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NEW YORK — The stock market ended its worst August since 2001 with meager gains Tuesday after minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting showed officials’ increasing concern about the economy.

Stock indexes gave up most of their gains in mid-afternoon after the release of minutes from the Fed’s Aug. 10 meeting. Fed officials said during their discussions that they recognized that the economy might need further stimulus beyond the purchases of government debt the central bank announced that day. Some of the officials acknowledged that economy had softened more than they had anticipated.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — If you needed any more proof that the economy is slowing down, look no further than how well McDonald’s stock is doing.

Shares of Mickey D’s are up 18% this year, putting the company neck and neck with DuPont (DD, Fortune 500) as the best-performing company in the Dow Jones industrial average. The stock is near a 52-week high, having gained nearly 6% just this month.

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McDonald’s (MCD, Fortune 500) is your classic consumer staples company that typically holds up better than sexier growth stocks during times of economic weakness.

Full Story at money.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Stocks ended lower Friday, the fourth consecutive day of declines, as investors digested dour economic reports in the retail and consumer sectors.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) fell 17 points, or 0.2%, to end at 10,303.15. The S&P 500 (SPX) lost 4 points, or 0.4%, to settle at 1,079.25 and the Nasdaq (COMP) fell 17 points, or 0.8% to close at 2,173.48.

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LONDON — Send an e-mail to a fund manager at the moment and the chances are high you will get a bounced reply telling you that he/she is out of the office.

The week ahead marks the start of August, a period that can be — but is by no means always — one of reduced investing and low tolerance for anything other than major market-moving events.

So although the week promises important earnings reports from key European banks, a couple of key central bank meetings and one of the biggest U.S. economic data releases — jobs — trading on financial markets may be limited.

Full Story atmoney.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The Securities and Exchange Commission will need to hire about 800 new people to carry out the Wall Street reform legislation, the head of the regulatory agency plans to tell lawmakers.

SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro will testify before a House Financial Services subcommittee Tuesday, discussing oversight of the agency and future challenges under the financial reform act President Obama plans to sign into law this week. Her prepared remarks were posted online by the subcommittee.

Full Story at money.cnn.com

WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) — With one week down and one week to go on negotiations melding the two Wall Street reform bills, lawmakers have a lot of tough decisions ahead.

House and Senate negotiators had set a goal to finish work on reconciling the bills – aimed at preventing the next financial crisis – before President Obama heads to Canada on Friday for two major summits of world leaders.

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NEW YORK – Here’s something for investors beaten down by the market’s sharp declines this spring: The Dow Jones industrial average just had its best two weeks since November.

Full Story at money.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The federal government could have pressed the private sector to help rescue AIG when the company was on the verge of collapse in September 2008, a government watchdog has found. Instead, it let Wall Street off easy.

The government’s $182 billion bailout of the global insurer has left taxpayers holding the bag, while ensuring that all of AIG’s creditors and business partners are paid in full, said a Congressional Oversight Panel report released Thursday.

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NEW YORK – The stock market had another late-day slide, this time because of fears that the Gulf oil spill will threaten BP’s dividend and perhaps land the company in bankruptcy court.

The Dow Jones industrials, up about 125 points late Wednesday morning, closed down 41. Most selling came in the last hour, the third time in four days that stocks had a late-day drop.

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NEW YORK – Traders gave in to another case of last-hour anxiety Monday and drove stocks to their lowest level in seven months.

The Dow Jones industrial average, down just 42 points at 3:15 p.m., closed down 115, or 1.2 percent. That extended the Dow’s sharp drop from Friday, when it lost 323 in response to a disappointing May jobs report. Broader indexes had steeper percentage drops than the Dow on Monday

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LONDON – World stock markets tumbled Monday, dragged down by weak U.S. employment figures and fresh fears that Europe’s debt crisis is spreading.

The euro, which has turned into the barometer for investor risk appetite in recent weeks after Greece’s debt crisis, fell below $1.1900 to its lowest in more than four years. Commodities also fell after the disappointing U.S. data and amid angst about euro zone debt problems fed fears the world economy may falter in its recovery.

Full Story at money.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — With any luck, Wall Street can still escape two of the harshest elements of Washington’s reform efforts.

The two measures, included in the Senate bill passed last week, take direct aim at some of the more risky — and profitable — parts of banks’ business.

One proposal would require financial firms to spin off their trading desks that deal in derivatives.