Business - Page 22

Reuters - The global flight from risk knocked gold and silver hard for a third straight day on Friday, with bullion falling below $640 an ounce for the first time in 1-1/2 months as funds and currency investors cashed out on precious metals to pay for losses in other markets.

FT.com - The financial sector bore the brunt of heavy losses suffered by European equity markets this week. More Info...  

AFP - Retail sales in Germany fell sharply in January as a result of the steep rise in value-added or sales tax (VAT) which came into effect at the start of the month, data showed Friday.

Reuters - Google Inc. disclosed in its 2006 annual report on Thursday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission nearly a year ago had called into question how it accounted for income taxes.

Reuters - Employees of some of Wall Street's top banks were among more than a dozen people charged on Thursday in what authorities called one of the most pervasive insider trading rings since the 1980s, accused of using leaked information and even blackmail to make millions of dollars.

Reuters - General Motors Corp. posted an unexpected monthly sales rise on Thursday and Japan's Toyota Motor Co. made further market inroads as February U.S. auto sales avoided the slump most analysts had predicted.

AP - Gap Inc.'s fourth-quarter profit fell 35 percent in a gloomy performance that triggered a recent management purge and doomed the slumping retailer's newest chain.

AP - A still skittish Wall Street closed modestly lower Thursday, having clawed its way back from an early-session plunge after upbeat manufacturing data allayed fears about a flagging U.S. economy.

Business

Reuters - Dell Inc., the world's second-largest personal computer maker, reported on Thursday a sharply lower quarterly profit while revenue fell short of Wall Street expectations, sending its shares down 1.7 percent.

Reuters - U.S. stocks slipped on Thursday in the latest leg of a global equities sell-off as investors' diminishing appetite for risk drove them to safer assets like bonds.

Reuters - Boeing Co. won orders for 51 commercial jets in February, worth about $8 billion at list prices, doubling its tally from the same month last year and making up for a relatively small number in January.

Reuters - The New York Stock Exchange said on Thursday it instituted downside trading curbs as U.S. stocks fell sharply in early trading.

Reuters - Ford Motor Co. said on Wednesday it estimates that its accelerated restructuring plan, announced in September, will cost $11.18 billion, with most of that going to programs to lay off employees.

Reuters - U.S. banking regulators plan to issue eagerly awaited guidance on the subprime mortgage market as early as Thursday afternoon, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

Business

Reuters - U.S. stocks rebounded on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the economy was set to grow moderately, calming investors' anxiety a day after the Dow industrials had its worst slide since the September 11, 2001, attacks.

AP - The economy turned in a much weaker performance in the final quarter of 2006 than initially thought, and new-home sales tumbled in January by the most in 13 years, suggesting more business lethargy ahead. More Info...  

FT.com - The timing may have surprised them but many investors had expected a hiccup in the eight-month rally that has taken US and European stock markets to highs not seen since the dotcom bubble. More Info...  

Reuters - The U.S. economy grew at a tepid 2.2 percent pace at the end of 2006, much weaker than first thought, while new home sales last month had their biggest drop in 13 years, according to data released on Wednesday that showed a soft economy.

Reuters - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said on Wednesday the New York Stock Exchange advised it that it is not violating exchange rules, after a union pension fund asked NYSE regulators to probe whether pay consultants for the retailer are too cozy with its managers.

AP - If location is the golden rule of real estate, then many who invest in real estate mutual funds might at times feel as if they've stumbled upon a great deal in the fanciest building in town. More Info...