The stock market bounced to its highest close since last spring Wednesday after the Federal Reserve pledged to keep interest rates near zero for almost three more years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve has downgraded its outlook for U.S. economic growth this year but is slightly more optimistic about the unemployment rate.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes fell in December after hitting the highest level in a year and a half.
NEW YORK (AP) — J.C. Penney is permanently marking down all of its merchandise by at least 40 percent so shoppers will no longer have to wait for a sale to get the lowest prices in its stores.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Delta Air Lines' fourth-quarter net income rose sharply, as higher fares offset a bigger fuel bill.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Quicker deliveries of Boeing's commercial airplanes helped it report a 20-percent jump in fourth-quarter profits, and offset sluggish growth in its defense business.
TOKYO (AP) — Toyota raised its global sales target for this year to 8.58 million vehicles, up 21 percent from the previous year, as incentives for ecological cars lift demand in Japan.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The pharmaceutical industry won approval to market a record number of new drugs for rare diseases last year, as a combination of scientific innovation and business opportunity spurred new treatments for diseases long-ignored by drug companies.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama delivered an election-year broadside to Republicans: Game on.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Wednesday praised U.S. Special Operations Forces who rescued two hostages, including an American aid worker, from pirates in Somalia during an early morning raid.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. State Department says a Republican bill that would strip President Barack Obama of his authority to decide on a Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline raises "serious" legal questions.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Newt Gingrich says he never lobbied for Freddie Mac even though he was a consultant to the government-backed mortgage company's chief lobbyist.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 24
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Several state lawmakers want the commissioner of the Department of Children's Services to reconsider a proposal to close a juvenile detention center in Bledsoe County.
NASHVILLE (AP) - State Rep. Matthew Hill said Tuesday he's taking two anti-abortion bills off notice and plans to replace them with new measures, possibly by the end of the week.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The sponsor of a proposal to strip state courts of the power to block laws enacted by the Tennessee General Assembly quietly withdrew the bill on Monday after receiving heavy criticism from both sides of the political aisle.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A proposal to require hands-on CPR practice in high school resuscitation programs has passed the Senate.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell in the United States and Europe on Tuesday as investors worried that a deal to cut Greece's national debt and hold off a possible financial crisis might fall through.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A recession in Europe will slow the global economy this year, the International Monetary Fund predicted Tuesday, while urging world leaders to focus on growth more than budget cuts.
NEW YORK (AP) — Macy's Inc. has sued Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. in a bid to block a licensing deal between the housewares company and J.C. Penney Co.
NEW YORK (AP) — Iconic motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson says higher sales helped it post a $105.7 million fourth-quarter profit, a reversal from a year-ago loss.
NEW YORK (AP) — Verizon posted a large loss for its fourth quarter on an adjustment for the value of its pension plans, but it also saw more people signing contracts for wireless service.
NEW YORK (AP) — Luxury bag maker Coach said Tuesday that strong demand for its luxury handbags during the holidays helped fiscal second-quarter net income rise nearly 15 percent.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Addressing a divided nation amid a determined GOP campaign to take his job, President Barack Obama is preparing to issue a populist cry for economic fairness as he aims to corral the sympathies of middle-class voters 10 months before Election Day.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mitt Romney spent years building a presidential candidacy based on corporate success, a squeaky clean image and an aura of electability that let him focus on President Barack Obama rather than his GOP rivals.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Newt Gingrich called rival Mitt Romney a "terrible historian" but flubbed his own history in Congress on Monday night when he claimed the nation ran four consecutive budget surpluses during his time as House speaker. Romney attacked Gingrich's financial links to Freddie Mac while ignoring his own.
MONDAY, JANUARY 23
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - State Sen. Bill Ketron says he will not seek the new 4th Congressional District seat in Tennessee.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Republicans in the Tennessee Legislature are considering several changes to the judiciary branch, with proposals ranging from how judges are appointed and disciplined to whether the courts should even have the power to overturn laws.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Psychology student Jay MacDonnchadh says a plan that would cut some students' lottery scholarships in half is a bad idea.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was stopped by security at the Nashville airport Monday when a scanner set off an alarm and targeted his knee, although the senator said he has no screws or medical hardware around the joint.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A trial over how music royalties of the late country singer "Gentleman" Jim Reeves should be split is set to begin this week.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - The Great Smoky Mountains National Park remains the busiest of the nation's parks by far, despite a drop in attendance last year.
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — A Shelbyville man who pleaded guilty to being part of a horse soring conspiracy is the first of four defendants going before a Chattanooga federal judge for sentencing.
GATLINBURG (AP) — There's a thirst in the mountains for legal Tennessee moonshine.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's five largest mortgage lenders have agreed to overhaul their industry after deceptive foreclosure practices drove homeowners out of their homes, government officials said Monday.
NEW YORK (AP) — The S&P 500 index eked out a tiny gain on a day in which stocks swung between small gains and losses.
TORONTO (AP) — BlackBerry maker Research in Motion's co-CEOs, Jim Balsillie, who in 2007 tried to buy the Nashville Predators and move them to Hamilton, Ontario, and Mike Lazaridis, announced they have stepped down as co-CEOs and co-chairmen of the once-iconic company that has struggled to compete in recent years.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A new economic forecast calls for the U.S. economy to make some modest growth strides this year, but not quite enough to significantly reduce the number of jobless Americans looking for work.
NEW YORK (AP) — Halliburton is reporting that its net income jumped nearly 50 percent in the final three months of 2011 as rising oil prices sparked new drilling projects.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tablets and e-readers were a popular gift over the holidays, so much so that the number of people who own them nearly doubled between mid-December and January, a new study finds.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Here's a reality check for President Barack Obama's health overhaul: Three out of four uninsured Americans live in states that have yet to figure out how to deliver on its promise of affordable medical care.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that police must get a search warrant before using GPS technology to track criminal suspects.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 20
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - Linda Chorney is the feel-good, do-it-yourself success story of this year's Grammy Awards. Or she's an unworthy impostor who broke the unwritten rules regarding self-promotion for music's top showcase.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Gov. Sam Brownback's plan to overhaul Kansas' individual income tax system will help the poor by creating prosperity, according to a Nashville-based former economic adviser to President Ronald Reagan who helped shaped the proposed state policy.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A music show for broadcast on Public Broadcasting Service stations nationwide will be taped Friday night at the Tennessee State Museum.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Dolly Parton plans a water-snow park in Nashville, described as the first of its kind in the country, to join her other tourist attractions in East Tennessee.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Opponents of a proposed constitutional amendment to ban an income tax in Tennessee say it's unnecessary and politically motivated.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A state commission that recently was in court over allegations it crafted an immigration policy in secret hasn't regularly posted notices of upcoming meetings on its website during at least the past two years.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee's unemployment rate fell 0.4 percent in December to 8.7 percent, the lowest in three years.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Home sales rose in December to the highest pace in nearly a year. The gain coincides with other signs that show the troubled U.S. housing market improved at the end of last year
NEW YORK (AP) — General Electric Co. said Friday its fourth-quarter earnings fell 18 percent as revenue declined after it sold its stake in the NBC network.
ZAVENTEM, Belgium (AP) — It takes Mikael Ohlsson five minutes — and the help of one other person — to assemble IKEA's Ektorp sofa.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google's moneymaking machine misfired badly in the fourth quarter as its advertising prices fell during the holiday marketing season.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy is off to a fast start in 2012.
NEW YORK (AP) — Microsoft and IBM drove the Dow Jones industrial average up in Friday trading after the tech giants reported stronger earnings than analysts had expected.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — Eastman Kodak Co. has a little over a year to reshape its money-losing businesses and deliver a get-out-of-bankruptcy plan.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Microsoft Corp. battled through a weak PC market to post flat earnings in the final quarter of 2011, boosting sales of servers, Xbox games and its Office productivity software while trimming losses at its Bing search engine.
NEW YORK (AP) — Apple Inc. on Thursday launched its attempt to make the iPad a replacement for a satchel full of textbooks by starting to sell electronic versions of a handful of standard high-school books.
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors Co. has retaken the title of world's top-selling automaker, selling just over 9 million cars and trucks across the globe.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — In its budget submission next month, the Obama administration will rge lawmakers to revisit the failed attempt by a congressional supercommittee to cut the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion, the White House says.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Yielding to strong opposition from the high tech community, Senate and House leaders said Friday they will put off further action on legislation to combat online piracy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — There's some bad news for those looking for easy ways to trim Medicare spending.