Business and Finance news

An accounting error is forcing Enterprise Financial Services Corp. to slash the profits it reported for 2010 and the first nine months of last year.
Earnings in 2010 may fall by as much as 55 percent from what the bank had claimed, Enterprise announced today. Profits could be cut as much as 33 percent from the […]

An Italian coast guard official vehemently demanded that the captain go back to his crippled cruise ship to oversee its evacuation, but the captain repeatedly resisted, according to a shocking audiotape made public Tuesday.
Prosecutors have accused Capt. Francesco Schettino of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning his vessel before all passengers were evacuated during the […]

NEW YORK

World stock markets edged higher Thursday as speculation that China might ease its monetary policy soothed fears that the German economy _ Europe’s strongest _ may be succumbing to the continent’s debt crisis.
Benchmark oil hovered above $96 per barrel while the dollar fell against the euro and the yen.
European shares rose in early trading, tracking […]

South Korea’s main opposition party said Wednesday it will not support a free trade deal with the United States unless a key sticking point is addressed, dimming prospects for a quick approval.
President Barack Obama signed off on the deal after congressional approval last month. But South Korea’s opposition lawmakers have refused to ratify the deal, […]

Asian markets were mostly lower in early trading Monday, as investors shifted their focus from Europe to the U.S. economy.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.5 percent to 9,096.27. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.4 percent to 19,938.46, while South Korea’s Kospi was 0.4 percent lower at 1,921.78. Benchmarks in Australia and Singapore also fell, while […]

Investors in Asia dumped stocks Friday as weak economic indicators from major nations intensified fears of a new global recession, although a joint call to action by the Group of 20 nations helped calm markets in Europe.
Oil prices stabilized near $81 a barrel after diving to a near seven-week low on Thursday. The dollar was […]

A union representing workers at three major grocery chains in Southern California is distributing picket signs as the clock ticks toward the end of a 3-day notice period required before calling a strike.
Union negotiators intend to keep talking if a resolution appears to be in sight when the period ends at 7:10 p.m. Sunday. They […]

Congress gave President Barack Obama’s drive to promote jobs growth a boost Thursday by presenting him with a major overhaul of the patent system that the president has sought as a means to spur innovation and put more people back to work.
The Senate voted 89-9 to pass the patent bill and send it to Obama […]

Is it time to sell everything or buy with abandon?
Investors can’t make up their minds. This week was one of the most volatile in the history of Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average swung more than 400 points four days in a row _ down, then up, then down, then up.
It’s frightening, but experts […]