GEorge soros

Pundits have lately focused on the growth and influence of super PACs -- and the power of the mega-rich men who fund them -- but the current business-sponsored presidential contest isn't unusual: Come along as we review the long and rich tradition of election-buying in American history.

Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson has stirred up controversy recently for his $10 million in political help to the Newt Gingrich campaign -- but it's all perfectly legal. Still, with billionaires and corporations now able to make almost unlimited political donations, is the presidency for sale?

The nation's wealthiest are worth a combined $1.53 trillion, according to Forbes. And while there are many familiar faces on this year's list of the richest Americans, a younger group of entrepreneurs are marching their way up the ranks.

George Soros, the man who made $1 billion in a day by shorting the British pound, is returning all outside money invested in his hedge fund, citing new disclosure requirements in the Dodd-Frank Act. Coverage of this enormous story has so far been misleading. Here's what's really going on in Soros's head -- we think.

Even before the International Energy Agency and the White House announced they were releasing billions of gallons or oil from fuel reserves, gas prices were falling. In the past two weeks, a gallon is down more than 11 cents. Also falling -- hopes for the euro, and the outlook for U.S. Treasury bonds.

Home retailers Bed Bath & Beyond and Pier 1 Imports are scheduled to post quarterly earnings this week, along with Monsanto, the biotech, agriculture and chemical giant. Here's what analysts expect to see.

With unemployment climbing and available federal dollars declining in 2010, the need for charitable giving seemed greater than ever, but gifts made during the year were actually down. According to a recent article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, charitable gifts at the top of the spectrum, those...

Gold is on a record bull run, up from $328 in 2002 to $1,375 an ounce today. What caused that steep rise wasn't any inherent increase in gold's value to society, but a clever marketing scheme that allowed it to be traded easily without the hassle of physical delivery: The SPDR Gold ETF.

The smartest money on Wall Street may be at the top hedge funds, whose investment managers are paid billions a year to beat the market. Those gurus only take big money clients, but you can follow their lead: DailyFinance has the 10 best stock picks of the 10 highest-paid hedge fund managers.

By the time the world's smartest investors tell the SEC what stocks they hold, most of the gains they were after are already priced in. But a few of the companies Warren Buffett, George Soros, and their billionaire buddies have bought into still have a lot further to rise. Which ones? Read on ...