Financial

Shale boon called into doubt

But natural gas firms say criticism misses mark

The ability to tap into shale formations has given the country’s natural gas reserves a 35 percent bump, according to a Colorado School of Mines report.
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Bank capital Fed’s top concern

Officials heighten scrutiny of risks lenders taking, sources say

Federal Reserve officials are stepping up scrutiny of the biggest U.S. banks to ensure the lenders can withstand a reversal of soaring global-asset prices, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
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Lack of demand shuts oil refineries

Refineries from New Mexico to New Jersey are under severe economic pressure because of falling demand for fuel, with a number of facilities shutting down in recent months.
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Deflation could hurt revival, Japan warns

Falling prices plagued nation during ’90s

Japan’s government highlighted the danger of deflation for the first time in three years Friday, warning that falling prices and a further worsening of the labor market could drag on the weak recovery.
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Texas court to rehear Exxon plugged-wells case

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday said it will again hear arguments in the nearly 15-year legal battle over accusations that Exxon Mobil Corp. loaded abandoned wells with junk, sludge and even explosives to keep other companies from drilling there.
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New bug moves in, has taste for beans

Researchers recently found an insect in north Georgia that has never before been reported in the Western Hemisphere, and its arrival could be a mixed blessing.
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Arkansas jobless rate hits 7.6 percent in October

Arkansas’ unemployment rate rose half a percentage point to 7.6 percent in October, the highest joblessness rate in more than 21 years, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday.
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Foreclosures on prime loans surge

Job losses seen overtaking risky lending as top cause of defaults

Rising unemployment led to a spike in foreclosures on prime fixed-rate mortgage loans in the third quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Thursday.
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Sears Holdings trims quarterly loss

Kmart sales bump, cost-cutting help; retailer said to have long way to go

Struggling retailer Sears Holdings Corp. posted a smaller third-quarter loss Thursday as it cut costs and was helped by the first positive sales performance at its Kmart division in more than four years.
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AOL offers buyouts to one-third of work force

AOL LLC, the Internet company, is looking to shed more than a third of its work force as it prepares to spin off from Time Warner Inc. next month.
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Iberiabank in shape to grab failed banks

Recent takeovers double firm’s assets

A Louisiana banking company sees the worst rash of bank failures in two decades as fertile ground to expand well beyond the state line.
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2 Tyson veterans put into top jobs

Expect no big changes, 1 says

Tyson Foods Inc. on Thursday promoted two division leaders to pilot the Springdale-based protein-processing company 11 months after it tapped a retired executive as interim chief.
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Utah auction draws few drillers

Difficulty obtaining leased land scares oil, gas firms, some say

Drillers say it’s getting so difficult to obtain an oil and-gas lease in the Rocky Mountains under the administration of President Barack Obama that many aren’t bothering to show up for auctions.
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House panel favors broad audits of Fed

A House panel voted Thursday to let Congress carry out extensive new oversights of the Federal Reserve’s policy decisions and operations.
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Foreclosures hitting more people with prime loans

A rising proportion of fixed-rate home loans made to people with good credit are sinking into foreclosure, adding to concerns about the strength of the economic recovery, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Thursday.
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