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Consumer products and services

Healthier schools: Goodbye candy and greasy snacks
Goodbye candy bars and sugary cookies. Hello baked chips and diet sodas. The government for the first time is proposing broad new standards to make ...
Detroit, Toyota see big US sales gains in January
American consumers ignored tax increases and trudged through winter weather to buy new cars and trucks at an unusually strong pace last month. It was ...
Mattel 4Q results miss Wall Street's expectations
It was a blue Christmas in toyland. Weak demand over the holidays for toys like Barbie and Matchbox led Mattel's results to fall short of expectations ...
Sony likely to unveil next PlayStation on Feb. 20
Sony is poised to unveil the next PlayStation game console on Feb. 20, a date that would give the Japanese electronics company a head start over ...
Panasonic, Sharp expect red ink despite yen help
Japanese electronics makers Panasonic Corp. and Sharp Corp. both stuck to full year forecasts for massive losses even as results for the latest ...
CES gadget show host drops CNET as awards picker
The industry group that hosts the annual gadget show known as International CES is dropping reviews website CNET as the picker of its "Best of CES" ...
Gasoline prices get early start on spring surge
Gasoline prices are getting an early start on their annual spring march higher. The average U.S. retail price rose 13 cents over the past two weeks ...
Furor over proposed shift in Scouts no-gays policy
The Boy Scouts of America faces intensifying criticism from the left and right over a proposal to move away from a mandatory no-gays membership policy ...
Brazil nightclub fire prompts regional reaction
Brazilian authorities inspected and shuttered night spots around the country on Thursday as part of a crackdown on unsafe public spaces after a deadly ...
Lohan seeks $1M from company over fashion line
Lindsay Lohan sued her former collaborators on a clothing line on Thursday, seeking more than $1.1 million and renewed control of the brand's ...
Doritos to roll out chips in 'Taco Bell' flavor
Frito-Lay wants a bigger bite of Taco Bell's popular Doritos Locos Tacos. The snack food giant plans to roll out its Doritos in a "Taco Bell" flavor ...
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 ...
US challenges deal to merge Budweiser and Corona
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit Thursday to stop Anheuser-Busch InBev's proposed $20.1 billion purchase of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo, which ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Ex-HMV employee lets loose on company Twitter feed
An employee apparently fired from music retailer HMV let loose on the company's Twitter feed Thursday, comparing the latest round of layoffs to a mass ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Nintendo chief rules out price cuts for Wii U
Nintendo's president Thursday ruled out price cuts for its new Wii U home console as a way to boost sales, vowing to become profitable again in its ...
Brazil nightclub owner blames country for fire
The owner of a nightclub in southern Brazil where more than 230 people died in a fire last weekend deflected blame to "the whole country," as well as ...
Chrysler now a rising star among automakers
In just three years, Chrysler has gone from government ward to rising star. The No. 3 U.S. automaker made $1.7 billion last year thanks to big gains ...
Toyota recalls 1.29M vehicles for air bags, wipers
Toyota is recalling over one million cars around the world for faulty air bags and defective windshield wipers. The move comes just days after Toyota ...