Market Watch

The dollar was mixed versus major currencies Friday ahead of a potentially brutal plunge in November U.S. nonfarm payrolls.

European shares fell on Friday, paced by oil producers and mineral extractors, as investors await more signs of a contracting economy with the release of key U.S. jobs data out later in the session.

A roundup of the latest corporate earnings reports and what companies are saying about future quarters.

The near collapse of the Irish economy and a sweetened sales pitch may finally allow Ryanair Holdings, Europe’s largest low-cost airline, to bag rival Aer Lingus Group after a two-year wait.

Asian stocks traded mixed to lower Friday, with commodity stocks retreating in the wake of overnight falls in crude-oil prices, while investors chased up Hong Kong-listed stocks such as China Mobile, which are leveraged to the China growth story.

U.S. stock futures on Friday clung near the prior session’s lows ahead of data that may show the worst month for jobs in at least 30 years.

HSBC said Friday it will buy back its London headquarters from Spanish property group Metrovacesa for around 250 million pounds ($367 million) less than the price it received for the building around 18 months ago.

Miners and oil producers fell in London on Friday ahead of some key jobs data that’s expected to add to growing gloom on the state of the U.S. economy.

Helping Main Street as well as Wall Street has been an objective of President-elect Barack Obama throughout both the campaign and into the transition period. Some argue that home-buying incentives built into a new economic stimulus package -- if done right -- could help not only the housing industry and the overall economy, but also would-be home buyers who are facing a crisis in confidence as well as credit.

This year one of the best performing asset classes is cash, writes Jim Anderson.

This is an open letter to Chris Matthews, the often outspoken and always unpredictable MSNBC anchor: I sure hope you follow through with the tease that you are weighing a run for the U.S. Senate in two years.

A surfeit of Slothowers? Hardly. No fewer than three letters associated with editor Dennis Slothower are among the very few moneymakers in this horrible year.

Some people give to charitable organizations. Others start their own.

We’ve all heard the phrase, “give the gift of giving.” But in this economy, should we really give to charities instead of product manufacturers? I bet it’s a question on a lot of people’s minds.

I have a mortgage that is 12 months into the loan. The mortgage is an interest only jumbo, 6.5% fixed for 10 years, then it is adjustable for the next 20 years. I have been paying on time and my credit score is 820. Do you think I can get the bank to agree to give me a new loan fixed for 30 years with interest and principal?

Boeing Co. may delay the first deliveries of its new 787 Dreamliner at least six more months, according to a media report late Thursday, marking the fifth time the aerospace giant has been forced to extend the flagship commercial jet’s rollout schedule.

Microsoft Corp. has named a new top executive to oversee its Internet services business, as it seeks to gear up for a more formidable challenge to market leader Google Inc.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Nearly a year into a recession, the U.S. labor market suddenly got much uglier in November, economists say.

The euro and the British pound slip for a second day as markets digest big rate cuts by the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.

SEATTLE (MarketWatch) -- Has the value of your home plummeted along with your investment portfolio? What would you think if all of a sudden you received an inheritance, a bonus or won the lottery?