By REUTERS NEW YORK (Reuters) - World stocks edged higher on Friday to 2009 highs and crude oil rebounded as investors shrugged off weak results from Microsoft to bid up drugmakers and energy shares on growing signs of economic recovery.

NATCHEZ - On Friday, minimum wage workers across the Miss-Lou, and much of the United States, got a raise. That's when the federal minimum wage was adjusted from $6.55 to $7.25 an hour.

Vicki Duckett, from Boise, is taking advantage of the federal government's "Cash for Clunkers" which was going into effect Friday and trading in her clunker for a brand new car at Bronco Motors on Fairview ...

NEW YORK, July 24 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) shares plunged 8 percent on Friday, as its weaker-than-expected results contradicted Wall Street's belief that the worst is over for the technology sector.

WASHINGTON -- Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner suggested Friday that the Obama administration would agree to revise parts of its plan to overhaul financial-market regulation, moving to protect a key initiative even as the White ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The advisers to the bondholders that provided lender CIT Group Inc (CIT.N) with a $3 billion loan facility this week are recommending it be restructured through a bankruptcy following a debt tender in August, Bloomberg reported on ...

July 25 (Bloomberg) -- Security Bank Corp.'s six Georgia subsidiaries and Waterford Village Bank in New York were seized by regulators, pushing this year's toll of failed US lenders to 64, the most since 1992.

As Michael Macht replaces Wendelin Wiedeking as the CEO of Porsche AG (PSHG_p.DE), a new era has dawned at the luxury sports carmaker.

PASADENA, California (Reuters) - Twitter plans a marketing campaign starting in the next few days to educate users, individual and corporate, about ways to make money off the popular microblogging site.

The fortunes of two of Europe's biggest economies are shifting: The UK economy posted a steep drop last quarter, dashing hopes of a quick recovery, while industry surveys in Germany implied ...

Citigroup Inc. pumped more fresh blood into its board, appointing three directors with résumés that reflect experience in turning around troubled financial institutions and a deep understanding of regulatory issues.

By Moming Zhou & Polya Lesova, MarketWatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures rose above $68 a barrel Friday, gaining for a second week in a row, as a weaker dollar and resilient US stocks boosted prices while worries continued that oil's ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - US consumer confidence waned in late July to the lowest reading since April on growing pessimism about the long-term economic outlook, a survey showed on Friday, even as some economists reckon the longest recession in decades may ...

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) saw its shares slip Friday after the company reported revenue that was slightly below targets due to weakness in the company's core media business.

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--International companies trading in New York ended mixed Friday after a seesaw session around the flat line, though solar stocks rose on excitement about US-based solar panel maker sunpower ...

Children will finally have a chance to learn financial lessons from billionaire Warren Buffett when his cartoon series is released online this fall - three years later than planned.

By KEVIN J. O'BRIEN BERLIN - Ericsson, the largest maker of wireless network gear, posted a 61 percent decline in second-quarter profit on Friday, but the company's incoming chief executive said he saw hope for growth in the rise of the mobile Internet ...

Schlumberger CEO Andrew Gould said Friday that volatility in crude oil prices is still spurring oil companies to postpone or cancel projects, but predicted activity could start to rebound next year if ...

Following reports that Toyota Motor Corp. plans to shut its Fremont assembly plant, California's governor said he will try to keep the facility open.

July 25 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar declined to a seven-week low versus the euro and the yen dropped as US company results beat analysts' estimates, reducing demand for safety.