Facebook Profit Drops as Spending Rises on New Features

Facebook Inc. reported a plunge in fourth-quarter profit on higher spending, even while it made long-awaited progress luring advertisers eager to reach mobile- device users.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Growth Stall Obscures U.S. Consumer, Business Gains: Economy

The economy in the U.S. unexpectedly came to a standstill in the fourth quarter as the biggest plunge in defense spending in 40 years swamped gains for consumers and businesses.
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Israel Jet Strike in Syria Said to Hit Arms for Hezbollah

Israeli jets hit Syrian trucks carrying anti-aircraft missiles for the Islamic militant group Hezbollah across the border into Lebanon, according to a Western official who asked not to be named citing regulations.
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Spending Cuts Including to Defense Seen to Start in March

As the U.S. gross domestic product takes a hit from lower defense budgets, federal spending cuts viewed as unthinkable a few months ago -- $1.2 trillion falling heavily on the Pentagon -- are seen as likely starting March 1.
Read more: Bloomberg news

BlackBerry Shares Fall After Launch Underwhelms Investors

BlackBerry shares tumbled 12 percent after the company’s long-awaited BlackBerry 10 debut, signaling that investors are skeptical the new models can win back customers from Apple Inc. and Google Inc.’s Android.
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NBA Union Chief Hunter Fires Family After Nepotism Report

Billy Hunter purged family members from roles in the National Basketball Association players union that he runs after a report that criticized nepotism at the organization.
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Bernanke Seen Buying $1.14 Trillion in Assets in 2014

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s latest round of bond buying will reach $1.14 trillion before he ends the program in the first quarter of 2014, according to median estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
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Cleanliness Meets Godliness as Russia Reeled Into Cyprus

When the leader of the Orthodox Church in Cyprus requested financial assistance for the ailing country last week, he turned east, not west.
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Boeing Probe Seeks Data on Battery Failures Before Fire

U.S. investigators probing battery faults aboard a Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner are asking for data on the performance of the devices after All Nippon Airways Co. said it had replaced 10 of the systems on its planes.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Dutch Queen to Abdicate After 33 Years in Favor of Son

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands will abdicate this year and be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, who will become the country’s first king in more than a century.
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Spain Budget Goal Relaxation Signaled Possible by Rehn

European Union budget enforcer Olli Rehn signaled he might seek to ease Spain’s targets for cutting its budget deficit in a retreat from the demands that helped drive the economy into recession.
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Yahoo Tops Estimates as CEO Outlines Growth Plan

Yahoo! Inc. reported fourth-quarter revenue that topped analysts’ estimates and increased annual sales for the first time since 2008 as the largest U.S. Web portal benefited from buoyant demand for online search.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Dubai Suitcases of Cash Circumvent Loan Rules: Mortgages

Dubai real estate agent Laura Adams remembers the Iranian homebuyer because of how he wanted to pay.
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Nazi Goebbels’ Step-Grandchildren Are Hidden Billionaires

In the spring of 1945, Harald Quandt, a 23-year-old officer in the German Luftwaffe, was being held as a prisoner of war by Allied forces in the Libyan port city of Benghazi when he received a farewell letter from his mother, Magda Goebbels -- the wife of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.
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U.S. Stock Futures Gain on Durable Goods; Yen Strenthen

U.S. stock-index futures rose as orders for durable goods climbed more than forecast and Caterpillar Inc.’s profit beat estimates. Treasuries fell, the yen strengthened and the pound weakened.
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Hedge Funds Boost Bullish Bets by Most Since July: Commodities

Hedge funds increased bullish commodity bets by the most in six months as accelerating growth from China to the U.S. boosted prices for a seventh week.
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Israeli Troops Swap Guns for Computers as Cyber Attacks Rise

At an army base outside Tel Aviv, soldiers sit in front of screens glued to scrolling colored computer code, keyboards at the ready to deflect attacks.
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Deadliest Brazil Fire in Half Century Leaves 236 Dead

The families of hundreds of young party-goers killed in a nightclub fire yesterday are holding funeral services as authorities step up an investigation into the nation’s deadliest blaze in half a century.
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Assault Weapons Ban Lacks Democratic Votes to Pass Senate

A proposed ban on sales of assault weapons would be defeated in the U.S. Senate unless some lawmakers changed their current views, based on a Bloomberg review of recent lawmaker statements and interviews.
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Fed Pushes Into ‘Uncharted Territory’ With Record Assets

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s unprecedented bond buying pushed the Fed’s balance sheet to a record $3 trillion as he shows no sign of softening his effort to bring down 7.8 percent unemployment.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Apple Growth Slowdown Fuels Concern of Value-Stock Shift

Apple Inc., after years of hyper growth that made it the world’s most valuable company, is starting to look more like a value stock, according to some analysts reacting to the iPhone maker’s financial results.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Microsoft’s Windows Bolsters Sales in Challenging Market

Microsoft Corp. reported lower profit on higher revenue, after the world’s largest software maker spent more money to market its Windows operating system and lure consumers flocking to tablets and smartphones.
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Samsung Drops on $2.8 Billion Won Profit-Cut Prediction

Samsung Electronics Co. fell to a two-month low in Seoul trading after forecasting a slowdown in smartphone demand and predicting that a stronger currency may cut operating profit by 3 trillion won ($2.8 billion) this year.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Apple Sales Gain Slowest Since ’09 as Competition Climbs

Apple Inc. plunged in European trading after posting the slowest profit growth since 2003 and the weakest sales increase in 14 quarters, as higher costs and rising competition made it harder to sustain revenue expansion.
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Boeing 787 to Stay Grounded as U.S. Can’t Explain Fires

The top two U.S. aviation regulators said they don’t know what led to battery flaws that prompted them to ground Boeing Co.’s 787, and defended their decision to not let the plane fly until the cause is found.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Apple Trailing China’s Coolpad Shows Need for Cheap IPhone: Tech

Apple Inc. is being outsold in China, the world’s largest handset market, by a company less than 1 percent its size, highlighting how the lack of low-cost products limits the iPhone-maker in emerging nations.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Apple May Face First Profit Drop in Decade as IPhone Slows: Tech

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook is feeling the heat.
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Billionaires From Ambani to Soros Examine Europe in Davos

Billionaire Nicolas Berggruen wants to talk about economic and political governance at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland this week. If only the more than 2,500 business and political leaders attending would put down their BlackBerrys.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Existing Home Sales Decline as U.S. Supply Dwindles: Economy

Sales of U.S. existing homes unexpectedly fell in December as supply shrank, underscoring the hurdles for an industry seeking to strengthen its recovery even as it completed its best year since 2007.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Rolexes Pawned in Macau Signal Further Gains for Casinos

Across the way from casino mogul Stanley Ho’s Grand Lisboa in Macau, flashing neon lights lure cash-strapped gamblers to pawn their Rolexes and other trinkets and take another tilt at the gaming tables.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Atari’s U.S. Operations File for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Atari SA’s U.S.-based video-game- making businesses filed for bankruptcy protection in Manhattan with the intention of separating from the unprofitable French parent and seeking independent funding.
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BMW-Mercedes Hatchbacks Head for India After China Flop

Hatchbacks from BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi grew so popular in Europe that the luxury carmakers bet Chinese consumers would feel the same way. They didn’t. Next stop: India.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Singapore In-Laws Rage as Women Spurn Lee’s Babies Plea

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is cranking up a national debate on babies this month, with proposals to Parliament that would attempt to stem the country’s slumping birthrate. Penelope Sim isn’t listening.
Read more: Bloomberg news

GS Yuasa Searched After Boeing 787s Are Grounded

Japan’s transport ministry said it will conduct a second probe of GS Yuasa Corp.’s headquarters in Kyoto and add a U.K. supplier to an investigation into faults that have grounded Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner fleet.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Yen Gains as BOJ Meets; Stocks Fluctuate, Oil Declines

The yen rebounded from its lowest level since June 2010 against the dollar as the Bank of Japan began a two-day policy meeting. European stocks were little changed as finance chiefs gathered for the first time this year.
Read more: Bloomberg news

European Airports Limit Region’s Flights as Snow Spreads

European airports from London to Frankfurt suspended hundreds of flights and worked to overcome bottlenecks from weekend cancellations as snow and ice swept across the continent and disrupted travel for a second week.
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Spain Recession Scars Exposed as Jobless Seen at 6 Mln

Spain’s scars from the slump that overshadowed Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s first year in office will emerge this week as data show the toll on economic output that may have kept as many as 6 million people out of work.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Netanyahu Gets Landslide in Markets Masking No Peace Process

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s electoral opponents say he has presided over a deterioration of the Palestinian peace process, heightened tension with Iran, Egypt and Turkey and rising living costs.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Algeria Gas Plant Seizure Ends as Militants, Hostages Die

The Algerian government said 23 hostages and 32 terrorists died in the four-day standoff that ended yesterday at a natural-gas plant, even as it warned that the death toll could rise.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Acid Attack on Bolshoi Director Adds to Porn, Pimping Claims

The backstage battles at Moscow’s fabled Bolshoi ballet have included leaked, hacked emails, pornographic photographs (also leaked), controversial firings and hirings.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Obama Picks Ultimatums Over Optimism to Start Second Term

When Barack Obama held his first prime-time news conference as president, the financial crisis was at its peak and not a single Republican had voted for his economic stimulus bill. So he pleaded for their partnership.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Naked-Image Scanners to Be Removed From U.S. Airports

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration will remove airport body scanners that privacy advocates likened to strip searches after OSI Systems Inc. couldn’t write software to make passenger images less revealing.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Algeria Hostage Death Count Trickles in as Hunt Goes on

An accounting of deaths in the hostage crisis at a remote natural gas facility is trickling out of Algeria, where security forces have been combing through the large complex seeking al-Qaeda-linked militants and about 30 foreigners whose fate is unknown.
Read more: Bloomberg news

House Republicans Plan Three-Month Debt-Limit Increase

House Republicans revised their strategy for the coming months’ fiscal debate with Democrats, saying they’ll agree to a three-month debt-limit increase without demanding spending cuts as part of the deal.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Bill Gates-Led Group Invests $1 Billion in Orascom Construction

Bill Gates is leading a group of U.S. investors committing $1 billion for a stake in construction and fertilizer company OCI NV in one of Egypt’s largest foreign currency inflows since the 2011 uprising.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Billionaires ‘Nobody Knows’ Uncovered With Public Wealth

Not long after Juan Gallardo Thurlow took over PepsiCo Inc.’s Mexican bottling and distribution operations in 2011, the shares of his soft-drinks company, Organizacion Cultiba SAB, reached 28 pesos per share -- making him a billionaire.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Naked-Image Scanners to Be Removed From U.S. Airports

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration will remove airport body scanners that privacy advocates likened to strip searches after OSI Systems Inc. couldn’t write software to make passenger images less revealing.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Morgan Stanley Shares Climb as Brokerage Profit Doubles

Morgan Stanley, owner of the world’s biggest brokerage, rose the most in seven months after earnings from that business more than doubled and the firm reached profit-margin targets six months ahead of schedule.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Algeria Says 30 Hostages Still Missing in Gas Plant Siege

Algerian authorities said about 30 foreigners held hostage by al-Qaeda-linked militants in the southeastern desert are still missing after a rescue attempt by the army.
Read more: Bloomberg news

GE Tops Estimates as Industrial Backlog Reaches Record

General Electric Co. reported higher fourth-quarter profit than analysts estimated as across-the- board growth in industrial businesses surpassed gains in finance.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Bill Gates-Led Group Invests $1 Billion in Orascom Construction

Bill Gates is leading a group of U.S. investors committing $1 billion for a stake in construction and fertilizer company OCI NV in one of Egypt’s largest foreign currency inflows since the 2011.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Iron Man Joins China’s TCL to Challenge Apple Smartphones

To take on Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. in the global smartphone market, China’s TCL Corp. is enlisting a strong ally: Iron Man.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Boeing 787 Fleet Grounded by U.S. in First Since 1979

U.S. regulators grounded Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner after an emergency landing by one of the planes in Japan, pulling an entire airplane model out of service for the first time in 34 years.
Read more: Bloomberg news

ANA and JAL Ground Boeing 787 Fleets After Emergency

Boeing Co.’s 787, already the focus of a special U.S. safety review, faces fresh scrutiny after Japanese airlines grounded almost half the world’s Dreamliner fleet for at least two days following an emergency landing.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Americans Among Hostages Held by Terrorists in Algeria

An al-Qaeda-linked group demanding that France end its offensive against militants in neighboring Mali vowed to kill foreign workers held captive in the southern Algerian desert unless troops surrounding them pulled back.
Read more: Bloomberg news

China’s Li Calls for Patience as Government Works to Reduce Smog

Li Keqiang, set to become China’s next premier, called for the nation’s citizens to have patience as authorities work to reduce pollution in the world’s second- biggest economy.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Dell Said to Be in Buyout Talks With Private-Equity Firms

Dell Inc., the personal-computer maker that lost almost a third of its value last year, is in buyout talks with private-equity firms, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The shares surged.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Apple Drops to 11-Month Low on Reports of IPhone Cutbacks

Apple Inc. declined to the lowest price in 11 months after the Nikkei newswire reported that production of the iPhone was cut on weak demand.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Morgan Stanley Said to Pare Asia Investment Bank Jobs by 15%

Morgan Stanley plans to trim about 15 percent of its investment banking positions in Asia as it starts a round of job cuts this week, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Euro Leaders Declaring Worst Is Over Turn to Economy Woes

European leaders declaring they’ve gained the upper hand in the three-year-old debt crisis are sharpening efforts to channel a rebound in financial markets to an economic recovery to chip away at soaring unemployment.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Brazilian Bikini Waxes Make Crab Lice Endangered Species

Pubic lice, the crab-shaped insects that have dwelled in human groins since the beginning of history, are disappearing. Doctors say bikini waxing may be the reason.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Yen Touches Lowest Since 2010 Amid Bets on BOJ Easing

The yen fell to the weakest level versus the dollar since June 2010 on bets Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will select a central bank chief who will expand monetary easing, accelerating the currency’s decline.
Read more: Bloomberg news

CapitaLand Leads Property Stocks Lower on Housing Curbs

CapitaLand Ltd., Southeast Asia’s biggest developer, led declines in Singapore property stocks after the government rolled out more measures to curb speculation on residential and industrial properties.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Sharapova Serves Sweet Ace With 120% Return on Sugarpova

French Open champion Maria Sharapova is turning her sweet tooth into a profitable business.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Bondholders in Crosshairs as Merkel Travels to Cyprus

Bondholders are in the crosshairs as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her European allies gather in Cyprus amid talks over a bailout that may be as big as the nation’s entire economy.
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Delhi Rape Victims Are to Blame, Defendants’ Lawyer Says

The lawyer representing three of the men charged with the gang rape and murder of a medical student aboard a moving bus in New Delhi has blamed the victims for the assault, saying he has never heard of a “respected lady” being raped in India.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Obama Said to Name Lew to Replace Geithner at Treasury

President Barack Obama plans to name White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew tomorrow as his choice for Treasury secretary, replacing Timothy F. Geithner, a person familiar with the process said.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Obama’s 81% New York City Support is Best in 114 Years

President Barack Obama won more support from New York City in November’s election than any White House candidate in more than 100 years, according to a final tally of votes.
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Biden Vows Action on Guns as Wal-Mart Set to Join NRA in Talks

The Obama administration and its allies are intensifying the push to curb gun violence, promising to impose new restrictions and invest millions of dollars in combating the power of the National Rifle Association.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Blackstone Rushes $2.5 Billion Purchase as Homes Rise

Blackstone Group LP, the largest U.S. private real estate owner, accelerated purchases of single- family homes as prices jumped faster than it expected.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Japan Air Aborts Boeing 787 Flight as Leak Follows Fire

Boeing Co. suffered another image setback for its 787 plane after a fuel leak on a Japan Airlines Co.-operated Dreamliner at Boston delayed a flight to Tokyo, a day after a fire broke out on another plane at the same airport.
Read more: Bloomberg news

China-Japan Dispute Takes Rising Toll on Top Asian Economies

The last time a dispute between Japan and China blew up in 2010 over eight uninhabited islands, the economic fallout lasted less than a month. This time, the spat is prolonging a recession in the world’s third-largest economy.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Bill Ackman Says Just Getting Started Exposing Herbalife

Bill Ackman’s quest to expose Herbalife Ltd. started with a tip from a friend. The call came from a reporter turned stock researcher, who had penned a book about the hedge fund manager’s last big short and was now telling him that Herbalife smelled like a pyramid scheme.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Samsung Profit Beats Estimates as Galaxy Fends Off IPhone 5

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest maker of mobile phones and TVs, reported higher-than- expected fourth-quarter earnings as sales of Galaxy smartphones withstood the debut of Apple Inc.’s iPhone 5.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Banks Win 4-Year Delay as Basel Liquidity Rule Loosened

Global central bank chiefs gave lenders four more years to meet international liquidity requirements and watered down the measures in a bid to stave off another credit crunch.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Stocks Fall as Yen Gains; Banks Climb on Basel Rules

Stocks in Europe fell from a 22- month high and the yen rebounded from a 2 1/2-year low against the dollar. Banks rose as regulators watered down liquidity rules while Italian bonds retreated.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Draghi Seeks Extended Calm in 2013 on Fading Euro Economy

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will turn his attention to nursing the euro region back to economic health this week as the urgency to deploy emergency crisis measures recedes after three years.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Tory Burch Becomes Billionaire as Ex-Husband Sells Stake

Chris Burch, the former husband of fashion designer Tory Burch, sold about half of his 28.3 percent stake in New York-based retailer Tory Burch LLC Dec. 31, settling a year-old legal dispute between the couple, according to two people familiar with the transaction.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Chinese Tourists Lost in Thailand Mean Record Hotel Stays

“Lost in Thailand,” a low-budget Chinese comedy about the travels of two rival businessmen and a pancake-maker through Thailand, may help the Southeast Asian nation attract a record number of tourists this year.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Geithner Said to Plan Departure Before Debt Ceiling Deal

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner finds himself in a familiar position: eager to resume life outside government and facing contentious negotiations with Congress over raising the federal debt ceiling.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Budget Deal Seals Breaks for Wind Farms, Puerto Rico Rum

Wind farms, motorsports tracks, global banks and other businesses won revived tax breaks in a $75.3 billion package included in a last-minute budget deal passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama yesterday.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Bipartisan House Backs Tax Deal Vote as Next Fight Looms

The fiscal bill passed by Congress solves an immediate dilemma, averting income-tax increases for most Americans while taxing top-earners more, yet leaves unanswered a longer-term question of taming the federal debt.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Budget Crusader Ryan Stays Silent in Fiscal Showdown With Obama

As many U.S. House Republicans abandoned longstanding anti-tax and spending principles to back a bill designed to head off an economic crisis, one voice was virtually silent: Paul Ryan, the 2012 vice presidential nominee.
Read more: Bloomberg news

China Poised for 2013 Rebound as Debt Risks Rise for Xi

Incoming President Xi Jinping may find China’s investment-driven economic recovery in the Year of the Snake jeopardized by mounting risks in the finance industry.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Latvian Austerity Fervor Outstrips IMF After Loan Payback

Latvia has cut spending so much that even the International Monetary Fund says it’s gone too far. Now the Baltic nation has paid off its 2008 bailout loan before any other nation, depriving the lender of any say-so over its policies.
Read more: Bloomberg news

European Stocks Rise, Dollar Drops on U.S. Budget Bill

European stocks, U.S. equity futures and commodities gained after lawmakers passed a bill averting spending cuts and tax gains threatening a recovery in the world’s biggest economy. The dollar weakened as yields on Treasury 10-year notes rose the most since October.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Senate-Passed Deal Means Higher Tax on 77% of Households

The budget deal passed by the U.S. Senate today would raise taxes on 77.1 percent of U.S. households, mostly because of the expiration of a payroll tax cut, according to preliminary estimates from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center in Washington.
Read more: Bloomberg news

House Republicans Drop Bid to Add Spending Cuts to Budget

The House is poised to vote tonight on a bill to avert tax increases for most U.S. workers after Republicans abandoned their effort to attach spending cuts that would have been rejected by the Senate.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Congress Budget Pact Would Crimp Not Crush U.S. Growth

The U.S. economic expansion probably will be crimped without being halted by the budget deal that won approval by the House of Representatives last night after being forged by the Senate and White House.
Read more: Bloomberg news

House Republicans to Seek Spending Cuts in Budget Bill

U.S. House Republicans oppose the Senate’s budget bill and will seek to insert spending cuts, jeopardizing a bipartisan effort to undo $600 billion in automatic tax increases and spending cuts that take effect starting today.
Read more: Bloomberg news

House Planning No Budget Vote Means Tax Increases Start

The U.S. House of Representatives doesn’t plan any votes on the federal budget tonight, meaning that Congress for now will fail to avert $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts set to start at midnight.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Clinton’s Blood Clot Is Between Brain and Skull

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has a blood clot in a vein that runs between her brain and her skull, her doctors said, complicating health problems that have kept the top U.S. diplomat out of public view for more than three weeks.
Read more: Bloomberg news

Chavez Resting After New Setback in Battle Against Cancer

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s family said the ailing leader spent a day resting following a new setback in his battle against cancer, dismissing speculation on social media that he’d passed away in a Cuban hospital.
Read more: Bloomberg news