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BlackRock Inc, the world's largest money manager, reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday, benefiting from strong markets and a flow of new money into its exchange-traded funds and retail business. The New York-based asset manager ended the fourth quarter through December 31 with $4.3 trillion in assets, including new money and market gains, surpassing the $4 trillion mark for the first time last year. That asset growth - a 14 percent rise from the end of 2012 - helped drive BlackRock's 24-percent jump in quarterly profit to $841 million, or $4.86 per share, up from $690 million, or $3.93 per share, a year earlier. BlackRock and its peers make money by charging fees as a percentage of assets under management. "They are well positioned to generate solid growth almost regardless of the market environment, given that they have a very broad product offering," said Jason Weyeneth, a New York-based analyst with Sterne, Agee & Leach Inc, focusi

Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Citigroup Inc were hit hard by a sharp fall in bond trading revenues in the fourth quarter, a stinging blow for two banks long seen as stalwarts of fixed income markets. The two banks performed worse in fixed income than rivals JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank of America Corp, showing that even as bond market trading volume suffers from falling prices, some banks will endure more pain than others. Softer markets are only the beginning of the trouble with trading bonds, which include fixed income, currency, and commodities products, at investment banks. Regulators are boosting capital requirements and making many derivatives markets more transparent for investors. The moves are designed to make markets safer after Wall Street's excesses helped bring the financial system to the brink of collapse in 2007 and 2008. But they also cut into profits. Goldman's profit fell 21 percent, as revenue from fixed income trading dropped 11 percent after adjusti

The Dow and S&P 500 dipped on Thursday, led by financial shares after a round of disappointing earnings from the sector. The S&P 500 pulled back from record levels and was nearly flat for the week. Financials were the biggest drag on the market after both Citigroup Inc ( id="symbol_C.N_0"> C.N ) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc ( id="symbol_GS.N_1"> GS.N ) reported quarterly profits hit by lower bond trading revenue, with Goldman's earnings falling 21 percent and Citigroup's missing expectations. The results followed fairly positive reads on the sector from JPMorgan Chase & Co ( id="symbol_JPM.N_2"> JPM.N ), Bank of America Corp ( id="symbol_BAC.N_3"> BAC.N ) and Wells Fargo & Co ( id="symbol_WFC.N WFC.N ). _4"> Goldman's stock slid 2.1 percent to $175.06, one of the Dow's biggest decliners, while Citigroup dropped 4.1 percent to $52.75. The S&P financial sector index .SPSY fell 0.7

A decade of lawmaking by U.S. states to ensure consumers are told when their data has been hacked still lets companies such as Target Corp wait weeks or even months to disclose security breaches. Forty-six of 50 U.S. states have passed laws requiring disclosure, starting with California in 2002, but the laws vary in terms of when and how notice must be given, and most states allow for delays to investigate the intrusion. Calls for federal action, including by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, have gone unheeded by Congress. And guidelines to safeguard investors in public companies also do not give clear guidance on timing and do not require disclosures that would compromise a company's cyber security. Consumer advocates have criticized Target, where data from 40 million credit and debit cards and 70 million other records containing customer information was stolen. State attorneys general are probing the breach. Target says it acted quickly after taking defensive action. &qu

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 climbing to an all-time closing high after strong earnings from Bank of America and data signaled that the economy was improving. Bank of America Corp ( id="symbol_BAC.N_0"> BAC.N ) climbed 2.3 percent to $17.15 and gave one of the biggest boosts to the S&P 500 after the second-largest U.S. bank said its quarterly profit surged by nearly $3 billion on an increase in revenue. The report came a day after both JPMorgan Chase & Co ( id="symbol_JPM.N_1"> JPM.N ) and Wells Fargo & Co ( id="symbol_WFC.N_2"> WFC.N ) also posted better-than-expected earnings, though Wells Fargo's mortgage lending slowed to the lowest level in five years. "So far so good with bank earnings this season, and it is very positive that we're seeing significant declines in foreclosures, which is very positive for the economy," said David Kelly, chief global strategist for JPMorgan Funds in New

The U.S. economy continued to grow at a moderate pace from late November through the end of 2013, with some regions of the country expecting a pick-up in growth, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday. _0"> In its Beige Book report of anecdotal information on business activity collected from contacts nationwide, the U.S. central bank said two-thirds of the 12 districts reported increases in hiring. "The economic outlook is positive in most districts, with some reports citing expectations for 'more of the same' and some expecting a pick-up in growth," the report said. The findings, compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston from data collected on or before January 6, were broadly in line with economic data ranging from consumer spending to industrial production that have showed a building up of strength in the economy in late 2013. The reports of increased hiring support views that a sharp slowdown in job growth in December was the result of cold weath

A former driver for Osama bin Laden and a witness linked to plots to bomb U.S. airliners may testify by video at the U.S. trial of Suleiman Abu Ghaith, a son-in-law of bin Laden and former al Qaeda spokesman charged with conspiring to kill Americans and providing material support to terrorists. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan on Wednesday granted a defense motion to allow testimony from Salim Hamdan, perhaps best known as the plaintiff in a 2006 U.S. Supreme Court decision that found unconstitutional the military commissions set up for detainees at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba . Hamdan's subsequent conviction was overturned in October 2012. According to Abu Ghaith's lawyers, Hamdan would testify that he never saw the defendant participate in any plotting, and that Abu Ghaith's inclusion on a "brevity card" that contained names of members of al Qaeda's inner circle would not necessarily suggest allegiance to al Qaeda. Prosecutors had argued that te