BARCLAYS

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke offered a spirited defense Thursday of the bank's decision to launch QE3, as the central bank's third round of quantitative easing is known, amid speculation that the initiative may have been politically motivated as the presidential election nears.

Less than 24 hours after the U.S. government reported it was mostly done with its money-losing bailout of AIG, a Bloomberg News article out Tuesday explained how Wall Street banks are setting themselves up for the next systemic crisis by playing at financial alchemy in the derivatives market.

China's economic slowdown is expected to reach its nadir in the third quarter, leaving growth for 2012 likely to fall below 8 percent, a level unseen since 1999. While top Chinese leaders remain confident that the world's second-largest economy still has "ample strength" in either monetary or fiscal domains to propel economic growth, economists caution that the $158 billion stimulus unveiled by China may not be all it's hyped up to be.

Asian shares eased Thursday ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision later in the day, but investors remained optimistic of further stimulus action to bolster the world's largest economy.

Alcatel Lucent SA, Nokia Corp, Sohu.com, Facebook, Barclays, Banco Santander, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp, Morgan Stanley and Apple Inc. are among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Wednesday.

Markets have been talking about QE3 for two years. Now, after a sovereign credit downgrade, the near collapse of the European financial system, and facing an anemic recovery that has only marginally helped heal the carnage in the labor and housing markets, the vast majority of financial pundits believe QE3 this week is "pretty much a given."

Asian shares edged higher Wednesday as investors remained cautiously optimistic that a German court would approve the legality of the euro zone's bailout fund later in the day and the U.S. Federal Reserve may deliver further stimulus measures this week.

Eleven years later, the men at the forefront of both sides of the 9/11 attacks are variously retired, in jail, or dead.

Two large investment banks issue fresh forecasts for the price of gold

Because of the U.S. Treasury Department's announcement Sunday that it has launched an offering of $18 billion worth of its American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) common stock, the government will soon go from being the company's majority shareholder to being one of its minority shareholders.

The week is chock-full with data releases, but the Federal Reserve's policy meeting on Sept. 12-13 will carry the most weight.

News Corp.'s stock climbed to a 52-week high of $24.69 before closing at $24.50 on Thursday. The jump came two days after Anthony DiClemente, an analyst for Barclays Capital, upgraded News Corp.'s stock rating to "overweight."

While pundits and analysts dissected a myriad angles regarding the ECB's proposal, one lesser-considered issue has been how, following the announcement of the plan Thursday, it increasingly seemed Spain was being given the short end of the stick, while Italy was being favored, by the announcement.

An ADP report that private sector job creation topped analyst expectations by nearly a third has economists taking a second look at their, perhaps too negative, predictions, about what Friday's U.S. jobs report from the Labor Department will show.

Surprisingly strong U.S. job creation last month is forcing some, though not all, analysts to adopt a more upbeat outlook for growth prospects in the world's largest economy.

Employment in the U.S. private sector increased by 201,000 jobs – a greater addition than originally forecast for the month of August, according to an ADP study released Thursday. Employment in the U.S. private sector increased by 201,000 jobs – a greater addition than originally forecast for the month of August, according to an ADP study released Thursday.

Most of the European markets fell Tuesday as investors continued to remain cautious waiting for the policymakers to announce stimulus measures to boost the euro zone economy and revive the growth momentum.

The top after-market NYSE gainers Friday were Dominion Resources Black Warrior Trust, Thompson Creek Metals Co, MPG Office Trust, Renren Inc and Overseas Shipholding Group. The top after-market NYSE losers were Alon USA Energy, HudBay Minerals, Heckmann Corp, Plantronics and RadioShack Corp.

European markets remained in the tight range Friday as investor confidence continued to be weighed down by fading hopes on the European Central Bank to announce policy measures to boost the euro zone economy and revive growth momentum.

Market-watchers continued to use words like "anticipation," "expectations," "disappointment" and "excitement" Thursday, less than 24 hours ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke that is being hyped up as a make-or-break moment for economic affairs in 2012.

The Ryder Cup takes place in Illinois in late September.