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AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

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By Peter Coy and Matthew Philips

Negotiations over how to shrink Greece’s unaffordable government debt make the brinkmanship over the U.S. debt ceiling last summer look simple. In the U.S., almost everyone agreed that default would be disastrous. In Greece, default is probably unavoidable. The battle is over whether it happens gently, in what is known as a “consensual restructuring,” or chaotically, in what is known as “all financial hell breaks loose.”

What makes the standoff over Greece so dangerous is that the players aren’t just …

By Erin Zlomek

As a U.S. Army captain retiring after deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, Tom Pae feared he might have a hard time getting into a prestigious MBA program. When he started applying last year, though, the West Point graduate quickly discovered he had a coveted résumé as recruiters from top institutions encouraged him to consider their programs. In October he was accepted to Columbia Business School in New York, his “reach” school, and he expects to enroll there this fall. “There is a confidence issue when you’re in the military and applying to business school,” Pae says. “You …

Attacks by opponents portraying Bain Capital LLC, Romney and other buyout managers as corporate looters who enrich themselves at the expense of ordinary workers have put a spotlight on the industry that will affect negotiations about future investments, according to officials and trustees at public pensions. As firms struggle to raise funds, pensions may be more reluctant to commit money and may ask for more details on job creation and push for lower fees, these officials said.

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“Private-equity managers’ wealth and tax rates are on display at a time when pensions are getting squeezed,” said Joseph Alejandro, treasurer of the

Investing in bonds is very safe and the yields are generally very good. There are four types of bonds available and are by the Government, companies, State and local governments, and foreign Governments sold.

The biggest thing about bonds is that you get back your original investment. This makes bonds the perfect investment vehicle for those new to investing, or for those low risk tolerance.

The Government of the United States Treasury sold bonds by the Treasury Department. Purchase up to thirty-year Treasury bonds with maturities of three months.

Government bonds are Treasury notes (T-Notes), Treasury bills (T-Bills) and Treasury …

While the plan would slow the pace of shipbuilding, its emphasis on naval forces in an era of budget-cutting may help vessel-makers Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc., General Dynamics Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp. and Austal Ltd. It also may provide opportunities for aircraft companies Northrop Grumman Corp. and Boeing Co. and missile maker Raytheon Co.

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“This budget protects, and in some cases increases, investments that are critical to our ability to project power in Asia and the Middle East,” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said at a news conference at the Pentagon today disclosing elements of a $613 billion defense proposal for

Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) — MF Global Holding Ltd.’s clients may be the losers no matter who wins a $700 million dispute between bankruptcy administrators in London and New York that threatens the return of money locked in customer accounts.

The trustee of MF Global Inc., the New York brokerage unit, is seeking the return of money used as margin for American customers trading in Europe. It wants U.K. administrators KPMG LLP to tap into $1.2 billion it had set aside for customers with segregated accounts, which are supposed to be protected.

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MF Global Inc. trustee James Giddens “is prepared to

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Illustration by 731; Grave: Photograph by Alan Thornton/Getty Images

When tech giants fall, they rarely get up again. Onetime titans such as Digital Equipment, Compaq, Lucent, and Palm went cold and then were ignominiously acquired. Xerox and Nokia have limped along for years. Kodak just filed for bankruptcy protection. Only two tech companies have bucked the trend: Steve Jobs’s Apple and Lou Gerstner’s IBM.

The lessons of those exceptions are legendary. When Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, he winnowed its product line, replaced most of the board, and expanded into new markets such as music players. After arriving at …

Labor unions represented 6.9 percent of employees in private companies, unchanged from 2010 and down from 7.2 percent in 2009, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rate in the public sector was 37 percent.

The total union membership rate — reflecting both public and private-sector workers — was 11.8 percent, down from 11.9 percent in 2010. The number of unionized workers went up by about 50,000, to 14.8 million.

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“We may have reached a level where the union numbers simply can’t decline anymore, but if you’re not expanding, how can you call yourself a