DailyFinance

A Miami businessman whom Ernst & Young once named "Entrepreneur of the Year" has been accused of swindling $40 million from investors, including some NBA stars, to support a lavish lifestyle. Venezuelan-born Claudio Osorio, 54, was arrested Friday and charged with 23 counts of fraud and money laundering .

Fast-food workers are joining the movement to unionize in protest over low pay. More than 200 workers at Burger King, Wendy's, McDonald's, and other fast-food restaurants recently went on strike in New York -- and organizers say it was just the start of a larger campaign.

The announcement of Kate Middleton's pregnancy last week was joyous for the Windsor family and royal-watchers alike. But all the fuss around the story hides an uncomfortable truth: For many of us, having an heir is getting unaffordably expensive and folks feeling the pinch are putting it off.

Fresh data from ratings tracker Nielsen shows an alarming drop in television viewership. ABC, Fox, CBS and NBC have combined for a 9 percent drop in viewers in the coveted 18-to-49 age bracket since the fall season began. Media executives are worried, and rightfully so.

McDonald's said Monday that a key sales figure rose in November, as U.S. customers snapped up the world's biggest hamburger chain's breakfast offerings and limited-time Cheddar Bacon Onion sandwiches. The increase follows a decline in October.

Let's not pretend we're suggesting gifts for your unimaginably wealthy but weird friend: We admit these are the most bizarre gifts we could think of. Still, even if you don't have a hard-to-please buddy, take a look: You might find some gift-giving inspiration among the oddities.

Global demand for liquefied natural gas is growing rapidly, and the U.S. has it. But what's causing angst in the industry are regulators: Can our government agencies license exports fast enough for U.S. producers to get in on that rising LNG market before before foreign competitors eat their lunch?

U.S. shoppers will buy $110 billion worth of gift cards this year, and nobody's complaining about it: Gift cards are the most-desired present of the season. But you still have to pick the right gift card for each recipient, so we asked plastic experts for their best advice.

The problem with the newspaper business is simple: A subscription price barely pays for the paper your papers are printed on, and free media are siphoning off the ad revenues newspapers rely on. Warren Buffet thought he could buck the trend, but not even the Oracle of Omaha can fight math.

The new retiree has a lot in common with a lottery winner. But there is at least one major difference. If you buy a lottery ticket, you have a miniscule chance of winning. If you contribute to your retirement account, you're bound to win.

As the fiscal cliff fight between President Obama and congressional Republicans grows more heated, it's starting to look as if we might fall over the cliff. But what would this mean for your 2013 budget? We've rounded up the best fiscal cliff calculators we could find to help you figure that out.

When the Aerospace Industries Association held its big annual gathering this week, the talk wasn't about America's superior aircraft and spacecraft. The subjects that dominated the event were the fiscal cliff, sequestration, and the potential damage that automatic spending cuts could do.

Apple CEO Tim Cook opened up to Bloomberg Businessweek about some of the hot button issues facing his company. The man who succeeded Steve Jobs dishes on Maps, executive changes, overall management style, and making Macs in the U.S.A.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell for a third straight week last week, but still remain too volatile to offer a clear signal on labor market conditions. Initial jobless claims dropped 25,000 to a seasonally adjusted 370,000.

Polls about Americans' views on politics and the economy sometimes return results that baffle the well-informed. Public Policy Polling's latest poll helps explain why that may be: It reveals that a high percentage of people have no problem offering an opinion on topics they know nothing about.

Frequent travelers know that extra airline fees have become the norm. But resorts and hotels make it even harder to figure out what your final bill is going to add up to. Now, the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection is fighting back on our behalf.

Benjamin Franklin once said that a penny saved is a penny earned, but if the pennies are older, they can be worth more. At current copper prices, the melt value of older pennies is well over two cents, and you don't even need to melt them down to extract that extra value.

It may feel like Starbucks shops are everywhere, but apparently there's still plenty of real estate left to conquer. Over the next five years, it will add 3,000 stores in the Americas, 1,500 of them in the U.S. But its global plans are just as ambitious.

U.S. workers were more productive this summer than initially thought, while costing their companies less. The Labor Department says productivity grew at an annual rate of 2.9 percent from July through September. That's the fastest pace in two years.