Business CEOs call for raising retirement age

Caesar's Entertainment, speaks in Boston. An influential group of business CEOs chaired …more WASHINGTON (AP) — An influential group of business CEOs is pushing a plan to gradually increase the full retirement age to 70 for both Social Security and Medicare and to partially privatize the health insurance program for older Americans.The Business Roundtable's plan would protect those 55 and older from...

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Silver Lake nears $15 billion financing for Dell buyout: report

(Reuters) - Private equity group Silver Lake Partners is close to arranging about $15 billion in financing for a buyout of Dell Inc , Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.Talks to take Dell Inc private are at an advanced stage with at least four major banks lined up to provide financing, two sources with knowledge of the matter earlier told Reuters.Silver Lake could not immediately...

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JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon gets big pay cut

NEW YORK (AP) — America's best-known banker is getting a big pay cut.JPMorgan Chase said Wednesday that it will dock the pay of CEO Jamie Dimon by more than half, to $11.5 million from $23 million.It's the latest fallout from an embarrassing trading loss at the bank last year, one that eventually ballooned to $6 billion. Its ripple effects have already been numerous, forcing Dimon to appear contritely...

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Judge asks Hostess to mediate with union

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- Twinkies won't die that easily after all.Hostess Brands Inc. and its second largest union will go into mediation to try and resolve their differences, meaning the company won't go out of business just yet. The news came Monday after Hostess moved to liquidate and sell off its assets in bankruptcy court citing a crippling strike last week.The bankruptcy judge hearing the...

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Just Explain It: What is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?

Eliminating America's dependency on foreign oil has been a policy goal for at least the last two U.S. Presidents.  According to the International Energy Agency, by 2020,  the U.S. will overtake Saudi Arabia as the world's number one oil producer.However, there's still some work to do.  The United States Energy Information Administration reported that 45% of the petroleum consumed by...

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Apple to produce line of Macs in the US next year

NEW YORK (AP) -- Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company will move production of one of its existing lines of Mac computers from China to the United States next year.Industry watchers said the announcement is both a cunning public-relations move and a harbinger of more manufacturing jobs moving back to the U.S. as wages rise in China.Cook made the comments in part of an interview taped for NBC's "Rock...

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Just Explain It: What is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?

Eliminating America's dependency on foreign oil has been a policy goal for at least the last two U.S. Presidents.  According to the International Energy Agency, by 2020,  the U.S. will overtake Saudi Arabia as the world's number one oil producer.However, there's still some work to do.  The United States Energy Information Administration reported that 45% of the petroleum consumed by...

Read More..

Apple to produce line of Macs in the US next year

NEW YORK (AP) -- Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company will move production of one of its existing lines of Mac computers from China to the United States next year.Industry watchers said the announcement is both a cunning public-relations move and a harbinger of more manufacturing jobs moving back to the U.S. as wages rise in China.Cook made the comments in part of an interview taped for NBC's "Rock...

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US economy adds 146K jobs, rate falls to 7.7 pct.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The pace of U.S. hiring remained steady in November despite disruptions from Superstorm Sandy and employers' concerns about impending tax increases from the year-end "fiscal cliff."Companies added 146,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent — the lowest in nearly four years — from 7.9 percent in October. The rate declined mainly because more people stopped looking...

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US economic growth improves to 2 pct. rate in Q3

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. economy expanded at a slightly faster 2 percent annual rate from July through September, buoyed by an uptick in consumer spending and a burst of government spending.Growth improved from the 1.3 percent rate in the April-June quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday.The pickup in growth may help President Barack Obama's message that the economy is improving. Still,...

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Has Obama Been Good for Millionaires?

The question of whether Americans are better off than they were four years ago depends, of course, on the American.For the 12 million unemployed, the answer is most certainly no.But for many of America's millionaires, the answer may be more affirmative.A new study from WealthInsight, the London-based wealth-research and data firm (and yes, they are non-partisan), showed that the United States added...

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Avis buying Zipcar in deal worth nearly $500M

 Avis is leaping into the car-sharing service business by buying Zipcar for $491.2 million, aiming to capture a new type of customer and technology that will vastly expand its car rental options.Car sharing has become a popular alternative to traditional rentals in metropolitan areas and on college campuses, allowing members to get a vehicle for an hour or two for short trips instead of renting...

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Microsoft acquires start-up id8: source

 Microsoft Corp bought start-up id8 Group R2 Studios Inc as it looks to expand further in technology focused on the home and entertainment, a person familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.id8 Group R2 Studios was started in 2011 by Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor Blake Krikorian. It recently launched a Google Android application to allow users to control home heating and lighting...

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Boehner agrees to Sandy aid vote on Friday

WASHINGTON (AP) — Under intense pressure from angry Republicans, House Speaker John Boehner agreed Wednesday to a vote this week on aid for Superstorm Sandy recovery.The speaker will schedule a vote Friday for $9 billion for the national flood insurance program and another on Jan. 15 for a remaining $51 billion in the package, Republican Rep. Peter King of New York said after emerging from a meeting...

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Ex-directors of Satyam win ruling in U.S. class-action suit

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge dismissed claims against seven former directors of Satyam Computer Services Ltd in shareholder lawsuits stemming from the massive fraud at the heart of India's largest corporate scandal.U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones in New York ruled on Wednesday the lawsuits failed to allege that the ex-directors recklessly failed to discover the fraud, which came to...

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DoubleLine launches stock management division

NEW YORK (Reuters) - DoubleLine Capital LP, the $53 billion firm run by star bond investor Jeffrey Gundlach, said on Wednesday it is now managing stock portfolios in a new division called DoubleLine Equity LP.The firm, which surpassed $50 billion in bond assets last year after launching in 2009, said in a news release that it has tapped former TCW Group Inc portfolio managers Brendt Stallings and...

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Why the Slowest Investors Win the Race

Anyone who attended kindergarten remembers Aesop's fable about the tortoise and the hare. The story's moral has implications for investors: Slow but steady wins the race.Hare investors try to sprint to the finish line of a comfortable retirement without girding their portfolios against the perils of volatility — frequent ups and downs in asset value. So they tend to lag far behind tortoise investors,...

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US rate on 30-year mortgage hits record 3.83 pct.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Average U.S. rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages fell to fresh record lows this week. Cheap mortgage rates have made home-buying and refinancing more affordable than ever for those who can qualify.Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan ticked down to 3.83 percent. That's the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s. And it's...

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US rate on 30-year mortgage rises to 3.71 pct.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Average rates on fixed mortgages rose this week, the first increase in seven weeks. But mortgage rates remain near historic lows, boosting prospects for home sales this year.Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the 30-year loan increased to 3.71 percent. That's up from 3.67 percent last week, the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.The...

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US fixed mortgage rates fall to new record lows

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fixed U.S. mortgage rates fell again to new record lows, providing prospective buyers with more incentive to brave a modestly recovering housing market.Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average on the 30-year loan dropped to 3.62 percent. That's down from 3.66 percent last week and the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.The average rate on the 15-year...

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