ECONOMY & MARKETS

In the past few months, but particularly in the last few days, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Governor of the Bank of England, roughly British equivalents to the American Treasury Secretary and Fed Chairman, have become the bane of the English banking system's existence. Other British government officials have also joined the fray.

U.S. consumer credit holdings grew by $7.65 billion in October, the U.S. Federal Reserve said in its monthly report on consumer credit today. That growth, which represents an annualized rate of 3.7 percent, was more than had been expected by economists, who forecast growth close to $7 billion. The credit growth figure for September, which had been previously reported as $7.39 billion, was revised to a less-impressive $6.88 billion.

Now is not the time for experimental business models, which means now is the time to consider JC Penney (JCP), according to one stock reviewer.

India has retracted its plan to allow foreign retail chains like Wal-Mart and Britain's Tesco to open in the country, according to multiple reports. The reversal comes less than two weeks after the global business sector and the Indian government heaped praise on the original deal to let foreign retailers into India to jolt the country's economy and lower prices for farmers and consumers.

Demonstrators from across the nation descended on Capitol Hill on Monday as part of a four-day effort to meet with congressional leaders to highlight the plight of U.S. unemployment.

The deputy chief executive of French banking giant Société Générale (Paris:GLE) said during a conference in Paris Wednesday that the global banking industry is going through a "paradigm shift," according to the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires.

To hear it from one side, private equity and hedge fund managers are under a veritable siege: under attack from politicians, regulators, an ornery market and uneasy clients. But the hedge fund managers themselves seem to be saying all is good in Greenwich.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Clearwire, First Solar, Marvell Technology Group, Randgold Resources and Yahoo. The top pre-market NASDAQ sock market losers are: Vera Bradley, First Niagara Financial Group, Wynn Resorts, EZchip Semiconductor and Vodafone Group.

Most Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Wednesday on optimism that European leaders will take strong steps to resolve the region's debt crisis at a summit later this week.

Crude oil prices gained in European trade on Wednesday, following hopes that European leaders will approve aggressive plans for tackling the region's debt crisis at Friday's European Union (EU) summit.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Mitcham Industries, China Medical Technologies, ModusLink Global Solutions, Clearwire, and Carrizo Oil & Gas. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Globe Specialty Metals, First Niagara Financial Group, Photronics, Vera Bradley, and Saia.

The top aftermarket NYSE gainers on Tuesday were: Talbots, Men's Wearhouse, Sealy Corp, NCI Building Systems, Lithia Motors, Coeur d'Alene Mines, Yingli Green Energy Holding, United States Steel Corp, B&G Foods Holdings and China Ming Yang Wind Power Group.

The top aftermarket NYSE losers on Tuesday were: HyperDynamics Corp, Precision Drilling Corp, NYSE Euronext, Gold Fields Ltd, SK Telecom Corp, Express, Pacific Drilling, Peabody Energy Corp and Federal Signal Corp.

China's annual rate of export growth slowed in November versus October, vice commerce minister Chong Quan told reporters on Wednesday, confirming market expectations that deteriorating external conditions are dragging on the world's No. 2 economy.

Canada's canola oil exports to India are expected to double in the next 4-5 years as the country's burgeoning middle class opts for healthier edible oil options, said an executive of the Canola Council of Canada.

European stocks fell on Tuesday on fresh anxieties stemming from the European debt crisis.

European equities finished weaker in a choppy, thinly-traded session on Tuesday, led lower by retail shares after the world's No.4 retailer Metro issued a profit warning saying the Eurozone debt crisis was undermining consumer confidence.

The stock of online retail giant Amazon.com (AMZN) has dipped recently, but is the pull-back a buy opportunity?

UBS announced Tuesday it will be adding five recently-public Web 3.0 companies, including Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN) to its benchmark index of young public Internet companies, officially called the UBS Next Generation Internet Index.

Meiji Holdings Co.'s shares have plummeted following the discovery of radiation in its baby formula this week, which added to concerns about baby-food contamination nine months after an earthquake and tsunami hit the nation.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) shares continued rallying today, the fifth day the stock seems poised to close higher, as trading was boosted by a widely-anticipated speech from its CEO. The wider market for large financial companies was mixed.

European shares were flat on Tuesday at mid-day as strategists said they were optimistic policymakers would make progress on a solution for the region's debt crisis, though Standard & Poor's warned it might downgrade top-rated Germany and other Eurozone countries.

Most Southeast Asian stock markets pulled lower on Tuesday as a warning by ratings agency Standard & Poor's of a possible mass downgrade of the Eurozone kept market investors wary ahead of the EU summit late this week.

Total construction spending has contributed to real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the past two quarters and is expected to add to economic growth through 2013.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: ARM Holdings, Vodafone Group, Research In Motion, Microsoft, and Intel. The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: China Medical Technologies, Clearwire, Siliconware Precision Industries, BGC Partners, and ASML Holding.

Chinese and Indian appetite for diamonds will fuel demand growth by more than 6 percent a year over the next decade and almost double the size of the market, far outpacing supply increases limited by a lack of new mines.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner arrived in Germany on Tuesday to advocate for Eurozone officials to definitively resolve the debt crisis.

European stocks and the euro slid and most bond yields rose after the threat from rating agency Standard & Poor's to downgrade Eurozone countries en masse if no credible plan to solve the debt crisis emerges at a summit later this week.

Jefferies initiated coverage of Allot Communications Ltd. (NASDAQ: ALLT) with a buy rating and a price target of $20.