- Futures fall with eyes on Greece talks
(Reuters)
Reuters - Stock index futures fell on Tuesday, indicating equities may fall for a second straight session, as talks to secure a new bailout for Greece and avoid an unruly default had yet to bear fruit.
- Glencore-Xstrata deal meets shareholder opposition
(Reuters)
Reuters - At least two top 10 shareholders in miner Xstrata said Tuesday they would vote against a takeover by commodities trader Glencore, threatening the creation of a powerhouse spanning mining, agriculture and trading.
- Greek leaders face crunch talks as unions strike
(Reuters)
Reuters - Greek party leaders face crunch talks on Tuesday to secure a new international bailout and avoid a chaotic debt default, caught between EU demands that they accept painful reforms now and a national strike against more austerity.
- Coca-Cola beats Street, eyes cost savings
(Reuters)
Reuters - Coca-Cola Co reported better-than-expected quarterly results and announced a new cost-savings program on Tuesday, helping to send shares in the world's top soft drinks maker up 1 percent in premarket trading.
- Toyota raises annual profit forecast, eyes recovery
(Reuters)
Reuters - Toyota Motor Corp raised its full-year profit forecast by more than a third as it cuts costs, trims spending and expects Japanese government schemes to boost sales, though the guidance was still some way below analysts' expectations.
- With sparse data, focus returns to Europe
(Reuters)
Reuters - Europe will again be at the center of investors' focus this week as the U.S. earnings season passes the halfway mark and there is little on the economic calendar to give the market direction.
- Electric car maker Fisker: Layoffs in Del., Calif.
(AP)
AP - Fisker Automotive, an electric car maker that received a half-billion-dollar loan from the federal government, said Monday that it has laid off workers in Delaware and California.
- Coca-Cola 4Q profit drops; adj. results top Street
(AP)
AP - Coca-Cola Co.'s fourth-quarter net income dropped 71 percent, weighed down by restructuring charges and other costs. But the beverage maker's adjusted results topped Wall Street's expectations.
- Greek party leaders seek deal as bankruptcy looms
(AP)
AP - Greek party leaders on Tuesday will meet to seek a long-delayed agreement on harsh cutbacks demanded to avoid looming bankruptcy, amid intense pressure from its bailout creditors to reach a deal, a general strike disrupting public services and thousands of protesters taking to the streets of Athens.
- Key states move closer to foreclosure-abuse deal
(AP)
AP - California and New York, the key holdouts in a long-awaited settlement over foreclosure abuses, moved closer Monday to backing a deal that would force the five largest mortgage lenders to reduce loans for about 1 million households. More than 40 U.S. states have agreed to a nationwide settlement.
- Watchdogs to drag shadow banks into the light
(Reuters)
Reuters - Beyond the reach of regulators, and about half the size of the world's banking industry, a thriving breed of "shadow banks" is emerging that could trigger the next chapter in the global financial crisis.
- Euro zone sales tumble at Christmas, no sign of growth
(Reuters)
Reuters - Retail sales in the euro zone tumbled unexpectedly in December, the biggest drop in the Christmas period in three years, data showed on Friday, with rising joblessness and stubborn inflation undercut signs of a stabilization in Europe's economy.
- AP Enterprise: Brown bank regulator an insider
(AP)
AP - Gov. Jerry Brown's appointee to head the department that oversees banking, financial and consumer regulations in California led a trade association that fought against tighter lending restrictions before the subprime mortgage crisis exploded and was an executive with Washington Mutual when the now-failed bank was among the most aggressive marketers of loans to high-risk borrowers.
- BP preparing "vigorously" for oil spill lawsuits
(Reuters)
Reuters - BP said it was preparing "vigorously" for lawsuits related to its Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which are due to start later this month, as it unveiled a rise in fourth-quarter earnings boosted by higher oil prices and one-off gains.
- The Worthless Junk the 1 Percent Waste Their Money On
(ContributorNetwork)
ContributorNetwork - COMMENTARY | Strictly speaking, the 1 percent -- people whose incomes put them above the other 99 percent of us, starting at about $340,000 a year as of 2009, according to IRS data -- don't actually spend much of their money.
- Toyota lifts profit forecast as disaster woes fade
(AP)
AP - Toyota's quarterly profit slid 13.5 percent on production setbacks caused by last year's tsunami disaster and the flooding in Thailand, but Japan's top automaker raised its annual earnings forecast, saying a recovery is on track.