NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- California is enjoying an unexpected $2.5 billion spike in tax revenue, which could help the state close its massive budget shortfall. But the Golden State is not out of the deficit woods yet. Governor Jerry Brown is expected to unveil a new budget plan on May 16, based on updated projections for revenue and spending, that could contain draconian cuts. The revenue surge ma.. more

(Money Magazine) -- I'm 45 and own a target-date fund for retirement. Are these funds "invest and forget"? -- Joseph Dipasquale, Phoenix Since gaining traction in the early 2000s, target-date funds have been touted as a convenient route to a diversified retirement portfolio. Convenient they are. If you don't like picking investments, you can buy a target fund with a date that matches the year y.. more

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Republican senators have fired another broadside at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, vowing to block the nomination of any candidate to lead the watchdog agency without major structural reforms. For the Obama administration, it's the latest roadblock in what has become a marathon search for a director to head the agency that was a key component of last year's Wall .. more

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The jobs recovery picked up speed in April, as business payrolls swelled and the unemployment rate rose as more people returned to the workforce. The economy added 244,000 jobs in the month, the Labor Department reported Friday. That's up from the 221,000 jobs gained in March. Economists surveyed by CNNMoney were expecting a slight slowdown to a gain of just 185,000 jobs. .. more

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- American employers and workers are still not seeing eye to eye on the job market. The government's highly anticipated April jobs report showed somewhat of a paradox Friday. Employers claim they added 244,000 jobs in April, but workers say they lost 190,000, pushing the unemployment rate up to 9%, from 8.8%. "We're still in this zone where we don't have these two surveys ag.. more

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- For the last several weeks, oil trader Stephen Schork has been betting that prices would fall. Instead, they kept rising. And every day they ticked higher, he lost money. On Monday his luck finally turned around. Prices started to collapse and have slid 12% in the span of a week. On Friday, oil prices fell 2.6% to settle at $97.18 a barrel, the lowest level since mid-March... more

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Oil continued its slide Friday, dropping 2.6%, as a rally in the dollar triggered a sell-off that erased gains made earlier on a stronger-than-expected jobs report. As stocks rallied, oil prices flip-flopped. Crude fell 3% ahead of the jobs report, then got a little boost before retreating again. By the end of trading, crude for June delivery settled down to $97.18 a barre.. more

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The recent surge in gas prices showed some signs of cracking Friday, but economists say consumers shouldn't get their hopes up yet. After rising daily for more than a month, the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline fell by one tenth of a cent to $3.984, according motorist group AAA. Any break in gas prices is welcome news for drivers, who have been pouri.. more

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- If you think trading volume has been anemic in the past few months, you ain't seen nothing yet. Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) has routinely been one of the most actively traded stocks on the New York Stock Exchange for awhile. Nearly 420 million shares have changed hands daily, on average, for the past three months. But that number could get cut by a factor of 10 come Monday... more

NEW YORK�(CNNMoney) -- Stocks remained higher Friday in late-day trading, as most early gains were pared when a steep sell-off in the euro dampened investor enthusiasm about a stronger-than-expected jobs report. The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) was up 41 points, or 0.3%. The S&P 500 (SPX) rose 4 points, or 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite (COMP) gained 11 points, or 0.4%. The market retr.. more