MLM Counties News. Notices. Need-to-know Information.

Credit defaults are at their lowest levels since June 2006, according to a new report released by S&P Dow Jones Indices and Experian, the credit reporting business.

It's an appealing notion that states do better when they cut income taxes – even if the supporting evidence is scant – and goes a long way toward explaining why states such as Ohio, Michigan and Kansas are pushing to reduce or even eliminate local income taxes.

U.S. companies would face strict limits on mergers in which they move their tax address outside the U.S. under a bill proposed Tuesday by Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat.

Investigators probing mortgage-bond sales in the run-up to the financial crisis are finding improper actions occurred “not only occasionally, but in the end, with almost every” deal examined, a U.S. official said.

The U.S. Senate confirmed former Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, while postponing a separate vote on his nomination to be vice chairman of the central bank.

Tagged with: Federal Reserve

In her first 100 days, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen has emphasized the central bank’s full-employment goal, stressing the need for progress on the broadest measures of joblessness, including the number of people out of work long-term and those who can find only part-time positions.

The U.S. charged five Chinese military officials with economic espionage and other offenses linked to computer hacking of U.S. nuclear power, metals and solar industries.

General Motors Co. will pay a record $35 million fine as part of the U.S. government’s investigation into how it handled the recall of 2.59 million small cars over faulty ignition switches, the Transportation Department said.

Former SAC Capital Advisors hedge fund manager Michael Steinberg was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison for insider trading, capping one of the biggest victories for prosecutors who spent seven years investigating the hedge fund and its boss, Steven A. Cohen.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is reviewing U.S. banks’ steps to restructure overseas swap trading as part of an examination of whether the companies might be evading Dodd-Frank Act rules.

U.S. Senate Republicans blocked a package of more than $80 billion in tax cuts, killing for now a measure that would provide incentives for corporate research and wind energy.