Behind Your Business

Reuters - The Saudi bourse regulator has ordered six investors to pay a total 278.1 million riyals ($74.16 million) for trading violations, it said in a statement on Saturday.

Reuters - The adage 'as January goes, so goes the year' bodes ill for equity investors after the S&P 500 closed out its worst month in almost a year. In the coming week, they will have to contend with fears of sovereign defaults and the potential for unpleasant surprises in the U.S. labor market.

AP - Companies trying to sell their shares in initial public offerings had a hard time finding willing buyers in January — a trend that will likely continue until the stock market stabilizes.

Current government officials including current and former Treasury Secretaries often refer to the measures employed to correct the financial crisis in the fall of 2008 as avoiding the "abyss". Indeed, if panic had continued to spread the potential collapse of the house of cards built on credit leverage would have been significant. But questions arise as to the appropriateness of the actions taken and why the state of the financial industry was in such dire straits.

AP - Stocks ended a disappointing January with a loss as investors questioned whether the economy will be able to sustain its big fourth-quarter growth rate. Downbeat earnings at technology companies also pulled stocks down.