Top Stories: In the U.S. every day there is the good news, and the bad news - and today is no exception. Michael Bowman Fri, 25 Dec 2009 23:54:37 -0500The Canadian unit has been gaining while other currencies have been retreating against the beleagured U.S. dollar. Big News Network.com Fri, 25 Dec 2009 20:49:35 -0500Gail Kello, CEO of Westpac has sold $7 million worht of her near $40 million portfolio of shares in the bank. Big News Network.com Fri, 25 Dec 2009 20:33:24 -0500Citigroup and Wells Fargo banks have announced 45 billion dollars has been repaid to the US government from the massive TARP program that was used to bail out the banking system. Big News Network.com Fri, 25 Dec 2009 05:45:23 -0500Cambodia’s Angkor Air has begun to turn a profit. Big News Network.com Fri, 25 Dec 2009 05:42:15 -0500The Ford Motor Company Volvo unit is likely to be sold to China’s Geely. Big News Network.com Fri, 25 Dec 2009 05:39:26 -0500Nestle has suspended operations at its dairy plant in Zimbabwe saying the closure is due to pressure from the Mugabe government. Big News Network.com Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:23:54 -0500Pay for the chief executives of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be increased to between $4 and $6 million. Big News Network.com Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:20:36 -0500Sweeping power cuts have been felt by Venezuelan industry after the government said it needed to save its limited energy resources to avoid mass blackouts. Big News Network.com Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:17:55 -0500UK entertainment group HMV is hoping to takeover live music venues run by the MAMA Group. Big News Network.com Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:14:33 -0500New research has found that thousands of eco-tourists visiting Antarctica each year are adding to the warming that results in melting of the polar ice caps. Big News Network.com Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:10:57 -0500NEW YORK - A judge says a prominent New York City lawyer can't recover money he paid in a divorce agreement when he believed he and his ex-wife had millions of dollars invested with Bernard Madoff (M... Star Tribune Fri, 25 Dec 2009 23:40:47 -0500BENSON, MINN. - A southwest Minnesota ethanol company will buy more than just corn from farmers. It wants their cobs, too. Chippewa Valley Ethanol Co. (CVEC) in Benson is using about 70 tons of corn ... Star Tribune Fri, 25 Dec 2009 22:17:11 -0500Tourists often visit Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, then leave town. Local merchants are trying to encourage tourists to stay longer and spend more, and new hotels are being opened to ensure ... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:51:49 -0500In 2009, the worst market correction since the Great Depression ground to a halt. Almost immediately the markets rebounded with one of the strongest rallies in history, during a dynamic year that unde... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:51:45 -0500U.S. retailers used extra promotions and extended hours to draw procrastinators and shoppers delayed by the East Coast snowstorm in the final stretch before Christmas. Target Corp. extended its h... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:51:37 -0500John Bitove, executive chairman of Priszm Income Fund, which owns the KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut chains in Canada. The company said on Thursday that it has sold a salad-making factory in Toronto for... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:51:33 -0500TORONTO -- The Toronto Stock Exchange finished a strong week on a positive note Thursday, as energy and financials advanced during an abbreviated trading session ahead of the Christmas holiday. The b... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:51:30 -0500Canplats Resources Corp. is accepting a sweetened bid from Goldcorp Inc. that matches the rival offer tabled by Minera Penmont, a joint venture between Fresnillo PLC and U.S. gold giant Newmont Mining... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:51:22 -0500Glencore International AG, the world's largest commodity trader, is considering an initial public offering after the credit crisis and tumbling commodity prices threatened to curb its funding. Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:51:17 -0500WASHINGTON -- New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods excluding transportation surged in November, and applications for jobless benefits fell last week, pointing to a firmly entrenched eco... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:51:14 -0500When Eric Agius paid his first visit to Seoul, Korea, six weeks ago, the first thing he saw upon clearing customs was a giant display screen built by LG Electronics Inc. It was like a giant welcome m... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:51:11 -0500The Canadian economy strung together back-to-back months of growth for the first time in almost two years, but economists warn that consumers and government stimulus have been "carrying the ball" by f... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:51:08 -0500OTTAWA -- Canada's economy rose 0.2% in October, the second straight monthly gain, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday, but growth was at a weaker pace than expected. Analysts were expecting a 0.3% ... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:51:07 -0500PARIS -- World stocks extended gains to their highest level in almost three weeks on Thursday while oil also gained as investors confident of a strong global economic recovery into 2010 chased risky a... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:51:04 -0500The oil sands, site of billions of dollars of energy development in northeast Alberta, found itself in the crosshairs of environmentalists — and took heat from Ontario and Quebec officials — durin... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:51:00 -0500BlackBerry service resumed as phone maker Research In Motion Ltd. released new software to fix program flaws, which caused a second disruption in less than a week. The interruption was resolved l... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:50:56 -0500Intrawest ULC, a Vancouver-based ski-resort operator owned by private-equity firm Fortress Investment Group LLC, is in talks with lenders about a debt payment due Wednesday on a US$1.4- billion loan, ... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:50:54 -0500WASHINGTON -- Convicted swindler Bernard Madoff was moved last week to the medical center within a federal prison for undisclosed reasons, a spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons said on Wedne... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:50:49 -0500LONDON -- White sugar futures on Liffe rose on Wednesday to a record high for the benchmark front month, boosted by reduced crop prospects in top exporter Brazil following heavy and persistent rains. ... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:50:48 -0500NEW YORK -- Oil rose above US$76 a barrel on Wednesday after key inventory data out of the United States showed crude oil inventories in the world's energy consumer fell more than expected. Commercia... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:50:45 -0500WASHINGTON/TORONTO -- Canadian fertilizer maker Agrium, which is attempting a hostile takeover of U.S. rival CF Industries CF.N, has won U.S. antitrust approval of the proposed deal after agreeing to ... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:50:40 -0500NEW YORK -- Sales of newly built U.S. single-family homes fell to their lowest level in seven months in November, a blow to the housing market's recovery. The Commerce Department said sales dropped 1... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:50:38 -0500Nortel Networks Corp., the bankrupt Canadian maker of phone equipment, agreed to sell its unit that provides Internet-calling gear to Genband Inc. for US$282-million. Genband, a closely held comp... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:50:36 -0500Ford Motor Co. agreed with China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. on most terms about a sale of its Volvo Car Corp. unit and the automakers aim to complete the transaction in the second quarter. ... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:50:33 -0500Canada's Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said China, with the world's largest currency reserves of US$2.3-trillion, may be poised to buy Canadian dollars as it seeks to shield its reserves against the U... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:50:32 -0500We must wait a decade to find out the true harm these financial institutions inflicted on investors. That’s when the restructured ABCP notes mature and the real price tag will be known. Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:50:23 -0500Billionaire Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., told employees of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. that he's buying the railroad because of its position in the U.S. West. "I think ... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:50:16 -0500One of the strangest and sorriest episodes in the history of Canadian capital markets is back on the radar. Today, a group of people will try to reactivate an Ontario company that many investors woul... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:50:13 -0500The tiny Toronto software company that took on Microsoft Corp., and won, has done it again. On Tuesday, a panel of three judges upheld a landmark jury verdict in favour of i4i Inc. against Micros... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:50:10 -0500Canadian stocks climbed for the second straight day yesterday, after U.S. existing home sales topped expectations and hit their highest level since February 2007. The S&P/TSX composite index adva... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:50:07 -0500NEW YORK -- Sales of previously owned U.S. homes surged to their highest level in almost three years, but the unexpectedly strong gain came mainly from a big tax-break for first-time homebuyers. Abse... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:50:03 -0500LONDON -- Gold slid to its lowest since early November at US$1,074.10 per ounce on Tuesday, as the dollar gained ground against the euro and a basket of currencies - a trend analysts see pressuring bu... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:59 -0500VANCOUVER -- Shares in Ballard Power Systems rose more than 7% on Tuesday morning after the fuel cell maker agreed to offload its stake in a fuel cell research group for about $44.5-million. Ballard ... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:56 -0500TORONTO -- Canadian merchant bank C.A. Bancorp Inc. urged shareholders on Tuesday to reject a $1.22 per share bid from private equity firm Maxam, saying the offer was too low and that it was talking t... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:49 -0500OTTAWA -- Canada's auto industry will return to profitability in 2010 after enduring a year that shook the sector to its core, the Conference Board of Canada said in a report Tuesday. The board forec... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:48 -0500OTTAWA - The number of people receiving employment insurance benefits declined in October, continuing a downward trend that began in July, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday. Regular EI beneficiaries... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:46 -0500National Bank Financial Inc. has agreed to pay $75-million, while Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and its capital markets arm will hand over $22-million in settlements with regulators related to th... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:44 -0500Scotiabank said Tuesday it will be the first Canadian bank to open its own branch in Dubai's financial district. The bank's ScotiaMocatta precious metals trading division has secured a licence fr... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:41 -0500ATHENS -- Moody's Investors Service cut Greece's debt rating on Tuesday but partially reassured financial markets by saying the country remained far from a crisis, igniting a rally in Greek bonds and ... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:39 -0500LUANDA -- OPEC oil producers agreed on Tuesday to keep their supply curbs unchanged but may face an uphill battle to improve compliance with those restrictions if they want to drain bulging global fue... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:37 -0500Only allowing Chinese viewers to access sites registered on a whitelist would give Chinese authorities much greater control, but would also block millions of completely innocuous sites. Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:34 -0500EDMONTON -- Canadians who have profited from how our financial institutions weathered the global economic crisis wonder whether the punch bowl has been removed and the investment party is over. Since... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:32 -0500Think of Canada's housing market as a ticking time bomb. Think of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty as the unlucky bomb disposal expert called in to deal with the problem. Flaherty is moving slowly - oh,... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:28 -0500DETROIT/SEATTLE -- General Motors Co has hired Chris Liddell, the chief financial officer of Microsoft Corp, as its new finance chief, filling a key position with the automaker's highest-profile hire ... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:27 -0500NEW YORK -- Santa came early for Wall Street this year by giving the S&P 500 a 22% gain for 2009, and with just eight trading days left in the year, stock investors are not expecting to find much ... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:25 -0500Galleon hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam, right, and co-defendant Danielle Chiesi asserted their innocence Monday to charges of securities fraud, in what U.S. prosecutors describe as the biggest ... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:20 -0500OTTAWA -- Consumer confidence rose in December following two months of declines, the Conference Board of Canada said Monday. The results of the board's monthly survey showed the greatest gains in exp... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:14 -0500Dubai World, which met its creditors on Monday, said it would work with lenders to seek a debt standstill in "an orderly way" and will get government financial support if an agreement is reached. Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:12 -0500TLC Vision Corp. has agreed to sell its six laser eye centres in Canada as part of a pre-arranged creditor protection filing on Monday that will see the eye-care company emerge as a private entity. ... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:10 -0500Merck & Co.'s Schering-Plough unit sued Canadian generic drugmaker Apotex Inc. in an effort to stop a copy of the Nasonex allergy inhaler from being marketed. Closely-held Apotex is seeking U.S. ... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:10 -0500SAO PAULO -- Wal-Mart Stores, the world's largest retailer, will invest up to 2.2 billion reais (US$1.2-billion) in Brazil next year, the largest-ever expansion plan by the company in Latin America's ... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:09 -0500Avaya Inc. plans to keep about 500 more employees than anticipated in the corporate-phone equipment unit bought from Nortel Networks Corp. last week, adding staff as the business improves. "We'll... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:07 -0500Hammerson PLC, the part-owner of London's Brent Cross shopping centre, and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought Scotland's second-largest shopping mall for 297 million pounds (US$479-million.) ... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:06 -0500BOSTON -- Healthcare shares rose on Monday as a bill to reform healthcare passed the first critical test in the Senate, putting it on track to be passed by Christmas and easing uncertainty over the im... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:05 -0500Michael Nobrega, president and chief executive of Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), wants the Ontario government to enact legislative changes immediately to make it easier for ... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:49:02 -0500Competition will be the watchword for Canada's wireless industry next year, as established players face off against a cast of new entrants poised to steal market share. While the current operators ar... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:48:59 -0500OTTAWA - As we head into the Christmas week, there will be a few more nuggets of economic data to chew on alongside your turkey and stuffing. Just as stores throughout the country are dealing with th... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:48:58 -0500NEW YORK -- U.S. stock index futures were higher Monday on expectations that rising commodity prices and a downtick in the U.S. dollar would boost stocks in the energy and materials sectors. The heal... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:48:53 -0500CHICAGO -- Walgreen Co WAG.N, the largest U.S. drugstore chain, reported a nearly 20% jump in quarterly profit as growth in sales of prescription drugs and flu shots offset the hit from consumers cutt... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:48:49 -0500You still have a few more days to buy two toys for each child on your Christmas list. Make a gift of one, and hide away the other toy unopened in its original box for 20 years. In 2029, give the now-g... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:48:45 -0500Former British prime minister Harold Wilson once observed that a week is a long time in politics. When Barack Obama comes home to Hawaii next Wednesday for his Christmas vacation, likely staying in th... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:48:42 -0500It's the busiest time of the year for Moya Greene, chief executive of Canada Post Corp. As Christmas draws near, her employees are sorting through more than 60 million pieces of mail, parcels and mes... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:48:39 -0500Holiday spending is rising again thanks to the end of the recession, but are we really getting our money's worth? A new study by the Bank of Nova Scotia says Canadians will spend $891 this holida... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:48:31 -0500There's a simple way to give, then there's the 'leveraged' donation tax shelter -- a scheme that can get you in trouble with the tax man, Jamie Golombek writes. Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:48:30 -0500Another subdued week for Canadian stocks ended on a slight sour note Friday, despite big gains from Research in Motion Ltd. After early gains vanished in late day trading, the S&P/TSX composite i... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:48:19 -0500Doug Silver felt he had to do something. In the mining royalty business, his company International Royalty Corp. (IRC) is much smaller than competitors Royal Gold Inc. and Franco-Nevada Corp., and th... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:48:15 -0500General Motors will wind down operations at its loss-making Swedish unit Saab after an attempt to sell it to small Dutch luxury carmaker Spyker Cars failed. Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:48:10 -0500Want to find a great long-term investment? Look for an annual report that treats you like a human being. Most don't. The standard-issue annual report features heroic photos of the CEO, staged snapsho... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:48:06 -0500The Ontario Securities Commission said Friday it will hold hearings next week to consider settlements with CIBC and CIBC World Markets and HSBC Bank Canada over their role in the sale of third-party .... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:48:01 -0500OTTAWA -- Canada's federal budget deficit grew by $3.3-billion in October, an improvement of sorts after four consecutive months of running shortfalls of at least $5-billion, data from the Department ... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:47:59 -0500The regulator for the telecommunications industry is once more weighing whether to permit a new cellphone firm to launch services or not. This time, Public Mobile Inc. has been called in front of... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:47:57 -0500WASHINGTON -- Major U.S. airlines have mounted a legal challenge to European Union regulations that would cap allowable jetliner emissions and force carriers to pay up for exceeding limits. The Air T... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:47:54 -0500Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, recipient of the world's biggest banking bailout, is contributing 10-pounds (US$16) a head toward employee Christmas parties this year, enough to buy two pints of lag... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:47:44 -0500Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Gordon Brown. Britain's public sector net borrowing hit its highest ever monthly level in November, taking total outstanding net debt to a record 60.2% of economic... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:47:41 -0500OTTAWA -- The value of Canada's wholesale trade rose less than expected in October, as declines in the food and beverages sector countered gains by auto-related sales. Sales edged up 0.3% to $41.... Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:47:39 -0500George Cope, chief executive, said on a conference call BCE will raise its dividend for the second time since August, this time by a better-than-expected 7% to $1.74 a share next year. Financial Post Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:47:36 -0500Orbital: Gravity Mode I’m a sucker for “casual games,” the sort of thing that runs in your browser or on your iPhone. Of course, the reason I play these instead of my old Xbox is bec... Wired News Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:42:40 -0500The subtle changes in stress caused by tides in Earth’s crust can trigger small, deep quakes along a seismically active portion of California’s San Andreas fault, a new analysis suggests. Wired News Fri, 25 Dec 2009 20:24:52 -0500Ellis Mnyandu | Reuters NEW YORK: Wall Street is likely to make a strong showing in the final week of 2009 as the bulls gear up to celebrate the first annual advance for US stocks in two years on hope... Arab News Fri, 25 Dec 2009 20:02:18 -0500Dec. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks advanced this week for the first time in three weeks, led by technology companies and commodity producers on optimism the global economic recovery is strengthening. Business Week Fri, 25 Dec 2009 19:12:01 -0500Dec. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks advanced this week for the first time in three weeks, led by technology companies and commodity producers on optimism the global economic recovery is strengthening. Business Week Fri, 25 Dec 2009 19:11:54 -0500SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean President Lee Myung-bak visits the United Arab Emirates on Saturday in a push to win one of the world's biggest nuclear power plant contracts. Reuters Fri, 25 Dec 2009 19:03:49 -0500WASHINGTON CROSSING, N.J. - George Washington brought along a tourist for his Christmas Day ride across the Delaware River this year, and technology manufacturer Lockheed Martin brought its checkbook... Star Tribune Fri, 25 Dec 2009 18:13:39 -0500WASHINGTON - Republican senators attacking the cost of a Democratic health care bill showed far different concerns six years ago, when they approved a major Medicare expansion that has added tens of ... Star Tribune Fri, 25 Dec 2009 16:54:32 -0500China raised its 2008 growth estimate to 9.6% from 9% and said this year's quarterly figures will increase, narrowing the gap with Japan, the world's second-biggest economy. Gross domestic produ... Times Of India Fri, 25 Dec 2009 16:03:21 -0500BEIJING: China has managed to extract greater concessions from the military rulers of Myanmar about a crude oil pipeline connecting the two countries. Myanmar has agreed to give the state-owned Chi... Times Of India Fri, 25 Dec 2009 16:03:19 -0500NEW YORK: The government has handed its ATM card to beleaguered mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Treasury Department said on Thursday that it has removed the $400 billion financia... Times Of India Fri, 25 Dec 2009 16:03:17 -0500PHILADELPHIA - The chief executive of organic supermarket chain Whole Foods Market Inc. is giving up his title of chairman, following years of petitioning by an activist shareholder to separate the t... Star Tribune Fri, 25 Dec 2009 15:35:55 -0500In this image released by Miraflores Press Office, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez waves to supporters in Acarigua, Venezuela, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. CBS News Fri, 25 Dec 2009 15:05:39 -0500 | 
Breaking Business News 
The Weather: