposals on job creation, taxes, entitlement programs and health care reform.

The Federal Reserve cannot rule out additional monetary easing even if steady growth and acceptable inflation make it harder to justify fresh action, a top Fed official said on Monday.

The Federal Reserve cannot rule out additional monetary easing even if steady growth and acceptable inflation make it harder to justify fresh action, a top Fed official said on Monday.

Stock index futures edged higher on Monday as investors focused on a European meeting intended to find ways to boost the region's economies and tackle a debt crisis and prepared for the start of U.S. corporate earnings.

Signs the recovery is gaining strength suggest the Federal Reserve may not need to buy any more bonds to spur growth, a top policymaker said.

Signs the recovery is gaining strength suggest the Federal Reserve may not need to buy any more bonds to spur growth, a top policymaker said on Saturday.

Signs the U.S. recovery is gaining strength indicate the Federal Reserve may not need to buy any more bonds to spur growth, James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, said on Saturday: I don't think it's very likely right now because the tone of the data has been pretty strong recently.

Central bank actions work better than tax and spending measures to protect an economy from shocks, even when interest rates are at rock bottom levels, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said on Saturday.

Federal Reserve Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin on Saturday said the Fed must impose monetary penalties on banks who entered into an April agreement with regulators over how to fix problems in their mortgage servicing businesses.

Federal Reserve Gov. Sarah Bloom Raskin said on Saturday the Fed must impose monetary penalties on banks that entered into an April agreement with regulators over how to fix problems in their mortgage-servicing businesses.

Three top Federal Reserve officials aggressively pushed on Friday for more stimulus for the U.S. housing market, saying the government should be looking at ways to help the sector for the purpose of speeding the country's economic recovery.

U.S. employment growth accelerated last month and the jobless rate dropped to a near three-year low of 8.5 percent, the strongest evidence yet the country's economic recovery is gaining steam.

U.S. employment growth accelerated last month and the jobless rate dropped to a near three-year low of 8.5 percent, the strongest evidence yet the economic recovery is gaining steam.