How can Black businesses gain access to capital and how can wealth be circulated within the Black community were among the questions answered at the Black Wall Street National Convention & Summit XIII recently held in Chicago.

Were you one of the first to run out and grab an iPad when they hit the market this spring? If you’re a more affluent 25–36-year-old, you would be part of Apple’s most fertile consumer market. That’s according to The Nielsen Company’s latest iPhone and iPad User Profiles.

House members are giving up a couple of days reconnecting with folks in their districts this week to pass a jobs bill that Democrats say is crucial to the nation's well-being.

It’s time for my favorite annual holiday – which technically isn’t an “official” day, but actually several weeks leading up to one BIG day. YOUR day may not be the same as mine. But trust me, it’s the one holiday most seasoned parents look forward to more than all the others combined. It’s the back to school season, and yes, I am so glad it’s finally HERE!

President Barack Obama says new revelations of big bank bonuses underscore the need for the financial regulation bill he signed into law this week.

Congress has approved legislation to restore unemployment benefits to people who have been out of work for six months or more, ending a seven-week interruption that caused 2 1/2 million people to lose unemployment benefits averaging about $300 a week.

Last Christmas my favorite gift was the book, Basketball for Dummies. My family thought I needed it because my 13-year-old son has been playing basketball since kindergarten, wears a size 13 shoe and at 6’1” is already towering over me – all clear indicators that he might one day be a truly viable force on the court.

With a GOP filibuster safely broken, the Senate is poised to pass legislation restoring jobless benefits for millions of people unable to find work in the frail economic recovery.

As an executive at the world’s largest consumer research organization, The Nielsen Company, I spend my days surrounded by data and statistics.

A popular chicken fast food eatery recently announced it was renewing its commitment to diversifying its franchise owner roll and employee pool.

Americans, worried about jobs and the sluggish economic recovery, are having a relapse in confidence, causing a widely watched index to tumble in June and raising concerns about consumer spending in the critical months ahead.

Technology is moving faster than the speed of light. Are you keeping up? Eighty-eight year old actress Betty White - whose popularity has gone through the roof lately -- was marveling at how “live” TV was such a unbelievably big deal back in the 1940’s and ‘50s when her 63-year career began.

CRISIS AVERTED: CVS Caremark Corp. and Walgreen, which could have lost billions in revenue each in their dispute over prescription pricing, will continue doing business together.

WASHINGTON - Are the toys in your child’s Happy Meal making him fat?

JOLIET, Ill. - A suburban Chicago woman who says she got sick after eating a Subway sandwich is suing the restaurant and the chain’s parent company.

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration's flagship effort to help people in danger of losing their homes is falling flat.

WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve on Monday will conduct the first test of a new tool intended to soak up the huge amounts of money it has injected into the economy.

WASHINGTON – A government investigator says companies receiving money from the government's Wall Street bailout have repaid nearly all the $531 million in unpaid federal taxes they owed when they entered the program.

WASHINGTON - Americans are pulling back on their spending, a trend that could slow the economic recovery if it continues.

When a parent dies, a dependent child suffers one of the most painful experiences of their life. The emotional loss is significant, however lurking below the surface are legal and financial issues that can have a long term impact on the child's growth and development.

DES MOINES, Iowa – It's been a harrowing ride in the stock market lately. So much so that it's prompted scores of investors to pull money out of the market and park it in bonds or other fixed-income assets.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s CEO told shareholders Friday that the company is positioning itself for 20 years of worldwide growth and that it plans to hire a half-million employees over the next five years.

Father's Day is almost here, so remember: men love toys. Regardless of his age, you might consider getting your guy a new video game or gaming system, as they continue to be popular.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Illinois universities were given authority Tuesday to borrow money so they can stay afloat while waiting for state government to pay its bills.

Charitable giving fell by 3.6 percent last year as Americans continued to struggle with the recession, though some philanthropic experts feared the decrease could have been much worse given the economic downturn, according to an authoritative annual survey released Wednesday.

Edward Wiliams, a former Harris Bank executive, has teamed up with a former colleague from the bank, Matthew Roth to create Generation Community Bank. They are looking to build the bank at 501 E. 43rd St.– which is currently a vacant lot, according to Williams.

“Nielsen. The TV ratings people, right?” “Right! But, we're so much more. The Nielsen Company is the largest marketing research company in the world. Beyond television we also measure and analyze trends and consumer behavior around the globe in the mobile, online and consumer packaged goods industries.”

WASHINGTON - Homebuyers rushed to take advantage of government incentives and low mortgage rates in April, giving the housing market its biggest boost in five months.

Ben Sherwood in his book, The Survivors Club, studied people who had survived some of the most horrendous human tragedies. According to Sherwood, “No matter the adversity, the navy says, survival is a mentality, a way of thinking.

The U.S. House may soon debate new legislation the Senate passed last week aimed at reducing swipe fees small businesses incur each time a customer uses their credit or debit card.

I love going to the movies. Don't you? According to The Nielsen Company, African Americans patronize movie theaters an average of seven times a year (which has trended down slightly over the past two years).

WASHINGTON - The economy got what it needed in April: A burst of hiring that added a net 290,000 jobs, the biggest monthly total in four years.

From a colloquial perspective -- “If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!” -- we've long understood the power of mothers.

On May 5, 1905, Robert Sengstacke Abbott founded the Chicago Defender in a small kitchen in his landlord's apartment, with an initial investment of 25 cents and a press run of 300 copies.

WASHINGTON – A new tax on large banks is picking up support in Congress as Democratic lawmakers target financial institutions that benefited from the Wall Street bailout to help pay for the Democrats' election-year agenda.

One West Side congressman has proposed legislation to further strengthen this year's college student loan overhaul and would allow for private student loans to be discharged in bankruptcy.

Gov. Pat Quinn has proposed reforms that would raise minimum staffing levels at nursing homes, an idea that's quietly being fought by the industry although there's evidence more time spent on care by nurses and aides improves residents' health.

LOS ANGELES - Most Americans still oppose legalizing marijuana but larger majorities believe pot has medical benefits and the government should allow its use for that purpose, according to an Associated Press-CNBC poll released Tuesday.

When someone learns I work for The Nielsen Company, their first question is “how can I become a Nielsen TV family?” If I said “by participating in the 2010 census,” it wouldn't be a long stretch.

Many African Americans still see owning a home as a primary way to achieve the American dream. But a majority of Blacks believe that this dream is currently unattainable and will only be harder to achieve in the future, according to a Fannie Mae survey.

Ella Mae Cheeks Johnson, of Cleveland recently passed after having spent one hundred six years in this life. As a fellow church member, I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Mrs. Johnson on numerous occasions and to share her philosophy of life.

Cutting a better deal on college financial aid can be more than a parents' fantasy.

BEIJING - Foreign companies say China is increasingly using discriminatory rules to reduce access to previously open areas of its economy and promote its technology industries, a U.S. business group said Friday, adding to rising complaints of worsening conditions for foreign investors.

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is delaying release of the annual report on the financial health of Social Security and Medicare so that the new report can reflect the impact of the recently passed health care overhaul.

WASHINGTON – Scam artists are taking advantage of the new health insurance law to peddle phony policies.

I'm going to tell you a secret, but you have to keep it just between us: my macaroni and cheese is better than my mother's. But she doesn't know that, so sssh. Mom and her friends use Velveeta processed cheese to make their hot, bubbly, baked delight.

Small businesses with 50 or fewer employees may receive a $2,500 tax credit for each full-time job earning at least $13.75 per hour they create and sustain for at least one year thanks to legislation recently passed by the Illinois House and Senate.

WASHINGTON – After months of criticism that it hasn't done enough to prevent foreclosures, the Obama administration announced on Friday a plan to reduce the amount some troubled borrowers owe on their home loans.

WASHINGTON – Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says the administration will not accept a financial overhaul bill that does not provide strong consumer protection and restraints on risk taking by large banks.

The once mighty community activist group ACORN says it's folding.

WASHINGTON – As banks gambled on the risky mortgages that helped create the worst financial crisis in generations, the U.S. government handed out millions of dollars in bonuses to regulators at agencies that missed or ignored warning signs that the system was on the verge of a meltdown.

To the recent question raised – should there be an African American agenda for the White House to consider – the answer is a resounding ‘yes,’ according to participants in Saturday’s We Count: The Black Agenda Is The American Agenda forum hosted by commentator and author Tavis Smiley.

TOKYO - A massive global recall, mounting legal bills and a battered reputation add up to a very expensive problem for Toyota.

So, I actually managed to stay awake through the 82nd Annual Academy Awards. (OK, I dozed off a few times, but I was up for the parts that mattered.) How many of you watched the Oscars on March 7? No need to 'fess up.

Affiliates of the once mighty liberal activist group ACORN are remaking themselves in a desperate bid to ditch the tarnished name of their parent organization and restore federal grants and other revenue streams that ran dry in the wake of a video scandal.

WASHINGTON - Communications regulators on Tuesday will unveil a sweeping proposal to overhaul U.S. broadband policy.

Black consumers are responding to tighter economic conditions by focusing more of their spending on products and services that improve their homes and lifestyle.

Repairing your credit may save you money. Over the near term, interest rates will rise. This week, the Federal Reserve increased the rate it charges banks for emergency loans.

MIAMI – Toyota owners claiming that massive safety recalls are causing the value of their vehicles to plummet have filed at least 89 class-action lawsuits that could cost the Japanese auto giant $3 billion or more, according to an Associated Press review of cases, legal precedent and interviews with experts.

With the exception of a handful of hard-core holdouts - you know, the set-in-her-ways mama, the “when pigs fly” grandfather, the technologically challenged (and likes it that way, thank you very much) friend - everyone I know (even my mother) seems to be texting, tweeting, instant messaging, blogging, You Tubing, Facebooking, My Space-ing or communicating through some other form of social media.

NEW YORK - Your next credit card statement is going to contain an ugly truth: how much that card really costs to use.

WASHINGTON - Were those pricey Super Bowl ads a waste? Maybe not, but paying $3 million to census employees who didn't do any work surely was.

The owner of a contracting company certified as a woman- and minority-owned business has pleaded not guilty to charges the firm collected $9.6 million through fraudulent contracts.

SEATTLE – DVD rental kiosk chain Redbox has agreed to wait 28 days after Warner Bros. releases new movies for sale before offering to rent them for $1 a night.

Dr. King dreamed of the day that African Americans would enjoy a full measure of freedom; however, he knew that we would not enjoy a full measure of freedom until we gained economic empowerment.

The year 2010 will be a year of transition from the Great Recession to hopefully a period of sustainable economic growth.

The economy has taken its toll on corporate America, wiping out jobs, reducing revenues and in some cases forcing giants, such as General Motors Corp., into bankruptcy.

DETROIT — General Motors Co. has rescinded white-collar pay cuts it made last spring as it desperately tried to conserve cash and avoid filing for bankruptcy protection.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. trade deficit in July hit the highest level in six months as a record rise in imports outpaced a third straight increase in foreign demand for American products, according to government data released Thursday. Both gains provided more evidence that the worst recession since the 1930s was losing its grip on the global economy.

WASHINGTON –“The world has been through the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression. The crisis in turn sparked a deep global recession, from which we are only now beginning to emerge,” Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke recently told the Federal Reserve Bank during an economic symposium in Kansas City.