Mutual funds trying to earn higher returns faced a nearly impossible task. Individual stocks are tracking the S&P index more now than in at least the last 20 years, a conundrum for managers of mutual funds.
The secrecy around Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s selection of Cathleen P. Black to run the city’s schools highlighted his faith in business leaders and dislike of public debate.
Starting Thursday, Wal-Mart plans to offer free shipping on its Web site, a move that may create an expectation among consumers and a threat to smaller retailers.
AP - In a retreat after an hours-long test of wills Wednesday, President Barack Obama agreed to deliver an address on jobs and the economy to a joint session of Congress on Sept. 8, yielding to House Speaker John Boehner, who had balked at Obama's request for a Sept. 7 speech.
AP - Anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said Thursday that its massive archive of unredacted U.S. State Department cables had been exposed in a security breach which it blamed on its one-time partner, Britain's Guardian newspaper.
AP - Two men claiming to be Moammar Gadhafi's sons made conflicting appeals from hiding Wednesday night, with one of them calling for talks with rebel leaders and the other urging the regime's loyalists to fight to the death.
Small pools of standing water were found in the Washington Monument during inspections following Hurricane Irene, the National Park Service told CNN Wednesday, indicating undiscovered cracks.