BERLIN (AP) — Amazon says it has fired a German security company amid mounting criticism after reports that temporary workers had been mistreated. An Amazon spokeswoman in Germany, Ulrike Stoecker, said Monday the online retailer has ended its relationship with Hensel European Security Services “with immediate effect.” A documentary shown on ARD public television last […]
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FRANKFURT (AP) — German’s central bank says the country’s economy is on track to avoid a recession as it shows signs of growth in the first three months of the year. Europe’s largest economy shrank 0.6 percent in the last quarter of 2012. Two straight quarters of falling output is a common definition of recession. […]
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BANGKOK (AP) — Japan’s benchmark stock index jumped Monday after Group of 20 finance officials refrained from directly criticizing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government for trying to force down the yen. Other Asian stock markets were mixed. Currency policy was centerstage at the weekend meeting in Moscow of finance ministers and central bankers from the […]
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BANGKOK (AP) — The price of oil fell to near $95 a barrel Monday after U.S. industrial production weakened and Europe remained mired in recession. Benchmark crude for March delivery was down 25 cents to $95.61 per barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.45 […]
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LONDON (AP) — The world economy faces a new threat. Instead of a banking collapse or too much debt, fears are growing that countries are using their currencies as an economic weapon. History suggests that’s never a good thing. If too many countries try to weaken their currencies for economic gain — sparking a “currency […]
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MOSCOW (AP) — Finance ministers and central bankers from the world’s 20 leading industrial and developing countries have pledged not to target their exchange rates for competitive purposes. The two-day meeting in Moscow ended with a joint communique that included a promise that the G20 members would “refrain from competitive devaluation” and “resist all forms […]
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NEW YORK (AP) — A feud between Wall Street titans is flaring up again over Herbalife. Carl Icahn has taken a 13 percent stake in the supplement company that Pershing Square Capital Management’s William Ackman calls a pyramid scheme. Ackman has bet that the company’s stock price will fall. Icahn’s investment, revealed in a filing […]
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WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. factories slowed production in January after two solid months of cranking out goods. The weakness reflected a big drop in output at auto factories that is likely temporary. Manufacturing output fell 0.4 percent in January from December, the Federal Reserve said Friday. The decline followed increases of 1.1 percent in December […]
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NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are opening modestly higher on Wall Street as investors keep a close eye on a meeting of global finance ministers in Moscow. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 18 points to 13,992 shortly after the opening bell Friday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up two points at 1,523. […]
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DETROIT (AP) — BMW is recalling more than 30,000 SUVs to fix an oil leak that can knock out the power-assisted braking. The German automaker says the recall covers X5 SUVs in the U.S. from the 2007 through 2010 model years. The vehicles were made between Sept. 12, 2006, and March 18, 2010. They have […]
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