Headline - Global Gathering

JPMorgan CEO says execs may have pay taken back

2012-06-13 17:33:24 UTC
WASHINGTON (AP) — JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon told Congress on Wednesday that senior bank executives responsible for a $2 billion trading loss will probably have some of their pay taken back by the company. "It's likely that there will be clawbacks," Dimon told the Senate Banking Committee....

Asia stocks fall as Spain, Italy worry investors

2012-06-12 05:46:43 UTC
BANGKOK (AP) — Asian stock markets slid Tuesday as enthusiasm for a European plan to rescue Spain's teetering banks turned to skepticism. An offer by the 17 countries that use the euro to loan Spain up to €100 billion ($125 billion) to revive banks crushed by bad real estate loans was initiall...

Investors see Spain rescue as only 'temporary fix'

2012-06-11 19:34:48 UTC
NEW YORK (AP) — Investors aren't sold on a rescue of Spanish banks. Stocks fell on Wall Street, an early rally faded on European stock exchanges, and borrowing costs for Spain crept higher on the bond market Monday — all expressions of doubt about the latest fix for a debt crisis in Europe. ...

Asia stocks, euro rise as Spain banks get lifeline

2012-06-11 07:59:52 UTC
BANGKOK (AP) — Asian stocks and the euro climbed Monday after Spain sought a lifeline for its ailing banks, easing fears that Europe's debt crisis was about to spin out of control. Spain on Saturday asked finance ministers from the 17 countries that use the euro to rescue its banks, which have...

Oil above $86 as Spain gets funds to rescue banks

2012-06-11 06:25:08 UTC
SINGAPORE (AP) — Oil jumped above $86 a barrel Monday in Asia after Europe offered Spain a $125 billion rescue loan for its troubled banks. Benchmark oil for July delivery was up $2.00 to $86.10 per barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The ...

Europe bailout of Spain could cost $125 billion

2012-06-10 02:45:51 UTC
MADRID (AP) — Spain became the fourth and largest country Saturday to ask Europe to rescue its failing banks, a bailout of up to €100 billion ($125 billion) that leaders hoped would stabilize a financial crisis that threatens to break apart the 17-country eurozone. The rescue offer follows gro...

Merkel urges gradual political union in Europe

2012-06-07 19:44:11 UTC
BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for Europe to take a gradual path towards political union, frustrating the appeals of many of her colleagues for quick, bold moves to fight the continent's raging financial crisis. After a meeting with British Prime Minister David Camero...

Dow leaps 286 points, its biggest day of the year

2012-06-06 23:38:07 UTC
NEW YORK (AP) — Speculation that governments in the U.S. and Europe will act to help their economies sent stocks surging to their best day this year. Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart said in a speech that weak job growth over the past two months highlighted the "halting and te...

Stocks inch higher as investors await Europe news

2012-06-05 23:51:40 UTC
NEW YORK (AP) — As world leaders searched for a way out of Europe's mounting debt crisis, U.S. investors moved to the sidelines. The major market indexes closed modestly higher, after wavering between slight gains and losses throughout the morning. Trading volume was light and the stock moves ...

Spain offers dour prediction, but US stocks rise

2012-06-05 18:35:57 UTC
NEW YORK (AP) — As U.S. stocks struggled for direction, world finance leaders struggled for a way out of Europe's mounting debt crisis. Major market indexes ricocheted between slight gains and losses in morning trading, then settled into modest gains by mid-afternoon. European markets were mix...

US factory orders fell 0.6 percent in April

2012-06-04 16:43:36 UTC
WASHINGTON (AP) — Companies placed fewer orders to U.S. factories for the second straight month and a key measure that tracks business investment plans fell, adding to evidence that the economy is weakening. The Commerce Department said Monday that orders for factory goods fell 0.6 percent in ...

Q&A: Hard times for Obama from economic recovery

2012-06-02 18:25:15 UTC
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nothing upsets a president's re-election groove like ugly economic numbers. A spring slowdown in hiring and a rise in the unemployment rate are weighing on President Barack Obama, while enhancing Republican challenger Mitt Romney's argument that the Democratic incumbent is in...

For US employers, 'hiring is a function of demand'

2012-06-01 17:42:40 UTC
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy suddenly looks a lot weaker. Only 69,000 jobs were added in May, the fewest in a year, and the unemployment rate rose from 8.1 percent to 8.2 percent. The dismal jobs data will heighten fears that the economy is sputtering. It also puts President Barack Ob...

Euro setup is unsustainable, ECB chief warns

2012-05-31 21:03:56 UTC
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The setup of the 17-country euro currency union is unsustainable, the head of the European Central Bank has told EU leaders, warning they must quickly come up with a broad vision for the future to get the bloc through the current financial crisis. Mario Draghi said Th...

Obama signs Ex-Im Bank bill into law

2012-05-30 17:08:10 UTC
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has signed legislation that renews the charter of the Export-Import Bank for three years and increases the bank?s lending cap to $140 billion from the current $100 billion. The bank is the government?s vehicle for promoting U.S. export sales. Obama says...

Asia stocks fall as Spain woes intensify

2012-05-30 08:01:28 UTC
BANGKOK (AP) — Investors unnerved by Spain's worsening financial condition and a report that China has no plans for a major economic stimulus dragged Asian stock markets lower Wednesday. Worries about Europe's financial stability worsened after a ratings agency slapped Spain with a downgrade T...

Consumer confidence in the economy plunged in May

2012-05-29 18:17:01 UTC
NEW YORK (AP) — Here we go again. Americans confidence in the economy suffered the biggest drop in eight months as worries about the weak jobs, housing and stock markets rattled them again. The decline comes after a few months of optimism amid some positive economic news. The Conference Boa...

Spain's Bankia to ask for $24BN state aid

2012-05-25 21:21:52 UTC
MADRID (AP) — The board of directors of Spain's troubled bank, Bankia, has asked the Spanish government for €19 billion ($23.8 billion) in financial support. Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri, the bank's president, said late Friday that the bailout would "reinforced the solvency, liquidity and solidi...

Morgan Stanley may refund some Facebook investors

2012-05-25 01:31:26 UTC
NEW YORK (AP) — Morgan Stanley, the lead investment bank in Facebook's troubled initial public offering, will compensate retail investors who overpaid when they bought Facebook's stock in Friday's IPO, according to a source familiar with the matter. The person said the firm is reviewing orders...

EU running out of time as Greece nears the exit

2012-05-25 01:30:53 UTC
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — European leaders insist they want to keep Greece in the eurozone, but are putting off any agreement on how they hope to accomplish that. Greece says it, too, wants to stay in the eurozone, but until after elections it's uncertain whether it can implement the austerity that E...

US bank earnings rose this winter to 5-year high

2012-05-24 20:51:06 UTC
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. bank earnings rose in the first three months of the year to the highest level in nearly five years and the number of troubled banks fell for the fourth straight quarter. The mostly positive first-quarter earnings released Thursday illustrate how far the banking industry ...

US sales of new homes rose 3.3 percent in April

2012-05-23 19:00:26 UTC
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans bought more new homes last month, the latest evidence that the U.S. housing market could be starting to recover. New-home sales increased 3.3 percent in April from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 343,000, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Sales r...

Regulators probe bank's role in Facebook IPO

2012-05-23 04:41:24 UTC
WASHINGTON (AP) — Regulators are examining whether Morgan Stanley, the investment bank that shepherded Facebook through its highly publicized stock offering last week, selectively informed clients of an analyst's negative report about the company before the stock started trading. Rick Ketchum,...

Market breaks losing streak, with China's help

2012-05-22 00:53:56 UTC
NEW YORK (AP) — Forget Facebook. This is still Apple's stock market. Apple — the world's most valuable company — climbed nearly 6 percent on Monday, helping propel major U.S. stock indexes to gains after a week of losses. The Standard & Poor's 500, where Apple accounts for 4 percent of the ind...

Where are Facebook's friends? Stock down after IPO

2012-05-21 18:53:35 UTC
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook's stock is tumbling well below its $38 IPO price in the social network's second day of trading as a public company on Monday. By early afternoon, the stock was at $34.04, down 11 percent from Friday's closing price of $38.23. Investors and technology industry watche...