China services growth adds to economic revival hopes

BEIJING (Reuters) – Growth in China‘s increasingly important services sector accelerated in December at its fastest pace in four months, adding to signs of a modest year-end revival in the world’s second-largest economy.China’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the non-manufacturing sector rose to 56.1 in December from 55.6 in November, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Thursday.Two...

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Obama praises ‘fiscal cliff’ deal

1 January 2013 Last updated at 23:51 ETPlease turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Barack Obama: “The deficit is still too high”Barack Obama has hailed a deal reached to stave off a “fiscal cliff” of drastic taxation and spending measures as “just one step in the broader effort to strengthen the economy”.The US president was speaking after the House of Representatives passed a Senate-backed...

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China’s Futile War on Web Pseudonyms

Chinese Internet cops are at it again. On Dec. 28, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress came out with new regulations forbidding Chinese citizens from using pseudonyms when signing up for Internet service.The official Xinhua news agency quickly tried to reassure everyone not to worry about any chilling effect on Chinese cyberspace. “Instead of depriving netizens’ freedom and entitlement,...

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Behind the Bidding War For a Gene Sequencing Firm

In June, Complete Genomics (GNOM), the struggling maker of the world’s most accurate gene-sequencing machine, put itself up for sale. Nothing happened initially. Analysts predicted the company would soon need to wind down operations.Cut to December. A pair of genomics superpowers, China’s BGI and San Diego-based Illumina (ILMN), have suddenly made competing bids to buy Complete, and politicians and...

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Starbucks expands cup campaign aimed at U.S. fiscal deal

(Reuters) – Starbucks Corp is expanding its campaign of using messages written on coffee cups to inspire U.S. lawmakers to reach a deal and avoid going over the “fiscal cliff” of automatic tax hikes and government spending cuts.As President Barack Obama and congressional leaders were in a final effort to reach a budget agreement before year’s end, Starbucks this week began urging workers in its roughly...

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Wall Street ends sour week with fifth straight decline

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks fell for a fifth straight day on Friday, dropping 1 percent and marking the S&P 500‘s longest losing streak in three months as the federal government edged closer to the “fiscal cliff” with no solution in sight.President Barack Obama and top congressional leaders met at the White House to work on a solution for the draconian debt-reduction measures set to take effect...

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Toyota poised to put legal troubles in rear view mirror

DETROIT/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp eliminated a huge obstacle with a U.S. settlement over unintended acceleration in its cars and trucks, leaving it to fight smaller cases that will be harder for plaintiffs to prove and less likely to damage the company’s growing sales.While the Japanese automaker still faces possibly hundreds of personal injury lawsuits related to claims that its vehicles...

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Toyota agrees $1bn US recall deal

26 December 2012 Last updated at 18:05 ETJapanese carmaker Toyota has agreed to pay an estimated $ 1.1bn (£680m; 830m euros) in a settlement of hundreds of lawsuits from US owners.The deal would compensate owners for economic losses and for the cost of safety changes to their cars.Since 2009, Toyota has recalled more than 14 million vehicles worldwide after floor mats became trapped under the accelerator.The...

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Sale shoppers ‘set to spend £3bn’

26 December 2012 Last updated at 00:11 ETBritish shoppers are expected to spend almost £3bn in the Boxing Day sales, experts have predicted.Millions of bargain-hunters are set to descend on High Streets and shopping centres across the UK.Shops will be cutting prices and opening as early as 06:00 GMT in a bid to tempt customers in.Market analyst Experian says online spending is expected to be the “biggest...

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Macy’s: Here’s What an All-Night Retail Binge Looks Like

Earlier this month, Macy’s, the second-largest department store chain in the nation, announced it would be keeping most of its stores open all night the Friday and Saturday before Christmas. To check out the early morning scene, Bloomberg Businessweek sent three reporters from the Billfold to various Macy’s around the country.Macy’s Herald Square, New York, Saturday, Dec. 22., 12:20 a.m. East Coast...

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‘Acceptable’ festive sales predicted

23 December 2012 Last updated at 17:40 ETChristmas sales figures are likely to be “acceptable” rather than “exceptional”, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has predicted.It has estimated that £5bn will have been spent in Britain’s shops over the weekend, as millions of people stocked up on food, drink and presents.The BRC says many shoppers waited until the last minute to pick up a bargain.Meanwhile,...

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The Hedge Fund Hunger Games

The first idea that Tim Harrington, Brian Tomeo, and Spencer Deering had for a business was to gather up brand-new hedge funds and nurture them. They’d invite them to make use of their office in Miami Beach, where they could get advice, legal help, expensive software, and eventually an introduction to investors, with the three benefactors collecting a fee. The second idea, the one the trio went with,...

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The Year’s Best & Worst Investments

WinnersBest International Stock (+283%): India consumes more than $ 20 billion worth of whiskey each year—the most in the world—and United Spirits (UNSP) is the nation’s largest distiller. The company’s sales doubled in four years. The United Kingdom’s Diageo (DEO) bought a controlling stake in United Spirits in November. Best U.S. Large-Cap Stock (+224%): The good news for Regeneron Pharmaceuticals...

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