MARKETS / FINANCE

AIG's former Chief Executive Maurice Hank Greenberg agreed to pay $15 million to settle government allegations that he had cooked the books to inflate the insurer's earnings in the first half of this decade, the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday.

The number of laid-off U.S. workers submitting new claims for jobless benefits fell sharply last week, fanning hopes the fragile labor market was on the mend and that the broader economy was stabilizing.

AIG's former Chief Executive Hank Greenberg agreed to pay $15 million to settle government allegations that he had cooked the books to inflate the insurer's earnings in the first half of this decade, the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday.

U.S. stocks have entered a new bull market, and the S&P 500 index could rise as much as 10 percent from current levels by the end of this year, Goldman Sachs strategist Abby Joseph Cohen said on CNBC on Thursday.

Former American International Group, Inc. chief Maurice 'Hank' Greenberg agreed to pay $15 million to settle charges that he violated antifraud and other provisions of securities laws.

Worldwide PC chip sales on Thursday soared 10.1 percent in the second quarter, but it still is in weak condition, according to IDC.

U.S. oil prices retreated from a six-week high on Thursday, pulled lower by weakness on Wall Street and gains in the U.S. dollar.

U.S. stocks fell for the second day on Thursday as Cisco's cautious outlook for a recovery and falling telecom stocks offset optimism about the economy spurred by a steep drop in the number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits.

PC Antispyware 2010 is a fake antispyware claiming to be a valid antispyware system. It is a “scareware” which tries to fool PC users and send out information prompting user with false information.

The first-time filings for state unemployment benefits declined by 38,000for the week ending August 1 to a seasonally adjusted 550,000, while the number of people who continued to collect regular benefits rose by 69,000 to a seasonally adjusted 6.31 million the prior week according to a Labor Department report released Thursday morning.

U.S. stocks have entered a new bull market, and the S&P 500 index could rise as much as 10 percent from current levels by the end of this year, Abby Joseph Cohen, the head of Goldman Sachs' investment policy committee, said on CNBC on Thursday.

U.S. stocks have entered a new bull market, and the S&P 500 index could rise as much as 10 percent from current levels by the end of this year, Abby Joseph Cohen, the head of Goldman Sachs' investment policy committee, said on CNBC on Thursday.

American International Group Inc's former Chief Executive Hank Greenberg agreed to pay $15 million to settle regulators' allegations of improper accounting transactions, the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell sharply last week, a government report showed on Thursday, boosting views the labor market and the economy were stabilizing.

Morgan Stanley has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $950 million to redeem warrants to buy its stock, becoming the latest big bank to free itself from the government bailout program.

Stocks slipped on Thursday as drops in telecommunications and biotechnology stocks offset optimism about the economy spurred by a sharp fall in the number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits.

Thomson Reuters Corp reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday, helped by cost cuts, and said it expected 2009 revenue to grow as the financial industry recovers.

Thomson Reuters Corp reported a higher quarterly profit on Thursday, helped by cost cuts, and affirmed its 2009 outlook that revenue will grow despite tough conditions in the financial industry.

U.S. stocks slipped on Thursday as drops in telecommunications and biotechnology stocks offset optimism about the economy spurred by a sharp fall in the number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits.

Morgan Stanley said on Thursday it agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $950 million to redeem warrants to buy its stock, freeing it from the government's bank bailout program.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits dropped more sharply-than-expected last week, a government report showed on Thursday, boosting views that the labor market and the economy were stabilizing.

The European Central Bank kept interest rates on hold at a record low on Thursday and said the euro zone economy would remain weak over the rest of the year, although the rate of contraction is slowing down.

The Bank of England took a far bigger step than expected to boost Britain's recession-hit economy on Thursday, stunning markets by expanding its quantitative easing plan to 175 billion pounds from 125 billion.

Stocks opened higher on Thursday as a sharp fall in the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits spurred optimism about the labor market and the pace of an economic recovery.

The European Central Bank kept its main refinancing rate unchanged at a record low of 1.0 percent on Thursday, as expected by economists.

Former corporate executive Don Yows took an entry-level job that set his career in information technology back by two decades.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell sharply last week, a government report showed on Thursday, boosting views the labor market and the economy were stabilizing.

White House economic adviser Christina Romer said on Thursday that the $787-billion U.S. stimulus program was stabilizing the economy despite unacceptably high job losses.

U.S. stocks were set to open higher on Thursday as a sharp fall in the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits spurred optimism about the labor market and the pace of an economic recovery.