A federal jury in Manhattan on Wednesday convicted Alberto W. Vilar on 12 counts of fraud.

Two government programs intended to help hundreds of thousands of borrowers avoid foreclosure are having negligible effects, a top Bush administration official said.

Asian markets plummet after New York's main share index slumps to its lowest level in five years, amid recession fears.

Reuters - Japan's exports to Asia fell in October for the first time since 2002, showing that the fallout from the credit crisis has spread to neighbors such as China and adding momentum to investors' flight to the safety of cash.

Some of the nation?s biggest companies want Congress to roll back rules requiring them to put more money into pension funds.

Finland?s Finance Ministry said that four Nordic countries would lend Iceland $2.5 billion to help the country recover from its economic meltdown.

Aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce says it plans to cut up to 2,000 jobs in 2009, including 140 in the UK.

Microsoft's boss tells the firm's annual general meeting that it is no longer looking to buy Yahoo.

Reuters - Some of the world's top banks are backing a proposal to develop a mandatory central clearing system for the $55 trillion credit default swap (CDS) market, a report in the Financial Times said on Thursday. Dealer banks are stepping up efforts to back CDS clearing to head off a more radical overhaul, which includes a proposal to move trading of over-the-counter CDS on to an exchange, the report said, citing an internal Morgan Stanley email.

Reuters - U.S. car giant General Motors Corp announced a two-month shutdown at its Thai plant on Thursday, the latest move by global automakers seeking to slash costs in the face of weak sales and deepening economic gloom.

French car company Peugeot Citroen announces plans to shed 2,700 jobs because of falling demand in Europe.

Sales on the UK's high streets fell by a lower-than-expected 0.1% in October, Office for National Statistics figures show.

Oil prices are hovering around $50 a barrel amid growing fears over a global recession and lower demand for oil.

The Daily Mail's publisher reports a 9% fall in full-year profit, while competitors announce a pay freeze and job cuts.

Reuters - Citigroup is scrambling to slash costs in the face of collapsing investor confidence, but the embattled bank is unlikely to retreat from Asia, its strongest performing region.

AP - British retail sales fell only slightly in October, official figures showed Thursday, despite mounting evidence from retailers such as Woolworths PLC and Marks & Spencer PLC, that business conditions are extremely tough.

Stocks fell sharply in Europe and Asia a day after a withering sell-off on Wall Street sent U.S. stocks to their lowest close since 2003.

Iceland finally received international backing for its bailout plan on Thursday, as Nordic countries followed up a loan by the International Monetary Fund.

As deserted malls and department stores struggle to court consumers with steep discounts, an even more ferocious price war is being waged online.

EU ministers agree to reform farm policy by moving more subsidies away from production and liberalising the dairy market.

Beijing says its employment outlook is 'grim', amid concerns of increasing social unrest caused by economic problems.

Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca says it will cut 1,400 jobs by 2013 and close three European factories in a cost-cutting effort.

Serbia's iconic vehicle finally runs out of road

Sales on the UK's High Streets fell by a lower-than-expected 0.1% in October, Office for National Statistics figures show.

The UK's public sector net borrowing widened by £1.4bn in October ahead of the pre-Budget report, official figures show.

UK utility National Grid reports a 4% rise in half-year profit and gave a positive forecast.

Japan's Mazda Motor spends 17.8bn yen to buy back almost 7% of its shares from troubled US carmaker Ford Motor.

Reuters - Shares of Citigroup Inc rose 6.3 percent to $6.80 before the bell on Thursday after CNBC reported that Saudi Prince Alwaleed plans to boost his take in the financial services company back to 5 percent.

Reuters - Stock index futures cut losses on Thursday after PepsiCo , a food and beverage company, reaffirmed its 2008 profit and CNBC television reported that Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal planned to boost his stake in Citigroup to 5 percent, a day after the bank's shares plummeted.

Reuters - Finance company GMAC filed an application with the Federal Reserve to become bank holding company. Highlights:

Reuters - PepsiCo Inc on Thursday was to reaffirm full-year 2008 core EPS guidance. Highlights:

Losses deepened as battered financial markets reflected sinking confidence in the world economy and evidence of falling fuel demand mounted.

The weekly report provided more evidence of a rapidly weakening job market that is expected to get even worse next year.

The financing arm of General Motors said that it had applied to become a bank holding company, which would allow it to become eligible for bailout aid.

Oil prices have fallen below $50 a barrel amid growing fears over a global recession and lower demand for oil.

Collapse of bee colonies could hit the EU economy

The two leading bankers who had hoped to stop Lloyds TSB taking over HBOS appear to have abandoned their plan.

Russia's prime minister vows to prevent another financial 'collapse' in the country, referring to the crises in the 1990s.

Reuters - Citigroup Inc won a vote of confidence from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, its largest individual investor, who said on Thursday he plans to boost his stake in the U.S. banking giant to 5 percent from less than 4 percent.

Reuters - Stocks opened lower on Thursday as investors worried that failure by automakers to get a government bailout would add to the economy's woes, worries

Reuters - Oil plunged below $50 a barrel on Thursday, deepening losses over the previous four sessions as battered financial markets reflected ever lower confidence in the world economy and evidence mounted of falling fuel demand.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp on Thursday filed plans with securities regulators to tap the debt markets, raising money to pay for working capital, share buybacks, or other types of general corporate expenses.

Investor's Business Daily - Housing: For years, a self-described 'bank terrorist' blackmailed banks into making bad home loans in our inner cities. Now those loans are defaulting by the millions, and he's blaming banks.

Reuters - Children's Place Retail Stores Inc's quarterly profit almost doubled, driven by higher sales and improved gross margins, but the apparel retailer said it expects a challenging holiday season.

Uncertainty and fear dominated early trading as financial markets probed new lows. But after being down about 2 percent, the markets struggled back.

Latvia becomes the second European Union country to seek the International Monetary Fund's help to stabilise its financial system.

Royal Bank of Scotland chairman Sir Tom McKillop says he is 'profoundly sorry' for the bank's financial difficulties.

The giant Spanish bank Santander has excluded 1.8 million UK shareholders from taking part in a new share issue.

Reuters - Citigroup Inc's largest individual investor gave the troubled bank new support, saying he would boost his stake modestly, but failed to revive investor confidence as the bank's shares tumbled another 25 percent.

Reuters - Stocks briefly edged higher on Thursday after the benchmark S&P 500 index fell to its lowest level in more than six years, triggering short-covering after breaking key technical levels.

Reuters - JPMorgan Chase & Co is cutting about 10 percent of its investment banking staff as the credit crunch and slowdown in the economy bite into bank earnings, people familiar with the situation said on Thursday.

Reuters - Citigroup Inc , JPMorgan Chase & Co and Capital One Financial Corp are among the final bidders for Chevy Chase Bank, a Bethesda, Maryland, lender, sources familiar with the matter said.

Oil dropped briefly below $50 a barrel for the first time in 22 months, shedding close to $100 in four months in an ailing global economy.

Russia demands Ukraine to repay a $2.4bn gas debt, raising fears of a renewed dispute which could disrupt supplies to Europe.

The government says it is 'right to increase borrowing' as figures show public debt rose by £1.4bn last month.

Panama extradites a Colombian suspected of running the country's biggest pyramid finance scheme.

Reuters - Shares of General Motors Corp and Ford Motor Co jumped on Thursday, rebounding from multi-decade lows after U.S. senators reached a bipartisan agreement on a government bailout for the struggling U.S. automakers.

Reuters - Stocks clawed back from multiyear lows on Thursday after hopes of a deal to rescue automakers were revived, offsetting growing concerns about the deepening economic downturn.

Reuters - Citigroup Inc lost as much as a quarter of its market value Thursday as mushrooming worries about whether the bank has enough capital to withstand billions of dollars of additional loan losses outweighed new support from its largest individual investor.

AFP - London's FTSE 100 stock index plunged 4.52 percent in afternoon trading on Thursday, amid mounting fears of a deep recession and deflation.

AP - Britain's top retailers are hoping unusual pre-Christmas discounts can convince consumers to open their wallets during a holiday season that coincides with a looming recession.

After rising to dizzying heights this summer, the oil market is suffering a hair-raising drop.

Democratic leaders in Congress gave auto industry leaders 12 days to come back with a plan showing that federal aid would be well-spent.

The Treasury secretary defended his management of the financial crisis and warned against the imposition of overly strict regulations to prevent a repeat calamity.

US politicians say there is no agreement on a rescue plan to help the crisis-hit 'Big Three' carmakers.

Reuters - Stocks extended losses on Thursday, pulling the S&P 500 down 4 percent as energy shares fell along with oil and worries about the prospects for a bailout for automakers heightened worries of a deepening economic slump.

Reuters - Shares of Ambac Financial Group rose more than 80 percent on Thursday, after it reached an agreement to cancel contracts covering structured debt valued at $3.5 billion, allowing it to reduce loss reserves.

Reuters - Bryan Marsal, currently chief restructuring officer of bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc , will take over as chief executive of the company after the close of business on December 31, a lawyer for the company said in court on Thursday.

AP - The Treasury Department on Thursday said it is prepared to buy assets from a troubled money market mutual fund, part of an effort to prevent any disruptions to already fragile financial markets.

In a day dominated by fear and uncertainty, financial markets plunged in late trading, after spending much of the day bobbing between positive and negative territory.

Dell?s third quarter results showed just how challenging a restructuring can be in the middle of a severe economic slowdown.

The New York Times Company sharply reduced its dividend just a year and a half after a major increase, as the company seeks to conserve cash amid concern about dwindling profit.

Reuters - Dell Inc, the world's No. 2 PC maker, posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday as cost cuts offset lower revenue, sending its shares up about 6 percent.

Total DVD sales are down by about 4 percent for the year, contributing to a creeping dread in the movie capital that buyer interest is plummeting as the global economic crisis worsens.

The News Corporation announced Thursday that Roger Ailes, the chairman and chief executive of Fox News, had signed a new five-year contract with the company.

Vowing to protect French industry from foreign predators and a worsening economic slump, President Nicolas Sarkozy introduced an investment fund of 20 billion euros ($25 billion) on Thursday.

Representatives for the country?s largest actors? union and an alliance of Hollywood studios met for the first time in four months on Thursday.

The network?s effort to sell off part of its prime-time schedule appeared to fall apart in the wake of low ratings for the Sunday schedule put together by an independent production company.

US computer maker Dell sees its quarterly profits fall as customers around the world buy fewer computers.

Concerns over Christmas gifts' safety

Reuters - Democratic congressional leaders, seeking to salvage a bailout of the Big Three automakers, demanded executives provide a business survival plan in exchange for their support of up to $25 billion in loans.

Hard times are back on the American farmstead, as the price paid for crops is dropping much faster than the cost of growing them.

Dell?s third quarter results showed just how challenging a restructuring can be in the middle of a severe economic slowdown.

The weekly report provided more evidence of a rapidly weakening job market that is expected to get even worse next year.

The New York Times Company sharply reduced its dividend just a year and a half after a major increase, as the company seeks to conserve cash amid concern about dwindling profit.

The News Corporation announced Thursday that Roger Ailes, the chairman and chief executive of Fox News, had signed a new five-year contract with the company.

The worsening economy is squeezing Europe?s flag carriers, with dwindling sales of premium-class tickets starting to take their toll.

European Union governments agreed Thursday to overhaul the way the trade bloc distributes tens of billions of euros in subsidies to farmers.

The Education Department announced that it would buy up to $6.5 billion of federally guaranteed student loans made in the 2007-8 academic year as part of its effort to make sure loans are available.

In an unusual step, the Treasury Department said it was prepared to buy assets from a troubled money market mutual fund that has been frozen for more than two months.

Vowing to protect French industry from foreign predators and a worsening economic slump, President Nicolas Sarkozy introduced an investment fund of 20 billion euros ($25 billion) on Thursday.

Iceland finally received international backing for its bailout plan on Thursday, as Nordic countries followed up a $2.1 billion loan by the International Monetary Fund.

The federal appeals court?s decision came after finding that the Interior Department had failed to conduct an environmental study before issuing the company?s drilling permit.

Gap, the apparel chain, said Thursday that its third-quarter profit rose 3.4 percent as cost-cutting efforts offset a sales slump.

For the first time in memory, a single bank, JPMorgan, is poised to nab a triple play at the top of the M.& A., debt and equities rankings.

The sell-off in the stock market has been stunning, and quick government action is needed to restore confidence.

Reuters - Citigroup Inc lost more than one-quarter of its market value on growing worries over whether it has enough capital to withstand billions of dollars of potential losses and despite new support from its largest individual investor.

The greatest banking turmoil is setting in around Citigroup, which has lost half its value in just four days, sending shock waves through the financial world.

As a new bout of fear gripped the financial markets on Thursday, stocks fell sharply again, and the credit markets seized up as confidence in the nation?s financial system ebbed.

Democratic leaders in Congress gave auto industry leaders 12 days to come back with a plan showing that federal aid would be well-spent.

In exchange for pictures of Angelina Jolie?s new twin babies, People magazine had to agree to offer positive coverage of her and her family.

Despite strong television ratings for the Games in vital markets, the Summer Olympics failed to provide th expected surge in advertising in China.

Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, spoke to baseball owners about the nation?s economy without specifically addressing how the league would be affected.

The men overseeing the new Meadowlands are satisfied with its progress, but the question of who will fill the new stadium?s seats is uncertain.

Lawmakers approved only a modest extension of jobless benefits this week, showing why lame-duck sessions often do not work.

China's trade ties with Latin America are on the rise