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American International Group Inc. (AIG), the bailed-out insurer, was rebuffed by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in its bid to repurchase a portfolio of mortgage- backed securities for $15.7 billion.
The New York Fed will instead sell the assets individually and in blocks, the regulator said today in a statement posted on its […]

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s push for NATO to take command of the Libyan no-fly zone shows how Muammar Qaddafi’s former friend is trying to hedge his bets over the civil war in Italy’s one-time colony.
“Italy is in a tight spot; it has the most to lose,” said Nicolo Sartori, an analyst at the Rome-based […]

Five years ago today, Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey blasted off the very first tweet. What began as an experiment in "microblogging" — no more than 140 characters, please — has become a cultural landmark.
Twitter now has 200 million users, including tech luminaries, celebrities and the president of the United States. It started off slowly: […]

The International Monetary Fund said Thursday that Japan has the financial means to get through this disaster and get on the road to reconstruction and growth.
The IMF, which helps poorer nations get through similar disasters, is watching the situation closely, spokeswoman Caroline Atkinson said in a briefing Thursday. But she added that, so far, […]

The Federal Reserve on Friday cleared the way for some major banks to boost stock dividends, prompting announcements from JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and U.S. Bancorp.
JPMorgan Chase said it is increasing its dividend to 25 cents a share from 5 cents, Wells Fargo hiked its dividend to 12 cents a share from 5 cents and […]

The leader of Portugal’s main opposition party says he won’t support the minority government’s latest measures aimed at avoiding a bailout for the debt-laden country.
The decision could force the beleaguered government’s downfall, triggering fresh market jitters just as Europe readies new measures to contain the continent’s sovereign debt crisis.
Many analysts anticipate Portugal’s high debt load […]

Global demand for U.S. stocks, bonds and other financial assets fell in January from a month earlier on declines in purchases of U.S. Treasury securities, according to the government’s international capital data.
Net buying of long-term equities, notes and bonds totaled $51.5 billion during January compared with net buying of $62.5 billion in December, according […]

European leaders declined Jean- Claude Trichet’s bid to provide his central bank with an exit from its role as buyer of last resort of bonds from struggling debt-strapped euro nations.
In a deal to reinforce their bailout fund struck at 1:30 a.m. in Brussels on March 12, the leaders of the 17 euro nations agreed […]

The Canadian economy disappointed on the jobs front in February, creating a smaller than expected 15,100 new jobs that included an outright decline in the important full-time work category.
The tiny pick-up in jobs overall, all part time, was below the consensus expectations of as many as 25,000 new jobs, but large enough to keep the […]

Household wealth in the U.S. climbed by $2.1 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2010 as share prices rose and families rebuilt finances tattered by the recession.
Net worth for households and non-profit groups increased at a 16.6 percent annual pace to $56.8 trillion after rising at a 9.1 percent rate in the previous three […]