Hot finance topics

Time Warner Cable is shifting its charitable focus to kids and technology.
The company this week launched Connect a Million Minds (CAMM), a new education and awareness initiative designed to help address the country’s continuing decline in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
Aimed at inspiring a new generation of problem solvers, the company […]

Japanese officials are more likely focused on the exchange rate of the yen versus China’s yuan rather than against the dollar, according to Citigroup Inc., citing the fact that China is Japan’s biggest trading partner.
For this reason the level at which Japanese authorities may intervene to temper the yen’s gain will be at […]

A senior Federal Reserve official said on Sunday the central bank should keep alive a mortgage-backed securities buying program beyond a planned end-date to give policy-makers more flexibility as they help the economy recover from a painful recession.
“I have advocated to keep the asset purchase program open but at a very low level, and […]

Could the foreclosure plague be ending?
Foreclosure filings were down 3% in October, the third consecutive month-over-month dip, according to RealtyTrac, the online seller of foreclosed homes.
To be sure, foreclosure rates are still elevated from a year ago: They’re up 18% compared with October 2008. But the month-over-month decrease followed a 4% drop in filings […]

Creditors of bankrupt Freedom Communications Holdings Inc have launched a fight against an “immoral and wicked” reorganization plan that would turn over the Orange County Register owner to JPMorgan Chase & Co and other banks.
A court-appointed committee of creditors asked the judge overseeing the bankruptcy to direct Freedom, which owns 30 daily papers and […]

Real-estate private-equity giant Lone Star Funds LS.UL is cutting some of its fees as it tries to raise $20 billion to buy pools of troubled mortgages and other kinds of distressed debt, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Tuesday.
Lone Star, led by John Grayken, reduced the minimum management fee it will […]

After weeks of partisan debate, the Senate voted on Wednesday to lengthen unemployment benefits by up to 20 weeks and to extend the $8,000 homebuyer tax credit.
The closely watched legislation would extend jobless benefits in all states by 14 weeks. Those that live in states with unemployment greater than 8.5% would receive an additional […]

Citigroup’s ongoing crusade to return to its former glory as a financial giant may have to wait just a bit longer.
On Thursday, the company reported a slim profit of just $101 million as credit problems, particularly within its consumer-related businesses, weighed down its third-quarter results.
But after taking into account the recent conversion of part […]

If only everyone had Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s chief problem — too much success leading to a surplus of riches.
It’s a growing public relations nightmare for Wall Street’s dominant firm as it prepares to report another round of robust profits and update its bonus pool, which is on a pace to top $20 billion […]

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 […]