Oil price falls below $86 on mixed economic data (AP)

NEW YORK – Oil prices fell Thursday after a series of reports pointed to higher demand and growing supplies in coming months. Here's how energy contracts traded. On the New York Mercantile Exchange: Crude fell 81 cents to end at $85.30 per barrel. Gasoline rose less than a penny to finish at $2.6755 per gallon. Heating oil added 4.89 cents to end...

»»  read more

HP loses strategy chief as overhaul rumbles on (Reuters)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Hewlett-Packard Co's chief strategy and technology officer has retired, becoming the latest senior executive to leave the storied Silicon Valley giant struggling to restore its tarnished credibility. Shane Robison, 57, will step down on November 1, ending an 11-year term at the company, which is now pondering a sale or spinoff...

»»  read more

California subpoenas BofA over mortgages: report (Reuters)

(Reuters) – The California attorney general's office subpoenaed Bank of America Corp this week about the sale and marketing of troubled mortgage-backed securities to investors in the state, the Los Angeles Times reported. The state is trying to determine whether the bank and Countrywide Financial had sold the securities to investors under false pretenses,...

»»  read more

Capital One posts 3rd-qtr profit edges up 1 pct (AP)

NEW YORK – Capital One Financial Corp. on Thursday said its third-quarter profit edged up 1 percent, as it wrote more auto and commercial loans and defaults eased. A spike in marketing and operating expenses and an increase in a reserve set aside to handle claims against the bank related to soured mortgages tempered the gains. The McLean, Va.-based...

»»  read more

Jack Daniel's distillery targeted for more taxes (AP)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – For decades, Jack Daniel's whiskey has celebrated its small Tennessee hometown of Lynchburg with folksy, black-and-white advertisements urging folks to slow down and have a sip. Now local officials want the maker of the world's top-selling whiskey to pay a bigger bar tab as they struggle with their budget. How does up to $5 million...

»»  read more

Higher rates of depression linked to mortgage woes-study (Reuters)

(Reuters) – Adults who have fallen behind on mortgage payments exhibited higher rates of depression and are skipping meals and medications because they cannot pay the bills, a study published on Thursday found. More than 20 percent of adults over age 50 who were delinquent on a mortgage developed elevated depression symptoms compared to 3 percent...

»»  read more

Exclusive: Nasdaq hackers spied on company boards (Reuters)

(Reuters) – Hackers who infiltrated the Nasdaq's computer systems last year installed malicious software that allowed them to spy on the directors of publicly held companies, according to two people familiar with an investigation into the matter. The new details showed the cyber attack was more serious than previously thought, as Nasdaq OMX Group...

»»  read more