NATION

NATION
Federated name changewould alter ticker symbol
NEW YORK -- Federated Department Stores Inc. shares will trade under the ticker symbol "M" if shareholders approve changing the company's name to Macy's Inc., the company said Wednesday.
In changing its symbol to "M" from "FD" -- which the retailer has traded under since 1992 -- Federated will join an elite group of 15 companies represented by a single letter on the New York Stock Exchange.
The change is before shareholders at Federated's May 18 annual meeting, and the stock symbol change would be effective June 1. The company opted to shorten its proposed new name from the previously announced Macy's Group Inc.
Bernanke: Expansionisn't losing steam
WASHINGTON -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke doesn't believe the nation will slip into a recession, and he rejects the notion raised by his predecessor, Alan Greenspan, that the economy's expansion could be in danger of fizzling out.
But the good news for investors stops there.
Bernanke said Wednesday that Wall Street jumped too far last week in thinking that Fed policymakers had signaled interest rates might drop. That new comment sent stocks spiraling downward.
Associated Press