Hot finance topics

Stocks recorded small gains Thursday after a pair of positive economic reports. The Dow Jones industrial average tried to extend its longest winning streak in a year.
Just after 10:30 a.m. EDT, the Dow was up 17 points at 13,210. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up four at 1,398. The Nasdaq composite average was […]

The following recall has been announced:
PLAY THEATER TOYS
DETAILS: Four-in-one dramatic play theater toys imported by Guidecraft Inc., of Winthrop, Minn., and manufactured by Mega Profit Trading Ltd., of China. The toys were sold at various catalogs, Guidecraft.com and other Internet retailers nationwide from July 2010 through April 2011.
WHY: The toy theaters can unexpectedly tip over […]

General Electric Co. Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt’s compensation fell 24 percent in 2011 after it spiked in 2010.
GE, which makes products ranging from jet engines to light bulbs, as well as financing projects around the globe, gave Immelt a pay package valued at nearly $11.4 million, according to an analysis of regulatory documents filed […]

Food company Sara Lee Corp. said Friday that its shareholders will get stock valued at up to $4.55 billion when it spins off its international coffee and tea business later this year.
The coffee and tea business, which includes brands such as Senseo and Pickwick Teas, will also move its headquarters from Utrecht to Amsterdam in […]

Iran’s foreign minister has called for other countries to chose engagement over confrontation in resolving their differences over his nation’s nuclear program.
Ali Akbar Salehi told the U.N.-hosted Conference on Disarmament that “nuclear energy is not equated with nuclear weapons” and Iran has no intention to develop weapons of mass destruction.
Iran claims its nuclear program is […]

India has proposed setting up a multilateral bank that would be exclusively funded by developing nations and finance projects in those countries, two government officials with knowledge of the matter said.
The plan has been circulated to the countries in the so- called BRIC group — Brazil, Russia, India and China — as well as […]

BRUSSELS

The Obama administration will release details tomorrow on its proposal to reduce the 35 percent corporate tax rate and eliminate tax breaks, said administration officials familiar with the plan.
The Treasury Department will outline the proposal, according to the officials, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. They didn

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers are two leading candidates to succeed World Bank President Robert Zoellick when he leaves in June, said two people familiar with Obama administration discussions.
The U.S. promised a candidate

Can’t get enough of those virtual cows and crops from FarmVille? Good news, agrarians: Zynga toys and games are coming this fall.
Hasbro (), the big-time toy company responsible for My Little Pony and Monopoly, announced Thursday that it has bought the rights to license Zynga brands for a "wide range" of products.

Mark Pincus, the […]