Hot finance topics

Consumer borrowing fell again in February, reflecting weakness in credit cards and auto loans.
Analysts said the sharp reduction showed that the weak economy was still making consumers hesitant to take on more debt.
The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that borrowing declined by $11.5 billion in February, surprisingly weaker than the small […]

Internet fraud cases surged by 22% in 2009, and financial losses doubled compared to the year before as scammers took advantage of Americans rendered desperate by the recession.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center said it received 336,655 complaints in 2009 with losses totaling $559.7 million. This is a substantial increase from […]

Finance Minister Naoto Kan’s readiness to debate Japan’s first sales-tax increase since 1997 signals the risk of a fiscal crisis may be weighing heavier with policy makers than dangers to economic growth.
A government tax panel convenes in coming weeks to review changes and hear recommendations of a private-sector board, after Kan last month […]

The top-grossing movie in the world, Avatar, is on screens now, and it clearly identifies the most evil force in the universe. It’s business.
"There’s only one thing the shareholders hate more than bad publicity," says the smarmy manager of an unnamed company’s mining operations on the planet Pandora in Avatar, "and that’s 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 […]

Gadget lovers are waiting with bated breath for the much-anticipated unveiling of the Apple tablet, but don’t expect it to take the world by storm the way the iPod and iPhone did.
"There will be a strong interest in it, but it won’t be the wave of the future," said James Brehm, analyst at Frost […]

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will award nearly $8 million in grants for Bexar and El Paso counties.
The grants are part of HUD’s Continuum of Care program designed to keep local homeless programs operating and prevent interruption of care. Continuum of Care programs provide permanent and transitional housing to the homeless.
The grants […]

A fitful economic recovery is drawing strength from a stabilizing job market and signs that manufacturing will contribute to the rebound.
The latest sign was a government report Thursday that the number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week. And the four-week average for claims, […]

Bank of America, one of the top five banks in the Raleigh-Durham market, doesn’t have its man after all. Robert Kelly, the CEO at Bank of New York Mellon, has told his employees he intends to stay put. In a company-wide memo, Kelly told his staff that he was approached by another bank, but decided […]

Japan may ban manufacturers from hiring temporary workers, Health and Labor Minister Akira Nagatsuma said, as Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama seeks to fulfill a campaign pledge to shift more employment to full time.
The government is preparing legislation “that will stop manufacturing firms from employing temps and encourage them to hire full-timers,” Nagatsuma said […]