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CHARITY ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 3:28pm MST

President Barack Obama and Oval Office hopefuls Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney have all released at least one year of tax returns. And they all gave big money to charity.
Wall Street needs to give up its bargain tax rates

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 3:00pm MST

Politics has moments when it's actually useful. Case in point is the uproar over Mitt Romney's tax returns, which may help rid us of a small but noxious and symbolic loophole worth several billion dollars a year to managers of investment partnerships. I'm talking about "carried interest" -- finance-speak for investment managers' piece of their investors' profits.
Yahoo shakeup: Four directors to quit

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 2:59pm MST

Four longtime Yahoo board members, including the chairman, are leaving the company.
Deadly crackdown in Syria - CNN

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 2:57pm MST
Greece facing 'dramatic dilemma'

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 1:15pm MST

Greek political leaders were meeting Wednesday to hammer out an agreement on austerity reforms as the nation scrambles to avoid a default.
FED STAYS OUT OF POLITICS

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 11:18am MST

By now, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke must be used to being a punching bag.
China: Fast food. Too fast economy? - The Buzz

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 11:06am MST

Is China's economy heading for a hard or soft landing? Well, it looks like Chinese consumers can't get enough of Diet Coke and the Colonel's famous secret recipe. That may be good news.
Investing for retirement when you're just starting out

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 10:30am MST

My granddaughter has asked me how to invest the money she'll contribute to her employer's retirement savings plan at her first job. I suggested she either go with a 2050 target-retirement fund or divide her money as follows: 40% in an S&P 500 index fund, 40% in a small-cap index fund and 20% in an international stock index fund. Do you think she should go with the first option, the second or do something else? -- Don G.
Why China's housing market will slow, not collapse

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 9:15am MST

FORTUNE -- China's hot property market and its implications on the global economy has been on the minds of many investors, and for good reason. In January, Barclays published its latest Skyscraper Index report, which tracks links between the rise in construction of tall buildings and economic busts over the past 140 years. This could be purely coincidental, but the index suggests that the East Asian giant is the world's "biggest bubble builder," and is on its way to an economic bust. China already has half of the world's existing skyscrapers (or buildings higher than 240 meters). And it plans to add more over the next several years. However, let's not read into this too much. It's true, as Barclays notes, that the Great Depression coincided with the construction of three landmark skyscrapers across Manhattan: 40 Wall Street completed in 1929, followed by the Chrysler Building in 1930, and the Empire State Building in 1931.
How Google ads reinvented the sales call

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 8:42am MST

FORTUNE ? Companies diving into mobile advertising have found success getting consumers to do something unusual with their smartphones: make calls.
Stocks pressured by Greek bailout uncertainty

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 8:04am MST

U.S. stocks moved higher Tuesday, erasing earlier losses, on hopes that Greece is nearing a deal to secure more bailout money.
How big chocolate plans to save its cocoa supply

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 7:57am MST

FORTUNE -- A Hershey's Kiss is more complicated than it looks. Most of the cocoa in it and other chocolate candies comes from West Africa, and it makes its way through a long supply chain to get to U.S. factories. Now more than ever, Fortune 500 companies such as Hershey (HSY) have to take responsibility for every link in that chain. On January 30, Hershey announced plans to put $10 million towards solving child labor problems on West African cocoa farms by 2017. The money should also help farmers access educational programs and improve their cocoa yield. Hershey's latest move is part of a larger effort to secure the cocoa supply chain whose origins reach back to the founding of the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) in 2000. The WCF joined big chocolate companies -- including Hershey and its competitors Mars, Nestlé, and Kraft (KFT) -- with governments and farmers in cocoa-producing nations.
Mining industry shaken up by $62 billion deal

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 5:42am MST

In a huge consolidation of the international mining industry, Swiss company Glencore International has agreed to acquire rival Xstrata for $61.9 billion in stock, according to a joint statement.
Iran is ready to ban oil exports to Europe

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 5:27am MST

Final details of the E.U. sanctions are still being worked out, and it's expected that they will have a grace period of up to eight months, an EU diplomat told CNN last month.
IDC: iPhone is once again world's No. 1 smartphone

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 5:17am MST

The iPhone regained the spot that it took from Nokia in June and gave up to Samsung in September.
ON HOLD FOR GREECE

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 5:12am MST

U.S. stocks were set to open slightly lower Tuesday, as investors wait for Greek leaders to agree on the terms of a new bailout package, a key step to avoiding a default.
University of Charleston: Cutting tuition by 22%

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 4:11am MST

After seeing enrollment decline for the first time in a decade, the University of Charleston, in West Virginia, slashed tuition by 22% for the upcoming school year hoping to entice more students.
Honeybee die-off shouldn't sting

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 4:04am MST

There's good news and bad news on the honeybee beat.
Obama loan program turns a profit

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 3:52am MST

An Obama administration lending program set up to funnel cash to small banks was expected to cost taxpayers $1.3 billion. Instead, it will turn a profit of $80 million.The government sparked criticism for spending less on its small business lending fund for small businesses than intended, but now it says the fund will profit taxpayers.
Get more from a second doctor's opinion

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 3:46am MST

If you're like most people, you're inclined to trust your doctor's advice.
Facebook's Zuckerberg may face $2 billion tax hit

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 3:41am MST

Facebook's upcoming IPO will make founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg a billionaire -- but it will also stick him with an eye-popping tax bill that could reach as high as $2 billion.
Government assistance expands

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 3:29am MST

More than one in three Americans lived in households that received Medicaid, food stamps or other means-based government assistance, according to a new report.
BP profits point to turnaround from Gulf of Mexico

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 3:13am MST

Oil company BP posted increased fourth quarter profits and raised its dividend on Tuesday, hailing the improved result as a turning point in the long climb back from Gulf of Mexico oil spill of 2010.
Greek unions to strike over new austerity demands

Posted: February 7th, 2012, 3:12am MST

Greek union members are expected to go on a daylong strike Tuesday to protest new austerity measures sought by foreign lenders as the country negotiates to keep its finances afloat.