Customer service employees are calling to offer deals, a practice that was practically unheard-of before the financial crisis.

The first summit meeting of the so-called BRIC group ? Brazil, Russia, India and China ? is intended to underscore its demand for more economic influence.

The Bank of Japan upgrades its view of the economy, but keeps interest rates unchanged at 0.1%.

The world's newest economic grouping holds its first summit in Russia on Tuesday, aiming for greater Western recognition.

The supermarket chain Tesco says it is continuing to perform well in challenging economic times.

Reuters - The Boston Globe and a key union held marathon talks over employee concessions on Monday and will reconvene on Tuesday, raising the possibility of a new outcome to a bitter labor dispute at the 137-year-old daily newspaper.

Stock markets slid as commodity prices fell, but government bonds regained ground and the dollar strengthened.

The supermarket chain Tesco says it is continuing to perform well in challenging economic times, as UK sales grow by 4.3%.

UK unemployment will top three million, warns David Blanchflower, the Bank of England official who predicted the recession.

Budget hotel chain Premier Inn, owned by Whitbread, reports a sharp drop in sales as the recession hits trade.

Reuters - Russia will advocate a cautious approach to changing the system of global reserve currencies when the world's biggest emerging economies hold their first formal summit on Tuesday, the Kremlin's top economic aide said.

A key measure of German business confidence rises more than expected, giving shares a lift. Earlier Asian markets fell on pessimism over the growing economy.

General Motors signs a tentative agreement to sell its Saab unit to sports car manufacturer Koenigsegg.

France and Germany say they are prepared to offer Airbus 2.5bn euros in soft loans to help develop the A350 aircraft.

China extends a $10bn (£6bn) loan to Russia and central Asian states to help them survive the financial crisis, Chinese President Hu Jintao says.

New England suffers a new spike in foreclosures

Reuters - U.S. futures pointed to a flat to lower start on Wall Street on Tuesday with the S&P 500 index, futures for DJ Industrial Average and futures for Nasdaq 100 down 0.02 to 0.2 percent, at 0900 GMT.

AFP - Britain's biggest retailer Tesco said Tuesday that sales jumped 12.6 percent in the first quarter of the group's financial year, boosted by its international division and despite the global downturn.

The first summit meeting of the so-called BRIC group ? Brazil, Russia, India and China ? is intended to underscore their rising economic clout.

General Motors said it had reached a tentative deal to sell the Saab unit to a consortium led by Koenigsegg Automotive.

Stocks moved moderately higher after a strong showing from a German business confidence indicator, but Asian markets fell, and Wall Street appeared headed for a flat opening.

British Airways is asking thousands of staff to work for nothing, for up to one month, to help the airline survive.

The judge who will sentence disgraced US financier Bernard Madoff receives more than 100 letters from angry victims of his fraud.

Carlos Ghosn, head of Renault and Nissan, denies taxpayers are propping up failing carmakers in a BBC interview.

Reuters - Stock index futures edged higher on Tuesday as renewed U.S. dollar weakness lifted shares of natural resource companies and investors set their sights on key housing data due out before the bell.

Construction of new homes leapt back in May after having dropped sharply a month earlier.

Stocks were slightly higher after investors took in a couple of better-than-expected economic reports.

The consumer electronics retailer said that first-quarter profit fell even as its biggest competitor, Circuit City, exited the market. The results still topped earnings estimates.

An Congressional Budget Office analysis raised questions about one of President Obama?s major health care plans.

The number of new homes started in the US rebounded in May from April's record low, official figures show.

Reuters - Stocks opened higher on Tuesday as renewed U.S. dollar weakness lifted shares of natural resource companies, while a rebound in May housing starts lifted investor sentiment.

Reuters - New U.S. housing starts and permits rebounded in May from record lows as ground-breaking for multifamily units surged after tumbling the prior month, a government report showed on Tuesday.

Stocks were slightly higher after investors took in a couple of better-than-expected economic reports.

An Congressional Budget Office analysis raised questions about one of President Obama?s major health care plans.

The company posted a smaller-than-expected fourth-quarter loss of $78.8 million as pork sales remained stable.

Social media sites are challenging levers of state media control and allowing Iranians to find novel ways around restrictions.

Aircraft maker Airbus receives a raft of new orders worth billions of dollars from several airlines at the Paris Air Show.

Mobile banking is set to grow fast in developing nations and hit $5bn by 2012, say analysts.

Reuters - The Dow and the S&P 500 dropped to session lows on Tuesday, while the Nasdaq trimmed gains, as investors worried that the economic recovery's pace might not be as strong as initially hoped.

Reuters - The U.S. Treasury Department will not propose a new regulatory framework for the insurance industry when it outlines sweeping new rules for the financial services sector, sources familiar with the plans said on Tuesday.

AP - Tesco PLC, the world's third largest retailer, reported solid growth in quarterly sales on Tuesday with its international businesses making a strong contribution to the increase.

Stocks moved lower and oil pushed higher despite signs that home construction was bottoming out and inflation pressures were modest.

Amid stagnant traffic numbers and fleeing users, MySpace's new managers are trying to return the social network to a startup culture.

Some questioned whether Spain was still committed to building Airbus?s latest jet after government representatives failed to attend a top-level meeting.

Reuters - Stocks accelerated their drop on Tuesday as mixed economic data fed worries that the economic recovery may be anemic, while Best Buy's disappointing results pointed to a still weak consumer.

Reuters - Large U.S. corporate bankruptcies have accelerated in recent weeks as the U.S. economic slowdown claims more victims, according to industry data.

AP - It's energy's version of Joe Dimaggio's historic 56-game hitting streak, only this time no one is cheering.

After a year of tumult on Wall Street, overseas banks are coming in for cheap assets, solid talent and the possibility of raising their profiles on a global scale.

Maurice R. Greenberg, former chief of A.I.G., testified in a trial over whether he raided a trust that was set up to pay retirement benefits to top company performers.

Amid stagnant traffic numbers and fleeing users, MySpace's new managers are trying to return the social network to a startup culture.

Boeing said it was prepared to go head to head with EADS to win a bitterly contested $35 billion contract from the U.S. Air Force by converting its 777 passenger plane into a refueling tanker.

Stocks slumped as investors speculated that hopes for an imminent economic rebound were wishful thinking.

Construction of new homes leapt back in May after having dropped sharply a month earlier.

Carmakers are worried about the impact of weaning themselves off incentives when they expire.

The first summit of the so-called BRIC group ? Brazil, Russia, India and China ? is intended to underscore their rising economic clout.

The US economy should emerge from recession by late summer, economists from some of the country's top banks say.

The world's newest economic grouping calls for a 'more diversified' global currency system, at a meeting in Russia.

Reuters - U.S. stocks slid on Tuesday as mixed economic data and Best Buy's disappointing sales spurred worries about an anemic recovery.

Reuters - President Barack Obama pledged on Tuesday to pursue major changes in U.S. financial regulation, but warned it will be a 'heavy lift' politically with special interests already offering opposition.

Reuters - Barclays' board has recommended shareholders accept a $13.5 billion cash and shares offer from U.S. fund manager BlackRock for its Barclays Global Investors business, the British bank said on Tuesday.

Reuters - Best Buy Co Inc posted lower first-quarter earnings and weaker-than-expected sales on Tuesday and implied earnings for the rest of the year would be worse than forecast, dragging its shares down more than 7 percent.

AFP - President Barack Obama plans to set up a federal consumer financial protection agency to shield Americans from predatory practices from credit card firms, banks and mortgage markets, an official said.

Money from government and nonprofit sources has helped bring fresh produce to Philadelphia neighborhoods where choices of nutritious food had been scarce.

New regulation is forcing doctors in New York State to upgrade the safety standards in their offices if they perform surgeries there.

A federal advisory committee on Tuesday recommended approval of a drug to treat severe cases of gout.

The software maker Adobe Systems said Tuesday that its second-quarter profit and sales declined on weaker demand.

The company posted a smaller-than-expected fourth-quarter loss of $78.8 million as pork sales remained stable.

MySpace announces it will cut almost a third of its staff as it looks to cut costs to compete with rising competition.

Reuters - U.S. stocks slipped on Tuesday as mixed economic data and Best Buy's disappointing sales spurred worries about an anemic recovery.

Reuters - The Obama administration plans to merge two banking regulators and create a federal watchdog on consumer financial products as part of a sweeping reform plan to be formally unveiled on Wednesday.

Reuters - Carlyle Group and Blackstone Group LP are leading an investor group that is bidding to acquire First Republic Bank, a private banking unit of Bank of America Corp , Bloomberg News said on Tuesday, citing three people familiar with the matter.

Reuters - Bank of America has a Wednesday deadline to disclose any special mortgage terms the bank's Countrywide Financial unit gave to politically influential customers over an eight-year period, a senior Republican said on Tuesday.

AP - American consumers have fallen victim to one financial scandal after another in the past decade, from accounting fraud at Enron to illegal late trading by mutual funds to the subprime mortgage meltdown that put the economy on 'tilt.'

Overseas banks are looking for cheap assets and the possibility of raising their profiles on a global scale.

Cash-for-clunker programs have proved successful in Europe, but carmakers worry about weaning themselves off of the incentives when they expire.

A group of private equity firms is considering making a bid to buy Bank of America?s First Republic Bank, people briefed on the matter said.

The consumer electronics retailer said that first-quarter profit fell even as its biggest competitor, Circuit City, exited the market. The results still topped earnings estimates.

The housing crisis in Argentina's capital

Should you sell your bling to raise cash?

Chancellor Alistair Darling is to announce he does not plan fundamental reform of the way UK banks are regulated.

The administration?s proposal to overhaul financial regulations, born of compromise, is not as bold as some had hoped.

MySpace was once the pre-eminent social networking site, but recently it has lost some luster to Facebook.

Bank of America has said it will consider selling First Republic, which it acquired from Merrill Lynch.

Chief executive Lloyd C. Blankfein told Congressional lawmakers on Tuesday that he regretted Goldman Sachs had ?participated in the market euphoria? that led to the financial crisis.

Macy?s, General Mills, and Procter & Gamble are among companies with 2009 ad campaigns recalling aspects of the Sixties.

The software maker Adobe Systems said Tuesday that its second-quarter profit and sales declined on weaker demand.

The fight for the multi-billion dollar military contract

Reuters - The Obama administration plans to streamline U.S. bank oversight and put the Federal Reserve in charge of monitoring big-picture economic risks in a sweeping regulatory overhaul to be formally unveiled on Wednesday, a senior administration official said.

Spain blamed a scheduling mishap, but some speculated that Madrid was sending a message to EADS.

A recovery from last month?s figures hinted that home building had hit bottom, and government data also showed that inflation fears might be overblown.

The medical device maker and four of its executives were indicted Tuesday on federal charges that they improperly promoted a bone filler for purposes not approved by the F.D.A.

Krystexxa, developed by Savient Pharmaceuticals, could become the second new treatment approved this year for the ?disease of kings.?

The Obama administration has gone on the record again that it will not use stimulus money to help the state as it wrestles with its fiscal problems.

Freed of government restraints and making money again, banks are expected to reinstate big bonuses, but this time they may be able to defend them.

After a down session, Wall Street awaited the release on Wednesday of the Consumer Price Index for May.

Prosecutors said Philip J. Baker of Lake Shore Asset Management operated a $300 million fraud, but his whereabouts were unknown.

The company is closing a contaminated plant to clean it, which will cause a shortage in August of Cerezyme.

The allegations relate to the takeover of NeuTec by the drug maker Novartis in 2006.

Mrs. Weiser created Charivari, a forward-looking fashion boutique that grew into a retail mini-empire on the previously fashion-starved Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Americans? everyday process of allocating resources already happens in health care. The government just needs to make it more effective.

Reuters - Most stocks in Asia edged lower on Wednesday, weighed down by resource-related shares and doubts about a global economic recovery, while oil slipped below $70 a barrel ahead of U.S. inventory data that could reflect slowing energy demand.

Reuters - Real estate tycoon Donald Trump has made a bid to buy New Jersey casino operator Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc , which in February logged its third bankruptcy filing, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.