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Personal finance

US holiday sales slowly pick up after Sandy
U.S. consumers shook off Superstorm Sandy last month and stepped up holiday shopping, helped by a steady job market and lower gas prices. Retail sales ...
German real estate booms as people seek security
Buying a home in Berlin is widely viewed as one of the safest investments a German, or any European, can make. That is why some real-estate experts ...
Rate on US 30-year mortgage dips to 3.32 pct.
Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages fell this week near record lows, providing more incentive for Americans to buy homes and refinance.
Gimmicky date a boost for lovelorn Las Vegas
Las Vegas, land of the quickie wedding, is in the midst of a serious love recession, and chapels in the city accustomed to playing the numbers were ...
Bank repossessions hit 9-month high in November
U.S. home repossessions rose to a nine-month high in November, even as the number of homes starting on the path to foreclosure declined to the lowest ...
Hands off our heritage: Some wary of China's reach
Life in this French village revolves around wine. The backyards of its tidy houses nurture the grapes that have made Burgundy famous the world over.
Fed links interest rates to 6.5 pct. unemployment
The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it plans to keep interest rates ultra-low even after unemployment falls close to a normal level — which it ...
Review: 2 giant phones decent, but not for size
Over the past few years, smartphones have gradually gotten bigger and tablet computers have gotten smaller. So it should come as no surprise that ...
Report: Most Pakistani lawmakers do not file taxes
The majority of Pakistani lawmakers do not file tax returns despite a legal requirement to do, a report said Wednesday, reinforcing concerns about the ...
US economy could withstand brief fall off 'cliff'
It's the scenario that's been spooking employers and investors and slowing the U.S. economy: Congress and the White House fail to strike a budget deal ...
Fidelity cutting fees at 8 index mutual funds
Fidelity Investments is trimming fees at its largest index mutual funds and making some of its lowest-cost options accessible to a larger number of ...
Holiday gifts for pets following high-tech trend
A holiday present for Fido or Fluffy used to be an extra table scrap or a new squeeze toy. But as with gifts for their human counterparts, pet ...
No one retreating; cliff talks seem at standstill
A year-end deadline approaching, quiet negotiations to avoid an economy-rattling "fiscal cliff" yielded no tangible signs of progress on Monday as ...
A look at money laundering settlements since 2009
British banking giant HSBC will pay a record $1.9 billion to settle a money-laundering probe by U.S. federal and state authorities, a law enforcement ...
Spaniards hope for eviction reprieve amid crisis
Irene Gonzalez is desperately waiting to hear if she'll benefit from an emergency government decree that protects Spaniards such as her from being ...
Booze, smokes on agenda for quirky gov't group
Deep in a secure laboratory just outside Washington sits the federal government's heaviest smoker. It is a half-ton hulk of a machine, all brushed ...
Same-sex marriage cases get Supreme Court review
The Supreme Court is taking a potentially historic look at same-sex marriage by agreeing to hear two cases that challenge governments' different ...
Supreme Court will hear same-sex marriage cases
The Supreme Court plunged into the contentious issue of gay marriage Friday when it agreed to take up California's ban on same-sex unions and a ...
US consumer borrowing rises to record $2.75T
Americans swiped their credit cards more often in October and borrowed more to attend school and buy cars. The increases drove U.S. consumer debt to ...
IBM shifts 401(k) policy to once-a-year matches
IBM is making changes to its employee benefits that may cause other large corporations to follow suit. The technology company will begin making ...
Trade-offs in raising Medicare eligibility age
Americans are living longer, and Republicans want to raise the Medicare eligibility age as part of any deal to reduce the government's huge deficits.
Rate on US 30-year mortgage ticks up to 3.34 pct.
Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages ticked up this week just slightly above their record lows, keeping home-buying and refinancing attractive to ...
How far over the 'fiscal cliff' could they go?
The dealmakers who warn that a year-end plunge off the "fiscal cliff" would be disastrous don't seem to be rushing to stop it. Why aren't they ...
Short sales outpacing sales of bank-owned homes
Sales of U.S. homes facing foreclosure are on the rise and outpacing sales of bank-owned homes, a reflection of stepped up efforts this year by ...