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The U.S. economic recovery is finally getting stronger, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday.
Bernanke, in testimony before the Senate Budget Committee, said there is increased evidence that a self-sustaining recovery in consumer and business spending may be taking hold.
"Overall the pace of economic recovery seems likely to be moderately stronger in 2011 than […]

U.S. retailers’ 2010 holiday sales jumped 5.5 percent for the best performance in five years as shoppers snapped up clothing and jewelry at Macy’s Inc., Tiffany & Co. and other stores.
Retail sales, excluding autos, rose to $584 billion from Nov. 5 through Dec. 24, said MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse, which measures retail sales by all […]

Protesters clashed with riot police across Athens on Wednesday, torching cars, hurling gasoline bombs and sending Christmas shoppers fleeing in panic during a general strike against the government’s latest austerity measures.
Police fired tear gas and flash grenades as the violence escalated outside parliament and spread to other parts of the capital.
Angry unions triggered the 24-hour […]

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren said he expects the central bank to buy the entire $600 billion of Treasuries policy makers authorized Nov. 3 in a bid to reduce unemployment.
“Given my forecast, I fully anticipate we will purchase the entire amount,” Rosengren, 53, said today in an interview with Bloomberg News. […]

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services revised its outlook for Toronto-Dominion Bank to positive from stable.
One reason cited for the revision was the expectation that TD Bank would successful integrate its most recently announced U.S. acquisitions, including The South Financial Group.
South Financial (NASDAQ: TSFG), headquartered in Greenville, S. C., does business in Florida as Mercantile Bank […]

Gabriel’s Liquor and Silver Eagle Distributors are participating in Anheuser-Busch’s We I.D. program aimed at curbing underage drinking.
As part of the program, the San Antonio-based beer, wine and spirits chain will display posters and signage in its 46 locations to let patrons know that each store will be asking for valid identification whenever they purchase […]

One more review and the latest expansion phase for the Buffalo Transportation/Pierce-Arrow Museum can finally begin.
The Buffalo Planning Board, Tuesday morning, will be meeting with museum founder James Sandoro to go over his proposed construction of a 21,244-square-foot, single story atrium. Board approval is central to his larger plan of a 60-foot-tall and 60,000-square-foot atrium […]

MIAMI — Toyota has routinely engaged in questionable, evasive and deceptive legal tactics when sued, claiming it does not have information it is required to turn over and sometimes even ignoring court orders to produce key documents, an Associated Press investigation shows.
In a review of lawsuits filed around the country involving a […]

After months of speculation and hype, Apple unveiled a portable device Wednesday called the iPad that will attempt to usher in a new era of touch-screen tablet computing, filling a gap between smart phones, laptops and eBook readers.
Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad to a rapt audience, calling it "the most […]

The nascent recovery in the world’s developed economies is at risk from rising joblessness, weak banks and high oil prices, said Angel Gurria, Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Bank lending in Europe and the U.S. is still slower than usual and economic acceleration “still seems weak, fragile,” Gurria said. […]