The Justice Department publicly announced its opposition to American Airlines’ plan to pay $20 million in severance to Chief Executive Tom Horton as part of the carrier’s merger with US Airways Group Inc. The US trustee’s office, part of the Justice Department that monitors bankruptcy proceedings, said that the payment would violate bankruptcy law. This was according to the court filing in New York. American parent company AMR Corp. tried to get the court’s blessing of the severance under... 

There were fewer Americans who applied for jobless benefits last week. At the same time, consumer confidence neared a five year high as the largest part of the economy benefited from improving housing and job markets. Unemployment claims dropped by 23,000 to 340,000 in the week that ended May 18. This was according to the report released by the Labor Department. The weekly Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index went up to minus 29.4 for the period that ended May 19 from minus 30.2 the past week. Increasing... 

Apple is described as a tax dodger that deprived the US taxpayers of billions. The company used schemes in order to avoid paying taxes. US senators grilled Apple CEO Tim Cook with regards to the company’s tax practices. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky observed that people who criticized Apple were in fact doing everything they can to minimize their tax obligations. These included his fellow senators on Capitol Hill. Apple does provide large amount of revenue for the IRS via corporate income tax,... 

Herbalife announced that it has hired PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP PWC.UL as its auditor. The firm replaced KPMG after allegations of insider trading. After the announcement was made, shares of the company increased 4 percent in afternoon trading. Investors saw the move as giving the company’s financial statements more credibility. Herbalife’s stock price has been volatile in recent months after big name investors Carl Icahn, William Ackman, and Daniel Loeb fought over the company’s future. Loeb... 

Apple is the nation’s most profitable technology company and yet it managed to avoid paying billions in taxes in the United States and across the globe via a network of subsidiaries that were set up all over the world. This was according to a bipartisan group of lawmakers. The probe on Apple’s tax shelters could lead to an explosive confrontation between the Congressional investigators and Apple’s chief executive Timothy D. Cook. A public hearing was set on Tuesday. The probe showed that some... 

Tallapoosa County’s jobless rate dropped 1.9 percent from January 2013 to April 2013. This was according to the most recent report released by the Alabama Department of Labor. The county’s jobless rate was at 7 percent in April. It was 0.9 percent lower than the unemployment rate in March 2013 and 0.5 percent drop compared to the same period in 2012. The unemployment rate in Alabama was at 6.9 percent, a 0.3 percent decline from last month’s rate and a 0.5 percent drop from the reading in April... 

Stocks continued their upward trend Friday as the market got their fourth straight week of gains that was attributed to the encouraging economic reports that prompted investors to opt for shares of growth companies. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and the Dow closed at record highs that were caused by gains in industrial and energy shares. The indexes gained to record levels as part of the rally that has advanced equities more than 16 percent in the present year. As a sign of things to come,... 

Dell has been in the middle of a takeover battle between the company’s billionaire founder and activist investor Carl Icahn. The company reported that its profit dropped 79 percent that was attributed to the decline of personal computer sales. Michael Dell, the chief executive of the company, and the private equity firm Silver Lake want to take the company private for $24.4 billion. They argued that the change towards a provider of enterprise computing services was best done away from the prying... 

Factory output declined in April as manufacturing activity in New York slowed down. These were seen as signs that the global demand has made an impact on the US economy. The slow growth was also caused by the largest decline in wholesale prices in three years. The Federal Reserve has to keep its stimulus program in order to bolster the economy. US Treasury debt prices increased as the dollar declined from its 4 and a half year highs against the yen as investors bet on the Fed policy. Stocks on Wall... 

US airlines collected at least $6 billion in baggage and reservation change fees from customers in 2012. This was the highest amount since the fees were made common five years ago. The fees have helped the airline industry return to profitability. Airlines started charging for first checked luggage in 2008 and since then the fees have increased. Airlines usually charge $25 for each way for the first checked bag and $35 for the second bag. Airlines also collect fees for overweight or oversized bags. The... 

General Motors revealed its state-of-the-art data center located at the company’s Technical Center in Warren, Michigan. GM said it was worth $130 million. The company has plans to open a second one at its Milford, Michigan facility. The data centers are part of the company’s overhaul of its worldwide IT operations. GM has outsourced 90 percent of its information technology management for the past three decades. Some of the companies that handled GM’s IT needs were HP and Cisco. It cost the... 

JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s directors asked shareholders to oppose the calls to make Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon to resign from one of his roles as CEO and chairman of the company. The directors said that it could be disruptive and go against the best interests of investors. JPMorgan’s board has a structure that allows appropriate accountability to its shareholders and acts as counterbalance to the combined CEO/chair role enjoyed by Dimon. This was according to former Exxon Mobil Corp.... 

The Federal Advisory Council, which is composed of 12 bankers who meet each quarter to advise the Federal Reserve, warned that the growth in student loan debt was similar to the nature of the housing crisis. The group also said that farmland prices are inflating a bubble. Their warning came at a time when policymakers on the Federal Open Market Committee are debating on whether the benefits from their monthly purchases of bonds worth $85 billion outweigh the risk of financial instability. Fed Chairman... 

Crude options volatility increased for the second day in a row as the futures dropped due to higher dollar that decrease the appeal of raw materials available in the US currency. Implied volatility for at-the-money options expiring in July was 20.12 percent, which is up from 20.08 the previous day. Crude options volatility rebounded from a three week low. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery fell 35 cents to %96.04 per barrel on the Nymex. July delivery futures dropped 37 cents to $96.29.... 

Three weeks ago, checks released to homeowners as compensation for foreclosure abuses were rejected because of insufficient funds. This week, the consulting firm made another error with the checks once again. The amounts written on them were wrong. According to officials who have knowledge on the matter, Rust Consulting issued around 100,000 checks for less than what the homeowners were owed. The error have cheated consumers out of millions of dollars they were set to receive under the deal that... 

McDonald’s sales at restaurants open more than a year dropped in April, a month after the largest burger chain in the world said its sales dropped 1 percent in the first quarter. The company attributed the 0.6 percent fall to the fears of the avian flu that has resulted to dozens of deaths in China. Same-store sales in its Asia, Middle East and Africa unit were down 2.9 percent in April. McDonald’s found it hard to be profitable as customers turn to healthy options. They demand for value-oriented... 

Job openings in the United States dropped in March from the highest level in almost five years. This was a sign that employers were waiting to see how the economy performs as the federal spending cuts take effect. The number of positions that needed to be filled dropped by 55,000 to 3.84 million from the revised 3.9 million the previous month. The number was the most since May 2008 according to the Labor Department. The report also showed hiring slowed and firings increased. Companies are reluctant... 

According to the recent Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Investor Pulse survey, investors from Denver with at least $100,000 in investable assets are optimistic about the growth of the state, United States, and global economies as well as the prospects of their portfolio. They are also optimistic that they will reach their personal financial goals. 83 percent off investors who responded to the poll expect their investment portfolio to be better or the same at the end of the year. The same amount... 

Equipment maker Caterpillar announced Friday that it will lay off 300 more employees in Decatur, Illinois by July. The company said April that it planned to cut around 500 employees at the said facility. The 800 layoffs are around 20 percent of the facility’s workforce. The company issued a statement that said products made in Decatur are used in the mining industry, which has experienced weaker market conditions compared to last year. Because of this, the company said it must take the appropriate... 

Taco Bell officials said that the fast food chain is set to launch a new $1 Cravings menu that would provide value offerings at lower prices. The chain started testing its new value offerings earlier this year and has changed the menu to have more variety. Taco Bell is currently testing a second version of the menu at branches in Sacramento, California and Kansas City, Missouri. Company officials said that if the test showed good results, the menu could debut nationally later this year. Test items... 

Kraft Foods Group released its earnings and revenue report Thursday that showed results that exceeded analysts’ forecasts. The food company’s shares increased after the release of the report. Its earnings excluded items were 76 cents per share. Its revenue was $4.55 billion. Analysts estimated the company to have earnings excluding items of 64 cents per share with revenue of $4.48 billion. Earnings and revenue numbers from the previous year were not available because Kraft Foods was split into... 

The yield on the 10 year Treasury note dropped to its lowest level in 2013 to 1.62 percent as traders worry about falling prices. The most recent economic reports showed wage pressures were less than half of what the Federal Reserve sees as acceptable. The new reports showed that the economy is slowing down. There was a pullback on hiring, a decline in construction spending, and a slowdown of manufacturing growth. There were also indicators that falling prices were still a risk in Europe. Most of... 

Residential real estate prices went up in February the most since May 2006. This is an indicator that the housing market in the United States is improving. The S&P/Case-Shiller Index of property values in 20 cities increased 9.3 percent from February 2012, which was more than forecast. The reading went up 8.1 percent in the year ended in January. The increase was above the forecast made in a Bloomberg survey of 9 percent. If the price gains continue, it could help alleviate the low supply of... 

Hartford Financial Services Group reported a quarterly profit that was above analysts’ expectations. It was helped by higher underwriting margins but was dragged by the slight drop of premium income in its property and casualty business. Hartford shares dropped 1 percent in after-hours trading. They closed at $27.21 on the New York Stock Exchange Monday. Hartford’s core earnings in the property and casualty business that accounts for almost 75 percent of its revenue went up 12 percent to $318... 

Burger King Worldwide reported its first quarter profit more than doubled. The company attributed it to less expense that helped offset the negative sales in same-stores and lower revenue. It went public in June of 2012 after it was acquired by 3G Capital, which is a Brazilian private equity firm, in October of 2010. Since June of 2012, Burger King has been implementing changes to its menu to help it compete against McDonald’s and other competitors. It included newer meals that don’t include...