| Dow falls more than 1 percent Posted: 27 Dec 2012 09:42 AM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Dow fell 1 percent as stocks added to losses on Thursday. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 earlier declined more than 1 percent, with worries about the U.S. "fiscal cliff" after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid warned the United States appeared poised to head over it. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 143.83 points, or 1.10 percent, at 12,970.76. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 17.60 points, or 1.24 percent, at 1,402.23. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 38.09 points, or 1.27 percent, at 2,952.07. ...
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| U.S. consumer sentiment weakens as fiscal crisis looms Posted: 27 Dec 2012 09:30 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence fell more than expected in December, hitting a four-month low as a looming fiscal crisis sapped what had been a growing sense of optimism about the economy. The report heightened concerns that a failure by Washington to avert planned tax hikes and spending cuts could lead households to close their wallets, threatening an economic recovery that has been steady albeit lackluster. ...
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| Home prices rose for ninth straight month: S&P Posted: 27 Dec 2012 05:45 AM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. single-family home prices rose in October for nine months in a row, reinforcing the view the domestic real estate market is improving and should bolster the economy in 2013, a closely watched survey showed on Wednesday. The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas gained 0.7 percent in October on a seasonally adjusted basis, stronger than the 0.5 percent rise forecast by economists polled by Reuters. ...
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| Apple CEO's pay package drops 99 percent from 2011 Posted: 27 Dec 2012 08:53 AM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tim Cook has finally made it to the top at Apple Inc , but in his first full year as CEO his pay package shrank about 99 percent. Cook, the successor to the late Steve Jobs, was awarded total compensation of $4.17 million in 2012, down from $378 million in 2011, Apple said in a federal filing on Thursday. The 2012 compensation package for Cook, who took over as chief executive in August 2011, also seemed a pittance compared with his 2010 pay, which was 14 times higher, when the executive served as chief operating officer. ...
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| Long-suffering Bankia shareholders set for more losses Posted: 27 Dec 2012 09:07 AM PST  MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's Bankia will wipe out the investments of 350,000 shareholders, many of them small savers and pensioners, after it emerged that losses on bad loans at the troubled bank were even worse than expected. The measure will hit small investors drawn in by aggressive marketing just last year after Bankia was formed from a merger of provincial savings banks. But it is described by officials as vital if the company, which was nationalized in May, is to return to profit in order to be sold on again. ...
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| Retail sales down in week before Christmas: ShopperTrak Posted: 27 Dec 2012 07:40 AM PST  (Reuters) - U.S. retail sales fell 2.5 percent last week from a year earlier as fewer people visited stores, retail tracking firm ShopperTrak said on Thursday, the latest signal that this holiday season's growth may not be as robust as some had anticipated. ShopperTrak, which monitors the number of people walking into stores across the United States, said foot traffic fell 3.3 percent in the week ended December 22 from last year. However, sales increased 39.1 percent and traffic rose 32. ...
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| U.S. clears Empire State Building REIT plan for investor vote Posted: 27 Dec 2012 08:23 AM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. regulators have given the green light to the manager of the Empire State Building to ask investors to vote on a plan to fold the iconic building into a new real estate investment trust (REIT) that eventually will be publicly traded. After months of review, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission signed off on the documents allowing Malkin Holdings LLC to solicit investors in the Empire State Building to vote on the plan for the building to be the centerpiece of more than 18 properties in Empire State Realty Trust Inc, according to a filing Wednesday. ...
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| Euro zone crisis batters holiday sales prospects Posted: 27 Dec 2012 07:43 AM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - Shoppers in euro zone nations battered by years of recession and crisis are on the hunt for bargains, delaying their purchases until the last minute, or simply not buying at all as post-Christmas sales get underway. Britain and Sweden appeared to buck the trend, however, with the number of people visiting shops on Wednesday, the day when clearance sales traditionally start, well up on last year and sales volumes high. In southern Europe, where the economic crisis has hit hardest, sales were down, in some cases quite substantially, according to an informal Reuters survey. ...
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| Ford to invest $773 million across southeast Michigan Posted: 27 Dec 2012 05:51 AM PST  (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co plans to invest more than $773 million on new equipment and capacity expansions across six U.S. manufacturing plants in southeast Michigan. The plan is part of its commitment to invest $6.2 billion in U.S. plants by 2015 as part of the agreement reached in October 2011 with the United Auto Workers union, the automaker said on Thursday. Ford said the investments will create 2,350 hourly jobs and allow it to retain another 3,240 hourly jobs. The new jobs are part of the 12,000 Ford previously said it would add or retain in the United States by 2015 under the UAW deal. ...
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| Euribor seesaws as policymakers dispel rate cut hopes Posted: 27 Dec 2012 05:47 AM PST  FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Key Euribor bank-to-bank lending rates eased on Thursday, having risen in the previous session as earlier comments from a clutch of European Central Bank policymakers played down chances of another ECB rate cut. Joerg Asmussen, a member of the ECB's Executive Board, said last week he would be "very reluctant" about the ECB cutting its deposit rate - now at zero - any further, adding that "our (monetary) policy is very accommodative". Another board member, Yves Mersch, said he did not see the logic of a debate about the ECB cutting its main rate from a record low of 0. ...
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| No deal in sight as deadline for fiscal deal nears Posted: 27 Dec 2012 08:16 AM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Progress toward avoiding the "fiscal cliff" seemed stalled Thursday, as the Senate's top Democrat accused Republican House Speaker John Boehner of acting in dictatorial ways that prevent a solution to looming tax hikes and spending cuts.
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| US consumer confidence falls on fiscal cliff fears Posted: 27 Dec 2012 08:25 AM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence tumbled in December, driven lower by fears of sharp tax increases and government spending cuts set to take effect next week.
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| Stocks turn lower after consumer confidence sinks Posted: 27 Dec 2012 09:02 AM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell Thursday, pushed down by unwelcome signs that the economy is still far from repaired and that "fiscal cliff" negotiations are far from sealed.
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| US jobless aid applications fall to 5-year low Posted: 27 Dec 2012 06:40 AM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — The average number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits over the past month fell to the lowest level since March 2008, a sign that the job market is healing.
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| Apple CEO gets modest 2012 pay after big 2011 Posted: 27 Dec 2012 09:04 AM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — Apple CEO Tim Cook got a relatively modest $4.2 million in pay for the latest fiscal year, after the company's board set him up with stock now worth $510 million for taking the reins in 2011.
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| SeaWorld files to go public with $100M IPO Posted: 27 Dec 2012 09:39 AM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — Looks like Shamu may soon be making a splash in the stock market.
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| German FinMin says worst of euro debt crisis over Posted: 27 Dec 2012 04:27 AM PST BERLIN (AP) — Germany's finance minister says the worst of euro area's debt crisis appears to be over after three years of worries over Greece and other members of the group of 17 European Union countries that use the single currency. |
| $1 billion deal major step in Toyota legal trouble Posted: 27 Dec 2012 05:08 AM PST  LOS ANGELES (AP) — With a proposed payout of more than $1 billion, one major chapter of a nearly four-year legal saga that left Toyota Motor Corp. fighting hundreds of lawsuits and struggling with a tarnished image has ended, though another remains.
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| Toyota plans to sell 9.7 million vehicles in 2012 Posted: 26 Dec 2012 10:04 PM PST  TOKYO (AP) — Toyota expects to sell a record 9.7 million vehicles this year, bouncing back by 22 percent from a disaster-struck 2011. It has set an even higher target of 9.91 million vehicles for 2013.
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| Retailers to recall 150,000-plus baby recliners Posted: 27 Dec 2012 04:04 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Four national retailers agreed to recall more than 150,000 Nap Nanny baby recliners after at least five infant deaths and dozens of reports of children nearly falling out of the recliners, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday. |
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