Reuters - Continued signs of trouble in the financial sector and worrisome economic data sent Asian shares to their lowest in more than six weeks on Wednesday , bolstering the dollar and other assets that shine in uncertain times.

Reuters - Sony Corp will announce details of its restructuring plan this week amid internal company resistance to job cuts in Japan, the Financial Times said on Wednesday.

Singapore lowered its 2009 growth forecast for the second time in three weeks, illustrating the speed at which the global economy is deteriorating.

Mr. Buckingham was a former editor-manager of The New York Times News Service, which sent roughly 20,000 words of synopses of Times articles to 50 newspapers a day.

US indexes see their biggest fall for almost two months, with banking shares ending sharply lower.

IBM's latest quarterly profits rise 12% as the technology services firm issues a rosy forecast for 2009.

The world's biggest mining group, BHP Billiton, says it will cut some 6,000 jobs worldwide to cope with falling demand.

An attempt is to be made at Westminster to make it legally binding for shops and businesses in England to accept Scottish banknotes.

Top experts plot the path for economic recovery

Scotland's economy is weakening in the face of the financial crisis, the Scottish Government's chief economic adviser warns.

Britannia Building Society and Co-operative Financial Services are merging to form a new 'super-mutual'.

The media watchdog Ofcom rejects proposals for the BBC to give some existing licence fee money to other broadcasters.

Reuters - Continued signs of trouble in the financial sector and worrisome economic data sent Asian shares to six week lows and oil below $41 a barrel on Wednesday.

Reuters - French bank Societe Generale said on Wednesday it expected a full-year net profit of around 2 billion euros ($2.60 billion), below the average market forecast, and warned of more trading losses.

Stocks fell in Asia and Europe amid concern for the health of the financial system.

The troubled US insurer AIG will not renew its shirt sponsorship deal with Manchester United when it runs out in May 2010.

Ex-KGB agent Alexander Lebedev gets the go-ahead to buy the London Evening Standard, the paper's publishers says.

Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson says it will cut 5,000 jobs to cut costs as it expects a reduction in spending from its customers

UK unemployment rose by 131,000 to 1.92 million between September and November, official figures show.

UK mortgage lending fell by 30% in 2008 to the lowest level in six years, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) says.

A global electronics firm based in Weybridge is to axe 700 jobs this year including 100 across the UK.

Reuters - Sterling hit fresh 7-1/2 year lows against the dollar and European shares tumbled again on Wednesday as fears intensified about the banking sector, knocking Barclays shares down more than 20 percent.

Administration advisers have cautioned that they would not be rushed.

The owners of The Evening Standard announced that it would be sold to a Russian tycoon, Aleksandr Y. Lebedev, a former K.G.B. agent.

There is a growing sense in the capital that legislators are likely to turn to an income tax increase on the wealthiest New Yorkers to help close the state?s $15 billion deficit.

Indian outsourcing firm Wipro announces higher quarterly profits, but gives a gloomy forecast for 2009.

Ex-KGB agent Alexander Lebedev gets the go-ahead to buy the London Evening Standard for the sum of £1.

Gas supplies are restored to much of Eastern and Central Europe two weeks after being halted in a row between Moscow and Kiev.

What does the Year of the Ox have in store for financial markets? Hong Kong feng shui masters at investment house CLSA read the omens.

UK public borrowing hits a record high of £44.2bn after the government bail-out of Royal Bank of Scotland.

Reuters - Diversified U.S. manufacturer United Technologies Corp reported an 8 percent rise in profit, as maintenance revenue for its elevators, helicopters and other products kept it on a growth footing despite slowing orders for new equipment.

Reuters - Swedish telecom equipment giant Ericsson posted a stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, promising deeper savings as it announced 5,000 job cuts.

For the first time since the Great Depression, General Motors cannot call itself the world?s largest automaker.

The parent of United Airlines reported that it lost $1.3 billion in the fourth quarter because of operating losses and fuel-price bets that turned sour as oil prices fell.

After a steep Inauguration Day slide, Wall Street rebounded in early trading as bargain hunter bid up shares of companies that had tumbled 10 or 20 percent the day before.

The mining company will cut 6,000 jobs and close its giant Ravensthorpe mine in Australia, writing off $1.6 billion, as it battles a collapse in commodity prices.

It was the bank?s eighth straight quarterly profit decline as credit costs and securities losses climbed.

The biggest publicly traded U.S. asset manager said net income for the quarter fell to $53 million, as performance fees earned on its hedge funds slumped and its assets under management eased.

The drugmaker said profit grew 28 percent in the fourth quarter as sales of its arthritis drug Humira climbed and the company gained on the sale of its spine business.

The industrial conglomerate said that its fourth quarter profit rose 8 percent, helped by gains in aerospace and its expanding fire and security business.

Germany's economy will shrink by 2.25% this year, its worst performance since World War II, its economy minister says.

General Motors is no longer the world's top-selling carmaker after it saw 2008 sales fall below those of Japanese rival Toyota

Reuters - Diversified U.S. manufacturer United Technologies Corp said profit rose 8 percent, as growth in its jet engine and helicopter businesses offset weakness in its air conditioner and elevator arms.

Reuters - Best Buy Co Inc Chief Executive Brad Anderson will retire from his post in June and be succeeded by Chief Operating Officer Brian Dunn, the consumer electronics retailer said on Wednesday.

The Treasury nominee said the bailout had favored big financial institutions over small businesses and families.

For the first time since the Great Depression, General Motors cannot call itself the world?s largest automaker.

After a steep Inauguration Day slide, Wall Street rebounded in early trading as bargain hunter bid up shares of companies that had tumbled 10 or 20 percent the day before.

The parent of United Airlines reported a loss of $1.3 billion, citing operating losses and fuel-price hedges. The parent of American Airlines said that it lost $340 million as fewer people traveled.

The Swedish maker of wireless networking gear said it would cut as many as 5,000 jobs in anticipation of a slowdown.

The owners of The Evening Standard announced that it would be sold to a Russian tycoon, Aleksandr Y. Lebedev, a former K.G.B. agent.

All four Royal Mail businesses make a three-monthly profit for the first time in almost 20 years.

Reuters - Stocks pared gains on Wednesday with the Dow and S&P 500 indexes briefly turning negative, with some citing worries about whether Treasury secretary candidate Timothy Geithner will win the nomination.

Reuters - Diversified U.S. manufacturers United Technologies Corp and SPX Corp said they plan to aggressively cut costs as the severe global recession threatens profits.

Reuters - Italian industrial group Fiat will decide in a year whether to take another 20 percent of troubled U.S. car maker Chrysler for $25 million, a source close to Fiat told Reuters on Wednesday.

Envelopes containing white powder arrived at The Wall Street Journal, addressed to top editors and executives, prompting the evacuation of some of the paper?s Manhattan offices.

After a steep Inauguration Day slide, Wall Street bounced back as bargain-hunting investors lifted companies whose shares had tumbled by double digits a day earlier.

The owners of The Evening Standard announced that it would be sold to a Russian tycoon, Aleksandr Y. Lebedev, a former K.G.B. agent.

PNC Financial Services Group said it expects to post a fourth-quarter loss but is setting aside less money than planned for credit losses at National City.

Reuters - Stocks rose on Wednesday, but were off session highs as Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner failed to appease investors during tough questioning at his Senate confirmation hearing.

Reuters - Regulators are examining Apple Inc's disclosures about Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs' health problems to ensure investors were not misled, Bloomberg said, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Reuters - Best Buy Co Chief Executive Brad Anderson will retire from that post in June and be succeeded by Chief Operating Officer Brian Dunn, the No. 1 consumer electronics retailer said on Wednesday.

The Treasury nominee was asked about his personal tax delinquencies and his role in the financial crisis.

After a steep Inauguration Day slide, Wall Street bounced back as bargain-hunting investors lifted companies whose shares had tumbled by double digits a day earlier.

The electronics chain said it had named its president and chief operating officer Brian J. Dunn as its chief executive.

Despite widespread optimism about President Obama, the major indexes plunged more than 4 percent on Tuesday.

Forget Windows Vista. Its successor, called Windows 7, is almost here, and Microsoft is doing what it can to address Vista?s deficiencies. Forget Windows Vista. Its successor, called Windows 7, is almost here, and Microsoft is doing what it can to address Vista?s deficiencies.

One of the world's best known investors attacks the record of President Obama's nominee for Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner.

Reuters - Stocks rose on Wednesday as financial stocks rebounded after some of the latest bank earnings soothed worries about credit losses and IBM's results spurred optimism in the technology sector.

The appointment of Richard D. Parsons, the former chairman of Time Warner, comes after pressure from federal bank regulators.

Apple said robust sales of the iPhone and its MacBook laptops buoyed the company amid a terrible holiday shopping season.

The weak economy took its toll on eBay as the auctioneer reported its first revenue decline in a decade.

After an Inauguration Day slide, Wall Street bounced back as investors hunted for bargains. The Dow industrials rose 279 points.

The layoffs come as the company grapples with a steep decline in demand for personal and business computers.

Patrick Rocca, scion of an Irish business family, reportedly faced financial problems from his real estate investments in Britain and Ireland.

Apple posts strong quarterly results that beat analysts expectations and proved the company's resilience to the economic downturn.

Reuters - Apple Inc reported a quarterly profit that beat Wall Street's estimates, and gave an outlook that cheered investors, who sent its shares up 10 percent.

Reuters - EBay Inc posted lower fourth-quarter profit and revenue on Wednesday and gave a weaker-than-expected forecast for the current quarter as consumer spending slows, sending its shares down 6 percent.

Reuters - Stocks jumped on Wednesday, rebounding from a two-month low, after a surprisingly healthy earnings report from IBM fueled optimism that technology may fare better than other sectors during the recession.

Reuters - Citigroup Inc named former Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons as its chairman in the latest personnel change to shake the U.S. bank that has been clobbered by the credit crunch.

Reuters - Intel Corp said on Wednesday it would close manufacturing plants in Malaysia and the Philippines and scale back U.S. operations as part of a restructuring that affects as many as 6,000 employees.

A new series on TNT is writing actual products into scripts of episodes ? including some that are also sponsors of the series.

The electronics chain said it had named its president and chief operating officer Brian J. Dunn as its chief executive.

The owners of The Evening Standard announced that it would be sold to a Russian tycoon, Aleksandr Y. Lebedev, a former K.G.B. agent.

Forget Windows Vista. Its successor, called Windows 7, is almost here, and Microsoft is doing what it can to address Vista?s deficiencies.

The asset management company posted a bigger-than-expected 84 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit as sliding markets reduced the fees it earned.

U.S. Bancorp posted a 72 percent decline in earnings in the final three months of last year, and set aside $1.27 billion during the fourth quarter to cover bad loans.

Sales of the multipurpose drug Humira and growth of medical devices and nutritional products helped push profits, the company said Wednesday.

Apple posts strong quarterly results that show the company's resilience to the economic downturn.

Revenue and profit fall at auction website eBay as it struggles to cope with the economic downturn.

Reuters - EBay Inc posted lower fourth-quarter profit and revenue on Wednesday, and gave a weaker-than-expected forecast for the current quarter, sending its shares down nearly 6 percent.

Reuters - Stocks jumped on Wednesday, rebounding from a two-month low, after a surprisingly healthy earnings report from IBM fueled optimism that technology may fare better than other sectors during the recession.

Reuters - Citigroup Inc named former Time Warner Inc Chief Executive Richard Parsons as its chairman, the latest high-level personnel change to shake a U.S. bank clobbered by the credit crunch.

Reuters - Intel Corp said on Wednesday it would close manufacturing plants in Malaysia and the Philippines, as well as its only remaining factory in Silicon Valley, cutting as many as 6,000 jobs.

With housing prices dropping and financial institutions buckling, the British economic outlook looks even bleaker than the landscape in the United States and the euro zone.

The appointment will put to use Richard D. Parsons?s ties to the Obama administration as well as his experience in running companies under a federal microscope.

The global economic slump is spreading across Asia, where countries depend on manufacturing for a far greater share of economic output than Western countries do.

The Printed Blog, a Chicago start-up, plans to reprint blog posts on regular paper, surrounded by local ads, and distribute the publications free in big cities.

Five entrepreneurs say they are looking for angles to exploit in a recession.

Both Microsoft and Google are essentially one-trick ponies that have used their prodigious cash flows to pursue side projects. The economic climate is reigning in these efforts.

Building on the momentum of its prime-time hours, MSNBC is developing a 10 p.m. program that would complement its left-leaning evening lineup.

The powder, apparently flour- or food-based, was declared harmless after field tests by the city?s Department of Environmental Protection.

The weak economy took its toll on eBay as the auctioneer reported its first revenue decline in a decade.

How the luxury German carmaker made billions

The credit crunch is hitting Dubai's fragile economy

Reuters - Wall Street is reining in its usual optimism for Google Inc as analysts worry the Web search leader's fourth-quarter earnings could be hit by keyword pricing deflation as the U.S. recession takes hold.

AP - Share of J. Crew Group Inc. jumped Wednesday after news spread that many items worn by the first family during this week's inauguration events were from the national retailer.

PepsiCo calculated that the equivalent of 3.75 pounds of carbon dioxide are emitted to the atmosphere for each half-gallon carton of orange juice.

Senators grilled Timothy F. Geithner about his personal tax delinquencies but predicted he would be confirmed.

China and South Korea announce sharp falls in economic growth, as the global downturn sweeps through east Asia.

Why the new US treasury secretary failed to pay