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The collapse of global trade talks for the third time in as many years may be only a bump in the road for world commerce, which continued to expand while negotiations sputtered.
A nine-day summit at the World Trade Organization ended yesterday in Geneva without an agreement on a plan to cut agriculture subsidies […]

A key House committee grilled home lenders and housing advocates on Friday about mortgage industry efforts to work out affordable loans for troubled homeowners.
The House Financial Services Committee heard from executives at two big lenders: Michael Gross of Bank of America Corp. (BAC, Fortune 500) and Mary Coffin of Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC, […]

Nokia Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. say they have agreed to settle a high-stakes licensing dispute and end a series of legal battles that has spanned several continents.
The wireless industry heavyweights said Wednesday that they struck a 15-year licensing deal that gives Nokia rights to a wide portfolio of Qualcomm’s (QCOM, Fortune 500) patents no […]

Wachovia Corp. will eliminate 300 employees at its Wiseman Boulevard Operations Center, the company said Thursday.
The layoffs are part of the financial services company’s larger plans to lay off “fewer than” 1,000 employees across Texas.
Company spokesman Joe Stroop says the 300 employees to be laid-off are a result of the Wachovia’s elimination of its pick-a-payment […]

A real estate research firm says foreclosures in California soared in the second quarter to the highest level in at least 20 years.
DataQuick Information Systems also says in its report Tuesday that the number of default notices sent to homeowners also hit a new level.
DataQuick says some 63,061 homes were lost to foreclosure between […]

Bank Indonesia's Governor Boediono said fighting inflation will be the central bank's priority for the next 1 1/2 years, leaving the government to focus on boosting growth in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.
“Between inflation and growth, inflation will be our priority now,'' Boediono told reporters in Jakarta today. “The indicators of our macro economic […]

Malaysia's inflation probably accelerated to a 26-year high in June, intensifying expectations the central bank will this week raise interest rates for the first time since April 2006.
Consumer prices rose 6.6 percent last month from a year earlier, according to the median forecast of 19 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Bank Negara Malaysia […]

Europe's energy trade deficit soared 42 percent in the four months through April as crude-oil prices jumped to a record.
The euro region's deficit on energy products widened to 99.7 billion euros ($158 billion) from 70.4 billion euros a year earlier, the European Union statistics office in Luxembourg said today. Energy-product imports increased 41 […]

The Philippine central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by the most since 2000 and forecast inflation will exceed last month's 14-year high on record oil and food prices.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas increased the rate it pays banks for overnight deposits by 0.5 percentage point to 5.75 percent, Governor Amando Tetangco told reporters […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Sunday it is immediately opening a probe to prevent the spread of false information used to manipulate securities prices.
SEC Chairman Christopher Cox said the investigation is aimed at "ensuring that investors continue to get reliable, accurate information about public companies in the marketplace."
The probe comes amid […]