Reuters - Asian stock markets and commodities retreated on Tuesday while the yen pushed higher as a souring economic outlook took some of the wind out of investor hopes sparked by China's massive stimulus plan.

Reuters - A U.S. tax investigation into UBS AG is concentrating on senior and midlevel executives and bankers, and could result in one or more indictments, the New York Times said, citing people briefed on the matter.

AFP - The global financial crisis closed in on two more victims Tuesday after General Motors said it would need a government rescue and major US electronics retailer Circuit City filed for bankruptcy.

Mobile phone group Vodafone announces £1bn of cost cuts because of rising raw materials prices and increasing competition.

China's trade surplus hits a new record at $35.2bn in October, while separate data showed inflation hit a 17-month low.

Credit card firm American Express gains approval to become a commercial bank, enabling it to take deposits.

Britain's biggest housebuilder, Taylor Wimpey, says there will be no short-term recovery in the UK housing market.

Reuters - Mobile group Vodafone cut its full-year revenue outlook and will reduce costs by 1 billion pounds, but it increased its forecast for free cash flow after reporting first half results slightly ahead of expectations.

Reuters - The government of Kazakhstan and the nation's four largest banks have agreed terms for at least $3.47 billion in capital injections to counter the impact of the global credit crisis, the state-owned SamrukKazyna fund said on Tuesday.

Home sales are at a 30-year low as a lack of available mortgages 'stifle' the housing market, an industry survey suggests.

Reuters - The insurance businesses of U.S. billionaire investors Warren Buffet and Wilbur Ross are close to buying all or part of the U.S. bond insurance unit of Dexia , Belgian business daily De Tijd said on Tuesday.

Reuters - Mobile phone group Vodafone cut its full-year revenue outlook for the second time in four months on Tuesday but said it would maintain profits and boost free cash flow by cutting 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) of costs.

Reuters - Stocks are set to fall on Tuesday on fresh worries over the global economy after more evidence of a weakening Chinese economy, and concerns about corporate profits after Starbucks posted a steeper-than-expected decline in profit.

Reuters - Tyco International Ltd reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings as it benefited from strong pricing in its electrical and metal products segment and increased demand for its valves and temperature controls.

Stock markets in Europe opened lower Tuesday after losses in Asia amid growing concerns about the world economy following downbeat corporate news in the United States.

Intercontinental hotels warns of a sharp deterioration in trading conditions and issues a profit warning for the final quarter.

The head of Russia's central bank refuses to rule the possibility that the national currency, the rouble, could weaken.

Many 'sound' small firms could be bankrupt by Christmas because of the financial crisis, business bosses warn.

Prime Minster Gordon Brown dismisses calls for Lloyds TSB's takeover of HBOS to be scrapped.

Reuters - Stocks headed for a sharply lower open on Tuesday on concerns that the global economic downturn is deepening.

Reuters - The insurance businesses of billionaire investors Warren Buffett and Wilbur Ross are close to buying all or part of the U.S. bond insurance unit of Dexia , Belgian business daily De Tijd said on Tuesday.

AP - TJX, which operates the T.J. Maxx and Marshalls stores, says third-quarter profit slipped 5 percent as unfavorable exchange rates and a tough economy crimped results for the discount fashion retailer.

Shares lost ground amid growing concerns about the global economy following downbeat corporate news in the United States. Markets in Europe and Asia were also lower.

The discount retailer, which operates the T.J. Maxx and Marshalls stores, said that third-quarter profit slipped 5 percent as unfavorable exchange rates and a difficult economy hurt results.

Some small-business experts are arguing that in a slowing economy, this may be the perfect time to increase marketing budgets ? and even prices.

Germany's biggest industrial trade union and some of the country's largest firms are due to meet to try to prevent a pay dispute.

See how some of the main global stock indexes have fared during the financial turmoil of 2008

Cable group Virgin Media says it plans to cut 2,200 jobs, about 15% of its workforce, as part of a group-wide overhaul.

Reuters - Stocks fell further on Tuesday with the major indexes tumbling to session lows on fears over a deepening economic downturn, while energy shares sagged as the price of oil fell below $60 a barrel.

Reuters - General Motors Corp's extremely distressed debt is an attractive investment as the automaker has several options to improve its liquidity and survive the economic downturn, according to credit analysts at JPMorgan.

Reuters - Fox-Pitt Kelton analyst David Trone forecast a fourth-quarter loss for Goldman Sachs Group Inc and said he expected the bank's principal investment portfolio to experience an unusually large markdown to reflect the dramatic slide in global equity values.

AFP - Citigroup said Tuesday it was placing a moratorium on foreclosures for most home loan borrowers, and that it would work with some 500,000 stretched mortgage customers to help them keep their homes.

AP - TJX Cos., which operates the T.J. Maxx and Marshalls stores, reported a 6 percent decline in third-quarter profit as unfavorable exchange rates and a tough economy crimped results for the discount fashion retailer.

Shares on Wall Street fell sharply in early trading amid more signs that the economic slowdown was hurting the retail stores across the country.

A new program is expected to allow lenders to modify more delinquent loans by establishing broad criteria to speed the process.

The video game maker controlled by Sumner M. Redstone reported a wider third-quarter loss and forecast continued losses.

Russia's central bank increases its key interest rate to 12% from 11% in an attempt to reduce an outflow of capital.

The government is to create a new panel to monitor the levels of lending to small businesses, Lord Mandelson announces.

Reuters - Stocks fell on Tuesday as production cuts at aluminum maker Alcoa and worries over depleting cash at automaker General Motors underscored fears that the global economic slump is deepening.

AP - Tesco PLC, the world's third-biggest retailer, said Tuesday it plans to expand its presence in China by opening new stores in the eastern coast provinces of Shandong and Fujian next year.

Oil prices fell below $60 a barrel despite growing indications that OPEC producers have been trimming output.

The goal will be to modify the mortgages of homeowners facing foreclosure so that a monthly loan payment is no higher than 38 percent of a borrower?s monthly income.

Google Flu Trends tracks Web queries like ?flu symptoms? or ?muscle aches? and charts their ebb and flow, broken down by regions and states.

Vivian Schiller, who heads the online operations of The New York Times, will become chief executive of National Public Radio.

Toll Brothers said accelerating fears of job losses and a large decline in consumer spending, among other factors, contributed to drive the company?s traffic and demand down to record lows.

Reuters - Stocks slid on Tuesday as production cuts at aluminum maker Alcoa, a dismal outlook from Tyco International and weak results at Starbucks underscored fears the economic slowdown will deepen.

AP - Retailers say they have seen a surge in the number of applicants seeking holiday work — many of them laid-off from other industries — just as the sector is shrinking because of store closures and liquidations.

Some established firms have collapsed outright, others are laying off by the hundreds, and others still are seeking mergers with larger firms to try and weather the storm.

Oil prices fell below $60 a barrel despite growing indications that OPEC producers have been trimming output.

Mall developers in New Jersey are adopting strategies to survive what is expected to be a difficult holiday season.

Reuters - Stocks fell on Tuesday as faltering demand at aluminum maker Alcoa and a dismal outlook from Tyco International showed the global economic slowdown is deepening.

An aid package for imperiled automakers is likely to be at the top of the agenda if Congress meets next week.

Mall developers in New Jersey are adopting strategies to survive what is expected to be a difficult holiday season.

Vivian Schiller, who heads the online operations of The New York Times, will become chief executive of National Public Radio.

Plans for tougher regulation of credit rating agencies are due to be announced later by the European Commission.

Australian dollar's recent white-knuckle ride

UK consumers plan to spend 7% less this Christmas than they did last year, a survey from business advisory group Deloitte finds.

Reuters - Goldman Sachs Group Inc will not change its strategy because it changed into a bank holding company, Goldman Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein said at an investor conference on Tuesday.

AP - A new joint government-industry effort to help struggling homeowners is insufficient to bring widespread changes in home loans to stem the tide of foreclosures, the head of the FDIC said Tuesday.

Shares in G.M. sank to their lowest point in 65 years, the day after it revealed its ability to survive is in substantial doubt because it may run out of money by the end of the year.

The goal will be to modify the mortgages of homeowners facing foreclosure so that a monthly loan payment is no higher than 38 percent of a borrower?s monthly income.

Affordable housing is said to do better than other real estate sectors in a bad economy because government subsidies are available and costs drop, but the credit crisis is taking its toll.

Banks may be willing to negotiate with borrowers who are current with their payments, even if they aren?t promoting it aggressively.

President Bush?s summit meeting has proven uncomfortable for the president-elect as his aides fend off interest from foreign leaders.

Lacking the immediacy of the crisis of 1997, the twists and turns of the financial turmoil in the West have been received here like news of a plague several valleys away.

As China?s growth cools, Macao?s gambling revenues are no longer growing as fast as they once were, and competition between the growing number of casinos is fierce.

Russia allowed the ruble to fall against the dollar and euro, increasing skepticism over whether the country has enough reserves to defend its currency as capital flight and falling oil prices take their toll.

The Fed?s liberal standard to decide which businesses can obtain banking licenses and gain access to government lending opens the door to practices which may prove costly and not necessarily effective.

Marketers of financial services are still planning ad campaigns during what is being described as the worst crisis for Wall Street since the Great Depression.

Emiratis hope that the global economic downturn will reduce the numbers of foreigners pouring into their country and give them a chance to reassert their way of life.

The British airline?s cheaper yet premium offshoot, OpenSkies, could be an experiment for a new business model for traditional airlines.

As gas prices soared and dozens of North American communities sought to reintroduce electric streetcars as an alternative to diesel buses, Europe?s tram builders were some of the biggest beneficiaries.

The company warned that it faces solvency trouble and might be forced to file for bankruptcy if it is unable to refinance or extend nearly $1 billion in debt due next month.

The deal between Iraq?s state-owned oil company, North Oil, and China?s CNPC is worth $3.5 billion and is the first major deal since the U.S. invasion in 2003.

The discount retailer, which operates the T.J. Maxx and Marshalls stores, said that third-quarter profit slipped 5 percent as unfavorable exchange rates and a difficult economy hurt results.

Mr. Hunt was a former chairman of Hunt Petroleum and an adviser to the founder of the family dynasty, his uncle H. L. Hunt.

The industrial conglomerate warned that its fiscal-year profit would be well below Wall Street forecasts because of the economic downturn and the impact of the stronger dollar.

A lack of investment in exploration will be likely to force oil prices up and up, a leading energy body warns.

Congressional leaders said that they were ready to push emergency legislation to aid the auto industry, setting the stage for one last showdown with President Bush.

The $700 billion economic rescue pool is evaporating after the plan set off a lobbying free-for-all.

In Syracuse, Gov. David A. Paterson took questions from 15 people in the second town meeting he has held in a week to discuss the state?s financial crisis.

With Wall Street edging back from the brink, the crisis of consumer confidence has become the biggest short-term issue for the economy.

AP - China's retail sales remained robust in October, a positive sign for Chinese leaders who want to boost consumer spending to insulate the economy from a global slowdown.