Ordinary folks losing faith in stocks

NEW YORK | Andrew Neitlich is the last person you'd expect to be rattled by the stock market.

Stocks soar after ECB unveils bond-buying effort

NEW YORK | The last time the stock market was this high, the Great Recession was just getting started and stocks were pointed toward a head-first descent.

Why stocks may be even riskier than you think

NEW YORK | Job growth in the United States is slowing. Sales at stores have stopped growing. The economies of India, Brazil and China are cooling. Europe is crippled by government debt and bad bank loans.

For stocks, a stable and impressive climb in 2012

The stock market just had its best first quarter in 14 years. The surge has sent Wall Street analysts, some of whose forecasts seemed too sunny three months ago, scrambling to raise their estimates for the year.

After Euro deal, investors brace for big moves

Europe's fiscal pact may save the euro from collapse and stave off worldwide financial panic. But the concerns of many investors are more personal: Will it lift my flagging 401(k)?

How bad can it get if the US falls into recession?

Are investors overreacting to the prospect of a recession? The slightly better jobs report on Friday notwithstanding, the odds of a recession appear to be climbing, and that's bringing back scary memories.

$20 billion is chump change for BP

NEW YORK | BP holds enough oil in its reserves to single-handedly supply the United States for two years. It has little debt for a company of its size and makes more money than Apple and Google combined.

Frugality among consumers is outliving recession

Even as the economic recovery plods ahead, many American consumers are refusing to come along.

Diviners Divided: Economists clash, sow confusion

NEW YORK | If you're confused about the outlook for the economy and stocks one year after the market hit bottom, then you've got good company -- the Wall Street economists and strategists who are supposed to have this all figured out.

Main Street to Wall Street: We don't buy the rally

NEW YORK | Edward Shook can't resist a bull market.

Banks getting bum rap on not lending enough?

NEW YORK | Unlike big-city bankers, Stan Wilmoth didn't make lots of dumb loans during the boom. After the crash, he accepted not a dime of taxpayer money for his bank. His salary? "Substantially less" than the $1 million the former head of Merrill Lynch spent remodeling his office, he says.…