COMPANIES

Bank of America (BAC.N) Merrill Lynch has recruited three former Wells Fargo advisers and one former Morgan Stanley Smith Barney adviser to join its California, Connecticut and Wyoming offices, the firm said late on Monday.

The U.S. Energy Department finalized loan guarantees for two major solar projects on Wednesday, as the deadline loomed for the government's renewable-energy incentive program.

Gasoline gained 3.5 cents on Wednesday in the Los Angeles market after the U.S. government reported that West Coast stockpiles fell last week, traders said.

Fitch Ratings affirms the 'AA+' ratings on the following Santa Margarita/Dana Point Authority, CA (the authority) general obligation (GO) and GO refunding bonds:

The Obama administration will push back the release of the most ambitious proposal ever for automakers to improve fuel efficiency of their passenger cars, sport utility vehicles and pickups.

Canada's energy regulator said on Wednesday it is looking into a complaint that TransCanada Corp's permit to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline within its own borders has expired, adding the prospect of more delays to a project environmentalists hope to block.

Amazon rolled out its much anticipated Kindle Fire on Wednesday, its first fully fledged tablet computer posing a threat to Apple's iPad empire. But other players may also need to watch out.

Zuckerberg recently got a hunting license and shot and killed a bison for his dinner table.

This isn't rumors or speculation. While Apple is not letting any secrets out, one only has to look as far as its software -- iOS5 -- to understand how it will function.

Resale home prices rose to a record high in July, their eighth consecutive monthly gain, according to report on Wednesday that an analyst said signaled a gradual slowdown in a strong market.

Federal investigators on Tuesday raided the Florida offices of Imperial Holdings Inc , a company that makes lump-sum payments on legal settlements and life insurance policies, the FBI said on Tuesday.

More than 700 Continental and United Continental pilots took to Wall Street on Tuesday to protest slow contract negotiations and misinformation regarding merger integration.

Chelsea Clinton has joined the board of the Internet holding company IAC/InterActive Corp., becoming the youngest director at the firm. She has also launched a Facebook fan page.

Boeing's first delivered 787 Dreamliner has taken flight. The jet, sold to All Nippon Airways, took off from Boeing's manufacturing facility on Tuesday, heading for Japan for use in commercial air travel.

Home prices in the 20-city Case Shiller Index rose for the fourth straight month in July, but the operative phrase remains: let the buyer beware. Demand conditions in most major U.S. cities remains soft, and even though home prices are attractive now, price retrenchments are possible.

The local government in central China's Jiangxi province will tighten curbs on energy-guzzlers by charging higher electricity prices, amid a national drive for energy-saving and energy efficiency in the world's top energy consuming country.

Chinese social networking site Renren Inc said it would acquire online video sharing site 56.com for $80 million.

A fire at a plant belonging to Apple Inc supplier Foxconn Group in Shandong, eastern China, has been extinguished without casualties and there will be no impact on operations, said a spokesman for group's listed entity Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd .

Kobe Steel Ltd , Japan's No.4 steelmaker, said on Tuesday it was in talks with China's Anshan Iron and Steel Group to jointly build a plant for high-strength automotive steel sheets in China, in a bid to tap growing demand for lighter vehicles there.

Fletcher Building Limited today announced that it will establish a new laminates plant to be built in China by its Formica business.

Shares of Apple Inc (AAPL.O) suppliers rebounded on Tuesday after heavy losses in the previous session as investors remain confident of continued demand for the hot-selling devices of the California-based company.

JPMorgan Chase & Co is asking to move to federal court a lawsuit from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc accusing it of siphoning $8.6 billion from Lehman's estate in the days leading up to its record bankruptcy.

Euro-zone officials are working to magnify the firepower of the region's rescue fund, European Central Bank policymakers said on Monday, while President Barack Obama piled on pressure for Europe to staunch a sovereign debt crisis that threatens the world economy.

Gasoline gained in the Los Angeles market due to malfunctions at California refineries and maintenance at a Los Angeles and Washington state refineries, traders said.

U.S. new home sells fell in August to a 295,000-unit annual rate, the fourth straight monthly decline for the beleaguered sector. The slump means that housing is likely to be a drag on U.S. GDP for at least the next two quarters, perhaps for longer. New home prices are attractive, but potential buyers should tread carefully: they may drop in many markets.

Last week, the California legislature sent the governor a bill that would ban most employers from running credit checks on job applicants. If the governor signs the bill into law (which this web site tells us he’s likely to), California will become the biggest get yet for those pushing for such laws around the nation. Is this just what a country full of unemployed people with wrecked credit needs? Or is it, as HR managers have been hollering, a way of hindering them from finding good, upstandin...

Verizon Wireless has called on Apple to stop opposing the Galaxy line of Samsung electronic devices, saying that continuing to do so will harm efforts to roll out 4G technology.

Perhaps Apple heard the news -- that Amazon and Barnes & Noble are launching new tablets priced lower than its global-leading iPad. Or perhaps Apple is just better preparing for a slow-growing global economy, where consumer dollars are getting tighter amid talks of a new recession.

Shares of Berkshire Hathaway jumped 6.5 percent to $106,500 after Warren Buffett’s conglomerate announced its first-ever share buyback.