Americans seem to be cooling toward global warming. Just 57 percent think there is solid evidence the world is getting warmer, down 20 points in just three years, a new poll says. And the share of people who believe pollution caused by humans is causing temperatures to rise has also taken a dip, even as the U.S. and world forums gear up for possible action against climate change.

The top financial officer of insurance giant AIG defended the federal government’s $180 billion bailout of the company in a return to his alma mater.

American Express Co posted stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings on Thursday as the credit card company trimmed costs, consumer spending declined at a slower pace and credit losses were lower than forecasts.

Senior Senate Democrats at work with White House officials on health care legislation are strongly considering a requirement for the federal government to sell insurance in direct competition with private industry, officials said Thursday, with individual states permitted to drop out of the system.

American Express Co. reported its eighth straight quarter of falling profits on Thursday as consumers spent and borrowed less.

U.S. may lose AAA credit rating

Political pressure is building to extend and even expand the first-time homebuyer tax credit to all buyers. But a growing chorus of critics says…

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s CEO and President Mike Duke promised investors Thursday that the retailer’s aggressive price-cutting will not hurt its stock price, even as the company issued a modest forecast for U.S. expansion this year and next.

The U.S. pay czar on Thursday slashed compensation for top earners at seven bailed-out companies for the final two months of the year, and was immediately slammed by the country’s largest bank which claimed the cuts could send talent fleeing.

Big banks took a beating from government on Thursday, both in the U.S. Congress where lawmakers backed tougher industry rules, and from U.S. and UK regulators who moved aggressively to restrain bankers’ pay.