U.S.

Ford has topped the list of search queries in the entire automotive brand category in the U.S. over the last 30 days, followed by BMW, Audi and Nissan, according to a report by Google's North American auto team.

The United States productivity growth will slow substantially in 2011 and could even fall below the rate in the euro area, The Conference Board reported on Monday.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, who will arrive in the U.S. on Tuesday for a state visit, rejected Washington’s demand for an appreciation of the Chinese currency, and debunked what he called was a “zero-sum Cold War mentality” while calling for broader cooperation with the U.S. on a range of issues. The focus during the three-day state visit, and beyond that, for that matter, will be on if Washington is prepared to act more sternly to make the Chinese let their currency appreciate.

Chinese President Hu Jintao urged an end to a zero sum Cold War relationship with the United States and proposed new cooperation, but resisted U.S. arguments about why China should let its currency strengthen.

As President Barack Obama vowed to loosen the travel restrictions on US citizens for traveling to Cuba, his decision has drawn criticism from Cuban-American senators.

China should not worry about being too heavily invested in the dollar and U.S. government debt, because its dependence is not unique in a world with few alternatives, a senior official at China's sovereign fund said.

During the dark days of 2008 as its banking system and economy was collapsing, the cash-strapped government of Iceland asked the United States for a $1-billion loan, according to a WikiLeaks document.

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) of the U.K. has issued an advisory recommending that British citizens avoid travel to Tunisia due to the surge in civil disturbances in the country. The US and France have also advised against non-essential travel to Tunisia.

Retail sales in the U.S. rose marginally in December as well as for the year 2010, according to a report by the U.S. Commerce Department.

U.S. inflation increased a marginal 0.5 percent in December on a seasonally adjusted basis, helping annual inflation rate to rise to a seven-month high, while core prices nudged up by 0.1 percent.

The fulfillment of Google's dream to rule the sky which neared reality with its $700 million acquisition of ITA Software may fail as the U.S. Department of Justice gears up to file an antitrust motion to block the deal.

US futures are set to open lower on Friday after a disappointing jobless claims data, which could weigh on sentiment.

2010 was a “wonderful year” for energy investors, as more than 65 percent of oil and gas stocks delivered positive returns over the year, IHS Global Insight has said in a report released on Thursday.

The Producer Price Index (PPI) for finished goods rose a seasonally adjusted 1.1 percent in December, marking a sixth week of rise, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Thursday.

The number of people claiming unemployment benefits continued to rise for the second week, according to a report by the U.S. Labor Department.

The United States wants a real, demonstrative commitment from China that it is serious about shifting away from export-led economic growth, a U.S. official told Reuters on Tuesday ahead of next week's state visit by China's Hu Jintao.

The S&P 500 Index gained 3.69 points, or 0.29 percent, to trade at 1,278.17 at 9.30 a.m. EDT. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 32.93 points, or 0.28 percent, to trade at 11,704.81. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 11.50 points, or 0.42 percent, to 2,728.49.

For the U.S., however, the Iraqi plan to buy billions of dollars of weapons will only be small consolation for the dismal turn of events in the last week. Muqtada al-Sadr, one of the fiercest anti-US warlords in Iraq whom the U.S. failed to annihilate, returned to Iraq after years and called for intensification of the war against Washington. That despite the hundreds of billions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost defending an intangible moral high ground as if it were!

The extra fiscal stimulus in the form of tax cuts approved in December could produce a 4 percent growth rate for the U.S. economy in the first half of 2011, but there are lingering risks that could lead to a cold shower in 2012, according to the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).

Directors of Federal Reserve banks in Dallas and Kansas City again requested, unsuccessfully, a 0.25 percent rise in the rate charged to banks for emergency loans, minutes of Fed meetings in November and December showed on Tuesday.

US stocks advanced in early trade on Tuesday as Alcoa kicked off the earnings season by beating forecasts, while Japan’s pledge to buy eurozone bonds eased concerns about eurozones debt.