Median CEO pay rises to $9.7 million in 2012
CEO pay has been going in one direction for the past three years: up....

Bernanke signals Fed to maintain stimulus efforts
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Wednesday that the U.S. job market remains weak and that it is too soon for the Federal Reserve to end its extraordinary stimulus programs....

Stocks rise on Fed stimulus hopes, home sales
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks are moving higher Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said it was too soon for the central bank to pull back on its economic stimulus programs....

US home sales tick up to highest in 3 1/2 years
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes ticked up last month to the highest level in three and a half years, helped by a jump in the number of houses for sale....

Weak yen a help for Japan, but headache elsewhere
TOKYO (AP) -- A steady fall in the value of the yen is proving a godsend for exporters such as Toyota. The cheaper yen is making their products more affordable overseas....

Lowe's 1Q profit rises, but results miss Street
NEW YORK (AP) -- Lowe's said Wednesday that its first-quarter net income rose nearly 3 percent, but results fell short of expectations as rainy weather hurt spring gardening sales....

Target's 1Q profit drops 26 pct on weak sales
NEW YORK (AP) -- Target Corp. reported a 26 percent drop in first-quarter profit as cool temperatures and financial pressures limited customers' appetite for spending....

US auto factories cutting back on summer downtime
DETROIT (AP) -- The Detroit automakers are largely forgoing the traditional two-week summer break at their factories and speeding up production to meet buyers' growing demand for new cars and trucks....

IRS official Lerner: 'I did nothing wrong'
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Internal Revenue Service official at the center of the storm over the agency's targeting of conservative groups told Congress on Wednesday that she had done nothing wrong in the episode, and then invoked her constitutional right to refuse to answer lawmakers' questions....

Judge: Hollister clothing unfriendly to disabled
DENVER (AP) -- A federal judge in Denver is contemplating an injunction against Abercrombie & Fitch Co. and J.M. Hollister LLC after ruling earlier that nearly 250 of their clothing stores that cater to a hip, young clientele are unfriendly to the disabled....