BARACK OBAMA

Oil rose above $77 on Wednesday to reach the highest level since mid-May, tracking a recovery in global stock markets as risk appetite returns with easing concern about Europe's economy.

Credit-rating agencies like Moody's and Standard & Poor's dodged a bullet on Tuesday as lawmakers decided to strip out a provision in the Wall Street reform bill that would have upended their business model.

Lawmakers on Tuesday girded for a showdown over a measure that could upend the business model of credit rating agencies like Standard & Poor's and Moody's Corp., in the first real test of the congressional panel crafting a final Wall Street reform bill.

U.S. lawmakers blasted major oil companies on Tuesday for virtually worthless and cookie cutter plans to handle a deepwater oil disaster, with one top executive conceding the industry was ill prepared to handle big offshore spills.

Embattled credit-rating agencies like Moody's Corp and Standard & Poor's could catch a break on Tuesday when U.S. lawmakers sit down to craft a final rewrite of financial regulations.

U.S. lawmakers blasted major oil companies on Tuesday for virtually worthless and cookie cutter plans to handle a deepwater oil disaster as top industry executives testified on BP's massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Executives from other major oil companies turned on BP Plc and defended their own drilling practices during a U.S. congressional hearing on Tuesday as they sought to stave off new government regulations in the wake of BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.25 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.16 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.04 percent at 0820 GMT.

Banks looked increasingly likely to face some limits on swap trading as a proposal to rein in risky business practices gained traction among lawmakers negotiating a landmark Wall Street reform bill.

Top competitors are expected to distance themselves from BP Plc on Tuesday as normally clubby oil industry executives gather for a Capitol Hill grilling on the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

Wall Street is making a last stand against regulatory reform in behind-the-scenes meetings in Congress, where lobbyists hope to use high-stakes horse trading to blunt provisions that could cost the industry billions of dollars.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's exit from its ultra-low interest rate policy will take a significant period of time, a San Francisco Fed economist said in a paper published on Monday.

The worst oil spill in U.S. history has created an unprecedented financial, legal, regulatory and environmental crisis for companies that operate in the Gulf of Mexico, Moody's Investors Service said on Monday.

President Barack Obama called on Republicans on Saturday to vote for a delay in cutting government Medicare insurance payments to doctors, taking aim at the opposition party in a renewed election-year push for his new healthcare law.

Stocks rose on Monday, building on last week's gains and tracking a rise in global equities, after strong European industrial data reassured investors the global economic rebound was on track.

Oil prices rallied by 2 percent to above $75 a barrel on Monday as renewed optimism about the global recovery boosted the fuel demand outlook and sent Asian and European stock markets to their highest level in four weeks.

It was after 1 a.m. on Monday May 10 when a little-known Dutch civil servant made the suggestion that may have saved the euro. European finance ministers had come together in Brussels late on the Sunday afternoon to thrash out a rescue package to stabilize the common currency. Unconvinced by a 110 billion euro deal for debt-laden Greece eight days earlier, the markets had knocked the euro 4 percen...

Oil prices rallied by 2 percent to $75 a barrel on Monday as renewed optimism about the global recovery boosted the outlook for fuel demand and sent Asian and European stock markets to their highest level in four weeks.

U.S. lawmakers risk poisoning the atmosphere with China through proposed laws aimed at the yuan currency, China's official news agency said on Sunday, calling Congress members baby kissing incompetents.

Sales at retailers unexpectedly fell in May for the first time in eight months, but a jump in consumer sentiment to a near 2-1/2 year high in early June eased fears of a slowdown in the economic recovery.

Sales at retailers unexpectedly fell in May for the first time since September following a record slump in purchases of building materials, adding to fears the economic recovery was losing some steam.