July 29 2012 7:58 PM

The hefty $7.25 billion settlement that Visa and MasterCard have agreed to, in response to a 2005 class action lawsuit over credit card swipe fees, will disadvantage retailers further and restrict consumer spending in an economy that relies heavily on credit card use and personal expenditure.

July 29 2012 2:26 PM

Thousands of irate protesters swarmed over Hong Kong's thoroughfares on Sunday and marched toward government headquarters to lash out against a government-proposed school curriculum plan, which they said was an attempt to indoctrinate students by lauding the feats of the Chinese Communist Party.

July 25 2012 7:27 PM

Global economic uncertainty and the dreaded fiscal cliff have taken a toll on American consumer demand, affecting second-quarter revenues and urging companies to dim their forecasts. DuPont and Co, Texas Instruments, Inc. and United Parcel Service, Inc. are the latest to do so.

July 24 2012 6:08 PM

Based on a median estimate among analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, ExxonMobil will report earnings of $1.96 a share on revenues of about $115.08 billion -- a decline of 8.3 percent from the year before. The company will post its second-quarter earnings on Thursday at 10 a.m. EDT.

July 20 2012 10:54 PM

As U.S. President Barack Obama shifts the focus of his re-election campaign from joblessness to income inequality, unemployment has increased in more than one-half the country's states this year.