Economy

Hostess picks lead bidders for Twinkies
Hostess has picked a lead bid for its famous Twinkies. The bankrupt company said late Wednesday that it has selected a joint offer from two investment ...
LVMH cashes in on rising luxury goods demand
French luxury conglomerate LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton confirmed Thursday that it's recession-proof: Net profit rose 12 percent last year, as ...
Romanians, Bulgarians answer UK immigration fears
The scaremongering is all over British tabloids: Romanians and Bulgarians (Pickpockets! Scam artists! Scroungers!) flooding into the UK by the ...
Poland: No proof yet horsemeat came from country
Poland is conducting DNA tests on meat samples at seven facilities to see if any are the source of horsemeat discovered this month in Irish-produced ...
Diageo net profit rose 61 percent
Distiller Diageo PLC's net profit rose to 1.54 billion pounds ($2.43 billion) in the six months ending on Dec. 31, up 61 percent on the same period ...
Q4 profit up to $543 million for Spain's Santander
Spain's Banco Santander says it made a net profit of €401 million ($543 million) for 2012, up from €47 million for the same period a year earlier, but ...
Deutsche Bank posts steep Q4 loss of $2.9 billion
Reducing the value of assets and lawsuit expenses pushed Deutsche Bank into a big and unexpected fourth quarter loss of €2.15 billion ($2.91 billion).
Shell earnings rise in Q4 on refining turnaround
Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Thursday it plans to continue investing aggressively in new projects in the coming years, as it sees a bright future for ...
Constellation sinks as US sues to block beer deal
Shares of Constellation Brands sank Thursday after the U.S. Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit challenging Anheuser-Busch InBev's proposed ...
Areva sales rise as nuclear business picks up
France's state-controlled nuclear giant Areva says its revenue grew 5.3 percent last year as the nuclear business picked up and moved past the ...
Aetna 4Q profit sinks 49 pct, medical costs climb
Aetna's fourth-quarter net income sank 49 percent as higher medical costs squeezed profitability for the insurer's commercial health coverage, and ...
US consumer spending up slight 0.2 percent
U.S. consumers increased their spending in December at a slower pace, while their income grew by the largest amount in eight years. Income surged ...
Greek doctors, public transport workers on strike
Greek doctors, port workers and public transport staff in the country's capital walked off the job Thursday in strikes against deeply unpopular ...
Durex launches condom delivery service in Dubai
Need a condom delivered to your doorstep in an hour? Then Dubai is the place to be. Already the launching pad for American fast-food restaurants and ...
Marlboro maker Altria 4Q profit up 32 percent
Marlboro maker Altria Group's fourth-quarter profit rose about 32 percent as it commanded higher prices for cigarettes and smokeless tobacco and ...
GM taps VW exec to run troubled Opel unit
General Motors has appointed the former head of Volkswagen's China business to try and turn around its lossmaking European division, Opel. The Adam ...
Futures head lower; new jobs and consumer data
Stock futures are heading lower as the government releases new data on consumer spending and unemployment. Dow Jones industrial futures are down 13 ...
Dow Chemical sees deterioration in China in 4Q
Dow Chemical saw significant deterioration in key markets during the fourth quarter, particularly in China, and posted a wider fourth-quarter loss ...
Scientific Games buying WMS for about $1.42B
Instant-win lottery ticket company Scientific Games is buying gaming equipment company WMS Industries Inc. for about $1.42 billion in order to broaden ...
Oil prices stay near $98 ahead of US jobs data
Oil prices hovered near $98 a barrel Thursday, close to four-month highs, as traders waited for more economic indicators from the U.S. By early ...
German unemployment sees seasonal rise in January
Germany's unemployment rate increased to 7.4 percent in January as the country was hit by harsh winter weather, but seasonally adjusted jobless ...
Honda profit surges, trims forecast on China
Honda's quarterly profit surged nearly 63 percent as production recovered after disruptions from natural disasters, but the Japanese automaker ...
Activists try to save old Warsaw ghetto building
It was the place where Jewish women did their ritual bathing. It was a tuberculosis clinic. It survived the German onslaught and became a gathering ...
SKorea chaebol chief sentenced to 4 years prison
A South Korean court sentenced the chairman of the country's third-biggest conglomerate to four years in prison on Thursday for embezzling millions ...
ANA to seek damages from Boeing for 787 woes
Japan's All Nippon Airways is prepared to recoup from Boeing whatever damages it suffers from flight cancellations and other costs caused by the ...