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Senate leaders on Monday unveiled their proposal to tackle overdraft fees, the penalties banks charge customers who spend more than they have in their accounts.
Echoing legislation offered in the House by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., the Senate bill would require banks to ask customers before enrolling them in overdraft programs. In addition, like the […]

Stocks rallied Friday at the end of a strong week, with the Dow and S&P 500 hitting their highest levels in over a year as investors extended a seven-month rally.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) rose 78 points, or 0.8%. The S&P 500 (SPX) index gained 6 points, or 0.6% and the Nasdaq composite […]

The number of U.S. metropolitan areas with jobless rates above 10% decreased in August, according to government figures released Wednesday.
The Labor Department said 129 of 372 metropolitan areas surveyed suffered unemployment rates of at least 10% last month. That was down from 139 metro areas in July.
The number of urban centers with unemployment […]

Eli Lilly and Co. will cut 5,500 jobs as part of a restructuring plan to save $1 billion, the drugmaker said Monday.
The job cuts will be complete by 2011, according to a press release. Eli Lilly (LLY, Fortune 500), based in Indianapolis, currently employs 40,500 people.
At 10:45 a.m. ET on Monday, Lilly was up […]

In Pennsylvania, day care centers are closing. Food banks and libraries are cutting back. A school district is taking out a multi-million dollar loan.
Local governments and social service agencies are struggling to maintain services as lawmakers and the governor battle over how to close Pennsylvania’s $1 billion budget gap. Democrats don’t want to cut […]

One of Washington’s true epic battles will play out over the next several weeks. It’s the fight over health-care reform, of course, and it will be big, brutal, and ugly.
The stakes are high — trillions of dollars, the reelection prospects of hundreds of legislators, and President Obama’s legacy. So let’s acknowledge right now […]

IBM’s improved outlook lifted the Dow industrials Friday, but the broader market struggled as investors showed fatigue after a strong week on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) gained 32 points, or 0.4%. The S&P 500 (SPX) index ended just below unchanged and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) ended just above the breakeven point.
The […]

Unionized workers at the Globe and Mail have rejected the latest contract offer from the company.
Editorial, advertising and circulation workers voted 89 per cent today against a revised proposal emailed to them Friday.
The high no vote – based on a 65 per cent turnout – comes just days ahead of a strike deadline […]

Stocks churned Friday, at the end of a mixed week on Wall Street, that nonetheless left the Dow industrials in positive territory for the year for the first time since January.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) gained 28 points, or 0.3%, ending above its 2008 close of 8,776.39.
The Dow has now risen in 12 […]

The U.S. recession is set to end “soon,” but continued job losses and plunging house prices point to an economic recovery that will be more moderate than those experienced in previous downturns, a survey showed.
The survey of 45 professional forecasters released by the National Association of Business Economists (NABE) on Wednesday found almost three-quarters […]