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Obama says little he can do about high oil prices

President Barack Obama wears a Chicago Bulls cap at last night's Navy Pier fundraiser. Obama said Friday that there is little he can do about high oil prices. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

President Barack Obama said there are no quick fixes to bring down rising gasoline prices and urged caution about being too quick to tap U.S. emergency oil reserves amid uncertainty in the Middle East.

“There aren’t going to be a lot of great short-term solutions to this problem,” Obama said in an ABC interview aired Friday. Get the full story »

Fed officials: Inflation muted, policy on course

The recent surge in oil prices is no prelude to broader price increases that would force the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, two top Fed officials said on Thursday. Get the full story »

Higher oil shouldn’t trigger Fed rate hike: Evans

Rising oil prices are unlikely to push up core inflation and thus should not trigger any interest-rate hikes from the U.S. Federal Reserve, according to research from a top Fed official on Monday. Get the full story »

Axelrod: Shutdown talks shouldn’t be political

As negotiations continued in Washington to avert a federal government shutdown, a top political strategist for President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign said today the discussions should not involve political winners and losers.

Obama to host town hall at Facebook headquarters

President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign is under way and, in what may be a nod to the influence of social media on his presidency, he’s hosting a town hall-style meeting on April 20 at Facebook headquarters to talk about the economy.

Caterpillar CEO: Company staying in Ill. for now

Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman at a panel at the U.S. Export-Import Bank in Washington, D.C., March 31, 2011. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)

Caterpillar Inc. leader Douglas Oberhelman emerged from a one-hour meeting with Gov. Pat Quinn Tuesday morning, assuring that the Peoria-based manufacturing titan intends to stay put and help push for improvements in the state’s business climate. Get the full story »

New York may restrict Happy Meals, kids meals

A child eating fries from a McDonald's Happy Meal at Navy Pier, July 7, 2010. (William DeShazer/Chicago Tribune)

A New York City councilman is planning to introduce legislation to ban McDonald’s fast food meals unless they meet certain nutritional standards.

Councilman Leroy Comrie of Queens plans to announce the legislation at a press event at 11 a.m. CST, according to his chief of staff. The proposed bill would make it illegal to distribute toys, games, trading cards or admission tickets along with any meal for children unless they have less than 500 calories, 600 mg of sodium and 35 percent of calories from fat, excluding nuts, seeds and nut butters. Get the full story »

House GOP seeks to skirt Senate on budget cuts

Stuck in a budget quagmire with Senate Democrats and President Barack Obama, House Republicans are suggesting they can run the government without them. Get the full story »

Fed reveals which banks borrowed during crisis

Foreign banks, regional U.S. banks, and banks fighting for their last chance at survival counted among the heaviest users of the Federal Reserve’s emergency discount lending window during the heat of the 2008 financial crisis. Get the full story »

Fed turns down AIG bid to rebuy dodgy assets

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has turned down an offer by American International Group to repurchase dodgy mortgage bonds that the Fed had taken off the insurance company’s hands during the financial crisis. Get the full story »

Fed to identify banks that drew emergency loans

The Federal Reserve plans to release documents on Thursday identifying financial companies that received Fed loans to survive the financial crisis. Get the full story »

Evans: Fed doesn’t need to extend bond-buying

The Federal Reserve should complete its current round of bond-buying, designed to support the recovery, and likely does not need to extend it, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said on Friday. Get the full story »

U.S. plans more nuclear inspections after Japan

U.S. nuclear regulators are launching additional inspections and considering a 90-day review of the country’s 104 nuclear reactors in the wake of Japan’s nuclear crisis, officials said Monday. Get the full story »

Fed to release loan data after Supreme Court move

The Supreme Court has rejected banks' attempts to shield Federal Reserve lending data. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

The U.S. Federal Reserve Board on Monday said it is preparing to release sensitive emergency lending data from the peak of the 2008 financial crisis after the Supreme Court rejected a bid by major banks to keep the information secret.

The justices, in a short written order, left in place a 2010 federal appeals court decision that ordered the Fed to identify commercial banks that received emergency loans from the central bank during the crisis. Shortly after the announcement, a Fed spokesman said the central bank would release the information, but didn’t provide a time frame. Get the full story »

White House vetting Senate aide for CFTC spot

The White House is considering nominating Mark Wetjen, an aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, for a top job at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, The Financial Times reported on Friday. Get the full story »