INVESTMENT

Beverages giant Coca Cola announced Tuesday that it would invest nearly double the amount of money, along with its bottling partners, to $5 billion by 2020. The investment of $5 billion is higher by $3 billion from the earlier announcement made in November 2011 for a five-year period.

The Chinese government has spent billions to buy Japanese stocks as the euro zone crisis lingers, in an effort to diversify its investments, the AFP reported.

The 54-cent decline in the average price of gasoline over the last 3 months should add approximately $54 billion of incremental income to U.S. consumers.

An eye-catching illustration included in a report by BNP Paribas Exane explains why the Continent's leader seem unable to solve the ever-worsening eurozone crisis: in spite of being ostensibly committed to the same goals, top policy-makers disagree on the more aggressive policies most experts believe are needed. It's almost like they're on different planets.

A graphic published by Der Spiegel, Germany's top newsweekly, is making the rounds among global financial blogs and Facebook walls, succinctly putting into numbers the horrific economic carnage a collapse of the common currency union would entail.

Dell (Nasdaq: DELL), the No. 3 PC maker, seeking to battle Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL), the No. 1 database developer, has bid as much as $2.34 billion for Quest Software (Nasdaq: QFST).

The weekend brought a sobering warning from the Bank for International Settlements, which suggested that the emerging markets are facing their own version of the boom and bust cycle that brought the developed world to its knees three years ago.

China's annual growth target for 2012 looks increasingly in jeopardy as demand at home falters and Europe's debt crisis worsens, complicating matters for Beijing as the country heads into a once-in-a-decade leadership transition.

In an attempt to boost growth and save the sliding rupee, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Monday announced a series of measures like allowing Indian companies to borrow more money from overseas for refinancing their outstanding rupee loans.

Global rating agency Moody's said Monday that it was retaining the outlook for India's rating as stable and said slowdown in economic growth might be a short-term problem.

An inch of time is an inch of gold, but you can't buy that inch of time with an inch of gold. Does this Chinese proverb ring true in the case of Indians who invest in gold for a 'good time' tomorrow? Or is the craze for the yellow metal ruining the country's economy?

The top after-market NYSE gainers Friday were: Teva Pharmaceutical, Lloyds Banking Group, Thompson Creek Metals Company, St. Jude Medical and Flotek Industries. The top after-market NYSE losers were: Hovnanian Enterprises, MGIC Investment Corp, Astrazeneca Plc, Tejon Ranch and 3D Systems Corp.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel resisted pressure on Friday for common euro zone bonds or a more flexible use of Europe's rescue funds but agreed with leaders of France, Italy and Spain on a ?130 billion ($156 billion) package to revive growth.

The United States Coast Guard has suspended a search for missing millionaire, Guma Aguiar, after his boat mysteriously washed ashore in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday without anyone inside.

Few large financial institutions managed to escape unscathed as Moody's repositioned the ratings of 15 banks and securities firms with global capital markets operations after the closing bell on Thursday.

Harvest Natural Resources, Sony Corp., Morgan Stanley, Banco Santander, Deutsche Bank, Jack in the Box, Statoil and IHS Inc. are among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Friday.

China and Brazil finalized an agreement on Thursday to exchange national currencies worth up to $30 billion as part of bilateral efforts to shore up reserves in times of crisis.

Dell (Nasdaq: DELL), the No. 3 PC maker, seeking to battle Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL), the No. 1 database developer, may have been stymied in its efforts to acquire Quest Software (Nasdaq: QFST).

Lanai, Hawaii, was once known as the pineapple capital of the world. Then the pineapple plantations became four-star resorts. What's next? That's up to the new owner: American billionaire Larry Ellison.

How much did he get?

Onyx Pharmaceuticals, QuinStreet, Molycorp, EZchip Semiconductor, Red Hat, Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Mechel OAO, Chimera Investment and Nokia Corp. are among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Thursday.