The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged but hinted that the time to cut them could be coming soon, as inflation improves and the unemployment rate edges up. The news means that the U.S. central bank's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will, for now, be keeping its key benchmark borrowing cost in its current target range of 5.25-5.5 percent, a...

Four times a year publicly traded companies release their financial statements and required disclosures in what has been dubbed earnings season. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires these reports as a way to provide better transparency to investors as to what exactly they are investing in and how the company is performing. What is earnings season, and what exactly...

Real estate investment trusts, or REITs, allow investors to earn a portion of the profits of real estate investing without buying, managing or financing a physical property. REITs are popular among investors for their ability to diversify a portfolio, since they have lower correlations to the performance of stocks and bonds. REIT investors carefully consider dividend yields, since dividends are...

Meet the faces behind the U.S. central bank. The Federal Reserve is tasked with maintaining a stable and sound financial system -- most notably by raising or lowering interest rates at (what's typically) eight meetings a year. A group of policymakers within the Fed vote on those interest rate decisions: the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), all of which directly...