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NEW YORK - Lexus once again stands alone atop a closely watched ranking of vehicle dependability after Buick slipped from the No. 1 spot it shared with the Japanese luxury brand last year, J.D. Power and Associates said Thursday.

WASHINGTON - A measurement of pending home sales rose in June in a rare piece of positive news for the beleaguered market.

WASHINGTON - The nation's jobs market sent a fresh cry of distress as the number of newly laid off people unexpectedly hit the highest level in more than six years, a Labor Department report showed Thursday.

WASHINGTON - Citigroup Inc. will buy back more than $7 billion in auction-rate securities and pay $100 million in fines as part of settlements with federal and state regulators, who said the bank marketed the investments as safe despite liquidity risks.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc agreed to buy back more than $7 billion of illiquid auction-rate securities and pay a $100 million civil fine to settle charges it marketed the debt fraudulently.

NEW YORK - Wall Street tumbled Thursday after weekly unemployment claims jumped to a six-year high and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other retailers reported disappointing sales, touching off renewed fears that a pullback in consumer spending will damage the economy. The Dow Jones industrials fell 200 points.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Home sales contracts signed in June unexpectedly rose, boosting an index of pending sales to the highest level since October, though it was well below the year-ago level, a real estate trade group said on Thursday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc agreed to buy back more than $7 billion of illiquid auction-rate securities and pay a $100 million fine to settle charges it fraudulently misled investors about the debt's risk.

NEW YORK - The outlook for the back-to-school shopping season seemed grim Thursday, as retailers' July sales reports showed an increasing shift toward buying necessities like food and household supplies at discounters and away from discretionary spending on clothing.

(Reuters) - Oppenheimer analyst Meredith Whitney saw negative implications for overall U.S. spending over the next 12 to 18 months after credit card company American Express Co indicated credit deterioration among its most affluent customers.

NEW YORK - Lexus once again stands alone atop a closely watched ranking of vehicle dependability after Buick slipped from the No. 1 spot it shared with the Japanese luxury brand last year, J.D. Power and Associates said Thursday.

WASHINGTON - Citigroup Inc. will buy back more than $7 billion in auction-rate securities and pay $100 million in fines as part of settlements with federal and state regulators, who said the bank marketed the investments as safe despite liquidity risks.

NEW YORK - Wall Street tumbled Thursday after weekly unemployment claims jumped to a six-year high and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other retailers reported disappointing sales, touching off renewed fears that a pullback in consumer spending will damage the economy. The Dow Jones industrials fell 200 points.

WASHINGTON - The nation's jobs market sent a fresh cry of distress as the number of newly laid off people unexpectedly hit the highest level in more than six years, a Labor Department report showed Thursday.

WASHINGTON - A measurement of pending home sales rose in June in a rare piece of positive news for the beleaguered market.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Claims for jobless aid rose last week and big retailers had disappointing sales in July, reports showed on Thursday, but a gauge of future home sales rose in a hopeful sign for the battered housing sector.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks extended losses on Thursday, as oil prices added to gains and financials fell further after Moody's Investors' Service said it may downgrade American Express' credit rating.

NEW YORK - Oil prices jumped back above $120 a barrel Thursday, halting a steep three-day slide after Kurdish rebels claimed responsibility for a fire at key Turkish pipeline that supplies Western countries.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Target Corp posted disappointing July sales results on Thursday as shoppers ran out of extra tax rebate cash, dampening hopes for the current back-to-school shopping season.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tone Grant, former president of Refco, once the largest independent commodities broker, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a $2.4 billion fraud that involved hiding huge trading losses from clients.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tone Grant, former president of Refco, once the largest independent commodities broker, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a $2.4 billion fraud that involved hiding huge trading losses from clients.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc agreed to buy back more than $7 billion of illiquid auction-rate securities and pay a $100 million civil fine to settle charges it marketed the debt fraudulently.

BOSTON - Authorities have cracked what is believed to be the largest federal hacking and identity theft case ever, involving the theft and sale of more than 41 million credit and debit card numbers.

HARTFORD, Conn. - Connecticut sued Countrywide Financial Corp. on Wednesday, becoming the latest state to take the mortgage lender to court over its lending practices.

Infomercial king Billy Mays, known for screaming about the wonders of cleaning solutions Kaboom!, OxiClean, and other household products, is now starring in a commercial for what he calls "the most important product I've ever endorsed:" health insurance. The bearded salesman started pitching iCan Benefit Group's "health insurance that you can actually afford" in May 2008, pointing to the need for its health plans given that 47 million Americans are uninsured. ...

WASHINGTON - The nation's jobs market sent a fresh cry of distress as the number of newly laid off people unexpectedly hit the highest level in more than six years, a Labor Department report showed Thursday.

ST. LOUIS - With two GEO Trackers, a Lexus and a pickup truck, retired coal miner Bob Woll has many ways to zip around his southern Illinois town to visit friends, the fairgrounds or the frozen custard stand. These days, he prefers his electric golf cart.

WASHINGTON - Citigroup Inc. will buy back more than $7 billion in auction-rate securities and pay $100 million in fines as part of settlements with federal and state regulators, who said the bank marketed the investments as safe despite liquidity risks.

BOSTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government charged 11 people on Tuesday with stealing tens of millions of credit and debit card numbers from major retailers including TJX Cos Inc, in one of the largest reported identity-theft incidents on record.

NEW YORK - Freddie Mac on Wednesday posted a second-quarter loss that was more than three-times larger than Wall Street expected as a huge number of borrowers with good credit fell behind on their exotic and risky mortgages.