The figures come despite official data that suggests consumers want to save money more than at any time in the last six years, as they tighten their belts to cope with the recession. Despite the all-time low savings rates that banks and building societies are offering, the so-called [ Read More → ]

Investors are just not sure where the economy is headed, so the stock market may be in limbo for a while. After stocks stumbled last week on disappointing reports on housing and manufacturing, investors are concerned that the economy’s rebound will be slower than originally thought. They may cool their buying [ Read More → ]

EBay Inc., long criticized for its high-priced purchase of Internet phone company Skype, is finally getting out of a marriage that was a mismatch from the start. The online auction company said Tuesday that it would sell 65% of Skype to a group of private investors led by Silver Lake [ Read More → ]

As parents of young children see teenagers head off to college for the fall semester, they may be fretting about how they’ll be able to meet the rising cost of tuition when their time comes. That includes looking at 529 plans that offer special tax benefits on college savings and are [ Read More → ]

An Intel chip used for the Intel Centrino Atom processing technology Photo: AFP/GETTY Nigel Thomas, Axa Framlington UK Select Opportunities “I’m more positive than I was 18 months ago when I didn’t hold any banks but now I own Barclays and HSBC. The market is going up on good news [ Read More → ]

Soda sales might be fizzling in the U.S., but long-term investors should still reach for Coca-Cola. A struggling economy, together with health concerns, has contributed to a 3% drop in volume last year in the $73 billion U.S. carbonated-soft-drink market, and depressed Coke’s profits and shares. Earnings are expected to slip [ Read More → ]

Market sentiment has shifted from “hope” to “show-me.” A five-month rally predicated on the imminent recovery of the U.S. economy sputtered some last week as the tentative nature of that recovery became clear. And most troublesome for investors, the technology-rich Nasdaq Composite Index, which has paced the recovery rally so far, [ Read More → ]

BOSTON (AP) - Many sidelined investors were ready to take the midsummer calm in the stock market as a cue to tiptoe back in. Well, it seemed that way until Monday, when the Standard & Poor’s 500 index skidded 2.4 percent to its biggest single-day drop in a month and a [ Read More → ]

With stock markets slumping around the world yesterday, there was the usual search for wisdom: “People are starting to ask the logical question, ‘Where do we go from here?’ ” said Joel Naroff, who runs Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Bucks County. What can we compare this to? The U.S. market, [ Read More → ]

Three major retailers reported quarterly earnings Thursday, with mixed results that underscored the continued problems plaguing the economy. Discount giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said its second-quarter profit beat expectations but also reported that sales fell; trendy clothing company American Apparel Inc. said earnings plummeted 34% compared with a year earlier; and [ Read More → ]