MARKETS / FINANCE

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will testify about insurer AIG's payments to banks after its 2008 bailout, a congressional panel said on Thursday, as another committee weighed into the matter.

U.S. regulators admitted to failing to head off the 2008 financial crisis as they appeared before a panel whose chairman said he plans to seek testimony from former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

The Australian Dollar opens higher today at 0.9310 and is consolidating upon its recent gains versus the greenback.

Intel Corp's fourth-quarter revenue and margin outlook handily beat Wall Street's expectations, helped by better pricing and demand for server chips, underscoring hopes for a 2010 tech sector recovery and sending the stock rising.

Technology shares drove Wall Street higher on Thursday on bets ahead of Intel's quarterly results that business spending will bolster profits in the sector.

President Barack Obama on Thursday proposed Wall Street banks pay up to $117 billion to reimburse taxpayers for the financial bailout, as he slammed bankers for their massive profits and obscene bonuses.

Google Inc's potential departure from China may not prompt others to follow suit, but its high-profile declaration could help shine a light on the business environment in the world's third-largest economy.

U.S. consumers unexpectedly curbed their Christmas spending in December and more people filed claims for jobless benefits last week, casting fresh doubts on the durability of the economic recovery once government support fades.

Technology shares lifted Wall Street on Thursday as investors bet business spending will bolster profits in the sector.

Pacific Investment Management Co, the world's biggest bond fund, has seen assets under management exceed $1 trillion for the first time, underscoring investors' appetite for yield and portfolio diversification.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke argued on Thursday the Fed must retain its regulatory powers, telling lawmakers that supervising banks helps it set monetary policy and will help guide its pullback of extraordinary support for the battered economy.

Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross on Thursday said he was quite possibly interested in teaming up with Richard Branson's Virgin Money to bid for state-owned British bank Northern Rock.

U.S. Internet giant Google has threatened to shut its China operations after cyber attacks emanating from the country, in response to which Beijing defended its censorship policies.

Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross on Thursday said he was not considering buying American International Group's mortgage insurance unit United Guaranty.

Stocks traded slightly higher on Thursday, led by the technology sector after upbeat brokerage comments on Oracle Corp and ahead of an expected profit report from Intel Corp.

U.S. regulators admitted to failing to head off the 2008 financial crisis as they appeared before a panel whose chairman said he plans to seek testimony from former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

U.S. business inventories rose more than expected in November, according to a government report on Thursday, supporting views of a pick-up in the economic growth pace during the fourth quarter.

U.S. stocks traded flat to slightly higher on Thursday as upcoming earnings from Intel Corp spurred interest in technology shares, though gains were limited by an unexpected drop in December retail sales.

The Problem: Steven's original résumé did little to present him for his career of choice-historian or history teacher-and instead simply presented descriptions of tasks performed.

Financial regulators, lulled into inaction by soaring bank and Wall Street profits, failed to protect Americans from the 2008 financial crisis, senior U.S. officials told an investigative panel on Thursday.

A senior Chinese official told companies to support the government's Internet controls on Thursday, suggesting scant room for compromise with Google after the company threatened to quit China over censorship and hacking.

Pictures of clowns are popping up all over Paris, but the joke is on you if you've ever mocked France's Internet entrepreneurs.

Thousands of Haitians at home and abroad are trying to get in touch with each other through a website set up after the devastating earthquake, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Thursday.

U.S. consumers curbed their Christmas spending in December and more people filed claims for jobless benefits last week, casting fresh doubts on whether the economic recovery can last once government support fades.

Google Inc, involved in high-stakes brinkmanship with the Chinese government, might still seek ways to market other products in the country even if it quits its China search business.

The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for unemployment insurance climbed more than expected last week but a measure of underlying trends moved steadily lower in a sign that labor markets are slowly improving.

President Barack Obama proposed a Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee on Thursday to make big banks and other financial institutions repay taxpayer funds that helped bail them out during the financial crisis.

The risk that deteriorating government finances could push economies into full-fledged debt crises tops a list of threats facing the world in 2010, according to a report by the World Economic Forum.

President Barack Obama is set to announce this morning a 'financial crisis responsibility fee' that may generate $90 to $120 billion dollars for tax payers over the next 10 years, the White House said late Wednesday, according to media reports.