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By ROBIN SIDEL A new federal credit-card law that takes effect Monday could erase billions of dollars a year in fees and interest charges paid by consumers. But card issuers are already deploying new tactics that could prove costly for even the most cautious cardholder. The law made ...Read More

PepsiCo announced a sizable 2010 share buyback when it issued fourth-quarter results Thursday morning, and such programs are becoming increasingly common among large, cash flow positive companies. Along with earnings per share of 90 cents, the company said it expects to buy back $5 billion worth of its ...Read More

Most U.S. stocks traded in the red Thursday after a less-than-encouraging reading on the job market, but a bullish forecast from Cisco Systems — and word that the network equipment maker will hire as many as 3,000 people this year– helped the company buck the broad-based decline.Shares of ...Read More

The impact of the recession on unemployment is deeper than headline figures suggest, a report suggests. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) say that 1.3 million people were made redundant during the recession. The study says that is double the fall in employment and equivalent to ...Read More

When our then-22-year-old daughter told us in the fall of 2008 that she intended to move out of our house and live in New York City on her own, we told her it would be tough. She didn’t believe us. Mariana proved us wrong. She not only lived ...Read More

By ANNE TERGESEN Rules for enrolling in Medicare are complex. But when people postpone retirement past age 65, as many people are doing these days, it’s easy to get caught up in red tape. Older adults can’t get into Medicare any time they want. The easiest time to ...Read More

Unemployment will peak at 2.8 million in 2010, according to the latest forecast from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. The business group said unemployment would continue to rise for the first six months of the new year, despite the recovery in the UK economy. The forecast ...Read More

U.S. auto makers were already battered by high gas prices when the blow from the recession knocked them to the mat. Hummer was one brand hit by high gas prices. (Getty Images) At its high of $4.11 a gallon last year, gasoline cost more than four times as ...Read More

The Bank of England has held UK interest rates at the record low of 0.5% in a widely-expected move. It also announced no changes to its programme of pumping newly-created money into the economy - so-called quantitative easing (QE). In November, the Bank of England said it would ...Read More

German industrial production fell unexpectedly in October, declining by 1.8% compared with the previous month, official figures have shown. Analysts had expected a modest rise in output, following the revised 3.1% increase in September. The figures are a further setback to German economic recovery following Monday’s figures showing ...Read More