Grave business - my financial world

The number of newly laid off workers applying for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week, indicating the weak economy was still weighing on the job market.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that applications for jobless benefits rose by 6,000 last week to 371,000. The gain was in line with expectations.
The weak economy has triggered four […]

The Rockefeller family and shareholders pushing Exxon Mobil to focus more on renewable energy now have the backing of a powerful advisory group for institutional investors.
The RiskMetrics Group also came out in support of another proxy supported by the Rockefellers, who want the position of chief executive and chairman, currently held by Rex Tillerson, […]

The Federal Reserve has auctioned $28.77 billion in safe Treasury securities to big investment firms as part of an ongoing effort to ease credit problems.
The auction - the sixth of its kind - was held Thursday and drew bids less than the $50 billion being made available. The reduction could be viewed as a […]

The House has approved sending states $15 billion to buy and fix up foreclosed properties.
The vote Thursday was 239-188 to approve the bill, which most Republicans opposed. It would provide loans and grants to areas hit hardest by the housing crisis.
Supporters say the legislation will prevent neighborhoods around foreclosed homes from sliding into blight.
The […]

A significant drop in volume of imported retail goods into the United States is providing fresh evidence that a slowing economy has pinched American consumers’ ability to shop freely, according to an industry report Wednesday.
In-bound container traffic to the U.S. was down 4.8% in March from February, which traditionally is the slowest month of […]

As "Iron Man" smashed its way to $201 million in worldwide box office sales, Marvel Entertainment Inc. raised its profit forecast Monday for the year and promised to release "Iron Man 2" in 2010.
The film was the first that Marvel (MVL) financed itself and culminated a five-year plan to break from its strategy of […]

Service industries in the U.S. unexpectedly grew for the first time since December, helping the economy weather a credit contraction and manufacturing downturn.
The Institute for Supply Management's index of non- manufacturing businesses, which make up almost 90 percent of the economy, rose to 52 in April from 49.6 the prior month, the Tempe, […]

The U.S. lost fewer jobs than forecast in April, and the unemployment rate dropped, signaling that the economic slowdown may be milder than the 2001 recession.
Payrolls shrank by 20,000 workers, following a revised 81,000 drop in March, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The jobless rate fell to 5 percent from 5.1 […]

Gov. Janet Napolitano signed Senate Bill 1418 into law Tuesday, allowing the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System to pay for smoking cessation treatments for enrollees.
Until now, Arizona was one of seven states that did not cover smoking cessation programs through their Medicaid programs.
AHCCCS spends about $316 million a year […]