| Wall Street skids as U.S. heads for "fiscal cliff" Posted: 28 Dec 2012 07:47 AM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Friday, putting the S&P 500 on track for a fifth straight decline, as President Barack Obama and top congressional leaders were to make a last-ditch attempt to steer the United States away from driving off the "fiscal cliff." Obama and lawmakers will meet at the White House Friday afternoon for talks before a New Year's deadline to keep large tax hikes and spending cuts from taking effect and threatening the economy with recession. Investors' pessimism about achieving anything more than a stop-gap deal by the deadline showed in the benchmark S&P index's 1. ...
|
| Housing, factory data point to momentum in the economy Posted: 28 Dec 2012 08:23 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Contracts for U.S. home resales hit a 2-1/2 year high in November and factory activity in the Midwest expanded this month, suggesting some strength in the economy despite the threat of tighter fiscal policy. The National Association of Realtors said on Friday its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed last month, increased 1.7 percent to 106.4 - the highest level since April 2010 when the home-buyer tax credit expired. Signed contracts, which become sales after a month or two, increased 5.0 percent in October. ...
|
| Insight: Under siege, Japan central bank wakes up to political reality Posted: 28 Dec 2012 05:26 AM PST  TOKYO (Reuters) - Within a day of Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party sweeping to power in elections this month, elite bureaucrats in Japan's central bank rushed to ready what amounted to a surrender offer. Abe had run his campaign with a relentless focus on economic policy and had called on the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to take drastic steps to end the nation's long bout of deflation, or else face a radical makeover at the hands of parliament. The vote had become an unexpected referendum on the BOJ itself, and the bank had lost. ...
|
| Euro doomsayers adjust predictions after 2012 apocalypse averted Posted: 28 Dec 2012 05:29 AM PST  BERLIN (Reuters) - Back in May, as the euro zone veered deeper into crisis, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman penned one of his gloomiest columns about the single currency, a piece in the New York Times entitled "Apocalypse Fairly Soon". "Suddenly, it has become easy to see how the euro -- that grand, flawed experiment in monetary union without political union -- could come apart at the seams," Krugman wrote. "We're not talking about a distant prospect, either. Things could fall apart with stunning speed, in a matter of months, not years. ...
|
| Apple loses another copyright lawsuit in China: Xinhua Posted: 28 Dec 2012 05:30 AM PST  SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A Chinese court has fined Apple Inc 1 million yuan ($160,400) for hosting third-party applications on its App Store that were selling pirated electronic books, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday. Apple is to pay compensation to eight Chinese writers and two companies for violating their copyrights, the Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court ruled on Thursday, Xinhua said. Earlier in the year, a group of Chinese authors filed the suit against Apple, saying an unidentified number of apps on its App Store sold unlicensed copies of their books. ...
|
| Auto sales to end year strong, "fiscal cliff" may weigh Posted: 28 Dec 2012 07:32 AM PST DETROIT (Reuters) - U.S. auto sales are expected to show a rise of 9 percent for December, capping off the best year for the industry since 2007, fueled by easier access to credit, rising home prices and pent-up demand. But when major automakers report December sales next Wednesday, a strong end to the year could be overshadowed by concerns that consumers will curb spending in January due to the "fiscal cliff." U.S. ... |
| News Corp buys regional sports channel in Ohio Posted: 28 Dec 2012 07:59 AM PST  (Reuters) - News Corp said on Friday it bought SportsTime Ohio, a regional sports network based in Cleveland that broadcasts Cleveland Indians baseball games. The company did not disclose financial details of the deal. A source close to the matter said on Friday the deal was worth roughly $230 million, which Reuters first reported on December 3 . The network also airs programming about the Cleveland Browns National Football League team, college football and high school sports. ...
|
| Autonomy's Lynch defends record as HP confirms Federal probe Posted: 28 Dec 2012 05:32 AM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - Mike Lynch, the founder of the software firm sold to Hewlett-Packard last year in a deal tainted by accusations of accounting fraud, said he would defend the company's accounts to U.S. Federal investigators. HP confirmed in a filing late on Thursday that the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating Autonomy's books. The PC and printer maker bought the British company for $11 billion last year to lead its push into the more profitable software sector. Autonomy did not deliver the growth expected, resulting in Lynch's departure earlier this year. ...
|
| Spain does not need European help for now, says PM Posted: 28 Dec 2012 07:23 AM PST  MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Friday that Spain did not need to tap for now the European Central Bank's bond-buying program for troubled euro zone governments but did not rule out asking for aid in the future. Rajoy has faced pressure from Spain's international partners -- including the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) -- to seek a European Union bailout. He has resisted so far, helped by an easing of the euro zone debt crisis. ...
|
| Vanguard cut fees on dozens of mutual funds, ETFs Posted: 28 Dec 2012 07:05 AM PST (Reuters) - Vanguard Group, the largest U.S. mutual fund manager, reduced fees across dozens of its index-tracking stock and bond funds, following similar moves by competitors. The fee reductions range from five-hundredths to one-hundredth of a percentage point per year. With many of the funds already charging low fees of less than 0.20 percent Of assets, some of the reductions were the equivalent of a 20 percent fee cut. Intense competition among managers of index mutual and exchange-traded funds has led to sharp price cutting across the industry over the past few months. ... |
| Fewer US banks failing as industry strengthens Posted: 28 Dec 2012 07:44 AM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. banks are ending the year with their best profits since 2006 and fewer failures than at any time since the financial crisis struck in 2008. They're helping support an economy slowed by high unemployment, flat pay, sluggish manufacturing and anxious consumers.
|
| Stocks edge lower as 'fiscal cliff' deadline nears Posted: 28 Dec 2012 08:56 AM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks edged lower for a fifth day on concern that Washington lawmakers will fail to reach a budget deal before a year-end deadline.
|
| White House meeting a last stab at a fiscal deal Posted: 28 Dec 2012 04:34 AM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Amid partisan bluster, top members of Congress and President Barack Obama were holding out slim hopes for a limited fiscal deal before the new year. But even as congressional leaders prepared to convene at the White House, there were no signs that legislation palatable to both sides was taking shape.
|
| Strike averted, for now, at East Coast ports Posted: 28 Dec 2012 08:57 AM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — A deal has been struck that for now averts a strike by 14,500 longshoremen at major ports on the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico.
|
| HP says gov't investigating troubled Autonomy unit Posted: 28 Dec 2012 09:05 AM PST NEW YORK (AP) — Autonomy, the British business software company now owned by Hewlett-Packard Co., is facing a Justice Department investigation over improper accounting under previous management, according to HP. |
| China requires Internet users to register names Posted: 28 Dec 2012 06:11 AM PST  BEIJING (AP) — China's government tightened Internet controls Friday with approval of a law that requires users to register their names after a flood of online complaints about official abuses rattled Communist Party leaders.
|
| Champagne loses fizz in Europe after tough year Posted: 28 Dec 2012 03:38 AM PST  PARIS (AP) — Europeans are finding fewer reasons to pop open a bottle of Champagne as another year of economic troubles and high unemployment saps the region's appetite for the finer things. But while the latest industry figures show that sales might be on the wane in Europe, other markets, particularly Japan and the United States, are developing a taste for a glass of bubbly.
|
| UK's Pearson invests in Barnes & Noble's Nook Posted: 28 Dec 2012 06:45 AM PST LONDON (AP) — British publisher Pearson PLC says it is investing in a business based on Barnes & Noble's NOOK e-reader. |
| China court orders Apple to pay in rights dispute Posted: 28 Dec 2012 12:33 AM PST  BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese court has ordered Apple Inc. to pay 1.03 million yuan ($165,000) to eight Chinese writers and two companies who say unlicensed copies of their work were distributed through Apple's online store.
|
| P.M. Rajoy says Spain faces tough year ahead Posted: 28 Dec 2012 06:42 AM PST MADRID (AP) — Spain's prime minister says the country's economy faces a tough year ahead as it grapples with recession, a deep financial crisis and 25 percent unemployment. |
No comments:
Post a Comment