When Detroit became the biggest city in U.S. history to file for bankruptcy last month, it turned public attention to the municipal-bond market, where cities and states go to borrow money. Was this sleepy, often-overlooked area of the financial world actually dangerous?

Hundreds of thousands of San Francisco Bay area commuters got at least a temporary reprieve from a massive transit strike when Gov. Jerry Brown ordered an inquiry into a labor contract dispute.

US service firms expanded last month at the fastest pace since February, fueled by a jump in new orders and stronger business activity.

Earnings at state-administered pension systems remained in positive territory in 2012 for the third consecutive year since the Great Recession. Thats the good news. Read on for the bad.