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A federal judge approved a $25 billion mortgage settlement with five top U.S. banks over allegations of foreclosure abuses and misconduct in servicing home loans, according to court documents.

It seems that gamers have stepped into the forefront when it comes to voicing opinions on the Internet. The lackluster ending of “Mass Effect 3” sent video game fanatics in an uproar, and now game publisher Electronic Arts has just won The Consumerist award for this year’s Worst Company in America.

Two of the most iconic American brands suffered setbacks to their credit ratings on Wednesday, evidence that some of the nation's most visible economic engines could face higher borrowing costs.

China’s Premier Wen Jiabao called the country’s state-owned banks a “monopoly” that has to be broken to allow freer flow of capital to loan-hungry smaller businesses, as the world’s second largest economy appears to have skidded to its slowest growth in three years.

Who is Goldman Sachs? Wall Street's top investment bank, or a company that treats its clients like muppets in order to make as much profit as possible? And what does that mean for the rest of us?

PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE:PEP), the world's second-largest food and beverage company, claimed the No.784 spot on the IBTimes 1000 list by expanding aggressively in emerging markets and catering to consumers' demand for healthier food and beverages.

The U.S. nonfarm payroll report on Friday will highlight the economic calendar this week -- April 2 to 6 -- even though it will be released on Good Friday when the stock market is closed.

Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan made $8.1 million in total compensation last year, more than four times the $1.9 million he received in 2010, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.

Bank of America Corp is looking to create an international advisory board that could help steer chief executive officer Brian Moynihan's overseas strategy, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Deutsche Bank AG has agreed to pay $32.5 million to investors who said they were misled about the quality of mortgage loans sold to them as highly rated securities right before the U.S. housing market imploded, court papers show.

Since Greece technically defaulted over two weeks ago, yields on its bonds have risen sharply while insurance for Greek bonds has virtually disappeared, reflecting a lack of bond buyers and reluctance by loss-wary banks to write new protection.

From an Apple fan's point of view, one could trust the Cupertino tech giant in terms of the wide range of products it offers to the customers. Parting with hundreds of dollars each year for laying hands on Apple gadgets does tell that story. But would you ever trust Apple with all your money? Would you trust Apple with your savings and consider banking with an iBank?

U.S. securities regulators accused Wells Fargo & Co on Friday of repeatedly ignoring its subpoenas for documents in connection with a probe into the bank's $60 billion sale of mortgage-backed securities.

This week - March 26 to 30 - will highlight Wednesday's durable goods report and a busy policy calendar, including the core of the Federal Open Market Committee: Chairman Ben Bernanke and New York Fed President William Dudley. Wall Street will be closely monitoring the Fed officials' speeches, hoping to find clues of their latest views on the economic, inflation and policy outlooks.

Bank of America Corp has eliminated jobs in its equities, mortgage-backed securities and research divisions in recent weeks, two sources familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.

President Barack Obama must nominate a new President of the World Bank soon, ahead of its June annual meeting in Washington. Two Third World candidates have been mentioned but another American is the likely winner.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Wednesday are: L&L Energy, FSI International, Hartford Financial Services, Tecumseh Products, Oracle Corp, Bank of America Corp, Baker Hughes, Perfect World Co, Halliburton Co and ARIAD Pharmaceuticals.

Senior Facebook executives met Monday with analysts and bankers, but CEO Mark Zuckerberg didn't attend. The company's chief financial officer told attendees that Zuckerberg prefers to focus on developing Facebook's social-networking service.

The Federal Reserve plans to fine eight more bank holding companies for improper home mortgage foreclosures, the latest fallout from the so-called robo-signing scandal in which banks filed foreclosure documents without verifying their accuracy.

Facebook will pay a fee of just 1.1 percent to underwriters of its initial public offering, a source with knowledge of the company's plans said on Monday.

Facebook will pay just a 1.1 percent fee to underwriters of its initial public offering, according to a source with knowledge of the company's plans, doling out a much slimmer than typical payout.

At the height of the boom, commercial banks and investors gorged themselves on real estate, building unsustainable towers of debt that finally collapsed in 2008. But with the housing market improving, they may soon return for second helpings.

U.S. and European investment banks may face headline risk again from credit ratings downgrades by Moody's Investors Service Inc. in the coming weeks, Nomura Securities warned Monday.

The owners of the New York Mets settled a lawsuit Monday with Irving Picard, trustee for victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, for $162 million, avoiding a potential costly trial.

The Federal Reserve bank said on Friday it had made mistakes in calculating bank losses in stress test results released this week.

The positive reports on the U.S. economy are seen as the major cause of the stocks rallying.

Bank of America Corp shares on Wednesday hit their highest level in seven months after a Federal Reserve stress test affirmed one of the more troubled U.S. banks had made progress in improving its capital levels.

Citigroup Inc on Wednesday stood by its pledge to reward shareholders, as Wall Street sought to understand why the bank failed to win approval from regulators to increase its dividend or buy back stock.

Whatever buzz came from the post-FOMC statement and catapulted stocks up on Tuesday turned into a hush Wednesday afternoon. Equities started strong but ended with a whimper.