MARKETS / FINANCE

Facing charges of horrific atrocities during the Bosnian War, former Serbian leader Radovan Karadzic is defending himself calmly at a Hague tribunal.

Despite a huge U.S. federal debt and prospects of a so-called fiscal cliff, foreign governments continue to snap up U.S. government debt.

Asian stock markets advanced Wednesday as better-than-expected quarterly earnings from U.S. blue chips and hopes of an imminent Spanish request for financial aid added to the positive sentiment.

The U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly lower open Wednesday ahead of the Census Bureau’s data on housing starts and building permits.

European markets rose Wednesday as investor confidence was lifted by hopes that Spain will soon apply for a conditional credit line and hence trigger the European Central Bank’s new bond buying plan.

The top after-market Nasdaq gainers Tuesday were H&E Equipment Services Inc, Manhattan Associates Inc, Cree Inc, Wintrust Financial Corporation and Linn Co, LLC.The top after-market Nasdaq losers were Fortinet Inc, Apollo Group Inc, Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc and Intuitive Surgical Inc.

The top after-market NYSE gainers Tuesday were United Rentals, Beazer Homes USA, Lindsay Corp, Emeritus Corp and Synovus Financial Corp. The top after-market NYSE losers were Overseas Shipholding Group, International Business Machines Corp, BPZ Resources, Unisys Corp and Protective Life Corp.

Most of the Asian stocks gained Wednesday with investor sentiment turning positive as a rise in the U.S. industrial production indicated an improvement in manufacturing output in the world’s largest economy.

Asian shares rose Wednesday as strong U.S. earnings reports brightened investor mood, while the euro hit a one-month high against the dollar as Spain dodged a bullet.

A spike in the euro-to-dollar exchange rate has been driving a monster rally in risky assets for the past three days. But it's momentum built on quicksand.

“Vertical farming” is the super-sized Manhattan equivalent of the Brooklyn resident’s backyard vegetable garden, and some companies are betting both the proverbial and literal farm on it.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has called for restraint from Israel, imploring the country not to take any military action against Iran and to allow time for the sanctions targeting its nuclear program to work.

Kateri Tekakwitha was converted to Catholicism by Jesuit priests and spent much of her short, grim life struggling from the ravages of smallpox, including partial blindness.

The number of Syrian refugees at Turkish border camps has topped 100,000 -- can Turkey accommodate more?

The release date for Skyrim's Dawnguard and Hearthfire DLCs has yet to come to PS3, but Bethesda Zenimax may be working on another add on.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday denied Ohio's request to curtail early voting in the state leading up to the Nov. 6 presidential election.

Talking heads were scrambling to explain the sudden departure of Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) Chief Executive Vikram Pandit Tuesday.

Knight, who at one time held the all-time Division I coaching victories record with 902 wins, said he’s not the ring-wearing type.

The Cuban Missile Crisis ended peacefully, but history continues to unfold in more ways than one.

Strange planet found orbiting two stars with two more stars orbiting their system

After the talented engineers at iFixit successfully tore down the fifth-generation iPod Touch on Oct. 11, the company on Tuesday tried their hand at the all-new seventh-generation iPod Touch, which Apple’s Greg Joswiak called, “the best Nano we’ve ever built.”

Third-quarter net income for Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) should decline, but the fourth-quarter forecast may be the news.

Yahoo will pay $58 million to hire Henrique de Castro, a Google executive who will become Yahoo's new chief operating officer.

Investors flocked back to the Japanese telecom following the announcement of a Sprint takeover.

Vikram Pandit has resigned as CEO of Citigroup, the third-largest U.S. bank. He was replaced by Michael Corbat.

StemCells Inc, Sarepta Therapeutics Inc, Deutsche Bank, ING Groep, NVIDIA Corp, eBay Inc, Clearwire Corp and AudioCodes Ltd. are among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Tuesday.

International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) is expected to report lower third-quarter revenue, but earnings should rise at least 5%.

Expectations are low for Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), but that doesn't mean stock pickers aren't sweet on company shares.

Asian stock markets advanced Tuesday as better-than-expected U.S. data and a strong earnings surprise from Citigroup buoyed sentiment.