Hot finance topics

Valuations for U.S. equities have been stuck below the five-decade average for the longest period since Richard Nixon

Officials say talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country’s privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close.
A statement from creditor representatives Charles Dallara and Jean Lemierre says the two sides are “close to the finalization of a voluntary (private sector involvement) … We expect to conclude next week […]

Billionaire Warren Buffett donated stock in his company worth $41.6 million to eight unnamed charities during the second half of 2011.
Buffett revealed the donations Wednesday in a year-end update on his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock holdings.
Buffett gave away 521,292 Class B shares of Berkshire stock between July and the end of December. These gifts are […]

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said slower inflation gives policy makers room to increase bond purchases to aid the U.K. economy and guard against a

The new man at the top of struggling Research In Motion Ltd. says his priority is to reinvigorate marketing and restore growth in the U.S., adding that he has no intention of allowing the iconic BlackBerry maker to be broken apart and sold in pieces.

Microsoft and IBM drove the Dow Jones industrial average up after the tech giants reported stronger earnings than analysts had expected.
The Dow rose 97 points Friday to close at 12,720. That’s a gain of 0.8 percent.
The S&P 500 index inched up 1 point to 1,315.
An earnings miss by Google caused its stock to plunge 8 […]

U.S. stock futures are mixed, portending a cautious opening as Greece holds another round of debt-reduction with its creditors.
Dow futures are down 3 points at 12,584. The broader S&P 500 futures are down 2 points to 1,308.
The Nasdaq composite is up 5 points to 2,430. The tech-heavy index is getting a boost from solid earnings […]

Almost all U.S. metropolitan areas will see job growth in 2012, but for many areas it will still take years for employment to return to pre-recession levels, according to a report released on Wednesday by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
All but three U.S. metro areas will have job gains this year, led by expected […]

NEW YORK • The nation’s largest retail trade group expects a solid 3.4 percent increase in sales this year, below last year’s 4.7 percent increase as job woes weigh on shoppers.
Sales should reach $2.53 trillion this year, up from last year’s $2.45 trillion, boosted in part by higher prices across all goods, according to a […]

People infuriated by what they call a discriminatory ban on photography by one of Italian fashion label Dolce & Gabbana’s Hong Kong outlets have protested outside the store.
Several dozen people gathered outside the shop Sunday afternoon. They yelled for the company to apologize after news reports earlier this month said sales staff were preventing Hong […]