Most U.S. banks have passed the latest round of U.S. stress tests. March 14, 2012- The Federal Reserve was pleased to see that the majority of banks passed their latest stress tests. On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve announced that 15 of the 19 larger financial firms had sufficient capital to make it through a difficult recession. The results were announced 48 hours early and helped pave the way for banks buy back some shares and increase dividends. A senior financial analysts said, “When the Fed... 

Individual states are now taxing the rich to help balance the books. January 16, 2012- The tax debate is in full scale in Washington. While Congress debates the matter on a national level, some states have turned to wealthy residents to bring in more state revenue. In two states, governors want the rich to help narrow the gap in their budgets. This idea of taxing the wealthy in states is much different from last year when state leaders shied away from increasing taxes. However, cuts in spending are... 

Former Panamanian president Manuel Noriega is headed back to Panama. December 11, 2011- After decades away serving prison sentences in the United States and France, Manuel Noriega will return Sunday to Panama. Nevertheless, he is still not a free man, as he will begin a 20-year prison term in his own country for the murders he committed while a military dictator during the 1980s. Noriega is 77 today but was just in his mid 50s when his dictatorship was toppled by the U.S. in 1989. He was convicted...