U.S. stocks take modest hit from Fed

MARKETWATCH FRONT PAGE

Major indexes close with losses after minutes from the Federal Reserve�s last policy session showed a reduced level of interest in another round of quantitative easing. See full story.

Treasurys drop after Fed releases minutes

Treasury prices sagged and yields rose on Tuesday after minutes from the Federal Reserve�s last monetary policy meeting suggested the central bank is not as dovish as the markets had hoped. See full story.

Apple shares boosted by brokerage calls

Two influential analysts raise price targets on Apple � with one predicting the shares may hit $1,000 in the next two years. See full story.

Facebook hits back, says Yahoo infringed patents

The No. 1 social network strikes back the Web portal, responding to a patent-infringement suit with claims that Yahoo infringed on its own intellectual property. See full story.

SEC probe may pressure Groupon CFO

So far Groupon is backing its CFO but as its accounting issues have now expanded into an SEC probe, pressure may increase on Jason Child to step down, writes Therese Poletti. See full story.

MARKETWATCH COMMENTARY

Instead of acknowledging that banks have become a part of government, we keep pretending they are private institutions, writes David Weidner. See full story.

MARKETWATCH PERSONAL FINANCE

Is the state that you have designs on retiring to tax friendly or not? And the basic questions to answer are these: How does the state tax your income? How does it tax your property and your consumption? And what�s the overall tax burden? See full story.