The White House laid out the U.S. negotiating position on Wednesday for U.N. climate change talks in Copenhagen, pledging to cut emissions roughly 17 percent by 2020 compared to 2005 levels, in line with legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

California has taken a major step toward creating a broad-based trading system to limit emissions of pollutants blamed for harmful climate change.

U.S. President Barack Obama will go to Copenhagen for a U.N. climate change meeting on December 9, hoping to add momentum to an international process despite slow progress on a domestic bill to cut carbon emissions.

The US must address climate change in an international context, not just from a domestic lens, Caterpillar CEO Jim Owens told CNBC.

Federal officials are investigating a radiation leak at Three Mile Island, scene of the worst U.S. nuclear power accident, but said on Sunday there was no threat to public health or safety.

The auctions are seen as both a way to attract bargain-hunting buyers still on the fence on whether to buy and get the condos sold quickly.

Government programs don't help the market, one economist says, because they don't "get rid of the fundamental problem: There's still a glut of houses.”

Carin Froehlich pegs her laundry to three clotheslines strung between trees outside her 18th-century farmhouse, knowing that her actions annoy local officials who have asked her to stop.

Carin Froehlich pegs her laundry to three clotheslines strung between trees outside her 18th-century farmhouse, knowing that her actions annoy local officials who have asked her to stop.

Ford's Fusion mid-size sedan was named Motor Trend magazine's 2010 "car of the year" Tuesday, adding to the perception that changes to the No. 2 U.S. automaker's vehicle lineup are gaining traction.

New Zealand utilities investor Infratil posted a first-half loss on Tuesday after writing down assets, and repeated its interest in buying Shell's downstream and refining assets in the
country.

The company is in a position to start paying back taxpayer loans, but still lost $1.2 billion in the third quarter.

The oil market is well supplied, with inventories at record levels globally, and the market continues "to be a bit soft," but prices are getting a big boost from the dollar's fall, Exxon Mobil CEO and Chairman Rex Tillerson told CNBC Friday.

The Dow rose for a sixth straight session Wednesday as the dollar hit a new 15-month low after Fed comments and strong Chinese economic data. Financial, material and IT stocks were the biggest gainers.

Commercial real estate is somewhere between an orderly massacre and a disaster, William Mack, founder and chairman of Area Property Partners, told CNBC.