News and Finance

The world economy will slow sharply this year, according to an International Monetary Fund forecast, with the United States sliding into a recession amid housing, credit and financial slumps.
The IMF, in a World Economic Outlook released Wednesday, slashed growth projections for the United States - the epicenter of the woes - and the global […]

The average price of regular gasoline fell nearly a penny from its record high, a AAA survey showed Tuesday.
The average price of regular unleaded fell 0.8 cent, to $3.331 a gallon from the $3.339 record set the previous day, according to AAA’s Web site.
Gas prices are up nearly 20% from what they were […]

As taxpayers rush to file tax returns, independent auditors are warning that the Internal Revenue Service has not done enough to safeguard some of its computer systems, leaving sensitive taxpayer information vulnerable to disgruntled IRS employees, contractors or hackers.
Unscrupulous people could "reconfigure [computer] routers and switches" and "steal taxpayer information in a number of […]

Indonesia's parliament approved top economic minister Boediono as the nation's 13th central bank chief, as Southeast Asia's largest economy grapples with accelerating inflation and slowing growth.
Boediono, 65, will succeed Burhanuddin Abdullah, whose five-year term expires on May 17. Boediono, the coordinating minister for the economy, was endorsed as the next governor by 45 […]

NEW YORK — This, GM didn’t need.
Besides slumping U.S. sales and a strike that has shut down 30 of its factories, the automaker now may be on the financial hook to help its former subsidiary and largest parts supplier, Delphi.
Delphi’s lifeline to exit bankruptcy was stalled after a private equity fund […]

In a surprising flash of good news for the U.S. economy, businesses added jobs in March, according to a survey of private sector employers released Wednesday.
Payroll services firm ADP’s employment report showed an increase of 8,000 private sector jobs last month. Economists were expecting a decline of 45,000 private sector jobs, according to […]

Shares of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. fell almost 3% in after-hours trading Monday, after the investment bank said it would offer up to 3.45 million shares of convertible preferred stock to boost cash flow and reduce debt.
Lehman (LEH, Fortune 500), the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank, will initially offer 3 million shares, and if there […]

Assets managed by sovereign wealth funds worldwide grew 18% last year to $3.3 trillion, the Financial Times reported Monday, citing a London think-tank.
The funds benefited from a run-up in commodity prices and an increase in the foreign exchange reserves of some Asian countries, the report said. The research suggests that by 2015, the […]