The state of Virginia, which already has had to cut $6 billion from the two-year budget ending June 30, 2010, may have to cut $250 million to $300 million, the House Appropriations Committee was told today.

A 2,000-plus acre farm in Nelson County valued at $15.5 million filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday, a day before it was scheduled to go up for public auction on the steps of the Lovingston courthouse.

Albemarle County faces even worse financial troubles than officials anticipated only weeks ago.

Ford Motor Co. earned $1 billion in the third quarter, fueled by U.S. market share gains, cost cuts and the government’s Cash for Clunkers rebates.

They’re well trained, well paid, ready to join and may even bring a passel of jobs for local residents along with them.

Virginia’s unemployment rate edged higher in September, to a seasonally adjusted rate of 6.7 percent from 6.6 percent in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.

In from the frigid morning air, employees at Mohawk Industries caught a second cold shock early Monday when officials informed them that they will be without jobs by the end of the year.

Hasbro says its profit grew 8.8 percent in the third quarter, helped by lower costs and slightly higher sales of Transformers and G.I. Joe toys.

One of America’s wealthiest men was among six hedge fund managers and corporate executives arrested Friday in a hedge fund insider trading case that prosecutors say reaped more than $20 million in illegal profits and should be a wake-up call for Wall Street.

A U.S. House of Representatives’ panel voted Thursday to regulate for the first time privately traded derivatives, the kind of exotic financial instruments that helped bring down Lehman Brothers and nearly toppled American International Group.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is “ultimately responsible” for regulators failing to rein in massive bonus payments at American International Group because he led the agencies that provided AIG’s lifelines, according to a bailout watchdog.

Housing construction rose in August and the number of newly laid-off workers seeking unemployment aid fell unexpectedly last week, adding to signs the recession has ended.

First-time claims for jobless benefits fell more than expected last week, evidence that companies are laying off fewer workers as the economy improves.

Taxpayers face losses on a significant portion of the $81 billion in government aid provided to the auto industry, an oversight panel said in a report to be released Wednesday.

Consumer spending edged up in July with help from the popular Cash for Clunkers program, but household incomes, the fuel for future spending increases, were flat.