quarters

Prospects for corporate earnings are dimmer in the coming quarters — even though reports so far this quarter have been relatively bright.

A lot of big banks had a free ride to higher earnings the last few quarters. That could be ending soon.

Americans regained more of their shrunken wealth last quarter, mainly because the healing economy boosted stock portfolios. But the gain was less than in the previous two quarters.

Yahoo Inc said revenue could grow for the first time in six quarters in the first quarter of 2010, noting that demand for premium display advertising had improved significantly.

The French economy will emerge slowly from recession in 2010, with weak growth forecast for both the first and second quarters, France's national statistics agency said Thursday.

GM says it lost $1.2 billion from the time it left bankruptcy protection through Sept. 30, far better than previous quarters and a sign that the auto giant is starting to turn around.

It was the first profit in seven quarters for the insurer, which has received about $180 billion in federal bailout funds.

Southwest Airlines broke a string of three straight losing quarters by eking out a small profit despite a downturn in travel.

A German company is planning a line of vending machines that can dispense small chunks of gold.

The U.S. economy grew an annualized 1.9 percent in the second quarter of 2008, which was stronger than both of the previous two quarters.

Unemployment rate in June rose to 5.5 percent, its highest point since July 2004. These and other trends are discussed in the latest update of the Quarterly Indicators: The Economy and Small Business.