Industry News

You don’t need to worry about the financial crisis in Cyprus sparking trouble for the U.S., according to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.European officials’ marathon efforts this week to head off a collapse of the tiny island nation’s banking system have raised fears that the renewed turmoil in the euro zone could threaten the gathering momentum in the U.S. housing and job markets.But Bernan...

Stocks finished higher Wednesday, wiping out most of the past week's losses, after the Federal Reserve reaffirmed its policies on bond purchases and record-low interest rates and as investors shrugged off concerns over Cyprus."Count on the Fed to prop up this market for a bit longer—I think Bernanke along with investor dissatisfaction for other asset classes have been the main reasons for this rem...

Congress will get another chance to limit checking account overdraft fees that continue to annoy customers and produce billions of dollars in revenue each year for banks and credit unions.Reps. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and Maxine Waters, D-Calif., have introduced a bill that would limit the cost of overdraft fees and prohibit practices that increase the likelihood customers will overdraw their acc...

WASHINGTON — The decline of two-parent households may be a significant reason for the divergent fortunes of male workers, whose earnings generally declined in recent decades, and female workers, whose earnings generally increased, a prominent labor economist argues in a new survey of existing research.David H. Autor, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says that the differenc...

The Federal Reserve foresees unemployment remaining high into 2015, suggesting it will keep short-term interest rates near record lows at least until then. In its latest economic forecasts released Wednesday, the Fed predicts that the unemployment rate will stay above 6.5 percent for about two more years. Fed policymakers also expect the economy to grow modestly this year and next despite eco...

Starbucks is planning a big push behind its loyalty program, with plans to double membership by the end of the year.Starting in May, the world's biggest coffee company says members will be able to earn points when they buy bags of Starbucks coffee at supermarkets. Customers would have to go online and enter a code on the bag to get their point.Starbucks Corp. had announced the move last year bu...

Stocks shot higher Wednesday, adding to their initial gains, shortly after the Federal Reserve's statement that showed the central bank plans to press forward with its aggressive efforts to stimulate the economy and ahead of Chairman Ben Bernanke's news conference.Earlier in the session, the Dow briefly hit a fresh record and the S&P 500 within earshot of its 2007 closing high, as investors sh...

Andreas Pavlidis owns a small ice cream and frozen yogurt store just off the main shopping street in Nicosia, Cyprus. He opened the store a year ago, but said he is earning enough to make a living."Sales have dropped somewhat over the last few months because of the uncertainty around the economy," Pavlidis said. "People may not be going on holidays or buying clothes, but at least they are still bu...

Cheapism.com set out to find the best cheap alternatives to restaurant, delivery, and pricey cook-at-home pies by conducting a blind taste test of 10 frozen cheese and pepperoni pizzas.

PITTSBURGH -- In an unlikely partnership between longtime adversaries, some of the nation's biggest energy companies and environmental groups have agreed on a voluntary set of standards for gas and oil fracking in the Northeast that appear to go further than existing state and federal pollution regulations. The program announced Wednesday will work a lot like Underwriters Laboratories, which puts ...

WASHINGTON — America's lower-income workers have posted the biggest job gains since the deep 2007-09 recession — but few are bragging.As a workforce sector, those earning $35,000 or less annually are generally pessimistic about their finances and career prospects. Many see themselves as worse off now than during the recession, a two-part Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research...

Likely one of the most closely watched introductions of the 2014 model-year, Mercedes-Benz is already stirring interest with the release of the first teaser images of the next-generation S-Class sedan.Known inside the company as the W222, the new model will have some big tire tracks to fill. The S-Class has traditionally been the benchmark for the premium-luxury segment that makers like BMW, Audi...

Fear of a Chinese economic slowdown and fiscal worries out of Europe have had more downward influence on crude prices in recent days than instability in the Middle East has had toward the upside. But for several reasons, analysts argue that China has less pull on market prices than it did even a few short years ago. "The relationship between the Chinese economy and oil demand have long ago ce...

West Coast — best coast? Not so, says the thriving New York City startup scene.During the past decade, the Big Apple has emerged as a top tech center for new companies and a hotbed for both angel and venture capital funding.In the last year, 127 startups were founded in the city, nearly equal to the combined 131 that launched in San Francisco and Palo Alto, Calif., according to data from SeedTable...

West Coast — best coast? Not so, says the thriving New York City startup scene.During the past decade, the Big Apple has emerged as a top tech center for new companies and a hotbed for both angel and venture capital funding.In the last year, 127 startups were founded in the city, nearly equal to the combined 131 that launched in San Francisco and Palo Alto, Calif., according to data from SeedTable...

CVS Caremark has put its employees on notice that they need to reveal their weight or pay a monthly $50 penalty. “Avoid the $600 annual surcharge,” CVS warns its employees who use the company’s health insurance plan. They’ve been told they are required by May 1 to show up to a doctor for an annual WebMD Wellness Review and submit to tests for blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol and body mass ...

Stocks jumped at the open Wednesday, with the Dow hitting a fresh record and the S&P 500 resuming the march to its all-time high, as investors shifted their attention from worries over Cyprus and looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's policy meeting announcement later this afternoon. Model N surged nearly 30 percent in its market debut on the NYSE after the software maker priced 6.7 mi...

2627 Banks St., New Orleans, La.For sale: $159,000Shipping containers are the mainstay of the import business. Sturdy enough to crate cargo thousands of miles and handle the squalls of crossing the ocean, shipping containers are now getting second lives as the building blocks for homes.Several containers can be combined for a larger residence or business, or one or two work just as well for a star...

As teenagers demand independence and eventually move out, they’re not always quick to cut the cord when it comes paying their own cell phone bill.Often they’re perfectly OK staying on their parents’ cell phone plan and online subscriptions that allow more than one user, according to a new survey conducted by Harris Interactive for The Wall Street Journal. Harris surveyed 620 parents with adult chi...

As college acceptance letters go out in the next few weeks, prospective students and their parents are in for another round of sticker shock. And while tuition costs keep rising, the roughly three out of every four students headed to state colleges and universities in the fall may not find all of the courses and services they sampled on their college tour. Faced with continued budget cuts at the s...