Retirement Trends

Technological advances are making it difficult for individuals to plan and stick with their long-term financial goals.

For the third year in a row, the nation's economic recovery has hit a springtime soft spot. Reflecting that weakness, only 1 in 4 Americans now expects his or her own financial situation to improve over the next year, a new Associated Press-GfK poll shows.

Capital One Financial Corp. said Thursday that its first-quarter net income tumbled 25 percent from the same period last year, when the lender booked a hefty gain from its acquisition of online bank ING Direct.

After getting bludgeoned in the financial crisis, Morgan Stanley is staking its future on the steadier, if less spectacular, business of wealth management.

Piper Jaffray Cos. said Wednesday that first-quarter net income more than tripled, helped by lower expenses.

Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street after several big companies including Bank of America reported financial results that fell short of what analysts were hoping for.