Stock Market News Today, Dec. 12: U.S. stocks are weighed today after having started the day higher on upbeat retail sales data. They retreated on more concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve will scale back its $85-billion-per-month bond-buying stimulus program.
The S&P 500 today fell 0.38%, or 6.72 points, at 1,775.50, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.66%, or 104.03 points, at 15,739.50 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.14%, or 5.41 points, at 3,998.40.
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by Tara Clarke
Monday, the U.S. Treasury Department sold off its remaining shares in General Motors (NYSE: GM), closing a chapter of the auto industry bailout with a cringe-worthy $10.5 billion loss of taxpayer dollars.
The federal government spent $49.5 billion to save the doomed auto-making giant in 2008. It took on about 912 million GM shares (a 60% stake) in exchange for cash.
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by Shah Gilani
We've talked a lot about the so-called Volcker Rule. I've called it a "cop-out" and "joke" and tracked its bloated path from 300 pages to nearly 1,000.
Well, now it's here.
On Tuesday the rule was signed off on by the five regulatory bodies that will have to enforce it when it goes into effect in July 2015 (supposedly). And getting it done and approved was no small feat.
There are more than a few reasons to be skeptical...
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Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) come with tidings of great joy this week: They have crafted a U.S. budget deal that solves the government's fiscal problems.
Or, not really…
Here's what you need to know...
Thanks to two huge product rollouts in November, this holiday season will be one of the hottest ever for this massive slice of the high-tech sector.
That's because three giant companies are fighting it out – to the death – for the biggest piece of a $93 billion windfall.
And investors who identify the winner of this battle stand to pull down a hefty profit.
Today, I'm going to show you which firm will come out on top.
by Diane Alter
After two years of review and lengthy revisions, all five regulatory agencies unanimously passed the controversial Volcker Rule on Tuesday.
The 953-page new version of the Volcker Rule imposes a strict ban on proprietary trading (when banks use their own funds to make trades). In effect, it bans banks from trading for their own gain. Included in the revised version is new wording targeting the sort of risk taking that was responsible for last year's $6 billion trading loss at JPMorgan.
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by Tara Clarke
Today's Washington will never bring charges against Wall Street criminals – criminal charges, that is.
Five years have passed since the peak of the subprime financial crisis, in which the nation's largest banks formulated sloppy loans that taxpayers ended up paying for. Wall Street's greed cost the United States nearly 9 million jobs (6% of the workforce), a 30% fall in housing prices, and a 50% dip in the stock market.
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by David Zeiler
The notion of raising the minimum wage has moved back into the national spotlight courtesy of U.S. President Barack Obama, who last week called for an increase in the federal minimum rate from the current $7.25 an hour to $10.10.
It's an idea the president last mentioned publicly in his State of the Union speech in February, when he called for raising the minimum wage to $9 by 2015.
It makes more sense than you'd think...
The end-of-year holiday season is a time for memories and reflection, and I found myself engaging in a little of both the other day.
I was alone at the house and was stringing up some Christmas lights and found myself drifting back in time… to middle school and high school.
In seventh grade, I got my first part-time job – changing lightbulbs at an apartment complex. I also began designing and building custom light boxes using colored bulbs controlled with staggered timing switches.
And here's a company that has a 25-year head start on capturing those profits...
by Robert Hsu
There are a number of reasons "options selling" is so popular right now. The biggest one, of course, is the money.
You can generate a ton of cash selling naked puts and calls. And you get the money right up front.
It's just too good to avoid altogether...
