(FORTUNE Small Business) — If Beth Tomei had only known. In November 2004, the Walnut Creek, Calif., fitness club owner signed a franchise agreement with the Butterfly Life women’s fitness company in hopes of cashing in on the company’s Curves-like business circuit training plan. Soon, however, she realized all was not right: she learned that [...]
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Stocks tumbled Friday morning after AIG’s record loss and weak readings on manufacturing and consumer sentiment revived recession fears.Adding to the downbeat sentiment were record-high oil prices, the slumping dollar and reports that a rescue of bond insurer Ambac has hit some roadblocks.Roughly two hours into the session, the Dow Jones [...]
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — U.S. stocks struggled at the start of trading Friday, with investors wary in the face of a weak dollar, record oil prices and some disappointing quarterly results.The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.6%. The Nasdaq composite index lost nearly 1%. The Standard %26amp; Poor’s 500 index was 0.6% lower.In the news [...]
NEW YORK (AP) — Financier Wilbur Ross will invest as much as $1 billion in Bermuda-based reinsurer Assured Guaranty Ltd, the bond insurer said Friday.WL Ross %26amp; Co. will purchase $250 million worth of common stock and commit to buying an additional $750 million shares at the company’s option, and Ross will be appointed to [...]
NEW YORK (Fortune) — Not long ago, Goldman Sachs alums Geoff Grant and Ron Beller looked like superstars. A prescient wager on the collapse of the subprime mortgage bond market generated last year a whopping 87 percent return for one of their hedge funds.The twosome, who run London-based Peloton Partners, aren’t looking so shrewd these [...]
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil futures retreated from a new overnight record above $103 as the dollar gained strength and Turkish forces withdrew from northern Iraq.The slumping dollar and tension in the oil-rich Middle East have been among the factors in crude’s dramatic 19% rise from earlier this month.Still, many analysts believe the declines may [...]
NEW YORK (AP) — Crude prices extended their march into record high territory Thursday, shooting up more than $2 a barrel as a falling dollar and the prospect of lower interest rates attracted more investors to the oil market. Retail gas prices, meanwhile, rose closer to records above $3 a gallon.Light, sweet crude for [...]
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Stocks slumped Thursday after comments from Fed chair Ben Bernanke on the banking sector and weak reports on economic growth and the jobs market revived worries about a recession.The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), the broader Standard %26amp; Poor’s 500 (SPX) index and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) all fell 0.9%. After [...]
NEW YORK (AP) — American International Group Inc., the largest insurer in the U.S., lost more than $5 billion in the fourth quarter as bad credit ate into its investments, the company said Thursday.AIG has been thrust to the forefront of the credit crisis gripping financial markets by contracts known as credit default swaps.These [...]
NEW YORK (Money) — Question: I’m looking to retire in the near future and want to know how an everyday investor like me can develop a good strategy for taking income from my savings. Any advice? –Nate, Carbondale, IllinoisAnswer: This is the single biggest issue facing soon-to-be retirees like yourself. How do you make that [...]
