Business and Finance news

U.S. consumers may be able to collect as much as $4,500 by September on vehicle trade-ins under “cash-for-clunkers” legislation up for a vote in the House today.
The provision, scheduled to be taken up by the Senate after the House vote, gives vouchers to encourage Americans to swap older cars and light trucks for […]

Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, who says a strengthening currency could choke the economic recovery, may be pressed into creating dollars and buying assets such as government bonds to offset the dollar’s rise.
A 16 percent gain for the Canadian dollar since March 9 is threatening to undermine the country’s already battered exporters. […]

Russia has full confidence in the dollar and there are no immediate plans to switch to a new reserve currency, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said.
“It’s too early to speak of an alternative” to the dollar, Kudrin said in Lecce, Italy, in a television interview today after meeting with finance chiefs from the Group […]

The government bailout of banks, lenders, Bear Stearns and AIG brought in billions of dollars to the Federal Reserve in the first quarter of 2009.
In the first of a series of monthly reports on its $2.1 trillion balance sheet, the Fed said it earned a net $2.7 billion from January through March. Most of […]

The government bailout of banks, lenders, Bear Stearns and AIG brought in billions of dollars to the Federal Reserve in the first quarter of 2009.
In the first of a series of monthly reports on its $2.1 trillion balance sheet, the Fed said it earned a net $2.7 billion from January through March. Most of […]

Bank of England policy maker Andrew Sentance said the U.K. recession may be “bottoming out,” setting the scene for a recovery as soon as this year.
“The very big policy stimulus that has been provided by fiscal and monetary authorities around the world should now be beginning to be felt,” he said in a […]

One week before its emergency loan program is slated to launch, the Small Business Administration issued guidelines for banks and borrowers on how the new loans will work.
Called "America’s Recovery Capital," ARC loans are designed to make up to $35,000 available to struggling small business owners to temporarily help them keep up with payments […]

Gas prices continue to surge nationwide, and are now up more than 27% in the past seven and a half weeks.
The average cost of a gallon of regular gasoline rose slightly Sunday to $2.613, from $2.606 according to motorist group AAA. This is the fortieth consecutive daily increase in the price of gas. In […]

The BRICs are buying dollars at the fastest pace since before credit markets froze in September, protecting exports even as leaders of the biggest emerging markets consider alternatives to the U.S. currency.
Brazil, Russia, India and China increased foreign reserves by more than $60 billion in May to limit currency gains as the first […]

Gordon Brown risks a rift in his government like the one that brought down Margaret Thatcher 19 years ago as he considers replacing Alistair Darling as Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer.
With Home Secretary Jacqui Smith indicating yesterday she’ll quit the Cabinet and calls from the opposition for Darling to go, the reorganization Brown […]