Latest financial news - CNNMoney.com

• Home sales continue to climb
(Home sales continued to climb in April, according to the latest reading on the housing recovery from an industry trade group.)

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• Memorial Day travel to dip this year
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• Bernanke warns against hitting the brakes too soon
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• Stocks pop as Bernanke eases fears
(Stocks popped Wednesday after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke eased fears the central bank could scale back its stimulus policies anytime soon.)

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• Regulator okays RBS, Lloyds funding plans
(Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds won't need to tap investors or taxpayers for new funds to bolster their financial strength as they prepare to be returned to the private sector.)

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• U.K. can do more to boost economy: IMF
(The U.K. should spend more on infrastructure projects this year and cut corporate taxes to shore up its fragile economic recovery, said the International Monetary Fund.)

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• Insanely durable smartphone ... from Caterpillar?
(Watch out Apple and Samsung? Caterpillar launched a drop-proof, water-proof, dust-proof smartphone Monday that you actually wouldn't be embarrassed to carry around with you.)

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• Nobody puts baby food in a corner
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• Even small business is bigger in Texas
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• Women are breaking through the 'concrete ceiling'
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• Car Wars: A smoother road ahead
(Wall Street analyst reports are like paper hankies: useful when needed but less than durable and easily disposed of afterward. Not so the annual "Car Wars" report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch's John Murphy. Published each May for some two decades, it provides a glimpse into the future of the U.S. auto business. By detailing every redesigned model due over the next four years, it has become the most authoritative analysis of what's coming to the market and how it will impact individual manufacturers. To find out more about future models, you'd need a telephoto lens and top security clearance)

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• Crowdfunding sites raise thousands for Oklahoma victims
(Crowdfunding websites are seeing donations pour in following the deadly tornado that ravaged Moore, Okla.)

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• 'Grandparent scams' steal thousands from seniors
(Across the country, law enforcement officials are warning seniors to beware of so-called "grandparent scams," in which fraudsters are impersonating a grandchild in distress -- and begging for cash.)

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• Pet shelters & tractors: Companies donate more than cash for tornado relief
(It's common for companies to make big cash donations after a disaster. But following Monday's tornado in Oklahoma City, several firms are going beyond writing a check, offering help through the use of their equipment, staff, buildings and other in-kind donations.)

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• Tornado victims may face long haul with insurers
(The tornado that struck the Moore, Okla., area Monday afternoon left an almost 2-mile wide path of destruction, flattening homes and businesses and taking at least 24 lives.)

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• How Apple scores its lower tax bill
(Apple is one of America's most profitable companies. And it pays a substantial income tax bill to the U.S. government -- by its own account, $6 billion in 2012 and an estimated $7 billion this year.)

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• Medicare payment rates: $15,000 for one hospital, $26,000 for another
(Get a hip replaced at Olympia Medical Center in Los Angeles, and Medicare will pay the small, doctor-owned hospital $15,585, or about 13% of what Olympia charged in the bills it submitted.)

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• Stocks: Looking to Bernanke
(All eyes are on Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve Wednesday as investors await clues about whether the central bank will continue to pump money into the financial system.)

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• Sony shares surge on spin off talk
(Sony shares spiked to their highest level in two years Wednesday as the company said it would consider a proposal to spin off its movie and music division.)

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• Bank of Japan maintains policy, cheers Abenomics
(Japan's central bank pledged Wednesday to maintain its ambitious quantitative easing program, saying that economic conditions in the country are improving.)

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