DailyFinance

Unemployment rates fell or held steady last month in nine key swing states at the center of this year's presidential election. Rates dropped in Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin, Colorado, Iowa, Nevada and North Carolina. They were unchanged in New Hampshire and Virginia.

After all the times people have been duped by Ponzi schemes and Nigerian scams, people still fall for similar cons. But in the case of the .44 Magnum Leveraged Financing Program, some investors recently found a way to lose their money with a real bang.

PC chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices said on Thursday it will cut its work force of nearly 12,000 by 15 percent, its second round of layoffs in less than a year as it struggles with a weak global economy and a consumer shift toward tablets.

J.C. Penney lost more than 1.3 million of its loyal female fans in the last year, a new survey reveals, and the experts say its "fair and square" pricing strategy is probably to blame.

Disappointing earnings reports from McDonald's, Microsoft and other companies dragged the stock market down Friday.

Disney set up a three-story castle made of ice in Times Square this week to introduce its new Limited Time Magic theme park campaign for 2013: The family entertainment giant plans to kick things up a notch at its Florida and California attractions by offering 52 weekly themed events.

Google's stock plunged suddenly on Thursday afternoon after it released its third-quarter earnings report early, apparently by mistake. The company's stock fell $68.19, or 9 percent, to $687.30 before trading was halted to give investors a chance to digest the news.

Newsweek plans to end its print publication after 80 years and will shift to an all-digital format aimed at online users starting in early 2013. Job cuts are expected. Newsweek's last U.S. print edition will be its Dec. 31 issue.

There's a new wave of plastic filling the middle ground between credit cards and debit cards: refillable cards -- or prepaid cards -- that act like a hybrid of both. They're an attractive option for consumers -- and a convenient way for banks to sidestep recent consumer protection laws.

This author believes that more women need to think of themselves as philanthropists and get more strategic in their giving, so that their donations will have the maximum impact. Here's how.

Walmart employees across the country are picketing their employer right now, asking to be paid living wages and to be given decent health care coverage. But here's a surprise: History shows that if Walmart gave them those things, it could be great for its bottom line. Just ask Henry Ford.

It started when they were newlyweds. Dawn and David Van Dyke, both teachers, accumulated a mountain of credit card debt during years of spending beyond their means. Here's how they got their family out from under it.

If you can't beat 'em, you may as well join 'em. That's Best Buy is reportedly doing in the tablet computer game. A source is telling Reuters that the struggling consumer electronics retailer will roll out its own Android-based tablet next month: the Insignia Flex.

Bank of America said Wednesday that it narrowly turned a profit from July through September, good enough to beat Wall Street expectations. The bank earned $340 million in the quarter, which works out to a fraction of a penny per share. But financial analysts expected an 11-cent loss.