INVESTMENT

A highly popular tranche of municipal debt issues is likely to feel the sting of a multi-notch ratings downgrade soon, a Wells Fargo credit strategist warned. The downgrade would wreak havoc on the portfolio strategy of a substantial number of investors in tax-exempt debt, and would also likely have noisy political repercussions in Puerto Rico, the municipality whose bonds are in the crosshairs.

Asian shares fell steeply Friday after more signs emerged of growing instability among Spanish banks and political turmoil in Greece, with the latest sluggish economic data from the United States adding to the list of risks for investors.

Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO), the No. 3 search engine, now has three new directors from Third Point Capital, the New York hedge fund that boosted its stake in the company.

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Mitt Romney's campaign sought to temper any fallout from a planned advertisement attacking President Obama's former pastor, releasing a statement that deplored attempts at character assassination.

Social network and scrapbook website Pinterest said it took in $50 million from Japan?s Rakuten (Tokyo: 4755) empire, which valued the four-year-old company at $1.5 billion.

Afghanistan, bracing for a potential sharp decline in financial support from the West amid fears of a fresh military offensive by the Taliban insurgents, has demanded $4.1 billion a year for its security forces after the foreign troops pull out in 2014, ahead of the NATO summit starting Sunday.

Shares in South Korea's Samsung Electronics extended their heavy slide on Thursday, on speculation that arch rival Apple Inc is looking to cut its reliance on Samsung memory chips and turn increasingly to Japanese chipmaker Elpida.

Investors who want Facebook shares when the social network goes public may have lost the opportunity. Some brokers have stopped accepting orders.

Asian shares steadied Thursday from the previous day's selloff, but investors found no reason to bet on risk amid deepening turmoil in Greece and fears of contagion to other stressed euro zone economies.

Warren Buffett's investing powerhouse, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.B) took a 10 million share stake in General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) during the first quarter, an investment it disclosed Wednesday, delivering a 2.29 percent bump to car company's shares and a welcome dose of investor confidence.

Bruno Iksil, the trader behind the $2-billion-and-counting loss at New York-based banking giant JPMorgan Chase and Co. (NYSE: JPM) that has been the talk of New York and Washington for the past few days, will be leaving the bank within the year, the New York Times' Dealbook blog reported Wednesday.

JPMorgan's $2 billion trading loss makes the financial giant an easy target for shareholder lawsuits.

Greece continued to weigh heavily on confidence Wednesday as bank customers there began sending cash out of the country or hiding it under their beds -- this despite hints from German Chancellor Angela Merkel that a stimulus would be forthcoming if the country stuck to its austerity commitments.

Picking up where Newt Gingrich left off, Vice President Joe Biden cast Mitt Romney's investment firm, Bain Capital, as an example of predatory capitalism that exploits workers.

A coalition of companies has joined Anglo-Dutch energy giant Royal Dutch Shell in an unprecedented, landmark joint-venture to exploit natural gas resources in Western Canada.

Chinese fishermen are finding themselves at the center of foreign policy disputes between their country and many others across the region. Even friends like North Korea seem to have it out for Chinese fishing vessels.

Germany's benchmark 10-year bond yield approached Wednesday the record euro-era low it struck on Monday, as investors reduced risk exposure as Greece seemed to be edging closer to leaving the currency bloc. The yield fell to 1.44 percent, just over the 1.43 it struck just two days ago, before rebounding to 1.5 in afternoon trading.

Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social network, has decided to pitch its initial public offering of 421 million shares at $38, which could raise as much as $18.1 billion, assuming ?over-allotment options.

Malaria-carrying mosquitoes in Africa and India are becoming resistant to insecticides, putting millions of lives at greater risk and threatening eradication efforts, health experts said on Tuesday.

Signs that a Greek departure from the euro zone has become inevitable proliferated worldwide Wednesday with Hong Kong's main stock index plunging more than 3 percent, bank runs in Athens and Britain's central bank finalizing contingency plans for a euro zone breakup.