Finance Globe

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday in prepared testimony that the economy is showing some signs of stabilizing and is likely to rebound later this year, and that the rate of inflation should stay low. But he also said that the road to recovery remains scattered with obstacles.Bernanke said that current labor market data suggests that we will continue to see "further sizable job losses and increased unemployment in the coming months."Consumer spending grew in...

President Obama outlined his $3.6 trillion budget for 2010 today and addressed that his administration has found 121 programs that can be reduced or eliminated to save American taxpayers nearly $17 billion next year alone."All across this country, Americans are responding to difficult economic times by tightening their belts and making tough decisions about where they need to spend and where they need to save," the president said. "The question the American people are asking is...

Today President Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveiled a plan to curb tax havens, and replace the tax advantages that encourage businesses to shift jobs overseas with incentives for creating those jobs here at home.The Treasury said that in 2004 - the most recent year for which data is available - U.S. multinational corporations paid about $16 billion of U.S. tax on approximately $700 billion of foreign active earnings – an effective U.S. tax rate...

The number of people who filed for unemployment insurance benefits for the first time dropped for the week ending April 25, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.Last week in the U.S., 631,000 initial jobless claims were filed, down 14,000 from a revised-up 645,000 from the week before. The four-week moving average of initial claims, down 10,750 from the previous week, was 637,250.The advance number for seasonally-adjusted insured unemployment during the week...

Getting behind on your house payments is a tough situation. It's best to tackle the problem before it get too far out of hand and your lender forecloses on your home. Take steps to try to save your home: Contact your lender ASAP. Prepare to contact your mortgage company as soon as you know there is a problem in making your payments on time. Lenders want to work with their borrowers to resolve problems with temporary...

Despite concerns over the swine-flu outbreak, the markets reacted positively to a report that signals the public's pessimism about the economy may be easing.Consumer confidence had its biggest one-month jump in four years, from 26.9 in March to 39.2 in April, according to data released today from a survey. The expectations index rose from 30.2 in March to 49.5 in April, signaling that consumers feel better about the direction of the economy and see better days...

Struggling auto giant General Motors announced a plan on Monday to exchange 225 shares of common stock for every $1000 of outstanding notes in an effort to reduce its debt costs - "a vital component of GM's overall restructuring plan to achieve and sustain long-term viability," as stated by the company. In addition to the exchange, GM will also pay, in cash, any accrued interest on the outstanding notes. The exchange will commence only if 90%...

At the request of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a federal court imposed a judgement of $18.9 million against operators of an internet business opportunity scam. The federal court found the scam operators violated the FTC Act and the agency's Franchise Rule by duping hundreds of consumers into buying "Internet kiosk" business opportunities while promising lucrative earnings. The Internet kiosks are free-standing machines that house a computer and a mechanism to accept payments from users. The...

Numbers released by the government on Friday on new-construction home sales indicate that the U.S. housing market may be nearing a turnaround.Sales of new single family homes in March 2009 were a seasonally-adjusted annually rate of 356,000, according to a joint release by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is a slight drop of .6% from the revised numbers from February, but the slowing decline gives a hint that...

The Labor Department reported on Thursday that jobless claims for the week ending April 18 rose to 640,000, up by 27,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 613,000.The four-week moving average - which smooths out volatility - was 646,750, a decrease of 4,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 651,000. The advance seasonally-adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.6% for the week ending April 11, a .1% increase from the previous week.The advance number for...