Thomson Reuters

Investors are starting to realize that when it's Avon calling, they probably shouldn't answer. The cosmetics company is unlikely to escape its steady decline, despite the unblushing optimism of Wall Street analysts.

AIG is on its way to eclipsing Bank of America as the turnaround story of 2012 as it prepares to report earnings after Thursday's close. Analyst bullishness and a New York Fed asset sale have shareholders pumped.

U.S. weekend mall traffic so far this month is higher than it was a year ago, suggesting that consumers may be improving their finances enough to boost sales for Black Friday and the 2010 holiday season.

In a scandal that raises troubling questions about journalistic ethics in the Web era, writers for Breakingviews, a media property owned by Thompson Reuters, failed to disclose that they owned shares in companies they wrote about.

Goldman Sachs is expected to report a sharp drop in third-quarter earnings early Tuesday, due to a decline in trading activity in a market that's been light on volume for months. Goldman is forecast to report adjusted earnings of $2.28 a share.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey found that consumer sentiment slipped to 67.9 in October from 68.2 in September, as Americans continued to be reluctant about purchasing decisions amid uncertain income gains.

A widespread push for fiscal discipline is "the right policy at the wrong time," the famed investor said Wednesday.

James Ledbetter, the founding editor of the recently-shuttered business news website The Big Money, has landed a new gig. Ledbetter is headed to Thomson Reuters, where he'll editor in charge of Reuters.com.

Despite heat waves, penny-pinching parents and a weak job market, most retailers posted solid sales in August. They benefited from better inventory control -- giving local stores more say in merchandising -- and well-timed promotions.

You'd never know it from recent equity action, but fourth-quarter earnings season has so far been remarkably strong. Apart from when the news is bad, earnings reports have gotten the cold shoulder from investors so far this season.