Filed under: College Finance The rise in student loan debt is rapidly becoming one of the most troubling trends in the economy. When graduates emerge into a weak workforce deep in debt, they face huge pressure to find the highest-paying jobs they can find, yet they still often have to make huge sacrifices for years in order to dig their way out of the financial hole. With so many young adults struggling with loans, a recent call to maintain the current low 3.4% interest rate on new Stafford loans for another year sounds..

Filed under: Energy , Economy When gasoline prices began to spike earlier this year, the popular opinion was that oil prices would continue to climb into the peak summer travel season. So much for popular opinion.

Filed under: Investing , Berkshire Hathaway , Market News , Special Report No cameras are permitted. No transcripts are available. Only shareholders are even allowed to attend.

If Walmart ( WMT ) has its way, its board will be a little Googlicious later this year. The world’s leading retailer is nominating Google’s ( GOOG ) Marissa Mayer to join the company’s board of directors. Mayer, vice president of Location and Local Services at Google, is one of the dot-com giant’s most visible executives

Filed under: Taxes Ideally, you’ve already completed your tax return, since late filers tend to pay more to get their taxes done. Or — even if you’ve left it till the last minute — you’re on track to finish by April 17, the IRS’s slightly extended deadline for 2012. (Don’t attribute those extra couple of days to any inherent generosity from the taxman: This year, April 15 falls on a Sunday, and Emancipation Day, a holiday observed in the District of Columbia, is the following Monday.