AstraZeneca’s chief executive David Brennan announces a doubling of its share buyback programme. Photograph: Mike Finn-Kelcey/Reuters AstraZeneca investors have received a double dose of good news, following strong first half results and US endorsement of its blood thinning treatment Brilinta. The company said it would double its share buyback this year to bn after a [...]

Tom Comerford leading one of his ‘credit crunch tours’ around Manhattan in May. Photograph: Tim Knox for the Guardian Everybody’s favourite Wall Street bank, Goldman Sachs, has suffered a sharp sense of humour failure about a worker in its graphics department leading tourists on credit crunch-themed walks around Manhattan’s financial district. For a Guardian story [...]

Cast members of MTV’s Jersey Shore ring the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange Photograph: Richard Drew/AP You could cut the anticipation with a meat cleaver this morning as traders on the New York Stock Exchange paused to watch a well-bronzed crew ringing the market’s opening bell – the cast of the reality [...]