UNITED STATES

Ever since Rick Perry's GOP rivals began lambasting him for signing a bill granting undocumented immigrant children in-state tuition at Texas universities, immigration has emerged as a key litmus test for verifying the conservative credentials of the men and women seeking the Republican nomination. It was not always so -- a debate between Bush and Reagan struck a far softer tone.

Morgan Stanley generated higher revenue from commodities in the third quarter by piling on more trading risks than rival Wall Street banks as oil, metals and grains prices swung wildly.

While GOP presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Perry shed their poker faces, openly duking it out over immigration, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said she thought Newt Gingrich went home as victor of the CNN Western Republican Presidential Debate in Las Vegas Tuesday night

Q'Viva! The Chosen, the upcoming talent-search series from Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, has secured network deals in its first three countries, it was announced Wednesday.

Germany's government launched its own channel on the video sharing website YouTube on Wednesday in its latest effort to reach new audiences.

Nevada has the highest foreclosure rate in the country, but the Republican presidential contenders provided few concrete solutions to the crisis while debating in Las Vegas.

China's financial regulators have asked the world's biggest audit firms to urgently review their work on U.S.-listed Chinese companies and give details on information they may have provided to overseas regulators, two sources told Reuters.

U.S. stocks could hit an all-time high next year, Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist of Wells Capital Management, told CNBC TV.

The Nasdaq fell on Wednesday, weighed down by technology heavyweight Apple's profit miss, but gains in chipmaker Intel and insurer Travelers kept the S&P near the unchanged mark.

As Occupy Wall Street has grown to be one-month-old national and international movement, the movement's economic impact has been undeniable - at least in the form of donations.

A roundup of factual statements from Tuesday night's feisty GOP debate that were either questionable or completely untrue.

U.S. housing starts surged in September at their fastest annual pace in 17 months on a big increase in groundbreaking for multi-family units, while permits for future construction fell.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced Wednesday that NJ TRANSIT was partnering with Google Wallet, allowing customers to pay fares with a smartphone.

No need to repeat all of the bad news about the U.S. economy. Further, as the stock market's bulls point out, that's history. Looking forward, the picture brightens, and accordingly here's why the bulls think the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is headed higher in the next six months.

Under the proposed terms of the settlement -- which could total $25 billion -- banks would get a broader relief from potential state civil lawsuits in exchange for refinancing underwater loans, those mortgages where borrowers owe more than their homes are worth, sources said.

AMR Corp, parent of American Airlines, reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, hurt by high fuel costs and a strong dollar.

Citigroup Inc will pay $285 million to settle charges that its U.S. broker-dealer unit misled investors about a $1 billion mortgage bond deal, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Wednesday.

The Nasdaq fell on Wednesday, a day after a profit miss from technology heavyweight Apple, but gains in chipmaker Intel and insurer Travelers pushed the Dow and S&P 500 higher.

The 47-year-old Law & Order: SVU actress adopts for the second time in six months.

An unexpected drop in U.S. petroleum reserves reported mid-morning Wednesday surprised financial markets, which had been anticipating a moderate drop. U.S. commercial crude oil inventories for the week ending Oct. 14 decreased by 4.7 million barrels, according to weekly U.S. Department of Energy report. Analysts had predicted a rise of 1.75 million barrels.

Gold eased on Wednesday as growing hopes of a resolution to the Eurozone debt crisis persuaded investors to shrug off a downgrade to Spain's credit rating and buy riskier assets such as equities.