Car slump in France, Spain and Italy spells gloomy 2013

PARIS (Reuters) – Car sales in France, Spain and Italy in 2012 fell to the lowest levels in years, with December registration data underscoring the challenges facing the broader European economy.Automakers are facing a sustained slump in the European car market as the euro zone debt crisis and government austerity measures sap consumer demand.“The new car market continues to decline – a trait which...

Read More..

Obama urges House to back deal

1 January 2013 Last updated at 12:45 ETUS President Barack Obama has urged the House of Representatives to back a Senate-approved deal to prevent sweeping tax rises and spending cuts known as the “fiscal cliff”.These came into effect at midnight when George W Bush-era tax cuts expired, although few effects will be felt immediately as Tuesday is a US holiday.House Republicans were to meet at 13:00...

Read More..

Obama: Cliff deal ‘within sight’

31 December 2012 Last updated at 14:18 ETA deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff” of tax rises and spending cuts is “within sight” – but not yet done, US President Barack Obama has said.But he told an audience of taxpayers it was unlikely that a “grand bargain” on tax and spending would happen.Democrats are said to have offered to extend tax cuts on couples earning up to $ 450,000 (£277,000). But divisions...

Read More..

Death! Sex! How Comic Books Bump Their Sales

In comic book publishing, the decision to kill off a long-running and beloved character may seem, at first glance, like a terribly unwise business move. But when Marvel Comics released its latest issue of Amazing Spider-Man—#700, which ends with Peter Parker, the webbed crusader’s alter ego, getting murdered—the issue began flying off the shelves.“The sales are phenomenal,” says Axel Alonso, the editor...

Read More..

Apple to drop patent claims against new Samsung phone

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc has agreed to withdraw patent claims against a new Samsung phone with a high-end display after Samsung said it was not offering to sell the product in the crucial U.S. market.Apple disclosed the agreement in a filing on Friday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, California. Representatives for both Apple and Samsung declined to comment.Last month Apple asked to...

Read More..

The Unemployment Rate Is Dropping, Which Is Not as Good as It Sounds

As long as inflation remains in check, the Federal Reserve has promised not to raise interest rates until unemployment hits 6.5 percent. So how long until that happens? A few estimates are worth noting for the contradictions they reveal in the labor market.According to calculations by the Brookings Institution’s Hamilton Project, at the current pace of job growth, about 155,000 jobs per month over...

Read More..

Say Hello to Higher Taxes: Why Neither Party Wants a Deal

With five days to go until the fiscal cliff, Republicans and Democrats are displaying as much effort as New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez in the latter stages of a typical four-interception blowout—which is to say, none whatsoever. They can barely bestir themselves to maintain the pretense that they’re working to avoid the $ 600 billion of tax hikes and spending cuts due to arrive next week.President...

Read More..

In Brazil’s Favelas, a Middle Class Arises

The night before appliance retailer Casas Bahia opened in Rio de Janeiro’s largest slum, resident Joana Darc de Morandi couldn’t sleep. Shopping list in hand, Joana was first in line to get in, seven hours before some 200 people began streaming through the store’s front door. “It’s very important for the neighborhood,” Morandi, 57, says of Rocinha, the slum where she lives. “Casas Bahia being here...

Read More..

TSX closes lower as U.S. budget fears linger

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada‘s main stock index ended down after a quiet, shortened Christmas Eve trading session on Monday, as oil prices extended their retreat on worries about U.S. ‘fiscal cliff’ budget measures, pulling energy shares lower.With U.S. lawmakers suspending talks on the spending cuts and tax increases that could send the economy back into recession until after Christmas, the market...

Read More..

Norway minister’s EU exit warning

23 December 2012 Last updated at 09:08 ETNorway’s foreign minister has urged the UK to assess the advantages of staying in the European Union, rather than consider leaving.Norway is not in the EU but has access to the single market. UK Eurosceptics use it as a model for how the UK could relate to the EU from outside.But Foreign Minister Espen Eide said Oslo had “limited scope for influence”.“We are...

Read More..

Working-class neighborhood in Madrid wins “El Gordo” lottery

MADRID (Reuters) – Unemployed Spaniards in a highly indebted commuter town in the outskirts of Madrid celebrated with joy after sharing the top prize in “El Gordo“, the world’s biggest lottery.The 200-year-old Christmas draw doled out more than 2.5 billion euros ($ 3.3 billion) in prizes, with a top individual prize of 4 million euros. The smallest ticket, known as a “decimo” wins a tenth of the prize...

Read More..

Boehner: Still hope on cliff deal

21 December 2012 Last updated at 12:09 ETPlease turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. John Boehner: “It is not the outcome I wanted, but it was the will of the House”Republicans will keep working to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff” of tax rises and spending cuts, House Speaker John Boehner has said.Earlier, right-leaning Republicans rejected a plan by Mr Boehner to raise taxes on...

Read More..

IntercontinentalExchange buys NYSE Euronext for $8 billion

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – IntercontinentalExchange struck an $ 8.2 billion deal to buy NYSE Euronext, a combination that will propel the commodities market powerhouse into European financial futures but threaten to further reduce the clout of the New York Stock Exchange.The deal will create a new player in global derivatives trading and clearing that would take on CME Group Inc. While the New York...

Read More..

Bank chief house costs to be paid

19 December 2012 Last updated at 08:39 ETMark Carney, the next head of the Bank of England, will be paid £250,000 in housing costs in addition to his salary and pension costs.He will receive the money on top of his annual £480,000 salary and a yearly pension allowance of £144,000.The housing allowance will be taxed at the new top rate of tax of 45%, which will be in place by the time he takes up his...

Read More..

S&P raises Greece’s credit rating

18 December 2012 Last updated at 14:23 ETRatings agency Standard and Poor’s has raised the credit rating of Greece’s sovereign debt by six levels, praising the “strong determination” of fellow eurozone countries to help it stay as a member state.S&P has increased Greece’s rating from “selective default” to “B-minus”.The agency also praised the continuing efforts by Greece’s government to cut its...

Read More..

Only balanced plan to avoid “cliff” is Obama’s: White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The only proposal that avoids the year-end U.S. “fiscal cliff” in a balanced manner is the one President Barack Obama has put forward, White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Monday.“The only plan that we have seen that achieves the size and the balance that’s required for sustainable – for long-term deficit reduction and for putting our economy on a sustainable fiscal path,...

Read More..

Craft Brewers Threatened by Big Beer Brands

American craft brewers love to talk about how they’re stealing market share from the big beer companies, such as MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD). In the first half of the year, craft beer sales rose 14 percent, in dollar terms, according to the trade group Brewers Association. Their larger competitors can only dream of such gains in the U.S.Craft brewers, however, are...

Read More..

US prices fall on cheaper petrol

14 December 2012 Last updated at 10:02 ETUS consumers prices fell in November due to a sharp drop in petrol prices, according to official figures, as inflation in the economy remained weak.The consumer price index fell 0.3% from October, the first decline since May, the US Labor Department said.The gasoline index fell 7.4% in November, which more than offset gains in prices elsewhere.Stripping out...

Read More..

Fiat CEO: plan to buy Chrysler shares

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Italian carmaker Fiat SpA fully intends to acquire the 41.5 percent of Chrysler Group shares that it does not now own, but wrangling over the price could continue for a while, Fiat-Chrysler chief Sergio Marchionne said on Friday.Fiat is in arbitration proceedings with the owner of the shares, a United Auto Workers trust fund that pays medical benefits to retired workers. The trust...

Read More..

Labor market brightens, consumers step up spending

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell sharply last week to a near four-year low and retail sales rebounded in November, hopeful signs for the struggling economic recovery.Initial claims for state unemployment aid fell for a fourth straight week, dropping 29,000 to a seasonally adjusted 343,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. They are now...

Read More..