| Wall Street Week Ahead: Bears hibernate as stocks near record highs Posted: 25 Jan 2013 03:43 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks have been on a tear in January, moving major indexes within striking distance of all-time highs. The bearish case is a difficult one to make right now. Earnings have exceeded expectations, the housing and labor markets have strengthened, lawmakers in Washington no longer seem to be the roadblock that they were for most of 2012, and money has returned to stock funds again. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index has gained 5.4 percent this year and closed above 1,500 - climbing to the spot where Wall Street strategists expected it to be by mid-year. ...
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| Exclusive: UBS Chairman proposes industry-wide settlement over Libor Posted: 25 Jan 2013 01:47 PM PST  DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - UBS Chairman Axel Weber raised the possibility of an industry-wide settlement for the rest of the banks involved in the Libor rate fixing scandal at a meeting of top bankers in Davos, sources familiar with the matter said. Among the top bankers and officials present at the meeting on Thursday were Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, JP Morgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon, Citigroup CEO Mike Corbat and HSBC Chairman Douglas Flint. Carney is due to take over as head of the Bank of England later this year. Swiss bank UBS reached a $1. ...
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| Exxon Mobil regains market-value crown from slumping Apple Posted: 25 Jan 2013 02:37 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp has reclaimed its place as the largest U.S. publicly traded company by market value one year after losing it to Apple Inc, as shares of the technology giant extended their recent fall on Friday. Apple's market capitalization has fallen by about $250 billion - roughly the total market value of Google Inc - since hitting a high last September, when the stock traded above $700. Apple shares traded as low as $435 before closing down 2.4 percent on Friday at $439.88, for a market value of roughly $413 billion. Exxon shares, up 0.4 percent on the day to $91. ...
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| Exclusive: Goldman finds a way past Volcker with new credit fund Posted: 25 Jan 2013 02:12 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group is looking to raise up to $600 million from its wealthy customers for a publicly traded credit fund that will provide loans to mid-sized companies - believed to be the first fund of its kind for the Wall Street bank. The new fund, in which Goldman could invest another $150 million of its own money, is being structured as a business development company, an investment vehicle that is specifically exempt from the so-called Volcker Rule that puts limits on some activities by Wall Street firms. ...
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| Britain may refuse to produce RBS Libor documents, Canada argues Posted: 25 Jan 2013 02:25 PM PST OTTAWA (Reuters) - Britain cannot be relied on to force Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc to give Canadian authorities documents on alleged interest rate rigging, because the British government is RBS's majority shareholder, Canada's Competition Bureau argued this month. An affidavit filed by Canadian lawyer on behalf of the Competition Bureau was the latest salvo in a sometimes nasty battle between the bureau and RBS over whether the bureau can compel the British banking group's Canadian subsidiary to hand over potentially damning records held at RBS's head office or elsewhere outside Canada. ... |
| Rumble in the Wall Street jungle: Ackman, Icahn duke it out on TV Posted: 25 Jan 2013 03:01 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two of the most prominent investors in the world, Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman, had Wall Street mesmerized on Friday as years of acrimony exploded into a bruising verbal scrap on live TV. Initially CNBC was only talking to Ackman, but then the cable TV station put Icahn on as well and all hell broke loose. The argument centered on nutritional supplements company Herbalife Ltd , in which Ackman has had a well-publicized short position that Icahn has slammed. ...
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| Europeans fill jobs void in Chile's thriving economy Posted: 25 Jan 2013 03:03 PM PST SANTIAGO (Reuters) - As the debt crisis raged across the euro zone last year, Madrid-native Laura Tapias and her partner found themselves out of work. With nearly one in four Spaniards unemployed, their prospects looked grim. After four months of fruitless job-hunting at home, she headed across the Atlantic to Santiago with her boyfriend who had got a job in Chile's capital city. Two days later she found work as a hydrogeologist at an environmental consulting firm in the Santiago business district dubbed 'Sanhattan' for its resemblance to Manhattan's skyline. ... |
| Exclusive: US Air, AMR deal could come in next two weeks - sources Posted: 25 Jan 2013 03:34 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - US Airways Group Inc and American Airlines parent AMR Corp are in the final stages of negotiating a merger, with the final price and management structure still to be resolved, four people familiar with the matter said. The two airlines, as well as AMR's creditors and its bondholders, have focused their efforts in recent weeks on reaching a merger agreement, and a deal could come in the next two weeks, the people said on Friday. ...
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| S&P 500 vaults 1,500 as Wall Street extends rally Posted: 25 Jan 2013 03:43 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Standard & Poor's 500 index closed above 1,500 for the first time in more than five years on Friday as strong earnings reports, including Procter & Gamble's, helped the benchmark extend its rally to eight days. The winning streak is the longest in eight years and left the S&P 500 about 4.1 percent away from its all-time closing high of 1,565.15 on October 9, 2007. ...
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| GM's Opel sales chief goes after seven months Posted: 25 Jan 2013 11:00 AM PST FRANKFURT (Reuters) - General Motors subsidiary Opel lost sales chief Alfred Rieck on Friday, marking another high profile departure for its ailing German business. "We respect Alfred Rieck's decision and wish him all the best for his professional future," said GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky in a statement on Friday. The carmaker is battling a slump in car sales in Europe due to the weak economic climate, which has squeezed consumer spending. ... |
| Will smart machines create a world without work? Posted: 25 Jan 2013 10:27 AM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — They seem right out of a Hollywood fantasy, and they are: Cars that drive themselves have appeared in movies like "I, Robot" and the television show "Knight Rider."
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| S&P 500 in longest winning streak since 2004 Posted: 25 Jan 2013 02:08 PM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — The Standard & Poor's 500 index closed above 1,500 on Friday for the first time since the start of the Great Recession in 2007, lifted by strong earnings from Procter & Gamble and Starbucks.
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| Court says Obama appointments violate constitution Posted: 25 Jan 2013 03:08 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama violated the Constitution when he bypassed the Senate last year to appoint three members of the National Labor Relations Board, a federal appeals court ruled Friday in a far-reaching decision that could severely limit a chief executive's powers to make recess appointments.
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| Billionaire investors square off on live TV Posted: 25 Jan 2013 02:44 PM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — A long-simmering spat between billionaire investors Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman boiled over into a shouting match on live television Friday.
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| Procter & Gamble fiscal 2Q profit jumps Posted: 25 Jan 2013 02:49 PM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — Procter & Gamble is turning a corner.
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| Exxon passes Apple as most valuable company Posted: 25 Jan 2013 01:38 PM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — Exxon has once again surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable company after the iPhone and iPad maker saw its stock price falter.
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| MBAs play poker in Vegas to win job at Caesars Posted: 25 Jan 2013 01:05 PM PST  LAS VEGAS (AP) — Forget the firm handshake and networking chit chat. Business students who want a job at Caesars Entertainment need to work on their poker faces.
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| S&P lowers Illinois credit rating, blames pensions Posted: 25 Jan 2013 03:31 PM PST CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois' already disastrous financial situation worsened Friday as another credit rating agency downgraded its rating to the worst of any state in the country, blaming lawmakers' ongoing failure to resolve a multibillion-dollar pension crisis. |
| Trial under way in LA hip joint replacement suit Posted: 25 Jan 2013 03:23 PM PST LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California jury heard opening statements Friday from attorneys in a lawsuit over whether a now-withdrawn hip replacement device from medical giant Johnson & Johnson subsidiary was defective. |
| Gatorade to remove controversial ingredient Posted: 25 Jan 2013 02:16 PM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — PepsiCo Inc. is removing a controversial ingredient from its Gatorade sports drink in response to customer complaints.
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