U.S. retailer targets Canada

The much-loved “cheap-chic” discount chain, Target Corp., referred to by fans as "Tar-Jay," says it has Canada in its sights as part of a future international expansion plan.
Like many U.S. retailers, Target is mulling a move outside its home market after sales and profits took a nosedive in the past year.
The announcement comes years after […]

GM wants aid from EU nations for restructuring

General Motors Co. on Monday asked European governments to help pay most of the $4.9 billion it needs to restructure its struggling European operations.
At talks in Brussels on Monday, EU nations where GM has plants vowed to avoid individual negotiations with the company before a Dec. 4 meeting, when they will coordinate […]

Fed’s Bullard says shrinking reserves key to exit

A senior Federal Reserve official said on Wednesday the U.S. central bank may start tightening financial conditions by adjusting its extensive asset purchase programs rather than raising interest rates.
“The market’s focus on interest rates is disappointing, given quantitative easing,” St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said in a presentation to a group […]

Mortgage applications slide

Mortgage applications fell last week for the third week in a row, even as interest rates edged lower, an industry group said Wednesday.
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its index of mortgage application volume fell 12.3% in the week ended Oct. 23 from the prior week.
The drop in activity came as a […]

U.S. MBA Mortgage Applications Index Fell 1.8 Percent Last Week

Mortgage applications in the U.S. fell last week from the highest level in four months as borrowing costs increased.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of applications to purchase a home or refinance a loan declined by 1.8 percent to 742.9 in the week ended Oct. 9 from 756.3 a week earlier. The group’s gauge […]

Treasury Says Three More Money Managers Receive PPIP Funding

The U.S. Treasury Department said AllianceBernstein Holding LP, BlackRock Inc. and Wellington Management Co. have raised a combined $1.94 billion for their funds participating in the U.S. effort to buy toxic assets from banks.
By getting that money from private investors, the three firms qualify for federal funds under the Public Private Investment Program. […]

South Korea’s Government to Spend 2.5% More in 2010

South Korea’s government plans to increase spending 2.5 percent next year as it seeks to generate more jobs and boost support for lower-income earners.
Total expenditure will rise to 291.8 trillion won ($245.5 billion), the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said in its 2010 budget proposal statement today in Gwacheon. National debt will be […]

Anglo not asking for Xstrata bid order: source

Miner Anglo American is not about to request a “put up or shut up” order on Xstrata to make a formal bid or walk away, a source close to the company said on Sunday, denying a media report.
The source was responding to a report in the Observer weekly newspaper which said Anglo was set […]

SNB May Hold Rate at 0.25%, Keep Battling Deflation ‘Specter’

The Swiss central bank may hold its key interest rate near zero and keep measures in place to fight the risk of deflation even as the economy shows signs of emerging from recession.
The Swiss National Bank, led by Jean-Pierre Roth, will leave the three-month Libor target at 0.25 percent at today’s quarterly monetary […]

Obama Sees Job Losses Ending, Vows to Push on Wall Street Rules

President Barack Obama said job losses are “bottoming out” and the U.S. economy looks to be growing again even as he warned against cutting off government aid “so soon that the recovery doesn’t take flight.”
Obama, speaking to Bloomberg News one year after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. crippled the economy, voiced […]