WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve on Tuesday portrayed the U.S. economy as slightly healthier and held off on any new steps to boost the economy. Hiring is picking up and consumers are spending more despite slower growth globally, the Fed ...

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WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve under Ben Bernanke has gone further than ever to explain its policies to the public. It’s ready to go further still. A Fed policy meeting Tuesday will likely focus, in part, on an evolving plan ...

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NEW YORK — The federal government sued one of the nation’s largest privately held mortgage brokers on Tuesday, saying its decade-long fraudulent lending practices cost the government hundreds of millions of dollars and forced thousands of American homeowners to lose ...

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WASHINGTON — For someone known as a consensus builder, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sure generates — and shrugs off — a lot of dissent. Bernanke last month pushed ahead with a plan to keep short-term interest rates near zero ...

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WASHINGTON — U.S. consumers grew more cautious last month amid wild stock market swings, zero job growth and heightened concerns that the economy has weakened. Retail sales were flat in August. At the same time, wholesale inflation leveled off. The ...

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Federal banking regulators have ordered the troubled Bank of the Eastern Shore, which has two branches in Cambridge, to take steps to strengthen its financial position. The Federal Reserve System directed the bank’s management either to sell shares or take ...

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WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve guaranteed super-low interest rates for two more years Tuesday — an unprecedented step to arrest the alarming decline of the stock market and the economy. Wall Street roared its approval and finished a wild day ...

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WASHINGTON — Banking regulators refused to commit to releasing details of their investigations into illegal foreclosure practices by the nation’s largest banks. Appearing before a Senate panel Thursday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Acting Comptroller of the Currency John ...

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WASHINGTON — Fixed mortgage rates rose this week by the most in four months. The average rate on the 30-year loan increased to 4.60 percent, up from 4.51 percent a week ago, Freddie Mac said Thursday. It hit its lowest ...

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WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve is poised to limit the fees that banks can charge retailers for swiping debit cards to 21 cents, a higher cap than initially proposed. Banks succeeded in convincing the Fed that its initial cap of ...

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