News and Finance

Mortgage rates were mixed this week as the index of leading indicators fell for the fifth straight month, home prices continued their decline and consumer confidence reached a 5-year low, Freddie Mac reported Thursday.
The government-sponsored loan buyer said 30-year fixed-rate loans averaged 5.85% for the week ending Thursday, down from 5.87% last week. […]

ConAgra Foods Incorporated says its third-quarter profit soared 60% as it raised prices and improved sales. The year-ago results were depressed by recall costs, however.
ConAgra (CAG, Fortune 500) also announced Thursday that it plans to sell its commodities trading group to the Ospraie Special Opportunities fund for $2.1 billion in cash and stock.
In the […]

Republican John McCain said Tuesday that government isn’t in the business of saving and rewarding banks or small borrowers who behave irresponsibly though he offered few immediate alternatives to fixing the growing housing crisis.
"I will consider any and all proposals based on their cost and benefits," the certain GOP presidential nominee, who has acknowledged […]

The following recall has been announced:
About 13,000 camouflage eggs and spinning egg top toys, imported by Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. and made in China, because the paint on the toys contains high levels of lead, which is toxic if ingested by children.
No injuries or incidents have been reported. The recalled products include the […]

WASHINGTON — The aerospace and defense sector is bracing for a potential brain drain in the next decade as a generation of Cold War scientists and engineers hits retirement age and too few qualified young Americans seek to take their place.
The problem — last year, almost 60 percent of U.S. aerospace workers […]

The European Central Bank on Thursday offered up to $23.5 billion to cash-hungry banks, aimed at keeping them supplied through the four-day Easter holidays.
The central bank for the 15-nation euro zone announced the €15 billion fine-tuning operation earlier in the day and said that demand far exceeded supply, with banks submitting bids worth €65.8 […]

Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson warned on Wednesday first-quarter earnings could fall by more than half, adding to growing gloom in the handset sector and dealing co-parent Ericsson (ERICb.ST: Quote, Profile, Research) a fresh blow.
A global economic slowdown is starting to crimp consumer spending, hurting the whole sector. Last week, chip maker Texas Instruments […]

A state-owned Chinese financial firm wants to change its deal to buy into Bear Stearns Co. following the takeover of the troubled Wall Street bank, the chairman of the Chinese firm’s parent said Monday.
Citic Securities Co. wants to make a "technical adjustment" in its deal, said Kong Dan, chairman of Citic Group, talking to […]

The rocky ride for the U.S. stock market is likely to intensify this week with the survival of one of the biggest investment banks in doubt and regulators rapidly burning through options to limit more damage to the financial system.
All eyes will again be on Bear Stearns come Monday for any further word about […]

In his first public testimony since his company’s product became the subject of the largest recall of meat in U.S. history, the president of Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. acknowledged Wednesday that at least two "downer" cows depicted in hidden-camera videos appeared to have entered the U.S. food supply.
He previously had denied any had gotten into […]