Financial ratings agency Fitch has downgraded technology giants Sony and Panasonic, marking another blow to Japan’s embattled electronics sector. The downgrades mean the firms’ debt is no longer considered a safe investment. The two companies, along with rival Sharp, accumulated billions of dollars in lost revenue last year, leading them to announce massive corporate overhauls […]
The US Thanksgving Weekend: Family Celebrations, Then Holiday Shopping
Posted November 21st, 2012 at 4:30 pm (UTC-5)
Millions of Americans are heading to airports or taking to the nation’s highways to visit friends and relatives for Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday. The holiday is engrained in American life as a day for family gatherings with sumptuous turkey feasts, accompanied by a wide array of side dishes and pies. By one estimate, more than 43 […]
The US Thanksgving Weekend: Family Celebrations, Then Holiday Shopping
Posted November 21st, 2012 at 2:45 pm (UTC-5)
Millions of Americans are heading to airports or taking to the nation’s highways to visit friends and relatives in advance of Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday. The holiday is engrained in American life as a day for family gatherings with sumptuous turkey feasts with a wide array of side dishes and pies. By one estimate, more than […]
Greek Bailout Money Still in Limbo
Posted November 21st, 2012 at 10:20 am (UTC-5)
Greece’s international lenders have failed for the second week in a row to reach an agreement on releasing more bailout money to the debt-ridden Athens government. Eurozone finance chiefs, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank ended a lengthy meeting in Brussels early Wednesday without agreeing on terms for sending a $40 billion […]
US Central Bank Chief Warns of ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Peril
Posted November 20th, 2012 at 4:00 pm (UTC-5)
The U.S. central bank chief is warning President Barack Obama and Congress that failure to reach a compromise on government spending and taxes by year’s end would pose a “substantial threat” to the country’s fragile economic recovery. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stepped up his warnings Tuesday that the White House and lawmakers risk sending […]
US Housing Construction Advances to Four-Year High
Posted November 20th, 2012 at 1:30 pm (UTC-5)
U.S. housing construction surged in October to its highest level in more than four years. The American housing market has perhaps been the weakest link in the country’s sluggish, but steady recovery from its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression in the 1930s. Millions of homeowners lost their homes to bank foreclosures, often after […]
Eurozone Finance Chiefs Resuming Greek Bailout Talks
Posted November 20th, 2012 at 11:40 am (UTC-5)
Eurozone finance chiefs are meeting in Brussels in another effort to decide whether to release more bailout money to debt-ridden Greece. Greece hopes the finance ministers on Tuesday will approve a $40 billion rescue segment the Athens government says it needs to avoid a default on its financial obligations. The payment is part of Greece’s […]
As US Sanctions Against Burma Ease, American Companies Start Investing
Posted November 19th, 2012 at 12:00 pm (UTC-5)
With the easing of longstanding U.S. economic sanctions against Burma, major American companies are quickly starting to invest in the Southeast Asian nation. Competing soft drink giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Co. are returning to Burma for the first time in many years. Meanwhile, both MasterCard and Visa have reached deals with Burmese banks for use of […]
Sweden’s Ikea Admits Use of Forced Labor in East Germany
Posted November 16th, 2012 at 3:55 pm (UTC-5)
Swedish furniture giant Ikea is acknowledging that some of its suppliers used forced prison labor in the communist former East Germany more than two decades ago. The company released an independent report Friday concluding that some Ikea managers were aware of the possibility that political prisoners would be used to make the company’s products. Ikea […]
Retailer Wal-Mart Expands Its Bribery Investigation
Posted November 15th, 2012 at 4:30 pm (UTC-5)
The world’s largest retailer, U.S.-based Wal-Mart Stores, says it is expanding its internal investigation into whether company officials paid bribes to foreign officials to help expand the company’s operations abroad. A year after Wal-Mart revealed that U.S. officials are investigating its Mexican subsidiary, the company said Thursday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and […]
