It’s been a long time since you could buy an affordable Italian car in the United States. The dashing Alfa Romeo disappeared in the 1990s when its stylish appeal was overcome by miserable mechanics.

June 27 (Bloomberg) -- Caterpillar Inc., the largest maker of construction and mining equipment, has provided the best risk-adjusted return among its peers since financial markets hit bottom in 2009 as it made acquisitions and expanded in emerging markets such as China.

The 3,200 people living on a rural Hawaiian island that will soon be purchased by billionaire Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison have a laundry list of what they'd like to see him provide.

Consumer confidence climbed last week to the highest level in two months as optimism over personal finances helped alleviate growing apprehension about the economy.

With a busy Fourth of July week looming, California parks officials on Thursday announced that 65 of the 70 state parks once slated to be closed due to budget cuts will remain open at least temporarily after a closure deadline that had been set for Sunday.

The price of oil hit an eight-month low Thursday as hopes dimmed for a solution to Europe's financial crisis.

A late recovery on Wall Street wiped out most of the stock market's losses Thursday, leaving the Dow Jones industrial average down just 25 points.

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- Wealthy investors, health insurance companies and medical device makers will face hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes stemming from the health-care law that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld today.

New Jersey's two NFL teams have filed an injunction to block what they claim would place the largest shopping mall in the world in their backyard, arguing it would create epic traffic problems and interfere with game days.

Lenders are requiring the highest credit scores in at least a decade to approve home mortgages, as loan officers report pending regulations prompt them to continue limiting risk three years into the economic recovery.

The average U.S. rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage stayed this week at the lowest level on record.

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld virtually all of President Barack Obama's historic health care overhaul, including the hotly debated core requirement that nearly every American have health insurance.

If the U.S. Supreme Court had wanted to make history, it could have: Striking down the individual mandate in the health care law would have been the most weighty Supreme Court ruling since Franklin Roosevelt’s first New Deal was ruled unconstitutional three-quarters of a century ago.

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. economy grew 1.9 percent in the first quarter, reflecting a gain in consumer spending that now shows signs of cooling as the labor market weakens.

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the core of President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul, giving him an election-year triumph and preserving most of a law that would expand insurance to millions of people and transform an industry that makes up 18 percent of the nation’s economy.

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- The number of applications for unemployment benefits hovered last week near the highest level of the year, showing little improvement in the U.S. labor market.

The interest rate for Spain's benchmark 10-year bond is rising close to the perilously high 7-percent mark as concern over whether the government will need a bailout intensifies hours ahead of a European Union summit.

The New York Times started a Chinese-language website Thursday that generated so much interest in China two of its microblog accounts drew thousands of followers and then were apparently taken offline for several hours.

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- Copper was seen falling in New York as the euro slumped after a report showed higher unemployment in Germany, fueling concern the currency bloc’s debt crisis is weighing on member economies.

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- Raw sugar futures rose for a fourth day as crop delays in Brazil, the world’s largest buyer, are crimping supply for now as China boosts imports. Coffee fell.

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- Oil fluctuated in London amid speculation that the European Union’s economy will fail to grow, as the region’s leaders gathered in Brussels for a summit.

President Barack Obama says the Supreme Court's decision to uphold his health care overhaul is a “victory for people all over the country” and will make their lives more secure.

June 27 (Bloomberg) -- AutoZone Inc. fell the most in more than a month after rival auto-parts retailer O’Reilly Automotive Inc. said sales growth was slower than anticipated this quarter and profit will be on the lower end of its forecast.

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- Chrysler Group LLC, the carmaker controlled by Fiat SpA, sees U.S. auto sales in June running at about the pace of May, the industry’s slowest month of 2012.

The Supreme Court's decision Thursday to uphold President Barack Obama's historic overhaul is expected to be a boon to most of the health care industry by making coverage affordable for millions of uninsured Americans. But not every company will benefit.

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- Jean-Bernard Levy, the Vivendi SA chief executive officer who has resisted investor calls for a reorganization to revive a stock trading near a nine-year low, is preparing to step down, said people familiar with the matter.

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- News Corp. announced plans to split into two publicly traded entities focused on publishing and entertainment after shareholder pressure prompted the biggest reorganization since Rupert Murdoch built the media empire.

Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc. said Thursday that its fiscal third-quarter net income slid 66 percent as it deals with higher costs and lower selling prices in its metals recycling unit .

Aerospace and defense supplier Curtiss-Wright Corp. cut its second-quarter outlook Thursday, citing restructuring costs and unanticipated expenses in China, and its shares fell.

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- Hospital companies led by HCA Holdings Inc. jumped in New York trading after the Supreme Court upheld a U.S. health-care law that may arrest a rising tide of uninsured patients unable to pay their medical bills.

a big help to her family. But a retiree on Medicare called it a “sad day” and worries that the law's new rules coming in 2015 to hold down Medicare costs will interfere with treatments doctors can provide.

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld virtually all of President Barack Obama's historic health care overhaul, including the hotly debated core requirement that nearly every American have health insurance.

A judge has upheld the Glendale City Council's vote on an arena lease agreement with a prospective owner of the Phoenix Coyotes.

Google's Chrome browser can now be used to surf the Web on the iPhone and iPad.

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- Nordstrom Inc., the owner of more than 100 namesake department stores, plans to open its first full-line location in New York City on Manhattan’s West Side, ending a site search that stretched for more than two decades.

Hospital stocks rose sharply Thursday after the Supreme Court guaranteed them millions more paying customers by upholding the core of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

President Barack Obama's health care overhaul is on the way to its ultimate jury: the families, doctors, business people and state officials who'll have to grapple with the confusing details while striving to fulfill its promise.

Ready or not, big changes lie ahead for virtually every U.S. taxpayer next year.

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- Nike Inc., the world’s largest sporting-goods company, reported fourth-quarter earnings that trailed analysts’ estimates increased costs narrowed profit margins.

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- Research In Motion Ltd., reeling from competition with the iPhone and Google Inc.’s Android, reported a bigger loss than anticipated, delayed the release of its new BlackBerry lineup and announced plans to cut 5,000 jobs.

Chrysler's top sales executive says U.S. auto sales will slow a bit in June from the pace earlier this year, but he expects a rebound in the second half of 2012.

European leaders agree more needs to be done to stimulate growth and regulate banks, though sharp divisions remain over the issue of pooling government debt as a way to ease the continent's financial crisis.

Facebook's stock has fallen for the second consecutive day.

While cities across the nation enact laws against panhandling and outdoor sleeping, Rhode Island is being held up as a national model for protecting homeless individuals from discrimination.

South Korea cut its economic growth forecast Thursday as Europe's debt crisis dampens demand for the country's exports.

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- Russia hasn’t signed up to United Nations special envoy Kofi Annan’s plan for a transition of power in Syria and has made a different proposal as officials head to Geneva for crisis talks, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said.

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- European stocks fell and the euro weakened as a report showed Germany’s unemployment rose and leaders began a two-day summit on the debt crisis. Spain’s 10- year bonds pared declines, while natural gas and corn advanced as a heat wave swept the U.S.

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- Barclays Plc, Britain’s second- largest bank by assets, slid the most in three years after its record fines yesterday for falsifying London interbank offered rate submissions sparked speculation lawsuits will follow.

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- A gauge of U.S. company credit risk climbed as a rise in German unemployment heightened pressure on euro-area leaders meeting today to curb an escalation of the currency bloc’s economic and financial crisis.

The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits fell last week, but the level of applications remains too high to signal a pickup in hiring.

The U.S. economy expanded at a 1.9 percent annual rate in the first three months of the year, a weak pace that few economists see changing much this year.

Doubts over the ability of European leaders to cobble together measures to deal with the continent's debt crisis caused stocks and the euro to fall Thursday.

Who will protect us from a killer asteroid? A team of ex-NASA astronauts and scientists thinks it's up to them.

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will raise crude exports to meet peak summer demand in the Northern Hemisphere, according to tanker-tracker Oil Movements.

Hillary Rodham Clinton made and marked history on Thursday, setting a new frequent-flier record for American secretaries of state by touching down in her 100th country and commemorating the strong stand one of her predecessors took against Soviet expansion.

The Yugoslav war crimes tribunal acquitted former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic on Thursday of one of the two genocide charges he faces at the halfway stage of his long-running trial.

Authorities planned to continue searching containers from a cargo ship that arrived in New Jersey from the Middle East after a Coast Guard inspection team heard knocking that suggested stowaways might be inside one of the boxes.

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- People can’t be prosecuted for lying about receiving a military medal, the U.S. Supreme Court said, invoking free-speech rights to strike down a federal law intended to protect the integrity of armed services awards.

Colorado Springs officials said Thursday that hundreds of homes have been destroyed by a raging wildfire that has encroached on the state's second-largest city and threatened the U.S. Air Force Academy.

The Supreme Court's decision to uphold President Barack Obama's sweeping federal health care law handed the Democratic incumbent crucial election-year vindication for his signature legislative accomplishment. Republican rival Mitt Romney said he would repeal the overhaul on his first day in office, if elected.

A bid for speed in reporting the Supreme Court's decision on President Barack Obama's health care law has tripped up some news organizations.

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. House will vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for failing to provide documents related to a federal gun operation.

The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision upholding the nation's health care law marks an enormous political victory for President Barack Obama in the heat of a re-election campaign, and affirmation as well for the Democrats' decades-long drive to extend coverage to millions of Americans who now go without.