The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 16,000 for the first time Thursday as the blue-chip index races toward its best year in a decade.The Dow has been on fire lately, propelled higher by a combination of solid corporate earnings, a steadily strengthening economy and easy-money policies from the Federal Reserve.Since the start of the year, the Dow is up 22 percent and has now topped three 1,000 point milestones in 10 months. It eclipsed 14,000 in February and 15,000 in May. If it holds o

WASHINGTON (AP) ― JPMorgan Chase & Co. has reached a record $13 billion settlement with federal and state authorities, resolving claims over the bank’s sales of low-quality, high-risk mortgage-backed securities that collapsed in value during the U.S. housing crisis.The agreement is the latest chapter in the bursting of the housing bubble. “Without a doubt, the conduct uncovered in this investigation helped sow the seeds of the mortgage meltdown,” Attorney General Eric Holder said. “JPMorgan was

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday the economy remains far from where the Fed wants to see it and that the U.S. central bank is still committed to its stimulus policies.Bernanke gave no hint as to when Fed policymakers might begin cutting back its $85 billion a month in asset purchases, saying they remain “committed to maintaining highly accommodative policies for as long as they are needed.”“The economy has made significant progress since the depths of the rec

Japan's trade deficit nearly doubled on-year to a bigger-than-expected $10.9 billion in October as the country's energy bill soared, government data showed Wednesday.The shortfall of 1.09 trillion yen ($10.9 billion) was larger than the 810 billion yen in red ink economists had expected on average, and an expansion of 96.1 percent from the year-before deficit of 556.2 billion yen.It was also the largest deficit for the month of October in comparable data that go back to 1979, according to the fi

WARSAW (AP) ― The top U.N. climate diplomat on Monday told the coal industry it should leave most of the world’s remaining coal reserves in the ground and start investing in renewable energy sources.Speaking at a coal summit on the sidelines of a U.N. climate conference in Warsaw, Christiana Figueres said the coal industry needs to change radically to help reduce the carbon emissions that scientists say are warming the planet.“The world is rising to meet the climate challenge as risks of inactio

The Dow edged higher to a fresh record Monday after topping 16,000 for the first time, while the S&P 500 breached 1,800 but pulled back in late trade.The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with a meager gain of 14.32 points (0.09 percent) at 15,976.02 after reaching an intraday high of 16,030.28 shortly after the market opened. It was the blue-chip Dow's fourth consecutive record close.The broad-based S&P 500 shed 6.65 (0.37 percent) at 1,791.53, falling heavily in late-afternoon trade after ea