News and Finance

Lehman Brothers’ epic collapse two months ago marked a stunning turning point in the financial markets from which Wall Street is still recovering.
When investors woke up on Monday, Sept. 15, the landscape had totally changed: Lehman Brothers was bankrupt, Merrill Lynch (MER, Fortune 500) was sold off, and the credit markets - which had […]

Progress Energy is looking to raise rates by 31 percent in Florida to deal with rising fuel prices, environmental improvements and planning for additional carbon-free nuclear power to meet future growth.
If Florida regulators approve the company's 2009 fuel-cost projections, clean-air expenses, nuclear pre-construction costs and other factors, the average residential monthly bill would increase by […]

Demand for rental homes in the U.K. climbed in the second quarter at the fastest pace in at least a decade as a slump in property prices deterred homebuyers, a report by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed.
During the quarter, 37 percent more real-estate brokers reported an increase in new rental contracts […]

Australian home-loan approvals fell to a four-year low in June, stoking speculation the central bank will cut interest rates for the first time since 2001.
The number of loans granted to build or buy homes and apartments decreased 3.7 percent from May, when they dropped a revised 6.9 percent, the statistics bureau said in […]

Australia's annual inflation rate probably accelerated in the second quarter, reinforcing speculation the central bank will leave borrowing costs at a 12- year high.
The consumer price index rose 1.3 percent in the quarter for an annual gain of 4.3 percent, up from 4.2 percent in the previous three months, according to the median […]

The number of newly laid-off people signing up for unemployment insurance rose sharply last week.
The Labor Department, in a new report Thursday, says new applications jumped by 16,000 to 404,000, the highest level since late March.
The increase was bigger than economists were expecting. They were forecasting claims to rise to around 385,000 no fax […]

AniBoom.com, an Internet home for animators to create and share their work, has raised an additional $10 million in funding led by venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
Other investors in its second round of financing, due to be announced on Friday, include Israel’s DFJ Tamir Fishman Ventures and existing stakeholder Evergreen Venture Partners, which […]

South Korea's economy is slowing at the worst possible time for President Lee Myung Bak.
The softening comes amid a slump in Lee's popularity as consumers protest U.S. beef imports and higher oil costs. Already, plans to sell state-owned companies and cut red tape to spur business investment have been delayed.
Growth will slow […]

Embattled mortgage lender Thornburg Mortgage reported a $3.31 billion loss for the first quarter, and said loan delinquencies are likely to continue to increase "modestly" for the rest of the year.
Before paying preferred dividends, Santa Fe, N.M.-based Thornburg Mortgage Inc. lost $3.31 billion, or $20.64 per share, for the quarter ended March 31. That […]

Hard as management may try, Nissan Motor Co’s shares are unlikely to get a lift from a new business plan to be unveiled next week, as Japan’s No.3 automaker struggles to narrow the gap on its bigger rivals.
Top ranked Toyota Motor Corp and No. 2 Honda Motor Co have already warned they see tough […]