Airlines losses narrowed in 1Q to $552 million

U.S. airlines charged more in fares and fees and reduced debt as they improved their financial performance in the first quarter.

This undated image provided by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows a 2014 Subaru Forester during a small overlap frontal crash test. Subaru's 2014 Forester is one of only two of 13 small SUVs that are getting passing grades in front-end crash tests done by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Popular models such as the Honda CR-V, Ford Escape and Jeep Wrangler received only "marginal" or "poor" ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Only 2 of 13 small SUVs do well in crash tests

Only two of 13 small SUVs performed well in front-end crash tests done by an insurance industry group, with several popular models faring poorly in the evaluations.

In this Monday, May 6, 2013, photo, a home is for sale in Mt. Lebanon, Pa. Freddie Mac reports on mortgage rates for this week on Thursday, May 16, 2013. T

US rate on 30-year mortgage rises to 3.51 pct.

Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages rose this week but stayed near their historic lows. Cheaper mortgages have helped the economy by spurring more home-buying and refinancing.

FILE - Specialist Bradley Kessler, left, works with traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in this May 7, 2013 file photo. Financial markets were subdued Thursday May 16, 2013 despite encouraging growth figures out of Japan, as investors paused for breath a day after the main U.S. stock indexes struck record highs.

Stocks rise on hopeful signs for the US economy

Encouraging news about the U.S. economy is extending the stock market's rally. Photo Gallery Available

Alcoa cuts 500 jobs, 2 production lines in Canada

Aluminum smelter and parts-maker Alcoa said on Thursday that it will close down two production lines at a plant in Canada and cut about 500 jobs there because of lower aluminum prices.

US natural gas supplies grew last week

The nation's natural gas supplies rose last week, the government said Thursday.

Hess, Elliott reach deal on revamped board

Hess and Elliott Capital Management say they have reached an agreement that gives board seats to three people nominated by the activist hedge fund.

FILE-In this Friday, March 13, 2009, file photo, discarded newspaper racks clutter a storage yard in San Francisco. The report released Monday, May 13, 2013, revealing that the financial data and news company Bloomberg LP leaked more than 10,000 of its clients' private messages containing sensitive pricing data, highlights the uncertain and rapidly changing ethical landscape facing media companies that are reinventing the news business. Bloomberg LP, which started as a provider of sophisticated financial data to bond traders and only later expanded to include a journalistic enterprise, echoes many new ventures in its determination to bypass old journalistic models that depended on well-defined relationships with readers and advertisers.

In Bloomberg uproar, ethics flags for new media

Launching his namesake company's news division in the 1990s, Michael Bloomberg largely rejected long-held rules of the journalism trade that insist on keeping thick firewalls between reporters and the profit-making workings of their companies.

Stocks rise on hopeful signs for the US economy

Encouraging news about the U.S. economy extended the stock market's rally Friday. Photo Gallery Available

Oil falls to near $95 on choppy growth outlook

The price of oil fell to near $95 per barrel Friday after new signs of a choppy economic recovery in the U.S.

S&P downgrades Berkshire Hathaway's credit rating

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. was downgraded by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services Thursday after the credit rating agency changed the way it evaluates insurance companies.

Money market fund assets fell to $2.582 trillion

Total U.S. money market mutual fund assets fell $1.04 billion to $2.582 trillion for the week that ended Wednesday, according to the Investment Company Institute.

A woman who just bought toilet paper at a grocery store reads her receipt as she leaves the private store in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, May 15, 2013. First milk, butter, coffee and cornmeal ran short. Now Venezuela is running out of the most basic of necessities _ toilet paper. Economists say Venezuela's shortages stem from price controls meant to make basic goods available to the poorest parts of society and the government's controls on foreign currency.

Venezuelans scrambling to find scarce toilet paper

Venezuelans scrambled to stock up on toilet paper Thursday as fears of a bathroom emergency spread despite the socialist government's promise to import 50 million rolls. Photo Gallery Available

News Summary: US jobless claims jump to 360,000

APPLICATIONS JUMP: The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose 32,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 360,000, the most since late March. Weekly applications are a proxy for layoffs.

Hess, Elliott reach deal, end fight

Hess has reached a deal with a major investor to end a bitter fight over the management and direction of the oil and gas company.

In this May 9, 2013 photo, a worker pushes shopping carts in front of a Walmart store in La Habra, Calif. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is expected to report quarterly results on Thursday, May 16, 2013.

Futures rebound ahead of Conference Board report

U.S. stock futures are rising with markets headed for a positive week overall, as investors shrug off some unsettling reports from retailers this week. Photo Gallery Available

In this Tuesday, May 14, 2013 photo, workers are silhouetted at a construction site of a residential project in Rizhao city in east China's Shandong province. President Xi Jinping and other leaders have pledged to make the economy more productive but have yet to make clear how far they will go in curbing the dominance of state industry and making other changes reform advocates say are required. It is a politically thorny challenge but reform might be driven by slowing growth and concern about tensions due to a lack of new jobs. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT

Slower Chinese growth adds to pressure on leaders

Global economic malaise has knocked the stuffing out of Luo Yan's business making toy animals.

How the Dow Jones industrial average fared Friday

Encouraging news about the U.S. economy pushed stock prices higher on Wall Street Friday. A gauge of future economic activity rose more than analysts had expected, as did a measure of consumer confidence, adding to evidence that the economy is steadily recovering. The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 index ended higher for a fourth straight week.

Dow to appeal $1.2 billion damages order

A federal judge has ordered Dow Chemical Co. to pay $1.21 billion in damages after it lost a class-action lawsuit that accused it of conspiring to fix prices.

RBS to cut another 1,400 retail bank jobs in UK

Royal Bank of Scotland says it is cutting 1,400 jobs from its retail banking operations over the next two years.

Business Breaking News

Airlines losses narrowed in 1Q to $552 million

Only 2 of 13 small SUVs do well in crash tests

US rate on 30-year mortgage rises to 3.51 pct.

Stocks rise on hopeful signs for the US economy

Alcoa cuts 500 jobs, 2 production lines in Canada

US natural gas supplies grew last week

Hess, Elliott reach deal on revamped board

In Bloomberg uproar, ethics flags for new media

Stocks rise on hopeful signs for the US economy

Oil falls to near $95 on choppy growth outlook

S&P downgrades Berkshire Hathaway's credit rating

Money market fund assets fell to $2.582 trillion

Venezuelans scrambling to find scarce toilet paper

News Summary: US jobless claims jump to 360,000

Hess, Elliott reach deal, end fight

Futures rebound ahead of Conference Board report

Slower Chinese growth adds to pressure on leaders

How the Dow Jones industrial average fared Friday

Dow to appeal $1.2 billion damages order

RBS to cut another 1,400 retail bank jobs in UK

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