More economy & politics headlines

Even American pop singer Madonna is intrigued by Marine Le Pen’s charm offensive.

3:00 a.m. Today 3:00 a.m. March 13, 2015

The news out of the retail sales report is pretty grim no matter how many ways you turn it around.

American households got way overextended on credit before the recession and they are still working that debt load down.

Corporate tax receipts are up 23% in the first five months of the government’s budget year, despite taking a sharp fall in February, according to the latest Treasury Department data.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The federal government ran a budget deficit of $192 billion in February, the Treasury Department said Thursday. That’s slightly less than the February 2014 deficit of $194 billion, and brings the government’s budget shortfall for the fiscal year to date to $387 billion. For the month, the government spent $332 billion, down 2% from a year ago. Total receipts were $139 billion in February, down 3% from February 2014. The government’s budget year runs from October through September.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Commerzbank AG agreed Thursday to pay a combined $1.7 billion to settle U.S. federal and state regulator’s claims that the German bank violated sanctions and anti-money laundering laws. In a release, the New York Department of Financial Services said Commerzbank turned a blind eye to help transfer funds for sanctioned clients like Iran and Sudan by stripping out information that would have raised alerts at regulatory agencies. The bank also aided accounting fraud at Japanese optics company Olympus Corp. In a separate statement, the Federal Reserve said it was investigating whether charges should be leveled against individuals at the bank who were involved in the illegal conduct. The bank disclosed in February that settlement talks with U.S. prosecutors were underway and the bank was raising its litigation reserves.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Household and nonprofit net worth climbed by $1.52 trillion in the fourth quarter, helped by a $742 billion gain in equities and a $356 billion rise in the value of real estate, according to a Federal Reserve report released Thursday. The report said household debt grew 2.7% in the fourth quarter, while business debt surged 7.2%, the fastest growth since the second quarter of 2008. Nonfinancial corporations kept a record $2 trillion of cash in the fourth quarter, up from $1.89 trillion in the third quarter.

A Chicago proprietary trading firm headed by the influential chairman of the Futures Industry Association is taking a novel approach to fighting back against “spoofing,” a type of price manipulation that plagues a range of markets.

A petition on the White House’s web site calling for charges to be filed against 47 Republican senators who sent a letter to Iran’s leaders has garnered more than double the signatures it needs to draw a White House response.

Sales at U.S. retailers fell in February for the third month in a row, as most stores fared poorly. Bad weather alone can’t explain it.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The International Monetary Fund is so far not concerned about the euro’s weakness. In a briefing for reporters, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said that recent moves in the European currency were in line with fundamentals. The euro has traded near a 12-year low this week and has lost roughly 12.3% against the dollar in 2015, according to FactSet.

Denmark’s central bank is committed to defending the krone’s peg to the euro, and further cuts in its benchmark interest rate, as well as interventions in the foreign exchange markets, remain options, Governor Lars Rohde said Thursday

The number of people applying for unemployment sank below the key 300,000 mark in early March, a reassuring sign that the U.S. labor market remains on the mend.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The prices the U.S. paid for imported goods rose in February for the first time in nine months, largely because oil is no longer in a freefall. The import price index increased a seasonally adjusted 0.4% last month, larger than the 0.1% gain predicted by economists polled by MarketWatch. Yet excluding fuel, import prices fell by 0.3% last month, the Labor Department said Thursday. The price of U.S.-made goods exported to other nations, meanwhile, dipped 0.1% in February. For the past 12 months U.S. import prices have dropped 9.4%, mainly because of sharply lower oil costs. Import prices are down a much smaller 1.2% excluding fuel during the same span.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The number of people who applied for U.S. unemployment benefits sank by 36,000 to 289,000 in the seven days from March 1 to March 7, reversing a sharp uptick in late February that was likely triggered by a bout of bad weather. The upshot: the labor market is still pretty healthy and improving at a rapid rate, as attested by the 295,000 increase in new U.S. jobs in February. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected new claims to fall to a seasonally adjusted 310,000 from a revised 325,000 in the prior week. The average of new claims over the past month, meanwhile, fell by 3,750 to 302,250, the Labor Department said Thursday. The four-week average smooths out sharp fluctuations in the more volatile weekly report and is seen as a more accurate predictor of labor-market trends. Also, the government said continuing claims decreased by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 2.42 million in the week ended Feb. 28. Continuing claims reflect the number of people already receiving benefits. Initial claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 325,000 from 320,000, marking the highest level since last May. The increase in claims last month coincided with several major storms in the eastern half of the United States.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Sales at U.S. retailers slumped in February for the third month in a row, a sign that Americans more likely pocketed the money they saved from a plunge in gasoline prices that took place from July through January. Most stores fared poorly in February, though particularly bad weather almost certainly contributed. Retail sales fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.6% last month after a 0.8% drop in January and a 0.9% decline in December. Sales fell even though gasoline stations posted their first increase since last May. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast a 0.3% increase in overall retail sales. Sales minus autos dipped 0.1%, but sales minus gasoline dropped an even steeper 0.8%, the Commerce Department said Thursday. The only retail segments to post gains were gas stations, grocery stores, Internet purveyors and stores that sell sporting goods, books and music.

Experts believe Hillary Clinton’s emails could be recovered; Republicans try to outdo each other on tax cuts; a snowstorm is blamed for the ‘rapid process’ of sending a letter to Iranian leaders; and more.

Hillary Clinton’s handling of questions about her email practices is providing fresh ammunition not just to Republican adversaries but people in her own party who are concerned she could win the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination without being challenged in a primary contest.

A nuclear agreement between Saudi Arabia and South Korea, along with recent comments from Saudi officials and royals, is raising concerns on Capitol Hill and among U.S. allies that a deal with Iran, rather than stanching the spread of nuclear technologies, risks fueling it.