Zoo wants company to stop using chimps in TV ads

A Chicago zoo is mounting a campaign to stop a company from airing a Super Bowl Sunday commercial featuring mischievous suit-and-tie wearing chimpanzees playing tricks on their human co-worker, saying all that monkey business proves deadly for the endangered species.
Lincoln Park Zoo officials fear images of the frolicking chimps broadcast worldwide do little to help […]

Lending cash to individuals looking for cash advance or payday loans.

Growth quickens, but speed bumps ahead

The economy grew at its fastest pace in 1-1/2 years in the fourth quarter, but a rebuilding of stocks by businesses and slower business spending warned of weaker growth in early 2012.
Gross domestic product expanded at a 2.8 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Friday, a sharp acceleration from the 1.8 percent […]

Payday loans no faxing fall on the less risky side simply because the money loaned to you is a percentage of your next paycheck.

Investment pros are diving back in

Even as anxiety-ridden individuals play it safe in low-yielding bank accounts, professional investors are showing renewed confidence in the stock market.
Bullishness among institutional investors has reached its highest level since last summer, and their buying has been powering the stock market’s surprising early-year advance, according to a new analysis by TrimTabs Investment Research. The Dow […]

3rd survivor rescued from stricken cruise ship

A helicopter on Sunday airlifted a third survivor from the capsized hulk of a luxury cruise ship 36 hours after it ran aground off the Italian coast, as prosecutors said they were investigating the captain for manslaughter charges and accused him of abandoning his ship.
Authorities reduced to 17 from 40 the number of people still […]

Ralcorp, Post announce new board lineups

Ralcorp Holdings and Post Holdings, the branded cereal business that’s being spun off as a separate company, announced the lineup of each company’s board of directors.
The board appointments are effective when the spin-off of Post is finalized, which is expected to occur at the end of this month.
The new configuration of St. Louis-based Ralcorp’s board […]

Republican Senators Say Fed Overstepped Its Role With Advice on Housing - Bloomberg

Republican Senators Orrin Hatch of Utah and Bob Corker of Tennessee criticized the Federal Reserve for overstepping its role by making policy recommendations on how the U.S. government should try new ways to spur the housing market.
Hatch, the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said the housing study sent by Chairman Ben S. […]

Euro-Area Crisis Presents Significant Risk for South Africa, Lagarde Says - Bloomberg

South Africa has become increasingly integrated into the global economy, leaving it exposed to

Jobless claims fall 15,000 last week

Private-sector hiring surged in December as employers added 325,000 new workers while claims for jobless benefits fell, raising hope that recent labor market improvement would continue in 2012.
The ADP National Employment Report’s December job tally surprised economists who had expected a 178,000 gain. It was also well above the 204,000 private jobs added in […]

Banker Who Fled Kim Jong Il Says New Leader May Open North Korean Economy - Bloomberg

Kim Jong Un may relax state controls over North Korea

Growth even weaker than feared

The U.S. economy was weaker than previously thought in the third quarter, according to a government report, although economists are expecting stronger growth in the final three months of the year.
Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation’s economic health, grew at a 1.8% annual rate in the quarter. That’s down from the […]