UNITED STATES

BofA CEO subpoenaed, sees no nationalization-WSJ

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Bank of America Corp Chairman and Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis was subpoenaed last week by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is investigating whether the bank violated state law by withholding information from investors, the Wall Street Journal said late Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

U.S. consumer prices seen up in January

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U.S. consumer prices are estimated to have risen in January as a recent rise in energy prices defied the economic downturn and disinflationary trends, according to economists polled by Reuters. As energy prices rose, a median forecast culled from a poll of more than 70 economists estimated that consumer prices overall rose 0.3 percent in January from December, while prices excluding food and ener...
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Oil falls below $38 as economic outlook worsens

and would likely continue to worsen for the time being. Japan has been hit particularly hard by the global slump, triggered by the U.S. housing market meltdown, due to its heavy dependence on exports and chronically weak domestic consumption. Crude inventories in the United States, the world's top consumer, fell slightly last week on lower imports and higher demand, the U.S. Energy Information...
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Oil falls towards $38, ahead of March contract expiry

and would likely continue to worsen for the time being. Japan has been hit particularly hard by the global slump, triggered by the U.S. housing market meltdown, due to its heavy dependence on exports and chronically weak domestic consumption. Crude inventories in the United States, the world's top consumer, fell slightly last week on lower imports and higher demand, the U.S. Energy Information...
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UBS shares seen 2 percent down after U.S. probe widens

Shares in UBS were indicated to open down 2.2 percent on Friday after U.S. tax authorities said they were seeking 52,000 bank client names even though the Swiss bank has agreed to a hefty fine to settle criminal charges. The stock was seen down at 12.52 Swiss francs, premarket data provided by bank Clariden Leu showed, reversing some of Thursday's strong gains. Analysts had welcomed a settlemen...
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Oil falls below $39 after surge on U.S. stock draw

Oil prices fell below $39 a barrel on Friday as front-month contracts near expiry, paring a 14-percent gain a day earlier on government data showing an unexpected draw in U.S. crude stocks. U.S. crude futures for March delivery, which expire later in the day, fell 76 cents to $38.72 a barrel by 0206 GMT, after posting in the previous session the biggest settlement gain since December 31. April d...
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Vizio passes Sony in flat panel TVs

LCD TV brand Vizio Inc overtook Sony during the fourth quarter to become the second-best selling flat panel TV brand in the United States after stepping up its marketing efforts, research firm iSuppli said. Vizio, whose TVs are made by Taiwan's Amtran Technology, took 14.3 percent of all flat panel TV shipments in the October-December period as consumers' appetite for more expensive brands fell...
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Best Buy to lay off 250 headquarters workers

Best Buy Co Inc said on Thursday it plans to lay off 250 workers at its corporate headquarters in Minneapolis as it cuts costs in the recession. But the top U.S. specialty electronics retailer added it will also create 210 new posts the idled workers could take, for a net loss of 40 jobs. The retailer said last month that involuntary layoffs would be necessary after about 500 of it...
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FBI finds Allen Stanford in Virginia

a brokerage house and a fiduciary firm. We will intervene to protect the interests of investors, Santiago Noboa, the state regulator of the stock exchange in Quito, told Reuters. Mexico's banking regulator said it was investigating the local Stanford bank affiliate for possible violation of banking laws. Peru's securities regulator suspended the operations of a local Stanford unit. PREVI...
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California lawmakers OK budget after lengthy impasse

California lawmakers approved on Thursday a state budget package to close a $42 billion deficit, ending a lengthy standoff with a slate of bills that aim to raise taxes, slash spending and increase borrowing with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's signature.
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Energy Dept to disperse 70 pct of stimulus funds by 2010

The U.S. Department of Energy said today it will disperse 70 percent of the funds allocated by President Obama's economic stimulus package by the end of 2010 as it moves to simplify paper work and hire more staff to speed up approval of energy projects.
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Allen Stanford probe widens

a brokerage house and a fiduciary firm. We will intervene to protect the interests of investors, Santiago Noboa, the state regulator of the stock exchange in Quito, told Reuters. Mexico's banking regulator said it was investigating the local Stanford bank affiliate for possible violation of banking laws. Peru's securities regulator suspended the operations of a local Stanford unit. PREVI...
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Oil jumps 14 percent on U.S. inventory drop

Oil prices jumped 14 percent to top $39 a barrel on Thursday after U.S. government data showed an unexpected fall in crude inventories last week due to lower imports and higher demand. The draw snapped a seven-week streak of crude builds in the world's top consumer, where the slumping economy has dragged down fuel use. U.S. crude futures for March delivery, which expires on Friday, rose $4.86 t...
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Oil jumps 12 percent on U.S. inventory drop

Oil prices jumped more than 12 percent to near $39 a barrel on Thursday after U.S. government data showed an unexpected fall in crude inventories last week due to lower imports. The draw snapped a seven-week streak of crude builds in the world's top consumer, where the slumping economy has dragged down fuel demand. U.S. crude futures for March delivery, which expires on Friday, rose $4.24 to $3...
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Department stores unlikely to recover this year

As the relentless downturn in the economy drives shoppers to buy less and hold out for extreme deals, U.S. department store operators can wave goodbye to any marked improvement in their fortunes before 2010. And when shoppers are ready to head back into stores, department store companies will have to highlight attractive products and tempting prices to snag sales, analysts and experts said. From...
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Nearly 5 million Americans drawing jobless benefits

The number of U.S. workers drawing unemployment aid jumped to a record high of nearly 5 million, the government said on Thursday, as a worsening economy made it increasingly hard to find jobs. The data from early February suggested the 13-month-old U.S. recession was deepening, a conclusion supported by a report that showed factory activity in the country's Mid-Atlantic region contracted sharply...
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Scientists make advances on nano electronics

the design and manipulation of materials thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair. Nanotechnology has been hailed as a way to make strong, lightweight materials, better cosmetics and even tastier food. We have demonstrated that we can make important technologies that are significantly smaller than existing devices, Jeremy Levy of the University of Pittsburgh said in a statem...
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BofA and Citi shares fall on nationalization fear

Citigroup Inc shares fell to almost 18-year lows on Thursday, with Bank of America Corp stock also plunging, amid renewed fears that growing losses could lead to government control of troubled U.S. banks, wiping out shareholders.
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Fed's Lockhart: Fed can take more steps if needed

Bold official action to tackle the U.S. recession will restore growth later this year but the Federal Reserve can still do more if a recovery fails to appear, a top Fed policy-maker said on Thursday. If forecasts of improvement don't materialize, the Fed is not without capacity to act, even with the fed funds rate at its lower bound, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart ...
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U.S. asks court to press UBS for more records

The U.S. government sued UBS AG on Thursday, seeking disclosure to the Internal Revenue Service of thousands of the Swiss bank's U.S. customers with secret accounts, the Justice Department said.
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Sprint loss narrows even as customers go; shares rise

Sprint Nextel Corp posted a fourth-quarter loss as 1.3 million subscribers left its mobile phone service, but the results were not as bad as some had feared and its shares rose 28 percent. The No. 3 U.S. mobile company, whose share price has plunged 70 percent in the past year as it has struggled with customer defections, said on Thursday it expected subscriber losses to narrow in 200...
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BofA, Citi shares fall on nationalization fear

Citigroup Inc shares fell to 17-year lows on Thursday, with Bank of America Corp stock also plunging, amid renewed fears that growing losses could lead to government control of troubled U.S. banks, wiping out shareholders.

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