FEDERAL RESERVE

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to a higher opening on Wednesday ahead of US Federal Reserve’s meeting and Census Bureau's durable goods orders report.

The Federal Reserve kicked off a two-day meeting on Tuesday that will probably show that it is in no hurry to scale back its massive support for the economic recovery.

Oil prices seesawed near unchanged in volatile trading on Tuesday, as investors eyed a U.S. Federal Reserve two-day policy meeting for any signal of a change in monetary policy.

The Federal Reserve kicked off a two-day meeting on Tuesday that is expected to conclude with a signal that it is in no hurry to scale back its massive support for the economic recovery.

Silver tumbled on Tuesday and Asian shares pulled back from recent three-year highs in a bout of profit-taking before the Federal Reserve meeting this week where investors are seeking clues on when it plans to begin exiting its ultra-easy monetary policy.

U.S. stocks ended higher on Thursday as robust earnings from Apple, Morgan Stanley and General Electric lifted the market, but weaker-than- expected reports on jobless claims and Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index kept gains in check.

Asian stock markets ended mixed on Monday as Chinese shares declined to the lowest level in three weeks on monetary policy tightening concerns.

Venezuela’s inflation is at 29 percent and Argentina’s actual inflation (many allege the government data is fraudulent) is north of 20 percent.

The US dollar is in a new phase of depreciation, said Douglas Borthwick of Connecticut-based Faros Trading.

The happiest countries and happiest U.S. states tend to have unusually high rates of suicide, a new research suggests.

For over 70 years the United States has been widely considered AAA top-notch benchmark sovereign risk. Standard & Poor (S&P)'s decision to impose a negative outlook now puts this status under question for the first time, reflecting the unsustainable debt trajectory and risks of policy response gridlock.

In 2010, Standard & Poor's 500 Index company CEOs received, on average, $11.4 million in total compensation, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) said in a report.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-OK on Monday - reacting to a 2 year warning on the nation's pristine credit rating - said Democrats and Republicans needed to reach a deal on cutting the nation's long-term deficits ahead of the November 2012 election, cautioning against waiting for the perfect political moment to tackle the problem.

The President of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank Richard Fisher said on Monday he expected to be at the front of the pack in pressing for monetary policy tightening at an appropriate time.

Federal Reserve officials offered clashing views on Monday of whether soft U.S. growth or inflation pose a greater risk to the economy but the face-off looked unlikely to alter the Fed's ultra-loose stance for now.

Standard and Poor’s Rating Service cut its outlook on the US Government’s long-term debt to negative this morning and the implications are quite resounding.

Analysts expect USD/JPY to fall further, and here are 3 reasons back up that thesis.

To judge by their polar opposite reactions, two top U.S. Federal Reserve officials could have been looking at completely different sets of U.S. inflation data on Friday.

The Consumer Price Index data for March was in line with low underlying inflation, a top U.S. Federal Reserve official said on Friday, adding it is too early to determine whether commodity price spikes are playing a role.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Plosser on Friday said the U.S. central bank could move to tighten monetary policy this year if the recovery unfolds as he expects.

Federal Reserve officials differed on Thursday over the urgency of withdrawing monetary stimulus on Thursday, with some saying inflation is in check despite oil price rises while others warned of risks if the central bank drags its feet.