View full sizeFruit fly larvae native to Asia turned this Oregon blueberry into mush. Farmers, researchers and entomologists are racing to battle a destructive new fruit fly that first appeared in Oregon last summer and quickly wiped out much of the late-season peach and berry crops. Known as the [ Read More → ]

John Lewis Partnership, the renowned employee-owned department store, has revealed its staff will share a bonus pot of £151 million. The announcement came after the 146-year-old group said annual pre-tax profits grew 9.7% to £306.6 million. According to John Lewis chairman, Charlie Mayfield, the company’s 70,000 staff - or partners, as [ Read More → ]

WASHINGTON - The head of the Federal Housing Administration is warning that boosting the minimum down payment borrowers must provide to qualify for home loans backed by the agency could threaten the housing market. FHA commissioner David Stevens said at a House hearing Thursday that his agency would insure 300,000 fewer [ Read More → ]

WASHINGTON (AP) - As tax day approaches, the Internal Revenue Service is giving agents more flexibility to work with taxpayers who have seen their incomes drop during the recession. IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman announced Tuesday that the agency is loosening its rules for negotiating tax settlements for less than the amount [ Read More → ]

Research released by Post Office Travel Money shows that 77% of British holidaymakers believe they will take as much holiday this year as they did in 2009, with many travellers (eight in ten) adapting their plans to fit in with their tightened budgets. Brits are also getting more savvy when it [ Read More → ]

New research from uSwitch.com has revealed that despite a dip in the number of households in the red to energy suppliers (5.5 million households down from 6.5 million last year), the average debt has increased to £132 (from £114 in 2008 – a 16% increase), with consumers now owing an [ Read More → ]

Santander have today reduced rates by up to 0.4% across it 4-year fixed term mortgages. This is the sixth time this year that … Read the original article at Totallymoney

Read the original article at Oregonlive

 View full sizeWASHINGTON — With one eye on the calendar and the other on elusive bipartisanship, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd plans to offer his own version of a sweeping overhaul of financial regulations without Republican support. Dodd said today he would release his proposal on Monday and begin [ Read More → ]

City watchdog, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), has today announced banks will face stricter stress testing to ensure they can survive a further 4 years of falling economic growth and a 13.3% unemployment rate. Stress tests were introduced following the financial crisis to ensure that banks had sufficient capital to [ Read More → ]