UNITED STATES

Stocks edged higher in choppy trading on Friday as investors took the Federal Reserve's surprise increase in its discount rate as further evidence the financial system is strengthening.

Microsoft Corp's assault on search engine leader Google Inc took a major step forward on Thursday as U.S. and European regulators cleared the software company's search partnership with Yahoo Inc.

Department store operator J.C. Penney Co Inc reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit and said same-store sales would improve during 2010, sending its shares up nearly 7 percent.

Expect the Fed to keep the Federal Funds Rate at current levels near 0-.25% for the remainder of this year at least. I know this might come as shock to many, and it repeats last year's forecast verbatim. The fed has new tools at its disposal beyond the scope of this article, but suffice it say the current language extended period of time means we are not changing this language for at least 3-6 months; when the Fed changes the language that will mean only that the door is open to the language...

The broad market rallied on Friday as market participants shook off jitters from yesterday's discount rate hike.

For handlers of AIG's massive IPO of its Asian life insurance unit, getting investors to recognize the name and the size of the business is the easy part.

Consumer prices edged higher in January, while prices excluding food and energy fell for the first time in 27 years, supporting the Federal Reserve's contention it would keep its benchmark interest rate low for an extended period.

The Commerce Department is expanding a partnership with package delivery giant United Parcel Service to help double U.S. exports in five years, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said on Friday.

Stocks rose on Friday as investors took the Federal Reserve's surprise increase in the discount rate as further evidence the economy is strengthening.

The Federal Reserve has continued to target its liquidity withdrawal for the banking system as conditions improve for Wall Street and prominent hedge funds take huge positions in financial institutions.

Google Inc won approval from U.S. energy regulators to act as a power marketer, which will make it easier for the Internet search giant to obtain renewable energy to run its huge data centers.

U.S. stocks advanced on Friday as investors saw the Federal Reserve's surprise increase in the discount rate as a sign of strength in the economy.

President Barack Obama named a bipartisan panel on Thursday to tackle exploding U.S. budget deficits and promised it broad leeway to recommend ways to put the country on a path to fiscal responsibility.

A record proportion of U.S. mortgages were in foreclosure or at least one payment past due in the fourth quarter, according to industry data showing the fragile state of the recovery in the housing market.

Toyota Motor Corp's head bowed to pressure to testify before U.S. lawmakers and explain the company's safety crisis.

(Corrects increase in discount rate to 0.75 percent in third paragraph)

A flying visit to the Winter Olympics has provided Michael Phelps with fresh inspiration to stay ahead of his younger rivals in the build-up to the 2012 Summer Games in London.

Pavol Demitra scored to end a marathon shootout and give Slovakia a shock 2-1 win over top- ranked Russia, registering the first major upset of the Olympic men's ice hockey tournament on Thursday.

Wall Street dipped on Friday after an unexpected increase in the Federal Reserve's discount rate signaled to some investors that the U.S. central bank may be starting to retreat from its easy money policy.

American Evan Lysacek glided to Olympic gold in men's figure skating on Thursday in a stunning upset of Russian Yevgeny Plushenko's pursuit of back-to-back titles.

Consumer prices rose less than expected in January, while prices excluding food and energy fell for the first time since 1982, supporting the Federal Reserve's contention it would keep its benchmark interest rate low for an extended period.