AP - A Toyota executive said Thursday the company is "mystified" by a report that a California man's Prius gas pedal became stuck and caused the car to speed out of control on a California freeway.
AP - Americans are recovering their shrunken wealth — gradually. Household net worth rose last quarter, mainly because the healing economy boosted stock portfolios. But the gain was slight. And it was less than in the previous two quarters.
AP - Asian stock markets were mixed in early trading Friday after the Standard & Poor's 500 index closed at a 17-month high with investors worried about inflationary pressures in China.
AP - Citigroup Inc. says it's heading back toward sustained profitability after two years that saw the bank lose billions of dollars and be bailed out by the government.
AP - The dollar eased against the euro and the pound Thursday as Greece announced additional salary cuts and tax hikes to deal with its ballooning deficit, while China reported a jump in inflation.
AP - Government vehicle safety regulators may seek greater authority to investigate defects in cars and trucks and are weighing a range of new safety requirements in response to Toyota's recall of more than 8 million vehicles over brake and acceleration problems.
AFP - Leading shares weakened on Thursday after unconvincing gains overnight on Wall Street as investors mulled the latest economic data and company news.
Reuters - Citigroup Inc Chief Executive Vikram Pandit told investors on Thursday the bank is on track to return to sustained profitability and losses from some of its worst assets should be manageable if the economy does not deteriorate.
AP - Clashes between riot police and rock-throwing, masked youths broke out during a demonstration Thursday in central Athens by tens of thousands of striking workers protesting austerity measures that the Greek government has said it has no choice but to implement.
AP - BULLISH OUTLOOK: Citigroup Inc. says its returning to "sustained profitability" after losing billions on bad loans and taking a federal bailout. CEO Vikram Pandit says the bank is shedding risky mortgage assets and shifting focus to emerging markets like Latin America and Asia.
AFP - US President Barack Obama on Thursday issued a fresh call to China to embrace a "market oriented" exchange rate for the yuan, saying such a move would help rebalance the global economy.
AP - The Kroger Co., the country's largest grocery retailer, on Thursday declared a quarterly dividend of 9.5 cents per share payable June 1 to shareholders of record as of May 14.
AP - BP is expanding its dominant oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico and dropping anchor off Brazil with a $7 billion deal to buy exploration rights from Devon Energy.
Reuters - Unprecedented discounts after a series of damaging recalls boosted Toyota Motor Corp's U.S. sales in early March, as U.S. regulators weighed new auto safety measures.
BusinessWeek - According to insiders at Prudential Plc , Tidjane Thiam, the chief executive of the insurer which said last week that it was bidding $35.5bn (23.6bn) to buy AIG's Asian insurance business is a firm believer in emotion over analysis.
AP - BULLISH OUTLOOK: Citigroup Inc. says its returning to "sustained profitability" after losing billions on bad loans and taking a federal bailout. CEO Vikram Pandit says the bank is shedding risky mortgage assets and shifting focus to emerging markets like Latin America and Asia.
AP - The head of the Federal Housing Administration is warning that boosting the minimum down payment borrowers must provide to qualify for home loans backed by the agency could threaten the housing market.
The Motley Fool - After a down January, the stock market is again positive for the year. The much-fabled January effect barometer didn't work in 2009, and it remains to be seen if it will work in 2010. Economic data has continued its slow improvement, keeping stocks fairly calm. The wild action so far this year has been in the currency markets.
AP - Mortgage rates held below the 5 percent threshold for the second straight week, a report said Thursday, weeks before a government program that has been keeping rates low is scheduled to expire.
Reuters - U.S. mortgage foreclosure filings dropped for a second straight month in February, and notched the smallest annual increase in four years as housing-rescue efforts contained activity, a report released on Thursday showed.
AP - Calling himself a realist, Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday scaled back his proposal to raise income taxes, shifting to a call for an increase of just one percentage point to be used solely for preventing deep cuts to education.
Reuters - U.S. mortgage applications nudged higher last week, reflecting increased demand for home purchase loans even as interest rates trekked higher, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.
AP - Nationalized mortgage lender Northern Rock said Wednesday that it returned to profit in the second half of 2009 as interest income rose and losses on loans fell.
The Motley Fool - The first Friday of every month brings the all-important employment report. February's numbers were better than anticipated. The United States lost only 36,000 jobs, versus the 68,000 that experts expected. This compares with 651,000 jobs lost in February 2009. Still, the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7%, with the unofficial rate stuck around a whopping 16%.
AP - Commercial mortgages were among the best-performing loans and leases held by banks and thrifts in the fourth quarter of last year, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Tuesday.
BusinessWeek - Who got us into this mess? It's not just greedy mortgage lenders and irresponsible economists who are responsible for the current financial crisis. Leaders, so called, have played a role too, by not managing their companies and so being detached from what was going on in them. And behind much of this has been an educational process that encouraged such detachment. As I've argued at length in my book, Managers not MBAs, the MBA is fine education -- but in the functions of business, not the exercise of managing. ...
AP - THE SALE: American International Group Inc. sold its American Life Insurance Co. division, or Alico, to MetLife Inc. for $15.5 billion. The deal is AIG's second big asset sale in two weeks. On March 1, it said it would sell its AIA Group unit to Prudential PLC for $35.5 billion.
AP - American International Group Inc. said Monday that it will sell its American Life Insurance Co. division for $15.5 billion to MetLife Inc. The government-approved deal, AIG's second big asset sale in two weeks, will give the insurer more cash to repay the billions of bailout dollars it still owes the government.
Reuters - MetLife Inc pursued AIG's foreign life insurance business for two years before finally clinching a $15.5 billion purchase that will give it beachheads in 47 nations from Peru to Bangladesh.
The Motley Fool - With the recent auction of Treasury's Bank of America (NYSE: BAC - News) warrants, the big bank joins Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS - News), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS - News), and several other banks in completing its exit from TARP. But, is it a buy?
AFP - US life insurance giant MetLife will acquire a unit of American International Group in a 15.5-billion-dollar deal that will help AIG pay back part of its government bailout, the firms said Monday.
AFP - US insurance giants American International Group and MetLife will on Monday announce a $15.5 billion deal for AIG's second-largest foreign life-insurance business, The Wall Street Journal reported.
AP - American International Group Inc. will receive a termination fee of $230.6 million if the sale of its Asian life insurance business to Britain's Prudential PLC falls through.
AP - Consumer borrowing broke a record stretch of declines with a small increase in January as a boost in auto loans offset continued weakness in credit card borrowing.
