MARKETS / FINANCE

Japan Airlines Corp shares slid 12 percent to a record low on Friday as investors suggested bankruptcy may be an option for Asia's biggest airline by revenue, even as the government again pledged to support the troubled carrier.

Billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros said on Thursday that the world's current currency arrangements are fraught with danger and that the world needs global regulation.

The U.S. economy is recovering but the upturn will be slow and it makes no sense to raise interest rates in this climate since inflation is not a risk, a top Federal Reserve official said on Thursday.

Bank of America Corp's departing chief executive, Kenneth Lewis, will receive no pay for 2009, but questions still linger about his $125 million retirement payout.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc opted to devote a smaller chunk of revenue to compensation in the latest quarter in what may be a sop to critics angry about a bonus bonanza so soon after the bank took billions in government funds.

Former Bear Stearns hedge fund manager Matthew Tannin, on trial for fraud and lying to investors early in the financial crisis, might have made strategic mistakes but he did not conspire with colleagues to commit a crime, his lawyer said on Thursday.

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Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis will receive no pay or benefits for his last year of work at the company.

U.S. authorities charged 41 people in a suspected mortgage fraud scheme that cheated lenders out of more than $64 million on more than 100 New York state properties, prosecutors said on Thursday.

Google Inc's quarterly profit beat estimates as revenues grew at their strongest sequential pace in more than a year, sending its shares up 2.4 percent.

Google plans to launch an online store to deliver electronic books to any device with a Web browser, threatening to upset a burgeoning market for dedicated e-readers dominated by Amazon's Kindle.

Labor market, manufacturing and consumer price data released on Thursday portrayed the U.S. economy as steadily emerging from a protracted recession, with inflation under control.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc's vaunted trading operations helped the dominant Wall Street firm quadruple its earnings, but investment banking results were lackluster and its shares fell.

Goldman Sachs' earned $3.19 billion in the third quarter, led by booming sales from its trading division, which accounted for 85.3 percent of all sales

Former Bear Stearns hedge fund manager Matthew Tannin, on trial for fraud and charges he lied to investors early in the financial crisis, could not have foreseen problems in the subprime mortgage market in 2007, his lawyer said in opening his defense on Thursday.

Top U.S. executives are becoming more hopeful about the global economy and the U.S. business outlook, according to a survey of business leaders released on Thursday.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc quarterly earnings nearly quadrupled, topping expectations, but its shares fell on disappointment that so much of the profit came from trading gains that might not be sustainable.

A key U.S. congressional committee approved new rules for the largely unpoliced $450-trillion derivatives market on Thursday in a win for the Obama administration.

Top U.S. executives are becoming more hopeful about the global economy and the U.S. business outlook, according to a survey of business leaders released on Thursday.

American International Group Inc said on Thursday it expects to recognize a loss of about $1.4 billion on the sale of Nan Shan Life Insurance Co, its life insurance unit in Taiwan.

Citigroup Inc posted a quarterly per-share loss as it suffered $8 billion of credit losses, raising questions about when the bank can return to sustained profitability.

U.S. consumer prices edged up in September, the number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits dropped to a nine-month low last week and New York state factory activity perked up this month, more proof the economy was healing after a protracted recession.

Citigroup Inc posted a quarterly per-share loss as it suffered $8 billion of credit losses, raising questions about when the bank can return to sustained profitability.

Charles Schwab Corp said on Thursday its quarterly profit fell 34 percent, meeting expectations, as fee waivers and lower trading by clients continued to weigh on the leading U.S. online brokerage.

South Korea's LG Telecom said on Thursday that its board had approved a plan to merge with LG Dacom and LG Powercom on January 1, 2010.

As the recession takes a bite out of video games sales in the stores, consumers are opting to download more games to save money while keeping themselves entertained.

Hon Hai Group, parent of Hon Hai and Foxconn, will invest more than $1 billion to build a production facility in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu, sources and the company said.

The New York Times Co said it has given up its plan to sell The Boston Globe and related businesses after drastic cuts it imposed on the daily newspaper earlier this year improved its financial position.

British firm OMG announced it had received licensing from Microsoft to launch a small digital camera aimed at helping people with memory loss, boosting its shares on Thursday.