Financial Market News

Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank Ben Bernanke attends the Treasury Department's Financial Stability Oversight Council in Washington April 25, 2013.

A gauge of future economic activity issued Friday rose more than expected, a sign that the world's biggest economy is improving.

Japanese stocks rallied to lead Asian markets higher Monday, tracking a positive global lead after U.S. indexes notched another record finish on Friday, although South Korean shares underperformed, weighed by geopolitical concerns.

With the world's biggest central banks driving yields on safe assets to near zero, some investors are tossing caution to the wind and rushing to buy illiquid and previously overlooked bonds sold by countries with no capital markets track record.

For the fourth week in a row, the stock market climbed to fresh record highs last week on signs of improvement in the U.S. economy.

That's a trick question. I started the "club" in a whimsical moment 14 years ago.

An Italian financial expert has urged European investors to buy sovereign bonds issued by Bulgaria , claiming they are safer even than Germany's and Japan's. "True, the yield on ten-year Bulgarian government debt used to stand at about 5% a year ago, while now it has a yield a bit over 3%. Still, paradoxically, I believe that Bulgaria 's ten-year ... (more)

Public pension plans in Michigan - hammered by stock market declines in the poor economy and mismanagement in some cases - are now seeing their investment portfolios growing at the best rate in years.

Arkansas Treasurer Martha Shoffner has been arrested for extortion by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being held in Pulaski County Jail, the Associated Press reported Saturday.

Turkish bonds surged and the lira touched an 11-month low after a bigger-than-forecast cut to interest rates preceded a decision by Moody's Investors Service to raise the nation's credit rating to investment grade.

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When it comes to dividend-paying stocks, bigger isn't always better. Oftentimes, dividend investors excitedly uncover a company that pays a huge dividend, only to find it soon slashed.

"Only buy something that you'd be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years," Warren Buffett has famously said.

Shares of General Motors reached an important milestone on Friday, closing above their initial public offering price of $33 for the first time in more than two years.

Sure, there are plenty of forces pushing stocks higher - record corporate earnings, small investors finally buying again, signs the U.S. economy may be strengthening, central banks flooding the financial system with money.

The price of oil rose to near $96 a barrel on Friday ahead of the release of Conference Board's index of leading indicators for the U.S. economy.

The continued optimism of American consumers helped give U.S. stocks a boost early Friday, putting the market on track for a fourth week of gains.

A gauge of future economic activity rose more than analysts had expected, as did a measure of consumer confidence, adding to evidence that the economy is maintaining a steady recovery.

A measure of the U.S. economy's future health rose solidly in April, buoyed by a sharp rise in applications to build homes and a better job market.

A rule intended to loosen the largest U.S. banks' control over the trading of complex investments and help safeguard the financial system was weakened Thursday by regulators.