AMSTERDAM — , the Dutch bank and insurance company, Wednesday reported a sharp rise in second quarter earnings, mostly because it avoided some of the losses it made a year ago on stocks, bonds, and real estate-related investments. Net profit was euro1.09 billion ($1.44 billion), up from euro79 million in the [ Read More → ]

Whomever President Barack Obama taps to head the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection could find it difficult to keep ahead of the credit-card industry. The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, known as the Card Act, was intended to reshape the contours of consumer finance. Among other [ Read More → ]

Market volatility in the second quarter took a bite out of assets that manages, but the Baltimore company reported Friday that profit rose nearly 60 percent as clients invested more money in its mutual funds. The money manger’s reported quarterly net income of $158.5 million, or 59 cents per share, [ Read More → ]

NEW YORK — Better payment rates for mortgages, auto loans and credit cards helped lift consumer-focused amp; Co.’s second-quarter profit by 12 percent. The San Francisco-based bank on Wednesday joined , JPMorgan Chase & Co. and in reporting earnings that rose in the April-June period as loan losses fell from [ Read More → ]

WASHINGTON  — Big companies are building up cash and are expected to report strong earnings starting this week. Not so for small businesses that can’t get loans — or hire freely until they do. The gap helps explain why the economic rebound isn’t stronger and could even stall. Federal Reserve Chairman [ Read More → ]

The New Zealand dollar edged up against the greenback and euro overnight as markets waited for firms in the United States to start reporting second-quarter earnings results. Around 8am today the kiwi was buying US71.05c, slightly ahead of its US70.88c level at 5pm yesterday. ANZ bank said currency markets, similar to equity [ Read More → ]

Q I am a longtime shareholder of Please advise on the prospects. — P.M., via the Internet A The largest U.S. garbage hauler and landfill operator is in a sturdy business that withstands recession better than most, generates lots of cash and has long-term growth. Nonetheless, no business is perfect. <> A slow economy [ Read More → ]

Lest anyone had thought the rally of the past 14 months had restored calm to the stock market, Thursday’s trading action was a reminder that the investing game is as dicey as ever. During one brief afternoon spasm in which the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged nearly 1,000 points, happy assumptions [ Read More → ]

Tax Freedom Day is the day when Britons begin working for themselves rather than the taxman and it is on May 30 this year compared to three days earlier on May 27 last year, figures compiled by the Adam Smith Institute suggested. The institute said the date could have [ Read More → ]

The Associated PressTraders work on the floor of the New York Stock ExchangeNEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rebounded Wednesday following another batch of upbeat earnings and the Federal Reserve’s positive view of the economy. Stocks bounced back in the afternoon following a dip earlier on news that Spain has become [ Read More → ]