Business and Finance news

Stifel Financial Co. will speed up its repurchase of auction rate securities under a settlement reached with Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan. The settlement will bring earlier relief for hundreds of Stifel customers who have been stuck with securities that they can’t sell.
The settlement also ends a nasty, public spat between St. […]

WASHINGTON — One of the biggest challenges to ending the foreclosure crisis is this: A surprising number of homeowners who get their monthly payments reduced fall behind again within a year.   When borrowers get into financial trouble, lenders have several ways to help. They can offer grace periods, longer repayment schedules, lower interest […]

"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get," Forrest Gump said in the classic 1994 film.
The same goes for buying a computer. It’s a box hiding items of varying quality inside.
I recently helped two frustrated HP buyers get replacements and another HP buyer get a repair for computers […]

European Union leaders said government measures to stimulate the economy should stay in place until the “recovery is fully secured.”
“Forecasts suggest a weak recovery in 2010, followed by a return to stronger growth in 2011,” heads of the 27-nation EU said in a statement after a summit in Brussels today. “But uncertainties and […]

GateWay Early College High School received an award this week for transitioning students from high school to college.
The high school, a division of GateWay Community College and part of the Maricopa Community Colleges System in Phoenix, was awarded the Pathways to Higher Education Award from the Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education, USA Funds, University of […]

India’s central bank may withdraw more stimulus measures by the end of the year after Asia’s third-biggest economy grew at the fastest pace in six quarters.
“The chances of a rate move before the end of December have risen,” said Robert Prior-Wandesforde, senior Asia economist at HSBC Holdings Plc in Singapore. Economic growth of […]

A group of noteholders of bankrupt regional theme park operator Six Flags Inc said on Sunday it submitted an alternative reorganization plan that transfers most of the equity to them.
The group said their plan, submitted to Six Flags’ board of directors on November 25, was supported by noteholders owning more than $500 million of […]

In a sign that more foreclosures could be on the horizon, 23% of people with mortgages owe more than their home is worth, according to a report released Tuesday.
Almost 10.7 million U.S. mortgages were "underwater" as of September, said research firm First American CoreLogic.
Another 2.3 million homeowners are within 5% of negative territory, […]

Creditor protection for your registered retirement savings plan has been delayed again by political posturing over Ontario’s plan to adopt a harmonized sales tax.
The HST, a combined federal and provincial sales tax totalling 13 per cent on most goods and services as of next July, would also whittle away your retirement savings.
But it would do […]

Broad public support will be required to ensure Canada makes the right moves to expand pension coverage while the shortfall in retirement income is such a hot topic.
The question is whether politicians will hear from many of the potential 3.5 million middle-income workers whom pension expert Keith Ambachtsheer thinks would benefit most from […]