United States

New U.S. offshore oil drilling rule planned: New York Times

The United States is planning to impose a major new regulation on offshore oil and gas drilling to try to prevent the kind of explosions that caused the catastrophic BP Plc (BP.L) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing Obama administration officials.


GE to sell bulk of finance unit, return up to $90 billion to investors

General Electric Co will shed most of its finance unit and return as much as $90 billion to shareholders as it becomes a “simpler” industrial business instead of an unwieldy hybrid of banking and manufacturing.

Fed's Lacker says no shame in returning to zero after June hike

Federal Reserve official Jeffrey Lacker on Friday repeated his call for the central bank to consider hiking interest rates in June, and said there was no shame in adjusting them lower again if economic data demanded it.

Wall Street Week Ahead: Fed takes back seat as market shifts focus to earnings

With earnings season underway, Wall Street is temporarily putting the U.S. Federal Reserve and macroeconomic policy on the back burner in favor of a focus on individual company results and forecasts for a pulse on the economy's health.


Latest News

Discussions on a takeover by Intel Corp of smaller chip maker Altera Corp have ended as the companies were unable to agree on price, a person familiar with the matter said, but Altera shares rose, suggesting it is still a potential target.
Professional social network operator LinkedIn Corp (LNKD.N) said it would buy privately held online education company lynda.com in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $1.5 billion.
PayPal, eBay Inc's electronic payments division, said the two firms had agreed that eBay would not reduce the volume of transactions it channels through PayPal, while continuing to get better rates for its merchants for five years after the two split.
Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) has won approval from U.S. federal regulators to test a delivery drone outdoors, less than a month after the e-commerce powerhouse blasted regulators for being slow to approve commercial drone testing.
General Electric Co is nearing a deal to sell practically all of its $30 billion real estate assets to a consortium led by Blackstone Group and Wells Fargo & Co, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Apple Inc (AAPL.O) expects tremendous interest for its new smartwatch and demand to outstrip supply as consumers get an up-close look on Friday at CEO Tim Cook's first major product.
U.S. stocks closed higher on Thursday, with energy shares leading the advance as crude oil rebounded off a sharp decline, while investors bet that companies would top lowered expectations this earnings season.
Oil prices rose on Thursday on strong German economic data and uncertainty about negotiations on Iran's nuclear program, even as a strong dollar curbed oil's bounce a day after futures tumbled 6 percent.
A diamond brooch given by Spain's King Alfonso XII to his wife as a wedding gift and ruby ear pendants once owned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis are among highlights of an auction of precious jewels that could fetch more than $80 million, Christie's said on Thursday.
Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) "beautiful" and "stylish" smartwatch could make life easier for people on the move, reviewers say, but the gadget gets poor marks for battery life and slow-loading apps.