Hot finance topics

Record sales from dental diagnostic equipment and related products helped Young Innovations Inc. raise profits in the first quarter. The Earth City-based manufacturer of equipment used by dentists, hygienists, and consumers reported a net income of $4 million, or 50 cents a share, compared to $3.6 million, or 44 cents, a year ago. Sales rose […]

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, […]

China led resistance to making bulging foreign-exchange reserves a measure of economic imbalances as Group of 20 finance officials struggled for consensus on realigning the skewed world economy.
Sparring over early warning indicators reflected the split among fast-growing emerging countries and debt-laden advanced economies over how to prevent a repeat of the harshest recession […]

The refusal of Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak to stand down is weighing on market sentiment Friday, sending stocks down around the world and the dollar higher through its perceived status as a safe haven.
On Thursday, stocks had clambered off lows on mounting speculation that Mubarak was ready to meet protesters’ demands and quit. His perceived […]

President Barack Obama has told U.S. and Chinese business leaders that he wants specific ideas on how to remove trade barriers and protect intellectual property.
Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao (hoo jin-tow) met with the business executives at the White House on Wednesday as part of Hu’s state visit.
Hu told the executive that China is […]

An explosion at a chlorine plant in southern France on Thursday killed one man and injured nine, authorities said.
The administration for the Bouches-du-Rhone region said a leak of water containing sodium prompted the explosion. The blast occurred at a plant run by Gazechim in the Mediterranean port of Lavera.
The administration said in a statement that […]

Abu Dhabi is taking over management of the city’s port from neighboring Dubai’s port firm DP World, which manages similar facilities around the world.
DP World and Abu Dhabi Terminals said Thursday that ADT will assume management control of Mina Zayed in the new year, when an existing management services agreement expires. The move won’t have […]

Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, architect of the euro currency and founding member of the European Central Bank’s executive board, has died, according to a person close to his family who asked not to be identified by name. He was 70.
Padoa-Schioppa died after suffering a heart attack in Rome last night while at a dinner with about […]

Regulators have shut down two banks in Georgia and one in Arizona, bringing to 146 the number of U.S. banks that have succumbed this year under the burden of bad loans and a tepid economy.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Friday took over the two Georgia banks: Darby Bank & Trust Co., based in Vidalia, […]