Polyus Gold's stock price has seen a slight bump on the London Stock Exchange. If they are able to merge with another company, the price could surge.

Jacquelyn Ryan/MEDILL

If you’re feeling unsure about the U.S. stock market, try looking Down Under.

At the Voices for Illinois Children’s recent “Illinois Kids Count 2010 Symposium” at The Standard Club in Chicago, a panel discussion revolved around the topic of families in a time of economic crisis.

Some gloomy numbers loomed over the real estate market this week when national home sales and prices dropped, while mortgage rates creeped up.

“Demand to buy homes is really weak,” said Patrick Newport, economist at IHS Global Insight.

Derivatives exchange behemoth CME Group Inc. could face a federal antitrust probe if it does not accept trades from startup futures exchange ELX Futures LP, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., said Thursday.

Present-day and next-generation investment industry leaders debated future of funds at the Kellogg School of Management’s private equity and venture capital conference in Chicago, with the conversation returning to value creation.

The UK might be forced to bailout out debt ridden Greece, costing UK taxpayers as much as 3.5 Billion pounds. Adding on more debt would come at a very inopportune time and could prolong UK’s recovery.

The national average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage got comfortable at 5.15 percent, not budging one bit in the week ended Feb. 10 from the previous week, Bankrate.com reported Thursday.

BY MICHAEL BELLER – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

The Olympic torch arrives in Vancouver Friday, where thousands of athletes from around the world want to strike gold.  Companies looking to do the same should be right there alongside the athletes, as a new study found the Olympics could be the perfect venue to spend advertising [...]

Andrew Ross Sorkin speaks to Chicago audience Feb. 9. Photo by Chris Guillen

It was Tuesday evening in Chicago, and though you may have watched him co-host CNBC’s Squawk Box from New York that same morning, there was Andrew Ross Sorkin giving a talk about Wall Street and his new book, “Too [...]