in focus

Regulators Probe 'Inherently Deceptive' Insurance Marketing

Losing Money Isn't the Postal Service's Only Problem

Faced with an estimated $7 billion shortfall in 2010, the United States Postal Service is contemplating radical cuts that would eliminate Saturday mail delivery and raise the cost of postage. But to really turn the USPS's problems around, it will either need to be directly funded by the government or it needs the freedom to set its own prices, policies, and hours.

HK MTR Shares Climb, JAL Continues to Plunge

The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.4%, ending the day at 3,237. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index fell 1.2%, to 10,855 and in Hong Kong the Hang Seng shed 0.9% to close at 21,460.

Android Spells Trouble for iPhone

Google's Android is proving to be the first true competitor to Apple's iPhone in terms of bandwidth consumption and rich application use. If providers such as MetroPCS or Leap Wireless start offering Android-powered smartphones, it could be a big problem for some big players.

Lucky Somali Pirates' Haul Was $120 Million Richer Than They Thought

Is Robert Rubin pushing Obama to go easy on Wall Street?

Status Quo Ahead for the Fed

With the unemployment rate at 10 percent and analysts predicting it will barely drop to 9.9 percent by the third quarter of 2010, Ben Bernanke would be committing political suicide if he raised rates now.

Scroogier holiday spending means blue Christmas for communities

New taxes take the shine off Chinese real estate -- shares plummet in HK and Shanghai

Reviving the Dying Desktop

No one bothered to tell Apple or its loyal customers that desktops were going the way eight-track tapes and rotary phones. Its computer sales surpassed estimates in October and November, thanks largely to the strength in desktops.

John Hussman's Big Bearish Call on Stocks

When a highly successful money manager like Hussman crunches the numbers and decides that shares are priced to disappoint -- perhaps for the next decade -- intelligent investors would do well to pay attention.

Should the Fed spend $2 trillion more to jump start job creation?

Citi's TARP payback is fine, but it's no solution

Update: Glenn Beck no longer a 'paid spokesman' for Goldline

Citi Will Repay $20 Billion in U.S. Bailout Funds

To reduce government influence, the banking giant is set to pay back nearly half of its $45 billion in TARP funds. The government converted the remaining $25 billion into a 34 percent ownership stake, which it now plans to sell during the next year.