IBT Staff Reporter

Smelling Democratic blood in the water, the Republican Party in Massachusetts and beyond is looking in some unlikely places for candidates for this fall's congressional elections.

President Barack Obama used a campaign push for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Friday to announce a new fund to support homeowners in five states hit hardest by the U.S. housing crisis.

Stocks edged higher in choppy trading on Friday as investors took the Federal Reserve's surprise increase in its discount rate as further evidence the financial system is strengthening.

The S&P 500 Index inched up 0.56 points, or 0.05 percent, at 1,107.31 at 3:18 pm. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 0.06 percent at 10,386.63 and the Nasdaq Composite is down 0.07 percent.

Microsoft Corp's assault on search engine leader Google Inc took a major step forward on Thursday as U.S. and European regulators cleared the software company's search partnership with Yahoo Inc.

In soaring out our career we must enter Master Business Administration to be able to fits in today's modern society. A good choice means a good career waits.

Department store operator J.C. Penney Co Inc reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit and said same-store sales would improve during 2010, sending its shares up nearly 7 percent.

Shares of Dell Inc fell on Friday, as investors showed their frustration with the computer maker's margin performance for the January quarter.

Expect the Fed to keep the Federal Funds Rate at current levels near 0-.25% for the remainder of this year at least. I know this might come as shock to many, and it repeats last year's forecast verbatim. The fed has new tools at its disposal beyond the scope of this article, but suffice it say the current language extended period of time means we are not changing this language for at least 3-6 months; when the Fed changes the language that will mean only that the door is open to the language...

The broad market rallied on Friday as market participants shook off jitters from yesterday's discount rate hike.

For handlers of AIG's massive IPO of its Asian life insurance unit, getting investors to recognize the name and the size of the business is the easy part.

Consumer prices edged higher in January, while prices excluding food and energy fell for the first time in 27 years, supporting the Federal Reserve's contention it would keep its benchmark interest rate low for an extended period.

The razor aisle is about to get a bit more crowded as Energizer Holdings Inc and Procter & Gamble Co go after men with promises of closer, more comfortable shaves.

The Commerce Department is expanding a partnership with package delivery giant United Parcel Service to help double U.S. exports in five years, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said on Friday.

Stocks rose on Friday as investors took the Federal Reserve's surprise increase in the discount rate as further evidence the economy is strengthening.

The Federal Reserve has continued to target its liquidity withdrawal for the banking system as conditions improve for Wall Street and prominent hedge funds take huge positions in financial institutions.

Olympic men's figure skating gold medalist Evan Lysacek is not a true champion, his predecessor and Vancouver runner-up Yevgeny Plushenko has told Russian media. Sports

Google Inc won approval from U.S. energy regulators to act as a power marketer, which will make it easier for the Internet search giant to obtain renewable energy to run its huge data centers.

U.S. stocks advanced on Friday as investors saw the Federal Reserve's surprise increase in the discount rate as a sign of strength in the economy.

Tiger Woods held a press conference on Friday to issue a public apology to his family, friends, fans and co-workers for his irresponsible and selfish behavior and said he may be back to play golf, even possibly this year.

President Barack Obama named a bipartisan panel on Thursday to tackle exploding U.S. budget deficits and promised it broad leeway to recommend ways to put the country on a path to fiscal responsibility.

An office building that sits atop an upscale shopping mall in downtown Philadelphia is not the sort of place that would ordinarily strike fear into the hearts of bad guys on Wall Street.

A record proportion of U.S. mortgages were in foreclosure or at least one payment past due in the fourth quarter, according to industry data showing the fragile state of the recovery in the housing market.

Toyota Motor Corp's head bowed to pressure to testify before U.S. lawmakers and explain the company's safety crisis.

(Corrects spelling of Sanjay Wadhwa in line 108)

MDS Inc said that it planned to buy back more than 40 percent of its outstanding shares as it advances its plans to narrow its focus to nuclear imaging.

Private equity firms are putting floatation candidates back in the box after receiving knock backs from angry fund managers, and will try again in a couple of years when they hope the market will be more receptive.

Bank of Ireland was in talks on Friday with Irish and European authorities over whether Dublin would have to acquire a fresh stake of up to 20 percent in the group.

Latvia was on course for its first Winter Olympic gold medal on Thursday when Martins Dukurs blazed a trail down the Whistler track to lead the men's skeleton competition at the midway point.