AIG decides not to join Greenberg suit against government: WSJ

(Reuters) - American International Group Inc will not join a lawsuit against the U.S. government challenging the terms of the insurer's 2008 bailout, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.AIG had said its board was meeting Wednesday to consider the possibility of joining the suit filed by former CEO Hank Greenber...

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Morgan Stanley cuts 1,600 jobs as business languishes

 Morgan Stanley plans to cut 1,600 employees starting this week, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in the latest sign of a pullback on Wall Street as revenue from trading and deal-making remains in the doldrums.The staff reduction pertains to Morgan Stanley's institutional securities unit - which includes sales, trading and investment banking, and whose staff will be reduced...

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Wall Street gains as earnings flow in; Boeing up

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose on Wall Street Wednesday after U.S. corporate earnings reports got off to a good start.The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 61.66 points to 13,390.51, its first gain of the week. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 3.87 points to 1,461.02, and the Nasdaq composite rose 14 to 3,105.81.Having rallied after a last-minute resolution stopped the U.S. from going over...

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Japan PM: Will pursue bold monetary policy, big fiscal spending

 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated on Monday his call for bold monetary easing by the central bank, big fiscal spending and an economic growth strategy as steps towards conquering deflation."Above all, the urgent task is to beat deflation," Abe told a meeting of officials from the government and ruling parties."A bold monetary policy, a flexible fiscal policy and a growth strategy...

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Google executive chairman heading to NKorea

BEIJING (AP) — The Google chairman wants a first-hand look at North Korea's economy and social media in his private visit Monday to the communist nation, his delegation said, despite misgivings in Washington over the timing of the trip.Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of one of the world's biggest Internet companies, is the highest-profile U.S. executive to visit North Korea — a country with notoriously...

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Global economy: U.S. and China leave feeble Europe in their wake

The economies of the United States, China and much of the developing world have decoupled from Europe, leaving it to wallow in various stages of recession and fiscal disarray.That is one reason why the key economic event of the coming week will be a European Central Bank meeting almost totally focused on how far policymakers will go to boost growth.Although there are some signs that a bottom may...

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Fed's Plosser: U.S. unemployment to fall under 7 percent by end - 2013

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Charles Plosser said on Friday that he expected U.S. unemployment to decline to between 6.8 percent and 7.0 percent by the end of this year, helped by economic growth of around 3 percent in both 2013 and 2014.Plosser also told reporters on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the American Economic Association that he hoped the U.S. central...

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Italy PM Monti says not eyeing role of finance minister in next government

ROME (Reuters) - Outgoing Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said on Friday he was aiming to lead the next government and he was unlikely to agree to be economy minister in another premier's cabinet after February elections."I do not think I would have the motivation to commit myself to serve a government that did not agree with me on at least 98 percent of policy," he said when asked whether he...

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Fed's Plosser: U.S. potential growth rate has likely been lowered

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Charles Plosser said on Friday that the United States had likely suffered a lasting decline in the trend potential growth rate of its economy as a result of the severe 2007-2009 U.S. recession."It certainly looks like we've had a permanent shock," he told a panel discussion on the real business cycle during the annual meeting of the American...

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Fed becoming worried about stimulus side effects

 Federal Reserve officials are increasingly concerned about the potential risks of the U.S. central bank's asset purchases on financial markets, even if they look set to continue an open-ended stimulus program for now.In a surprise to Wall Street, minutes from the Fed's December policy meeting, published on Thursday, showed a growing reticence about further increases in the central bank's $2.9...

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Stocks fade after Fed discloses split on stimulus

A two-day rally in the stock market came to an end Thursday afternoon when an account of the Federal Reserve's last meeting revealed a split between bank officials over how long the Fed should keep buying bonds to support the economy.The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 index treaded water for much of the day, then slid into the red around 2 p.m. Eastern, after the Fed...

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Fiscal-cliff deal no recipe for a robust economy

Housing is rebounding. Families are shrinking debts. Europe has avoided a financial crackup. And the fiscal cliff deal has removed the most urgent threat to the U.S. economy.So why don't economists foresee stronger growth and hiring in 2013?Part of the answer is what Congress' agreement did (raise Social Security taxes for most of us). And part is what it didn't do (prevent the likelihood of more...

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Auto industry posts best U.S. sales year since 2007

U.S. auto sales rose 9 percent in December, led by foreign manufacturers, capping off the best year for the industry since before the recession.The year's sales were driven by a slowly recovering economy, more available credit and the need for consumers and businesses to replace aging cars and trucks.General Motors Co posted December U.S. sales growth of 5 percent compared with the year-earlier month,...

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Huge gadget show gears up in Vegas

Think your high-definition TV is hot stuff — as sharp as it gets? At the biggest trade show in the Americas, which kicks off next week in Las Vegas, TV makers will be doing their best to convince you that HDTVs are old hat, and should make room for "Ultra HDTV."It's the latest gambit from an industry struggling with a shift in consumer spending from TVs, PCs and single-purpose devices such as camcorders...

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Live Nation Chairman Azoff resigns; Liberty buys shares

 Irving Azoff, a legendary music manager who helped make stars out of The Eagles and Christina Aguilera, resigned as chairman of Live Nation Entertainment and sold some of his stake in the concert promotion giant to John Malone's Liberty Media Corp.Azoff is expected to start a new talent management agency, and is expected to take some of his former clients with him, according to a person familiar...

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Tribune exits bankruptcy with new TV-focused board

 More than four years after crushing debt and plunging advertising sales forced it to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Tribune Co. has emerged with a new television-focused board and over $1 billion in new financing.Led by such creative and technology heavyweights as Ross Levinsohn, the former interim CEO of Yahoo Inc., and Peter Murphy, former strategic officer of The Walt Disney Co.,...

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Shaw CEO sells most of stake after shareholders ok CB&I deal

 James Bernhard, chief executive of engineering company Shaw Group Inc , has sold off most of his stake in the company he founded after shareholders approved a sale to Chicago Bridge and Iron Co NV this month.Late last week, Bernhard reduced his shareholding in Shaw to 143,356 shares from 1,131,603, according to filings with U.S. securities regulators on Monday, in a sale that would have raised...

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Best Buy loses two board directors

 Best Buy Co Inc said on Monday that two of its board directors had resigned, including one of its former chief executives, almost seven months after its founder, who is now mounting a bid for the struggling retailer, left the board.The departures will leave Best Buy with four vacancies on its 11-member board.The company's fortunes have faltered as consumers increasingly use its big box stores...

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Sharp considering raising $1.2 billion to beef up capital: media

 Struggling Japanese TV maker Sharp Corp is considering raising more than 100 billion yen ($1.2 billion) this spring to bolster its capital base, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Tuesday.The debt-laden company, whose displays are used in Apple Inc's iPads and iPhones, was forced to seek a bailout from banks in September and has forecast a loss of 155 billion yen for the fiscal year to March...

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Future of state estate taxes hangs on U.S. "fiscal cliff"

Falling off the "fiscal cliff" is a bad thing, right?Not necessarily for some state governments that could begin collecting more in estate taxes on wealth left to heirs if the United States goes over the "cliff," allowing sharp tax increases and federal spending cuts to take effect in January.In an example of federal and state tax law interaction that gets little notice on Capitol Hill, 30 states...

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