Good News, Quarterly Earnings | featured news

Sales of new homes dipped in January but the final quarter of 2011 was stronger than first estimated.

Bank earnings rose over the summer to their highest level in more than four years, while the number of troubled banks fell for the second straight quarter, federal regulators reported Tuesday.

The economy grew at an annual rate of 2.5% in the three months ending Sept. 30, the government reported, easing fears that the nation would fall into a second recession but still too slow a pace to cut significantly into the high unemployment rate.

Twenty-three lenders fell off the government’s list of so-called “problem banks” in the second quarter, bringing the total to 865.

Stocks opened higher as encouraging quarterly results from blue-chip companies and a hint of housing optimism gave a boost to investor sentiment.

Automaker's profit surges on rising sales, could be world's biggest carmaker again before the year is out.

General Motors' U.S. sales of cars and truck jumped 27 percent in April as the economy continued to improve and $4 a gallon gasoline pushed buyers into more efficient vehicles.

Chrysler Group LLC reported its first quarterly net profit since emerging from bankruptcy nearly two years ago, helped by a revamped lineup of cars and trucks as well as higher vehicle prices.

Caterpillar drove the Dow Jones industrial average higher Friday after the company reported a huge gain in first-quarter earnings. The world's largest maker of mining and construction equipment rose 2.5 percent after its earnings increased more than five-fold. The company also raised its sales and profit forecast for the year.

The U.S. economy grew more than previously calculated in the third quarter, led by stronger consumer spending and fueled by labor income gains that may stoke demand into 2011.