caterpillar

Corporate executives stick to a script when pulling the layoff lever: Cite the tough economic landscape, promise that employees will remain the firm's most valued asset, insist that there was no other option to protect the company's future. Here's why you shouldn't buy what corporate America's selling when it comes to life-ruining layoffs.

Stocks closed broadly if modestly higher Friday on light volume as traders avoided making any big bets ahead of a long holiday weekend. The equity markets closed up for the third straight day and extended their winning ways to a third consecutive week.

With corporate earnings season in full swing -- watch for McDonalds, along with Catepillar, Amazon and other -- and with the Fed meeting on interest rates, the GDP estimate and housing numbers coming out -- the week ahead is expected to be quite busy.

The path to profits for most of Corporate America lately has been cutting costs rather than raising revenue. But a careful look reveals a few companies that are poised to deliver real revenue growth. We've found six with a plus: Their stocks look like bargains.

Some are convinced the precious metal will keep rising, others that it's tracing out a classic speculative bubble that's ready to burst. Nobody has a crystal ball, but an "agnostic" technical analysis of the charts provides some good clues about gold's future.

China and other emerging markets will be a growth story for a long time to come, creating opportunity for American companies and investors. Nikhil Hutheesing and Dan Burrows face-off in this video about which U.S. stocks stand to benefit the most.

Heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar is marketing a two-year 1 billion renminbi bond to institutional investors in Hong Kong. It's only the second multinational company to test the waters of the "dim sum" market, and its offering is five times the size of the first, a bond from McDonald's.

While stocks in the U.S. are likely to chug along well into next year, there may be better opportunities in international stocks. Sandy Mehta of Value Investment Principals picks three global growth companies now trading at deep discounts.

Caterpillar Inc (CAT) agreed to buy German company MWM Holding, a maker of engines that can run on alternative fuels, for 580 million euros ($810 million). MWM engines operate on fuels including diesel, biogas, and industrial waste gas, and can be used to generate electricity, Caterpillar said in...

Stocks fell sharply Tuesday after a surprise rate hike from China's central bank and mixed quarterly earnings reports led to heavy selling in technology, materials and energy stocks.