News

Reuters - California and New York, two big holdout states in a $25 billion mortgage settlement, are expected to join the deal, smoothing the way for an announcement on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the matter.

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AP - The year of the dragon came in with a whimper instead of a roar as Chinese industry data show passenger car sales in the world's biggest auto market fell 24 percent from a year earlier.

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Reuters - Two Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday accused the regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from blocking the firms from reducing principal on the mortgages they back for reasons of "ideology."

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ContributorNetwork - Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett unveiled his second budget as the leader of the Keystone State this week, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. As expected by many, the 2012 budget closely resembled the 2011 budget featuring cuts in a number of key areas, but true to the governor's campaign promise of not raising taxes, as the report indicates.

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Reuters - Vodafone posted third-quarter results slightly below forecasts as increasingly tough trading in Spain and Italy overshadowed solid performances in emerging markets and northern Europe at the world's largest mobile operator.

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Reuters - Shares struggled but the euro recovered on Thursday, as markets were left without a clear direction after Greek political leaders failed again to conclude a deal for a bailout package, which Athens needs to avoid a messy debt default.

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Reuters - Trading in shares of Alibaba.com Ltd was halted on Thursday pending an announcement regarding its parent, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, which reportedly plans to buy back the 40 percent stake in it held by Yahoo Inc.

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AP - German automaker Daimler AG delivered forecast-busting fourth quarter earnings on Thursday as its flagship Mercedes business enjoyed buoyant sales in China and the United States.

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Reuters - Greek leaders failed on Thursday to agree on a reform and austerity program, the price of a financial bailout to avoid a messy default, forcing Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos to go to the country's financial backers with an incomplete deal.

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Reuters - Adding to the outcry against new rules for money-market funds, Fidelity Investments has warned regulators that more than half of its money-fund clients would move some or all of their assets out of the investments if the net asset value of the funds were allowed to fluctuate.

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Reuters - Groupon Inc shares slumped Wednesday as the daily deal company's first quarterly results since it went public stoked concern about limited disclosure and slowing growth.

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AP - Copper prices hit their highest level in five months Wednesday on expectations that demand may pick up after China announced a plan to stimulate private sector growth.

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AP - Greece failed to finalize terms for a crucial euro130 billion ($173 billion) bailout Thursday, but Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos headed to Brussels to meet top EU officials, hoping to rescue the agreement and stave off bankruptcy.

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