Hot finance topics

Mortgage applications plunged last week as rates ticked higher above 5%, an industry group said Wednesday, as the expiration of a home buyer tax credit drew nearer.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its index of mortgage application volume fell 13.7% in the week ended Oct. 16 from the prior week.
The decline in activity came as […]

Millions of lottery players will be able to double their bets because of a deal announced Wednesday by the two powerhouses of the business.
Mega Millions and Powerball, the country’s largest lotteries, will allow stores in many states to sell both lotteries.
"We have reached an agreement to see if we can work together and cross-sell […]

Boeing expects to take a $1 billion pre-tax charge against its the third quarter results due to higher production costs and tough market conditions related to its 747-8 program, the company said in a statement released Tuesday.
The airplane maker said about $640 million of the charge reflects higher-than-expected production costs for the 747-8 cargo […]

General Motors Co. has ended temporary pay cuts for salaried workers that were put in place four months ago to preserve cash before the automaker filed for bankruptcy, a spokeswoman said.
GM salaried workers were notified of the step by email Friday after the action was reviewed by the automaker’s board of directors earlier this […]

Gold held broadly steady on Monday just shy of $995 per ounce, consolidating stellar gains last week that took it tantalizingly close to the $1,000 psychological level, with buyers encouraged by dollar weakness.
Silver took support from gold’s strength and gains in benchmark base metal copper, hitting a high of $16.34 an ounce, its firmest […]

The unemployment rate jumped almost half a point to 9.7 percent in August, the highest since 1983, reflecting a poor job market that will make it hard for the economy to begin a sustained recovery.
While the jobless rate rose more than expected, the economy shed a net total of 216,000 jobs, less […]

If the key to happiness is low expectations, then stock investors must be over the moon.
Over a third of the S&P 500 index constituents have reported second-quarter earnings. Even though profits are down about a third from a year earlier, more than three-quarters of the firms have beaten analysts’ expectations, according to Thomson Reuters. […]

The Pentagon ordered an end to an expensive Army modernization program led by Boeing’s St. Louis-based Integrated Defense Systems.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the Defense Department said it has ordered a "transition" from the $160 billion Future Combat Systems program to a series of acquisition programs that would ultimately extend some high-tech […]

With buyers scarce and financing tight, some home sellers are offering rent-to-buy options to potential buyers. In fact, there’s been enough of a spike in interest that ForSaleByOwner.com added it as a search option on the site, says spokesman Eric Mangan.
These deals, also called rent-to-own and lease-option, usually require buyers to pay extra […]

Amid General Motors Corp.’s bankruptcy filing, a sense of relief came from local politicians and auto workers.
Analysts hadn’t expected the Wentzville plant — GM’s only facility that builds full-size vans — to be on the closure list released Monday.
Still, recent upheavals in the auto industry left workers nervous about any […]