Latvia Elections Likely to ‘Weigh On’ Credit Rating, Fitch Says

Latvian elections this autumn threaten to hamper government efforts to push through austerity measures vital to its international bailout, burdening the country’s credit rating, Fitch Ratings said.
A parliamentary election scheduled for October “weighs on the rating, the uncertainty that comes with the election, and I think there might be resistance to removing the […]

Iceland Rejects Icesave Depositors Bill in Referendum

Icelanders rejected by a massive majority a bill that would saddle each citizen with $16,400 of debt in protest at U.K. and Dutch demands that they cover losses triggered by the failure of a private bank.
Ninety-three percent voted against the so-called Icesave bill, according to preliminary results on national broadcaster RUV. Final results […]

Calpine narrows 4Q loss

Despite lower revenue due to sharply lower commodity prices and power generation nationwide, Calpine Corp. on Thursday said it had reduced its losses in the fourth quarter of 2009 compared to the year-earlier period.
Houston-based Calpine (NYSE: CPN) reported a net loss of $43 million, or 9 cents a share, for the three months ended Dec. […]

President orders debt panel, names chairmen

President Obama issued an executive order on Thursday that formally creates a bipartisan fiscal commission, a first step to forcing painful decisions needed to get the U.S. debt load under control.
Raising taxes, cutting spending and reforming Medicare and Social Security are all fair game, and thought to be impossible without the backing of both […]

Great Florida Bank loses $16M

The losses continued for Great Florida Bank in the fourth quarter, but it succeeded in paring down its problem loans.
The Miami Lakes-based bank (NASDAQ: GFLB) suffered a net loss of $15.9 million in the fourth quarter, following a $13.3 million loss in the third quarter, according to its filing with the Federal Financial Institutions Examination […]

Conditions set for merger of Ticketmaster, Live Nation

LOS ANGELES—Both U.S. and Canadian governments have imposed major conditions upon Live Nation and Ticketmaster in approving the companies’ merger.
Shares in both companies jumped in trading Monday after reports surfaced earlier that the merger would be approved.
Included in the settlement is a requirement that Ticketmaster would have to license its ticketing software to competitor AEG […]

Auto execs: Still too many plants

The U.S. auto industry has been decimated in recent years by a rash of plant closings. But according to a survey of top industry executives, more shutdowns could be on the way.
The survey, conducted annually by accounting firm KPMG, found that 88% of top industry executives thought there is still too much capacity at […]

Sovereign wealth funds on the hunt

After months of relative silence, sovereign wealth funds, the huge, state-owned vehicles that export-rich countries use to invest their reserves, are on the prowl again.
"[Funds] are researching deals and trying to get things lined up," says R.P. Eddy, CEO of Ergo, a research firm that advises some of the world’s biggest sovereign wealth […]

Crisis, what crisis? Debt-laden Dubai just shrugs

Glitzy Dubai may face a debt crisis that has sent a shudder through global markets, but you wouldn’t know it from officials or local media.
World leaders have commented on the crisis — but not those in the United Arab Emirates itself, where authorities have said little as UAE markets fell and the central bank […]

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 […]