This Morning's Top Financial Stories

Good morning, Fools! Let's dig into what's making news this morning.

Oil above $97 amid unrest
Oil rose to more than $97 a barrel today on the heels of several attacks on U.S. embassies and consulates in Libya, Egypt, and Yemen, The Washington Post reports. In Europe, the Post reports, benchmark crude was up to $97.86 per barrel by early afternoon.

After Isaac, more jobless claims
The Labor Department reports that initial claims for unemployment rose 15,000 to 382,000, according to a Reuters article this morning. The department said Hurricane Isaac was cited in 9,000 of the claims filed last week, Reuters says.

Stocks flat ahead of Fed decision
Stocks were sluggish this morning in advance of a Federal Reserve decision on how to boost the struggling economy, The Associated Press reports. The Fed is slated to announce the decision after noon today, and Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to discuss it at 2:15 p.m. EDT.

The article This Morning's Top Financial Stories originally appeared on Fool.com.

Hope Nelson-Pope is managing news editor at The Motley Fool.

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