MARKETS / FINANCE

A federal investigation into last year's cyber attack on Nasdaq OMX Group found surprisingly lax security practices that made the exchange operator an easy target for hackers, people with knowledge of the probe said. The sources did not want to be identified because the matter is classified.

Chip McBreen, who leads fraud prevention and security at Members 1st Credit Union in Pennsylvania, has become a believer in facial recognition tools to stop bank fraud. He says the emerging technology has already delivered results for the institution many times.

The Dow and S&P 500 gauges rose on Friday as falling European sovereign debt yields eased investors' fears the region's debt crisis, helping to keep the S&P 500 above a key technical level.

Former FrontPoint Partners hedge fund manager Dr. Joseph Chip Skowron was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday for his role in an insider trading scheme.

Standard & Poor's plans to update its credit ratings for the world's 30 biggest banks within three weeks and may well mete out a few downgrades in the process, possibly surprising battered global bond markets.

How would a no-fly zone affect the Syrian uprising?

European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi told euro zone governments on Friday to act fast to get their rescue fund up and running, expressing exasperation at their lack of progress in responding to the escalating debt crisis.

MF Global's administrator KPMG has told the failed futures broker's clients they will get back much-needed funds before it had finally settled all positions.

Fear over European banks' exposure to risky government debt stalked markets and harried bank executives on Friday, as unsecured lending between banks evaporated and the cost of secured loans rose.

Stocks were little changed on Friday, but easing European sovereign debt yields kept the S&P 500 above a key technical level.

LONDON - In some cultures, the number 7 is mystical and magical; in the euro zone, it's a Mayday call.

Fear over European banks' exposure to risky government debt stalked markets and harried bank executives on Friday, as unsecured lending between banks evaporated and the cost of secured loans rose.

A U.S. law aimed at curbing tax evasion by citizens using foreign accounts could cost large multinational banks as much as $100 million apiece to implement in one-off systems costs, a top asset manager and a tax lawyer told a conference on Friday.

Financial exchanges Deutsche Boerse AG and NYSE Euronext are offering to sell some businesses and give rivals access to a major derivatives clearing house to win support from antitrust regulators for their $9 billion merger.

Wall Street stocks rose in early trading on Friday after Europe's debt crisis drove heavy market losses this week, with the S&P 500 falling through important technical levels and facing another key test of strength.

Wall Street stocks were set to bounce back on Friday after Europe's debt crisis drove heavy market losses this week, with the S&P 500 falling through important technical levels and possibly facing another key test of strength.

Hewlett-Packard, the No. 1 computer services company, has elected Ralph Whitworth, a well-known activist investor to its board, its first election since new CEO Meg Whitworth was elected Sept. 25.

Yamana Gold said it has started production at its Mercedes mine in Mexico and it expects to start commercial production in the second quarter of 2012.

Gold inched up on Friday helped by a weaker dollar and some bargain-hunting but was still on track for its largest weekly loss since September as euro zone debt contagion worries spooked investors.

Stock index futures rose on Friday after Europe's debt crisis drove heavy market losses this week, with the S&P 500 falling through important technical levels and possibly facing another key test of the strength.

Exchanges Deutsche Boerse AG and NYSE Euronext will sell some businesses and give rivals access to a major derivatives clearing house in concessions aimed at winning support from antitrust regulators for their $9 billion merger.

The nugget, which was found in Russia's Irkindan gold deposit located in the Khabarovsk region, weighs 7 kg 655 g with. The nugget resembles a boxing glove and is of 914th pureness without admixtures.

It was a telling moment at the height of the Occupy Wall Street protests.

Italy's new government has announced far-reaching reforms in response to a European debt crisis that on Thursday pushed borrowing costs for France and Spain sharply higher, and brought tens of thousands of Greeks onto the streets of Athens.

A unit from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's organized crime division has joined an investigation into an accounting scam at Japan's disgraced Olympus Corp, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday, in a sign that the scandal could widen.

Stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open for equities on Wall Street on Friday, with futures for the S&P 500, for the Dow Jones and for the Nasdaq 100 up 0.2 to 0.3 percent.

World stocks fell on Friday, extending an overnight slide, with renewed pressure on Spanish bonds reflecting fears the euro zone's debt crisis was spiraling out of control.

Asian shares fell for a fourth day in a row Friday as Europe's funding difficulties intensified, with Spanish borrowing costs hitting an unsustainable level and premiums for dollar funds rising further.

Japanese prosecutors are to question a former president of disgraced Olympus Corp over an accounting scandal at the camera and medical device maker, as investigators probe for possible involvement of organized crime, media reports said on Friday.