Headline - Global Gathering

US may soon become world's top oil producer

2012-10-24 03:27:47 UTC

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. oil output is surging so fast that the United States could soon overtake Saudi Arabia as the world's biggest producer. Driven by high prices and new drilling methods, U.S. production of crude and other liquid hydrocarbons is on track to rise 7 percent this year to an average of 10.9 million barrels per day. This...

Facebook 3Q results show mobile ad growth

2012-10-24 03:02:28 UTC

NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook finally has proof that it can make money from mobile advertising. As part of Tuesday's third-quarter results, the world's biggest social media company disclosed for the first time that some 14 percent of its ad revenue came from mobile advertising. It started showing ads to users who access Facebook from the...

Yahoo CEO starts reign with encouraging 3Q report

2012-10-23 07:37:01 UTC

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer turned in an encouraging report card covering her first few months running the troubled Internet company. The third-quarter results announced Monday weren't astounding, but they were better than analysts anticipated. Most importantly, Yahoo's net revenue crept up from the previous year fo...

Why Greg Smith left Goldman Sachs

2012-10-22 15:31:53 UTC

Greg Smith wrote the essay that echoed across Wall Street like a thunderclap. Smith was a vice president at Goldman Sachs until March. He announced his departure from the investment bank with a blistering Op-Ed in The New York Times, accusing Goldman of routinely deceiving clients and relentlessly pursuing profit at the expe...

China shows signs economic recovery taking shape

2012-10-18 08:13:49 UTC

BEIJING (AP) — China's worst slump since the global financial crisis leveled out in the latest quarter and retail sales picked up in a sign an economic rebound is taking shape, adding to hopes for a global recovery. The world's second-largest economy grew 7.4 percent from the year before in the three months ending in September, data...

In a surprise, Pandit steps down as Citigroup CEO

2012-10-17 00:56:10 UTC

Vikram Pandit, who steered Citigroup through the 2008 financial crisis and the choppy years that followed, abruptly left the bank on Tuesday, stepping down as CEO and as a director. The move shocked Wall Street, and Citigroup offered no explanation. There had been no hint of the departure Monday, when the bank discussed its strong t...

Expect small '13 Social Security benefit increase

2012-10-15 10:37:36 UTC

WASHINGTON (AP) — Social Security recipients shouldn't expect a big increase in monthly benefits come January. Preliminary figures show the annual benefit boost will be between 1 percent and 2 percent, which would be among the lowest since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975. Monthly benefits for retired workers now average $...

Dems in coal states diverge on Obama policies

2012-10-13 04:25:18 UTC

ST. CLAIRSVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Friends of coal are certain they know the enemy. They fault President Barack Obama and his Environmental Protection Agency for new clean air rules they deride as a devastating blow to a multibillion-dollar industry that has been the lifeblood of Appalachia for generations. The agency standards imposed ea...

Merkel gets a hostile reception on Greek visit

2012-10-10 03:06:58 UTC

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel got a hostile reception from many ordinary Greeks Tuesday when she flew into Athens on her first visit to the country since its debt crisis erupted three years ago. But she praised the current Greek government for covering "much of the ground" required for recovery. "I hope an...

EU finance chiefs to discuss debt crisis, Greece

2012-10-08 07:05:45 UTC

LUXEMBOURG (AP) — EU finance ministers are in Luxembourg to take stock of the debt crisis before a summit of EU leaders later this month. The 17 eurozone ministers will look Monday at Greece's budget proposals. They will hear from the troika — the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund —...

Officials reject conspiracies on unemployment rate

2012-10-06 10:33:53 UTC

WASHINGTON (AP) — When conspiracists suggested Friday that the Obama administration had engineered a sharp drop in unemployment to aid President Barack Obama's re-election, the response was swift. Career government officials, economists and even some Mitt Romney supporters issued a collective sigh. The staffers who compute the ...

Analysts: Spike in Calif. gas prices may linger

2012-10-05 08:38:34 UTC

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The recent spike in gasoline prices around the nation is expected to wane slowly in coming weeks, but California may not be so lucky due to supply challenges fueled by refinery issues and pipeline outages, analysts said. Throughout the state, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline jumped 8 cents Thurs...

Auto sales, home prices help buoy weak US economy

2012-10-03 08:29:48 UTC

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy is looking more resilient, thanks in part to encouraging signs for the two most expensive purchases most Americans make: cars and homes. Cheap loans and a bounty of fuel-efficient models enticed people to buy new vehicles at a brisk pace last month. And the nation enjoyed another year-over-year s...

NY AG sues JPMorgan over Bear Stearns securities

2012-10-02 10:31:25 UTC

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York attorney general's office has hit JPMorgan Chase & Co. with a civil lawsuit, alleging that investment bank Bear Stearns — prior to its collapse and subsequent sale to JPMorgan in 2008 — perpetrated massive fraud in deals involving billions in residential mortgage-backed securities. The lawsuit is the f...

Airlines' profit outlook recovering

2012-10-01 11:00:36 UTC

BERLIN (AP) — The outlook for the airline industry is improving, with profits expected to reach $4.1 billion this year and $7.5 billion in 2013, the International Air Transport Association said Monday. The industry group raised its forecast for 2012 from $3 billion, saying passenger numbers so far this year were robust. "Airlin...

Xstrata board recommends Glencore merger

2012-10-01 10:40:14 UTC

LONDON (AP) — The board of Anglo-Swiss mining company Xstrata PLC said Monday it is recommending shareholders accept merger terms with Swiss commodities trader Glencore PLC — a deal that would create an industry behemoth with revenues of around $175 billion. Xstrata said in a statement it was supporting the offer of 3.05 Glencore sh...

Putin rolls back protege's modest liberal legacy

2012-09-29 13:00:17 UTC

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin is turning back the clock on his predecessor's reforms — literally. This week, Putin signaled his intent to reverse one of the few high-profile reforms Dmitry Medvedev enacted while president: keeping Russia stuck in summer time all year after clocks sprang forward in March. It's perhaps an apt...

Markets steady as focus remains on Spain, Greece

2012-09-27 12:32:41 UTC

LONDON (AP) — Financial markets recovered their poise Thursday, a day after investors were spooked by rising levels of discontent in Greece and Spain over upcoming austerity packages. Though the mood in markets has improved modestly, investors remain concerned about developments in Europe, where Greece and Spain have witnessed vio...

Asia's budget airline boom bypasses China

2012-09-27 10:27:57 UTC

HONG KONG (AP) — When businesswoman Ren Hong flew home after a recent trip to Beijing on state-owned Air China, she was hoping for a decent inflight meal to tide her over until she got back to the spicy cuisine of her native Sichuan province. The airline's meager offering, which was little more than "just bread," was a galling exper...

NYT to sell Indeed.com for $100M gain

2012-09-25 21:17:41 UTC

Leading Japanese HR services business Recruit Co. will acquire top job search site Indeed.com, the companies announced today. Stamford, Conn.-based Indeed was launched in 2004 and claims to attract 80 million unique visitors per month. It has localized versions in more than 50 counties, and it is the number one job site by traffic i...

US consumer confidence jumps to 7-month high.

2012-09-25 19:38:50 UTC

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans' confidence in the economy jumped this month to the highest level since February, bolstered by a brighter outlook for overall business conditions and hiring. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index rose to 70.3. That's up from 61.3 in August, which was revised higher. And it's t...

Economists say US needs more taxes, spending cuts

2012-09-24 13:45:07 UTC

NEW YORK (AP) — The best way to reduce the federal deficit is through a combination of higher taxes and spending cuts, according to a group of economists. The 236 members of the National Association for Business Economics recently surveyed say the country needs more fiscal stimulus through 2013, but by 2014 it should be time to th...

Unproductive Congress skips town until November

2012-09-22 11:59:41 UTC

WASHINGTON (AP) — The most partisan, least productive Congress in memory has skipped out of Washington so lawmakers can make their case for voters to re-elect them. The Senate closed the Capitol not long after sending President Barak Obama a spending bill that will make sure the government won't shut down Oct. 1, the start of the ne...

Zara store owner Inditex profit up 32 pct in H1

2012-09-19 09:35:58 UTC

MADRID (AP) — Spanish clothes retailer Inditex, which owns the Zara store chain, has posted a 32 percent increase in first-half net profit as it continued expanding in emerging markets. Inditex said Wednesday that sales for the first six months of the year were €7.2 billion ($9.4 billion), up 17 percent on last year. This generate...

China files trade case against Washington

2012-09-18 08:37:34 UTC

BEIJING (AP) — China filed a World Trade Organization case Monday challenging U.S. anti-dumping measures on billions of dollars of kitchen appliances, paper and other goods, adding to worsening trade strains as global demand weakens. Beijing's move came shortly before the Obama administration filed its own WTO case accusing China of...