Hot finance topics

Could the foreclosure plague be ending?
Foreclosure filings were down 3% in October, the third consecutive month-over-month dip, according to RealtyTrac, the online seller of foreclosed homes.
To be sure, foreclosure rates are still elevated from a year ago: They’re up 18% compared with October 2008. But the month-over-month decrease followed a 4% drop in filings […]

Creditors of bankrupt Freedom Communications Holdings Inc have launched a fight against an “immoral and wicked” reorganization plan that would turn over the Orange County Register owner to JPMorgan Chase & Co and other banks.
A court-appointed committee of creditors asked the judge overseeing the bankruptcy to direct Freedom, which owns 30 daily papers and […]

Real-estate private-equity giant Lone Star Funds LS.UL is cutting some of its fees as it tries to raise $20 billion to buy pools of troubled mortgages and other kinds of distressed debt, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Tuesday.
Lone Star, led by John Grayken, reduced the minimum management fee it will […]

After weeks of partisan debate, the Senate voted on Wednesday to lengthen unemployment benefits by up to 20 weeks and to extend the $8,000 homebuyer tax credit.
The closely watched legislation would extend jobless benefits in all states by 14 weeks. Those that live in states with unemployment greater than 8.5% would receive an additional […]

Stocks ended mixed Wednesday, giving up bigger gains after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged and said it will keep them low for an extended period.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) gained 30 points, or 0.3%. The Dow had gained as much as 156 points in the afternoon, but couldn’t sustain those gains […]

The top U.S. securities regulator on Wednesday called on Corporate America to upgrade its proxy voting practices to ensure shareholders a greater voice in governing the companies they own.
“It is imperative that our proxy voting process work,” Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro told the Practising Law Institute conference in New York.
“The failure […]

China’s vast manufacturing sector expanded in October at the fastest rate in 18 months, a survey showed on Sunday, and economists said they expected the momentum to be sustained in the coming months.
The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) issued by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing rose to 55.2 last month, the highest level […]