ECONOMY & MARKETS

U.S. home prices fell more sharply in November, compared to the previous month, according to S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices data released on Tuesday.

Facing both a slew of regulatory developments and volatile capital markets, banks are seeing some parts of their traditional revenue model threatened. One solution: charge customers more fees, either by raising the price of existing fees, charge for services that used to be free, or offering new services at a cost.

Hong Kong shares rose on Tuesday with the Hang Seng Index streaking to its best January since 1996, but further upside is expected to be capped going into earnings season after several profit warnings from mainland companies.

Japan's Nikkei share average ended nearly flat on Tuesday, but logged its best January performance in 13 years as investors remained optimistic that the U.S. economic recovery could offset disappointing domestic corporate earnings.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and Nasdaq 100 indexes up 0.5-0.6 percent.

The top after-market NASDAQ gainers Monday were: PAREXEL International Corp, Hologic, Rudolph Technologies, ImmunoGen, School Specialty and Mindspeed Technologies. The top after-market NASDAQ losers were: Align Technology, Rent-A-Center Inc, Rex Energy Corp, magicJack VocalTec, ICU Medical and Cognex Corp.

The top aftermarket NYSE losers Monday were: Radioshack Corp, Ormat Technologies, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Plum Creek Timber Co, Senior Housing Properties Trust, Radian Group, InvenSense, National Bank of Greece SA, Best Buy Co and Demand Media Inc.

The top aftermarket NYSE gainers Monday were: McKesson Corp, New York & Co, Inergy, Freescale Semiconductor Holdings, Talbots, Och-Ziff Capital Management Group, HyperDynamics Corp, New York Times and Hyatt Hotels Corp.

Asian shares and the euro rose on Tuesday after Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos raised hopes that a deal would be reached this week to avoid a potentially chaotic debt default, but worries over Portugal's refinancing ability capped gains.

The BSE Sensex rose more than 1 percent on Tuesday morning, led by gains in index heavyweights Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) and ICICI Bank (ICBK.NS), and were poised for their best month in at least ten.

Starbucks Corp and venture partner Tata Global Beverages Ltd will open their first store in India by August this year.

A senior International Monetary Fund official said on Monday that China was taking steps to reduce property bubble risks and said it has room to add fiscal stimulus if conditions worsen.

Japan's Nikkei share average was on track to snap a three-day losing run Tuesday and headed for its best January performance since 1999, as investors took cues from optimism about the U.S. economy and shrugged off weaker corporate earnings results.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's warned Monday that it may downgrade "a number of highly rated" Group of 20 countries in 2015 if their governments fail to enact reforms to curb rising health-care spending and other costs related to aging populations.

On Monday, NPR and ProPublica published a report revealing that Freddie Mac, the government-owned mortgage giant, had purchased $3.4 billion in mortgage securities that became more profitable if homeowners were unable to refinance at lower rates.for homeowners to pay off their mortgages. It's the latest public blow to a firm that has been blamed for its role in the housing crisis, even as it continues to deal with the fallout of the toxic mortgages that it continues to hold

Stocks edged lower on Monday on stalled Greek debt talks, but an afternoon rally cut losses in a sign of the underlying resilience the market has shown early in the year.

New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has proposed raising the minimum wage to $8.50 an hour, and tying it to inflation.

Stocks fell on Monday after Greece's efforts to reach a debt restructuring with creditors stalled, hampering European leaders' push to shift the market's focus to jobs and growth.

U.S. home prices are expected to continue to fall in S&P/Case-Shiller Housing Index data through November 2011, to be released on Tuesday, Jan. 31.

Weakness in banks and commodity stocks dragged Britain's leading share index lower on Monday as the protracted search for a Greek bond deal and concerns about economic growth kept investors nervous.

There was plenty of speculation last week about the 10-second tease of Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller. Was it a Super Bowl ad? Was it a sequel? Turns out it's the former: a more than two-minute Super Bowl ad for Honda.

Harmony Gold plans on selling South Africa-based Evander Gold Mines for $219 million (1.7 billion rand) to Pan African Resources and Witwatersrand Consolidated Gold Resources

Consumer spending was flat in December as households took advantage of the largest rise in income in nine months to boost their savings, setting the tone for a slowdown in demand early in 2012.

In a remarkable statement to CNBC this morning, one of the most important dissenting voices within the Federal Reserve said the U.S. central bank's assesment of the economy is too pessimistic, and will likely change as the year progresses. Even more notably, he stated the Fed will likely begin raising benchmark interbank lending rates before mid-2013 -- a direct contradiction on a statement by the Fed last Wednesday.

Chrysler plans on adding 1,600 production workers to an Illinois assembly plant, the first step in a rejuvenation the company expects will add thousands of workers to its payroll over the next three years.

Japan’s population may shrink by one-third over the next fifty years.

Spanish airline Spanair collapsed on Friday, stranding over 20,000 passengers and putting Europe's second-tier airlines on alert.

Margaret Thatcher: The One and Only

A monthly report by Intuit found small business employment grew by about 50,000 jobs, or 0.2 percent, compared to 60,000 jobs last month.