Hot finance topics

White House adviser Paul Volcker said it’s too soon for U.S. policy makers to withdraw the stimulus measures and interest-rate cuts used to fight the worst slump since the Great Depression.
“This is not the time to take aggressive tightening action, either fiscally or monetary-wise,” said Volcker in an interview in Berlin yesterday, pointing […]

Finance Minister Naoto Kan’s readiness to debate Japan’s first sales-tax increase since 1997 signals the risk of a fiscal crisis may be weighing heavier with policy makers than dangers to economic growth.
A government tax panel convenes in coming weeks to review changes and hear recommendations of a private-sector board, after Kan last month […]

South African policy makers are looking at whether they should maintain stimulus measures as the economy hasn’t been as affected by the global recession as other countries, central bank Deputy Governor Xolile Guma said.
“Certainly in South Africa, we’ve been taking a look at it, because we were not affected as seriously as other […]

The top-grossing movie in the world, Avatar, is on screens now, and it clearly identifies the most evil force in the universe. It’s business.
"There’s only one thing the shareholders hate more than bad publicity," says the smarmy manager of an unnamed company’s mining operations on the planet Pandora in Avatar, "and that’s a […]

U.K. retail sales rose less than economics forecast in December as price increases squeezed spending during the holiday season, casting doubt on the strength of a domestic recovery.
The volume of sales rose 0.3 percent from November after dropping by the same margin the previous month, the Office for National Statistics said today in […]

Japan will implement rules that tighten lending restrictions for Aiful Corp. and other consumer finance companies set to take effect in June, though enforcement may be eased to aid borrowers, a government official said.
The Financial Services Agency may consider changes to rules for implementing a law that puts a ceiling on the amount […]

Denver Broncos principal owner Pat Bowlen, hotel-industry leader Walter Isenberg and architect Curtis Fentress will be inducted into Denver's Tourism Industry Hall of Fame, the Visit Denver convention and visitors bureau announced Tuesday.
The hall of fame is considered the highest award for Denver’s travel industry. The trio to be inducted at a March 4 ceremony […]

EVERETT, Wash.–Boeing’s new 787 jetliner finally got airborne Tuesday, the long-delayed inaugural flight of the world’s first commercial plane constructed with half its components made from lightweight composite materials.
The sleek jet, nicknamed the Dreamliner, lifted off from Everett’s Paine Field on a flight over Washington state, beginning an extensive testing program needed to […]

Bank of America, one of the top five banks in the Raleigh-Durham market, doesn’t have its man after all. Robert Kelly, the CEO at Bank of New York Mellon, has told his employees he intends to stay put. In a company-wide memo, Kelly told his staff that he was approached by another bank, but decided […]

Japanese Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said the government must cap bond sales at 44 trillion yen ($495 billion) next year, in contrast with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who indicated he is prepared to abandon the pledge.
“Such a figure doesn’t need to be seen as a big problem for the Cabinet,” Fujii said at […]