Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – Jon Corzine stepped down Friday from running troubled MF Global, the securities firm that collapsed after risky bets on European debt and filed for bankruptcy protection Monday. The firm announced the voluntary resignation of Corzine as chairman and CEO. He will decline a severance package worth $12.1 million, including cash and benefits. MF Global is currently under investigation by securities regulators and the FBI because hundreds of millions disappeared from customer accounts as it teetered into bankruptcy. The brokerage firm has also been hit with lawsuits trying to recover millions of dollars stolen by two Ponzi scheme architects. Corzine, who once ran the prestigious investment firm Goldman Sachs, and was governor of New Jersey before running MF Global, said in a statement that he [...] Continue Reading…

Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
New York, NY, United States (AHN) – U.S. stocks moved in and out of positive territory Friday after Thursday’s big gains, and finished the week substantially higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the day at 12,231.02 up 22.48, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index nudged up 50 cents to $1,285 and the NASDAQ most 1.48 to finish the week at 2,737.15 Oil closed up a few pennies at $93.42, and gold lost $3.50 to $1,743.90 a troy ounce. Investors reacted positively to reports that showed consume spending and income both rose, and a separate report revealing that consumer sentiment edged up a bit. Stocks staged a explosive rally on Thursday rising more than 330 points after European leaders came to an agreement on the euro zone sovereign debt crisis. [...] Continue Reading…

Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
New York, NY, United States (AHN) – U.S. stocks staged a late day rally Tuesday on hopes of a European rescue agreement. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared, closing up 180 points. The S&P 500 Index was better by 42 points and the NASDAQ rose more than 26 points. Shares active in the session included investment banking behemoth Goldman Sachs. The firm reported its only second quarter loss ever since going public, but managed to finish the day up 5.35 points to close at $102. 25. Bank of America, which reported an impressive comeback from the same period a year earlier, jumped over 10 percent to finish at $6.64. Shares of tech giant IBM dropped more than 4 percent despite reporting a 7 percent increase in third quarter earnings. Dragging IBM lower [...] Continue Reading…

Windsor Genova – AHN News News Writer
Harrisburg, PA, United States (AHN) – Pennsylvania’s capitol of Harrisburg has filed for bankruptcy protection as the cash-strapped city government can no longer pay its bills and workers by the fourth quarter. The City Council voted 4-3 to file for bankruptcy protection Tuesday night and the petition was faxed overnight to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Harrisburg. The council’s decision contradicts Mayor Linda Thompson’s financial recovery plan for the city, which is mired in $300 million debt. Under the plan, the state government will fund the city in exchange for an 8 percent property tax increase, outsourcing of city service functions and selling of a trash incinerator project. With the bankruptcy filing, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett will not bail out the city as he declared earlier. City Councilmen Brad [...] Continue Reading…

Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Shorty before 2 p.m. Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up about 75 points, on track for the market to close up for its third consecutive day. Driving stocks higher was news out of Europe that progress continued to be made in the region’s debt crisis. Also helping stocks were better than expected September sales from domestic retailers and decent job gains. Earlier in the day, mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported the average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell bellow 4 percent for the first time. Shares of Apple were off about 1 percent, trading at $375 following news that the company’s legendary CEO, Steve Jobs, passed away Wednesday night after a long illness. Yahoo was active after rumors flew that [...] Continue Reading…

Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
Wilbraham, MA, United States (AHN) – The Friendly’s restaurant chain is preparing for a possible bankruptcy filing as early as next week, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The Wilbraham, MA, company best known for its hamburgers and sundaes employs roughly 10,000 people and operates more than 500 restaurants. Economic conditions have weighed heavily on the chain. Fewer consumers are spending money to dine out and rising commodities prices for staples such as corn, butter and coffee have drained the company of cash. Other restaurant chains have faced similar fates, such as Quiznos and Sbarro. Friendly’s has more than $250 million in debt on its books. The company is in talks with Wells Fargo for $70 million in debtor-in-possession financing that would keep it above water during bankruptcy proceedings. Friendly’s [...] Continue Reading…

Vittorio Hernandez – AHN News
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – British Prime Minister David Cameron warned of a new economic crisis in his address before the Canadian Parliament on Thursday. Cameron pointed to the failure of U.S. and European leaders to address government deficits that led to the threats to the stability of the world economy. On the same day, stock markets across the globe dipped sharply again amid worries by politicians, central bank heads and investors that the rich nations would enter another recession because of huge government debts. The British leader said that while Britain and Canada are not yet staring done the barrel, the indicators point to that direction and warned British and Canadian families could face a tough time in coming months. He said the world is suffering from unparalleled debt levels [...] Continue Reading…

Vittorio Hernandez – AHN News
Wroclaw, Poland (AHN) – Several central banks are loaning dollars to European banks that use the euro currency to prevent a return to a situation similar to 2008. Participating in the three-month loan offers are the European Central Bank, the U.S. Federal Reserve, Bank of England, Bank of Japan and Switzerland’s Central Bank. News of the coordinated step caused global markets to go up. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index in the U.S. closed up by 1.7 percent, while the German stock market closed up by 3.2 percent. The announcement of the dollar loan was made at the European finance ministers meeting being held at Poland, which was attended by U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. The loans will be done through swap lines and will carry a fixed interest rate. The [...] Continue Reading…

Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
New York, NY, United States (AHN) – The chance the Greece will default on its debts within the next five years has soared to 98 percent as Prime Minister George Papandreou failed to reassure the world that his country can survive the euro-region debt crisis. Fears of a Greek default sent stock markets tumbling all across the globe. Worries have mounted that Greece’s trouble may be contagious and that other European countries are poised for a similar fate. Eyes are carefully focused on Italy and Portugal for any signs of imminent financial dangers. Greece’s government expects the country’s economy to shrink more than 5 percent in 2011, more than the 3.8 percent previously predicted by the European Commission. The risk of contagion beyond Greece pushed credit default swaps on Portugal, Italy [...] Continue Reading…

Tom Ramstack – AHN News Legal Correspondent
Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Mail service nationwide will stop as soon as this winter without emergency funding from Congress, the head of the U.S. Postal Service said Tuesday. The agency has run up a debt of nearly $10 billion so far this year, Patrick R. Donahoe, U.S. Postmaster General, told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “We are at a critical juncture,” Donahoe said. The Postal Service also has no means of paying a $5.5 billion bill due Sept. 30 to fund retirees’ health care, Donahoe said. E-mail and faxes are reducing the need for regular mail but also reducing the Postal Service’s revenue. The agency delivers about three billion pieces of mail each week, which is down 22 percent from five years [...] Continue Reading…

Jupiter Kalambakal – AHN News Reporter
New York, NY, United States (AHN) – The United States stock market moved up mid-day Wednesday, recouping from the 2011 slump of the Dow Jones Industrial Average as investors see a stabilizing economy as indicated by new economic data released by the government. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 1 percent as of 12:34 p.m. The Dow climbed 0.8 percent to 11,655.01, recovering from a year-to-date loss at a swelling 7.4 percent three weeks ago. Stocks were up as the government reported growth in factory orders that outdid projections. The S&P 500 peaked on Day 4, sustaining its rally that began Aug. 8 to almost 9 percent. The index rolled 18 percent between April 29 and Aug. 8 over issues that the economy was waning. S&P was about 5.4 percent [...] Continue Reading…