Business - Page 11

Business

Reuters - Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers Ltd. said on Tuesday it has secured voting control over 11.3 percent of struggling retailer Coles Group Ltd. , which has put itself up for sale.

Reuters - Accounting firm Grant Thornton resigned as auditor for two troubled subprime lenders, the companies said on Monday in separate regulatory filings. More Info...  

Reuters - Marshall & Ilsley Corp. is nearing an agreement to spin off payment processing unit Metavante Corp., with private equity firm Warburg Pincus at the same time buying a stake in a business valued at about $4 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources. More Info...  

AP - New Century Financial Corp., once the nation's second-largest provider of home loans to high-risk borrowers, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, the victim of its own financial missteps as well as pressures felt by its rival lenders.

Reuters - New Century Financial Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday amid a surge in homeowner defaults, the biggest mortgage lender to collapse in the slumping U.S. housing market.

FT.com - Indian stocks fell sharply Monday after the Reserve Bank of India caught the market by surprise by aggressively tightening monetary policy in an effort to head off inflationary pressures. More Info...  

Business

Reuters - Japanese companies are slightly less optimistic about business conditions than they were three months ago amid growing concerns about the outlook for the U.S. and global economies, a Bank of Japan survey showed on Monday.

Reuters - Japanese companies are slightly less optimistic about business conditions than they were three months ago amid growing concerns about the outlook for the U.S. and global economies, a Bank of Japan survey showed on Monday.

Reuters - Top U.S. phone company AT&T said that it and Mexican cell phone operator America Movil were seeking indirect investments in Telecom Italia , in a deal to expand AT&T's international business. More Info...  

Reuters - Supermarket chain Supervalu on Sunday said it is voluntarily recalling select pet food products made by Del Monte due to possible contamination. More Info...  

AP - Consumers' spending and income showed bigger-than-expected gains in February, and construction posted the first increase in nearly a year, hopeful signs that the economic slowdown will not worsen.

Reuters - U.S. stocks ended the last session of a turbulent quarter little changed on Friday as word the United States had imposed duties on some Chinese imports offset strong economic news and a pullback in oil prices.

Reuters - A U.S. law that requires banks to serve the less affluent has widened access to credit and helped increase home ownership, but needs to evolve to address the rise in nonbank lenders, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Friday.

AFP - Around 150 workers walked out of a Burberry factory for the final time on Friday as the luxury goods retailer quit Wales to transfer production to China.

Reuters - Private equity firms Bain Capital and Blackstone Group are among the bidders for Ceridian Corp. , sources familiar with the matter said on Friday, raising the chances that the entire business services company will be sold. More Info...  

Reuters - Shares of cancer vaccine makers soared on Friday after an advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended approval of a product made by Dendreon Corp.

Business

Reuters - A raft of stronger-than-expected U.S. economic reports on Friday, including data on personal income, inflation and manufacturing, buttressed the view that the economy was on solid footing and interest rates were unlikely to fall any time soon.

Reuters - A raft of stronger-than-expected U.S. economic reports on Friday, including data on personal income, inflation and manufacturing, buttressed the view that the economy was on solid footing and interest rates were unlikely to fall any time soon.

AFP - Europe's main stock markets mostly fell in late morning trade as oil prices remained high and amid fresh takeover announcements, dealers said Friday.

AFP - Man Group, the world's biggest listed hedge fund, announced Friday plans to demerge its brokerage unit, Man Financial, and list it on the New York Stock Exchange, as it forecast in-line annual profits.