Median CEO pay rises to $9.7 million in 2012
CEO pay has been going in one direction for the past three years: up....

AP PHOTOS: The 10 highest-paid CEOs of 2012
It pays to be in TV....

Stocks fall on news Fed weighed cutting stimulus
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks are closing lower on news that several Federal Reserve policymakers favored cutting back on stimulus programs as early as June if the economy continues to improve....

Key House chairman slams Senate immigration bill
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A key House committee chairman says a wide-ranging immigration bill just passed by a Senate committee falls far short of what is needed to end the problem of illegal immigration....

Bernanke signals Fed to maintain stimulus efforts
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Wednesday that the U.S. job market remains weak and that it is too soon for the Federal Reserve to slow its extraordinary stimulus programs....

College fossil-fuel divestment movement builds
SWARTHMORE, Pa. (AP) -- In an effort to slow the pace of climate change, students at more than 200 colleges are asking their schools to stop investing in fossil fuel companies....

Fed weighed slowing its pace of bond purchases
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Several Federal Reserve policymakers this month favored slowing the Fed's efforts to maintain record-low long-term interest rates as early as June - if the economy showed strong and sustained growth. But those officials appeared at odds over what evidence would demonstrate such gains....

US home sales tick up to highest in 3 1/2 years
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes ticked up last month to the highest level in three and a half years, helped by a jump in the number of houses for sale....

US auto factories cutting back on summer downtime
DETROIT (AP) -- The Detroit automakers are largely forgoing the traditional two-week summer break at their factories and speeding up production to meet buyers' growing demand for new cars and trucks....

Lowe's 1Q profit rises, but results miss Street
NEW YORK (AP) -- Lowe's said Wednesday that its first-quarter net income rose nearly 3 percent, but results fell short of expectations as rainy weather hurt spring gardening sales....