February 3, 2012
Stocks rose after the U.S. economy added more jobs than expected last month, driving the Nasdaq Composite to an 11-year high and sending the Dow near its highest reading in nearly four years.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 135 points, or 1.1%, to 12838, just shy of the 12876 level reached in May 2008. The Standard & Poor's 500 index tacked on 16 points, or 1.2%, to 1342 and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index...
February 3, 2012
In a new round of seizures the US authorities have taken control of domain names belonging to several popular sports streaming sites including Firstrowsports.tv, Firstrowsports.com and Soccertvlive.net.
All affected sites now redirect to a notice from DOJ/ICE. In common with last year’s campaign, the new round of seizures appears to be part of another “Super Bowl Crackdown” targeting sites that link to unauthorized sports...
February 2, 2012
The US Senate has approved a bill seeking to ban insider trading by members of Congress.
Under current rules, lawmakers can trade stock unrestricted even though they may have specialist knowledge.
The bill, passed by a bipartisan 96-3 vote, would require them to file disclosures of trades within 30 days.
Congress is suffering from historically low approval ratings, prompting frank admissions that the bill is aimed at cleaning up...
February 2, 2012
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has a lot on his mind these days, from cutting the defense budget to managing the drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. But his biggest worry is the growing possibility that Israel will attack Iran over the next few months.
Panetta believes there is a strong likelihood that Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June — before Iran enters what Israelis described as a “zone of...
February 2, 2012
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the economy has shown signs of improvement while remaining vulnerable to shocks, and he called on lawmakers to reduce the long-term U.S. budget deficit.
“Fortunately, over the past few months, indicators of spending, production, and job-market activity have shown some signs of improvement,” Bernanke said today, according to prepared testimony to the House...
February 2, 2012
“Lost Ground, 2011” is based on an analysis of 27 million mortgages made over a five-year period. Here are our top-line findings:
The nation is not even halfway through the foreclosure crisis. 6.4 percent of mortgages made between 2004 and 2008 have ended in foreclosure, and an additional 8.3 percent are at immediate, serious risk.
Foreclosure patterns are strongly linked with patterns of risky lending. Foreclosure...
February 1, 2012
In some very obvious ways, the New England Patriots have been here before. Super Bowl XLVI is the team’s seventh Super Bowl in franchise history, and fifth since they upset the Rams’ Greatest Show on Turf in 2002. Prior to Y2K, the Pats’ Super Bowl appearances were mostly notable for the teams that steamrolled them—Mike Ditka’s 1985 Bears and Brett Favre’s 1996 Packers. But that win against the Rams set in...
February 1, 2012
A Maine treasure hunter says he has discovered a WWII-era shipwreck filled with platinum, now worth $3bn (£1.9bn).
Greg Brooks of Sub Sea Research says a wreck sitting 50 miles (80km) off the US Atlantic coast is the SS Port Nicholson, sunk in 1942.
The Port Nicholson, a British merchant ship, was torpedoed by a German U-boat in an attack that killed six people.
Some have expressed doubts the wreck holds platinum, and...
January 30, 2012
Private equity titans like Bain Capital used K Street to preserve the GOP front-runner's favorite—and most lucrative—tax loophole.
The ex-governor has benefited handsomely from the influence-peddling of Bain Capital, the private equity firm he cofounded in 1983. Though he's been gone from Bain for over a decade, Romney continues to rake in millions from accounts with the firm—and in 2007, he took Bain's side in...
January 30, 2012
Lawmakers to grill Moody’s and S&P
Moody’s Investors Service “did not have any understanding” that MF Global, the failed futures broker, had placed a $6.3bn proprietary bet on the debt of troubled European sovereigns until about a week before the brokerage filed for bankruptcy, despite MF Global’s disclosure of the gamble some five months earlier in May.
The revelation, made in a letter by the agency to...
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