Northern Rock share plunge turns lender into target
Northern Rock Plc's share price plunge after needing a lifeline from the Bank of England has turned the mortgage lender into a stricken target, more likely than ever to fall prey to a takeover bid.
August retail sales disappoint
Retail sales and industrial output eked out smaller-than-expected gains in August, according to data on Friday that kept in place expectations the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week. The reports showed signs of economic softness but the picture was not uniformly bleak. A drop in gasoline prices helped curb the sales retail gain, but helped hold a gauge of consumer confidence steady in early September.
U.S.-China end safety talks
China will work with the United States to ensure the safety of exported toys and other goods, a top Chinese official said, but Beijing still insists it is not solely to blame in recent safety scandals.
Safety "myths" said to block Mexico trucks from U.S.
A U.S. Senate decision to block funding for a test program to let Mexico's long-haul trucks operate in the United States uses outdated safety fears to mask protectionism, Mexican truckers and the U.S. government say.
Be a banker online, starting with $25 loans
Fueled by last year's Nobel Prize for a man nicknamed banker to the poor, microlending to small businesses in the world's poorest countries is booming as individuals discover they can be their own mini World Bank.c
Clean coal to qualify for Kyoto carbon offsets
Very efficient coal-fired power plants will be able to sell carbon offsets under the Kyoto Protocol, in an expansion of project eligibility under the carbon trading scheme, U.N. official Jose Miguez said.
Stocks dip on retail data, BoE bailout
Major U.S. indexes started off the day slightly lower on Friday as August retail sales disappointed while the subprime crisis extended overseas as the Bank of England rescued mortgage lender Northern Rock.
Sony's new digital cameras come with smile shutter
Have you ever missed taking a great smiling photo because of digital camera shutter lag? Sony Corp's newest cameras aim to use technology to assist users to resolve that problem.
Bush agrees to limited troop cuts in Iraq
President George W. Bush on Thursday ordered gradual troop reductions in Iraq but defied calls for a dramatic change of course, telling war-weary Americans the U.S. military role there will stretch beyond his presidency.
Stocks set to fall as credit worries flare up
Stock futures fell on Friday, suggesting Wall Street shares could open under pressure after British mortgage lender Northern Rock became the biggest UK casualty of the current liquidity squeeze.
Google sponsors moon landing prize
Web search leader Google Inc. will sponsor a $30 million competition for an unmanned lunar landing, following up on the $10 million Ansari X Prize that spurred a private sector race to space.
Toyota to build a new factory in Japan
Toyota Motor Corp, the world's biggest auto maker, plans to build a new car plant in Japan to revamp its production facilities, domestic media reported on Friday.
Cadbury rejects drinks bid due to financing: sources
Britain's Cadbury Schweppes Plc rejected a private equity bid for its North American drinks unit over the terms rather than price after it was asked to finance a third of the deal, industry sources said on Friday.
Verizon to drop Bob Marley ringtones after dispute
Verizon Wireless will drop all Bob Marley ringtones, ringbacks and pictures after being threatened with a trademark infringement lawsuit, representatives for the late reggae star's family said on Thursday.
South Korea sends Intel antitrust statement
South Korean regulators have sent a statement of objections to Intel Corp following a two-year investigation into whether the U.S. microchip company violated antitrust laws.
New Sumatra quakes rock Indonesia
Frightened residents on Indonesia's Sumatra island huddled in tents outside their damaged homes on Friday, traumatized by the latest of more than 40 aftershocks since a huge earthquake struck two days ago.
BoE offers emergency support to Northern Rock
The Bank of England has offered an emergency loan to Northern Rock after the mortgage lender became the biggest British casualty of the credit squeeze sparked by the crisis in the U.S. subprime mortgage market. The British central bank's support is the first time it has acted as lender of last resort in this way since becoming independent on interest rate policy in 1997.
McDonald's, financials lift market
U.S. stocks rose on Thursday after a Wall Street analyst said brokerage shares were undervalued and McDonald's Corp raised its annual dividend by 50 percent.
Hot-headed investors make better decisions: study
Sometimes it's best not to keep your cool.
Big hedge winners see more market pain ahead
Hedge funds managers who won big by betting that credit markets would slump say they are not seeing reasons to change their bets, despite a stabilizing stock market.
Are carmakers really turning 'green'?
Carmakers in Europe's biggest auto show are displaying clean cars alongside powerful sportscars and gas-guzzling SUVs.
Risk management may steer Fed rate decision
At a Senate hearing on his nomination to head the U.S. central bank, Ben Bernanke pledged to follow the risk-management path of his predecessor, Alan Greenspan: steering policy based not only on the most likely outcome, but on less-probable, but costly, scenarios as well.
Greenspan says didn't see subprime storm brewing
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said he was late to see the storm gathering around U.S. mortgage lending practices and commended his successor Ben Bernanke's handling of the crisis, saying he would likely be responding in a similar fashion.
Countrywide lines up $12 billion financing
Countrywide Financial Corp, the largest U.S. mortgage lender, said on Thursday that it had lined up $12 billion of secured financing to help cope with a housing slowdown that has reduced loan demand and will lead to widespread layoffs.
Chinese shares dangerously high: economist
Chinese shares have reached a dangerously high level because the market is failing to price risks properly, just as investors misjudged the value of U.S. subprime mortgages, an academic economist said on Thursday.
Dollar makes comback vs euro
The dollar rebounded against the yen and euro on Thursday as investors resumed buying the U.S. currency after nearly a week of declines, although expectations of a cut in U.S. interest rates capped gains.
Oil hits new high above $80
Oil rose to an all-time high of $80.20 on Thursday after Hurricane Humberto forced the closure of some U.S. Gulf refiners and stoked concerns of fuel shortages this winter.
Nissan concept car aims at video generation
The Nissan concept car Mixim turned heads at the Frankfurt International Motor Show -- a futuristic three-seater that looks more like a video game centre than a car and was designed with the help of teenagers who hate cars from around the world.
Yahoo freestyle design competitions yield pay-offs
Yahoo Inc has begun publicly testing two Web services that are the fruit of intensive, one-day internal programming competitions the company has been hosting to foster employee innovation.
Japan leadership race starts after PM quits
Japan's finance minister became the first to launch a bid to lead the country on Thursday as the ruling party scrambled to avoid a policy vacuum after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's shock resignation.