Business and Finance news

Japan plans to use public money to help the companies hardest hit by the financial crisis, while newly confirmed U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner vowed to act swiftly to rescue the U.S. economy.
Japan, like many other nations, has already committed funds to help banks and spur lending to cash-starved businesses and consumers, but the […]

The U.S. Treasury Department Thursday detailed 39 additional banks that have received a combined $1.5 billion in government funds under its Troubled Asset Relief Program.
It included $400 million for First BanCorp of San Juan, Puerto Rico, $146 million for Dickinson Financial Corp II of Kansas City, Missouri and nearly $108 million for S&T Bancorp […]

The Japanese government said the economy is “worsening rapidly” and the collapse in exports and production is likely to prompt companies to fire more workers.
The government lowered its economic assessment for a fourth month, capping off the longest stretch of downgrades since May 2001, according to a report released by the Cabinet Office […]

Bank of America’s plea for more federal help has dealt another black eye to both the banking sector and the badly bruised financial advisory business.
Shares of Charlotte-based Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) plunged 15% Thursday after earlier hitting a 14-year low due on concerns it would need another bailout. Late Thursday night, […]

Mounting layoffs of temporary workers as the recession deepens have catapulted unemployment to the top of Japan’s political agenda in an election year, raising fears of a regulatory backlash that could drive firms offshore.
The timing of the debate, which is intensifying as lawmakers gear up for an election that could see the long-ruling Liberal […]

The largest U.S. banks are starting to offer fixed home loans below 5 percent after the government began buying mortgage securities to bolster the housing market.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is advertising 30-year mortgages as low as 4.75 percent on its Web site, Wells Fargo & Co. has an offer for 4.875 percent and […]

A new Congress with strengthened Democratic majorities convenes tomorrow with one overriding goal: speed.
With the nation in the grip of recession, Democrats this week start drafting the biggest economic-recovery package in U.S. history, which could grow to as much $1 trillion. They will try to muscle it through the House of Representatives by […]