Janet L. Yellen, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, is thought to favor keeping interest rates low to stimulate economic growth and reduce joblessness.

Robert Lutz, a General Motors vice chairman, said it was too early for his company to convert many people who have been driving Japanese cars.

The Nikkei 225 stock average in Tokyo rose 0.4 percent, but elsewhere in Asia stocks were mixed.

On a day of hesitant trading, increasing confidence at a big bank helped offset concern about a spike in inflation in China.

AP - Asian stock markets were mixed Friday as investors held out for additional clues to the strength of economic recovery.

AP - Oil prices hovered above $82 a barrel Friday in Asia as investors mulled whether extending a monthlong rally is justified amid evidence of weak U.S. crude demand.

AP - A natural gas line explosion northeast of Oklahoma City sent flames into the air but caused little damage and no injuries.

AP - NAME: Robert A. 'Bob' Lutz

A report into the collapse of US bank Lehman Brothers criticises senior executives and auditor Ernst & Young for serious lapses.

China has hit back at comments by US President Barack Obama that Beijing should change its currency strategy.

The head of the financial watchdog the FSA will announce plans to toughen up consumer protection.

AP - Norwegian fertilizer company Yara International ASA says it will not increase its offer to acquire U.S. competitor Terra Industries after Terra's board chose to favor a higher bid from CF Industries.

AFP - China on Friday hit back at an attack from US President Barack Obama over currency policy, saying the yuan's value was not a political one and was not the key to global trade imbalances.

Reuters - Asian stocks edged up on Friday, heading for a fifth straight week of gains, with energy stocks outperforming as oil held above $82 a barrel.

AFP - The only son of Hyundai Motor chairman Chung Mong-Koo was Friday appointed to the board of South Korea's top carmaker, fuelling speculation he is being groomed to succeed his 71-year-old father.

The union representing BA cabin crew plans to announce strike dates later this morning, the BBC understands.

AP - Industrial production in the 16 countries that use the euro spiked by a massive 1.7 percent in January from the month before, raising hopes that the recovery from recession may be more buoyant than expected.

AP - Asian stocks were mixed Friday as investors held out for additional clues to the strength of economic recovery. European shares rose in early trade.

AP - The value of home mortgage advances in January fell by half from December, when there was a late rush to complete deals before a tax break ended at the New Year, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said Friday.

AP - Germany's finance minister says a proposed European Monetary Fund could grant troubled countries emergency aid but only under strict conditions and with a 'prohibitive price tag.'

AP - China accused the United States of destabilizing the world economy and meddling on Friday — its standard response to Washington's annual review of Beijing's human rights record.

AP - World oil demand will rise this year due to surging economic activity in Asian countries, especially China, the International Energy Agency said Friday as it bumped up its forecasts.

BA cabin crew will go on strike for three days from 20 March and for four days from 27 March in a dispute over pay and staff levels.

Oil demand in China rose by an 'astonishing' 28% in January compared with a year ago, the International Energy Agency says.

AP - LONDON AP) — European stock markets rose Friday after a strong set of industrial production figures for January stoked hopes that the recovery from recession in the 16 countries that use the euro may be stronger than previously thought.

AP - Greece's economy was still shrinking and unemployment remained above 10 percent at the end of 2009, just before the government announced harsh spending cuts that are expected to drive the country deeper into recession, official data showed Friday.

AP - British Airways PLC cabin crew plan to strike for a total of seven days this month, potentially disrupting thousands of travellers ahead of Easter holidays, after talks with management over changes to pay and working conditions broke down.

AP - UBS AG says the U.S. Internal Revenue Service has collected information on the cross-border activities of about 20 Swiss banks in the course of its amnesty program for American tax evaders.

AP - Emergency aid from a proposed European Monetary Fund should come with strict conditions and a 'prohibitive' price tag to boost market confidence, Germany's finance minister wrote in an article published Friday.

AP - Oil prices moved above $82 a barrel Friday after the International Energy Agency brightened its outlook for world demand, predicting a surge in Asian economic activity will make up for a fall in developed countries.

Retail sales rose 0.3 percent in the month; economists had expected sales would decline 0.2 percent.

The miss in prostrate cancer follows a similar disappointment with Avastin in gastric cancer but success in ovarian cancer.

Industrial production in the euro zone rose 1.7 percent in January, raising hopes that the recovery may be stronger than previously thought.

Factory output in the eurozone rose 1.7% between December and January, the biggest monthly rise since records began.

The number of mortgages agreed with house buyers fell 49% in January from the month before, mortgage lenders say.

AP - Stock futures extended their gains Friday after retail sales unexpectedly rose in February, raising hopes that the economy may be gaining momentum.

AP - The Treasury Department has received $6.56 million from the sale of warrants it held from Texas Capital Bancshares Inc. as part of the support it provided the bank during the financial crisis.

Reuters - Women's clothing retailer AnnTaylor Stores Corp reported a surprise quarterly profit on Friday, helped by tight inventory management and improved merchandise.

Reuters - Wells Fargo & Co may be moving toward a settlement of Baltimore's lawsuit accusing it of steering minority borrowers to expensive home loans.

AFP - US retail sales unexpectedly rose 0.3 percent in February, despite severe winter storms that hammered large regions of the country, official data showed Friday.

BusinessWeek - James Tsai is the sort of MBA corporate recruiters covet. He went to a good prep school, earned a degree with honors from Middlebury College, and made vice-president in Bank of America's (bac.) international wealth management group at the age of 26. Today, Tsai is about to graduate, straight A's in hand, from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, a top-rated program in America. And he's hustling to land his first post-MBA job -- in China.

When car and gas sales were excluded, the gain was 0.9 percent, raising hopes that Americans were growing more confident about the economy.

Shares initially gained after a rise in retail sales was reported, but slipped after a disappointing report on January?s business inventories.

CF Industries Holdings will acquire Terra Industries for $4.7 billion, ending one of the longest takeover battles in recent memory.

British Airways cabin crew are preparing to walk off the job for seven days later this month after talks with management broke down without an agreement.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson announces a 300m euro (£270m) loan guarantee for Vauxhall and Opel, the European arm of General Motors.

Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown criticise the US for 'protectionism' over an aerospace deal after talks in London.

China's top internet official warns that Google will 'pay the consequences' if it does not comply with censorship laws.

Chancellor Alistair Darling warns people not to expect a 'giveaway' when he unveils his Budget later this month.

AP - The British government says it's giving a 270 million pound ($410 million) loan guarantee to General Motors Co. to help keep its Vauxhall operations going in Britain.

AP - Stocks traded in a tight range Friday after mixed reports on retail sales and business inventories gave investors little new insight into the economy.

AP - Orange County prosecutors say they'll file a lawsuit against Toyota because of continuing problems with their vehicles.

AP - After more than a year of bids and counterbids, CF Industries landed Terra Industries on Friday for $4.7 billion in a deal that will create one of the world's largest fertilizer companies.

AP - Greece said Friday it exceeded its deficit-cutting targets in January and February, ahead of a key fiscal assessment next week by the European Commission.

Reuters - Wells Fargo & Co said on Friday it is in talks with Baltimore officials that could avert further litigation by that city over the bank's mortgage lending practices.

AFP - India's central bank announced Friday it had agreed to buy 10 billion dollars of bonds issued by the International Monetary Fund as part of efforts to strengthen the Washington-based lender.

AFP - US retail sales unexpectedly rose for the second month in February, despite severe winter storms that hammered large regions of the country, official data showed Friday.

AFP - World oil prices rose toward 83 dollars a barrel on Friday as the International Energy Agency reported strong growth in world energy demand, led by China.

Greece?s retirement plan, which lets 14 percent of its work force retire early, has become divisive in Europe.

DealBook explores the British origins and basis of Lehman Brothers' now-infamous 'Repo 105' accounting practice, which helped the firm mask how over-indebted it really was.

A top Chinese regulator warned bluntly that any move by Google to stop censoring its Chinese search engine would draw a response from Beijing.

Advice for making an informed decision about supporting an ailing parent without bankrupting the family.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts on Friday officially sought a listing on the New York Stock Exchange, the final step in its years-long effort to become a publicly traded private equity firm.

The man behind the Superdry label gets big payout as firm completes transformation from market stall in Cheltenham to stock market.

AP - The Food and Drug Administration is adding its strongest warning to the label for Plavix after reports that some patients cannot process the blockbuster blood thinner.

AP - President Barack Obama wants to nominate Janet Yellen, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, to take over as vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, an administration official said Friday.

AP - Shares of Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc. rose Friday after the billboard advertising company posted a smaller net loss for the fourth quarter and beat Wall Street's revenue forecast.

AFP - Detailed options for concrete European-level financial support to help Greece out of its debt crisis will be presented to eurozone finance ministers next week, sources said Friday.

Reuters - Bank of America Corp completed 20,666 mortgage modifications in March under a U.S. government-backed program, up 61 percent from February, the bank said on Friday.

AP - Hundreds of homeowners trying to avoid losing their homes to foreclosure met with housing counselors and lender representatives at an event in Glendale on Thursday.

AP - Oil prices fell below $81 on Friday after peaking above $83 following mixed economic reports that kept investor on edge about the outlook for improving energy demand.

Reuters - Toyota Motor Corp was hit by a planned lawsuit by California prosecutors on Friday over vehicle defects and by renewed political pressure to cooperate with investigators on cases of runaway cars.

The administration on Friday identified two economists and a lawyer as its choices to fill vacancies on the central bank?s board of governors.

The idea of a the European Central Bank has emerged as Greece has been forced to confront its debt crisis.

Bowing to privacy concerns, Netflix said it was shelving its plans for a sequel to a contest that awarded a $1 million prize.

Consumers remain pessimistic even as the stock market recovers, but history suggest that?s not such a bad thing.

AP - Washington Mutual Inc. says it has resolved disputes with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. over some $4 billion at issue in the bank holding company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

AP - The lawyer for a former head of Kazkahstan's state nuclear energy company says his client has been sentenced to 14 years in jail on charges of embezzlement and corruption.

AP - A French support group said Friday that it will seek equal compensation for the families of French victims of the crash of Air France Flight 447 after a Brazilian judge awarded more than $1 million for a Brazilian who died in the flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris last year.

AP - Outdoors clothing retailer L.L. Bean says sales dipped again in 2009, but the company managed to beat its own projections. The company also said online sales beat catalog orders for the first time.

AP - The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by 11 this week to 1,407.

AP - The Orange County district attorney has filed a lawsuit against Toyota Motor Corp., accusing the automaker of knowingly selling hundreds of thousands of vehicles with acceleration defects.

Bank is pushing the Swiss government to pass a treaty with the United States that would resolve a dispute over tax-evading client.

The Treasury Department said that more than 168,000 households have received permanent new mortgages under its modification plan.

The European Central Bank president, Jean-Claude Trichet, criticized the banking industry for its risky financial practices.

Shares initially gained after a rise in retail sales was reported, but slipped after a disappointing report on January?s business inventories.

Twenty states have their own versions of the old federal estate tax. The many clauses and provisions mean that, even in the absence of a federal estate tax, you might not be able to die tax-free.

The regulations require cable TV companies to make programming available on equal terms to rival TV providers..

Many bank customers are having to decide whether to ask for overdraft protection. Most should say no.

AP - Regulators shut down Park Avenue Bank in New York Friday, marking the 28th failure this year of a federally insured bank.

AP - Mixed economic reports held the stock market to only modest moves Friday but gains for the week were strong.

AP - Washington Mutual Inc. has tentatively resolved disputes with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. over some $4 billion at issue in the bank holding company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a WaMu attorney said Friday.

AP - Retail sales posted a surprising increase in February as consumers refused to let snowstorms stop them from stepping up purchases for everything from clothes to appliances. The improvement provided hope that the recovery from the Great Recession is gaining momentum.

AP - Sales dipped for L.L. Bean for the second consecutive year in 2009 but the outdoors clothing retailer managed to beat its own projections, the company said Friday. The company also reported that online sales outpaced catalog orders for the entire year for the first time.

AP - Hundreds of thousands of homeowners are in limbo waiting to find out if they will be accepted for the Obama administration's foreclosure prevention program.

AP - Oil prices ended the week lower following mixed economic reports that kept investors on edge about the outlook for improving energy demand.

AFP - A California prosecutor filed a civil lawsuit against Toyota Friday accusing the Japanese automaker of intentionally hiding deadly defects from consumers.

Once-legendary Russian weapons are suffering embarrassing quality control problems, and Russia?s own military is in talks with France to buy assault ships.

The Treasury Department said that more than 168,000 households had received permanent new mortgages under its modification plan.

The European Central Bank president, Jean-Claude Trichet, sharpened his criticism of the banking industry, and seemed to single out hedge funds.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filing was the final step in the company?s years of effort to become a publicly traded private equity firm.

The head of the European Central Bank gives his tentative support to a bail-out fund to bolster the eurozone's financial stability.

Portugal's parliament backs an austerity budget aimed at cutting its deficit to the level permitted for countries using the euro.

UK mortgage lender Lloyds Banking Group is encouraging borrowers to pay off up to 20% of their mortgages early.

Portuguese exporters hit by strong euro

The TUC is claiming that young people are being exploited by employers through internships in which they do not get paid.

AP - An accounting gimmick called Repo 105 provided financial relief for Lehman Brothers in the months before its spectacular collapse, an autopsy of the once-venerable Wall Street house has found. The question now is whether the trickery spells legal jeopardy for executives of Lehman or its auditors Ernst & Young.

AP - Regulators on Friday shut down banks in New York, Florida and Louisiana, raising to 30 the number of failures this year of federally insured banks.

AP - Biotechnology company Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. said Friday that it trimmed its fourth-quarter loss with help from a large payment from its partner Baxter International and Swiss drug maker Roche.

AP - The developer of a high profile middle-class Harlem apartment complex has lost ownership of the property after defaulting on the mortgage.

AP - Cat litter maker Oil-Dri Corp. of America said Friday its board approved the repurchase of 250,000 more shares and declared a quarterly dividend on common and Class B shares.

AP - Ford Motor Co. wants to remain the top gun in the U.S. police car market with a new cruiser due out next year, but its competitors are in hot pursuit.

Once-legendary Russian weapons are suffering embarrassing quality problems, and Russia?s own military is in talks with France to buy assault ships.

The 10-year plan will reimagine the nation?s media and technology priorities by establishing high-speed Internet as the country?s dominant communication network.

The administration on Friday identified two economists and a lawyer as its choices to fill vacancies on the central bank?s board of governors.

When car and gas sales were excluded, the gain was 0.9 percent, raising hopes that confidence was growing.

A top Chinese regulator warned bluntly that any move by Google to stop censoring its Chinese search engine would draw a response from Beijing.

Shares initially gained after a rise in retail sales was reported, but slipped after a disappointing report on January?s business inventories.

Investor's Business Daily - Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., took the national stage last month as he cut down Democratic health care plans point by point. If the GOP should win back the House In November, Ryan will become chairman of the House Budget Committee. And he has lots of ideas. He recently updated his 'Roadmap for America's Future' to address many issues, including the budget deficit, entitlement programs, the tax system and health care.

AP - Bankrupt telecom equipment maker Nortel Networks Corp. said Friday it posted a profit in the fourth quarter, thanks to a large gain related to an asset sale.

Reuters - The euro zone has agreed a multi-billion euro bailout for heavily indebted Greece as part of a package to support the euro, the Guardian newspaper reported on Saturday.

The report on the demise of Lehman Brothers is full of exhaustive detail in its nine volumes, acting as a road map for further inquiry into Lehman executives.

Lehman Brothers engaged in a series of transactions with the New York Fed that were similar to the ones that drew criticism from the bankruptcy court examiner who investigated its collapse.

Ranbaxy Laboratories, a maker of generic drugs, has run afoul of the Federal Drug Administration for violations at its United States factory in upstate New York.

The federal agency increased its audits of taxpayers who earned $1 million to $5 million by 33 percent in 2009 from 2008.

Go easy on the detergent in dishwashers and washing machines, and never clean your oven the day before Thanksgiving.

Facebook Connect can help nascent Web services recruit a healthy crowd of users in a hurry, and help the users find their friends on those sites.

Skepticism is high that Republicans would agree to raise revenues, or that Democrats would slash spending on programs like Medicaid, but economists called for both actions.

A 162-square-mile area of Napa Valley has been quarantined in an effort to stop the spread of the European grapevine moth, which also threatens other fruit.

The Charles Schwab Corporation said on Friday that it expected first-quarter earnings to be lower as revenue pressures continued.

The postal watchdog is considering taking action against Royal Mail after finding that delivery quality tests were rigged.