MARKETS / FINANCE

Slovakia's parliament voted on Thursday to hold an early election in March next year, meeting an opposition demand and opening the path for ratification of a plan to bolster the euro zone's EFSF rescue fund.

Gold fell nearly one percent and silver dropped three percent as precious metals followed the stocks down in a generally gloomy outlook for U.S. and European economies.

Slovakia's parliament backed a plan to bolster the euro zone's EFSF rescue fund on Thursday after political parties agreed to hold an early election, concluding the ratification process in all euro zone countries.

The prospect of a hefty Greek government debt restructuring and writeoff has sent the bonds into a twilight zone that's attracting specialist distressed-debt traders more used to dealing with defaulted emerging sovereigns like Argentina.

Stagnation is probably the best many of the world's biggest developed economies can hope for over the next year, with several facing a significant chance of recession, Reuters polls of around 350 economists showed on Thursday.

Slovakia's parliament ratified a plan to bolster the euro zone's EFSF rescue fund on Thursday, after voting to hold an early election as demanded by the opposition.

A sharp sell-off in commodity markets in the past few weeks is wreaking havoc with the track records of some of the biggest-name funds in the sector, many of which now languish near the bottom of the $2 trillion industry's performance tables.

BNP Paribas cut its gold price forecasts for 2011 through 2013, following the recent pullback in the precious metal's prices and said a further correction may be possible in the near term.

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday after three days of gains as earnings from JPMorgan and soft economic data from China reinforced worries about a slowing global economy.

Raj Rajaratnam, a self-made hedge fund tycoon convicted in the biggest Wall Street trading scandal in a generation, was ordered on Thursday to serve 11 years in prison, one of the longest sentences ever in an insider-trading case but far less than prosecutors sought.

Orosur Mining Inc.'s gold production in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 fell from the year-earlier period on a lower grade of ore, but higher prices helped lift net income 25 percent, the company said Thursday.

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain believes he can win the support of many Southern black voters. Don't believe for a minute that he can't.

The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits was steady last week and the trade deficit narrowed slightly in August, indicating a mild improvement in the economy.

The Dow and the S&P 500 fell on Thursday, but the Nasdaq composite index cut its losses to briefly turn positive in midday trading.

Raj Rajaratnam, a self-made hedge fund tycoon convicted in the biggest Wall Street trading scandal in a generation, was ordered on Thursday to serve 11 years in prison, one of the longest sentences ever in an insider-trading case.

Is there revenue fire in that new Kindle tablet? Amazon.com's (AMZN) new Kindle Fire tablet, priced at $199, has created a buzz, due its potential to grab market share from Apple’s (AAPL) iPad. With the latest kindle send Amazon’s stock vectoring higher?

Violence and the threat of worse violence has idled a major gold exploration project in a highly prospective area of the central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan.

Stocks fell on Thursday after three days of gains as earnings from JPMorgan and soft economic data from China reinforced worries about a slowing global economy.

Deteriorating conditions in the pension system are jeopardizing the lump sum payouts workers count on, and pushing some workers to retire ahead of schedule.

The trade deficit narrowed marginally in August, but the trade gap with China widened to a record high, the Commerce Department said on Thursday.

New claims for unemployment benefits edged down last week, according to a government report on Thursday that pointed to a modest improvement in the labor market at the start of the fourth quarter.

Crocodile Gold Corp. said Thursday it discovered more high-grade gold at an Australian site already under development by the Canadian company.

Stocks fell on Thursday as earnings from JPMorgan and soft economic data in China reinforced worries about a slowing global economy, giving investors reason to pause after the recent run-up.

Gold production in the third quarter rose seven percent from the previous three months at Brigus Gold Corp.'s Ontario mine, the Canadian company said Thursday.

Stocks were set to open lower on Thursday as earnings from JPMorgan and soft economic data in China highlighted worries about a slowing global economy, giving investors reason to pause after the recent run-up.

The European Central Bank reiterated a broad warning on Thursday that any form of government debt writedown that forces the private sector to take losses could damage the euro and the bloc's banks.

ValGold Resources Ltd. is using cash and stock to gain access to a prospective gold producing areas of western Ukraine.

JPMorgan Chase & Co's third-quarter earnings fell 4 percent as the European debt crisis pushed investment banking clients to the sidelines, but results were helped by an accounting gain the bank can take when markets are in turmoil.

Now comes the latest -- a three-day outage of BlackBerry services including email and Internet across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India plus some spotty outages in the U.S. Here's where you start to feel for the company: While the RIM and BlackBerry have been all but dead in the U.S, life remained for the company, its products, and services in these other countries.