Amazon.com Makes Up to Customers After Backup Hits UPS

Amazon.com Inc., the largest online retailer, offered customers $20 gift cards and refunds on shipping charges after an avalanche of orders caused United Parcel Service Inc. to miss delivery of some packages by Christmas.
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Secret Handshakes Greet Frat Brothers on Wall Street

Conor Hails, head of the University of Pennsylvania’s Sigma Chi chapter, was in a Philadelphia hotel ballroom last month for a Barclays Plc recruiting reception. A friend pointed out a banker from their fraternity. Hails, ...
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Ford F-150 Seen Borrowing Military Armor to Shield Profit

There are beer cans, and then there are Humvees. Ford Motor Co. will take pains to show its new, aluminum F-150 pickup has more in common with combat vehicles.
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British Airways 747’s Wing Slices Into Johannesburg Building

A British Airways jumbo jet carrying 202 passengers and crew sliced into an office building at Johannesburg’s main airport after following the wrong taxiway prior to takeoff for London, injuring four people on the ground.
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Kanye Vuitton Jibe Shows Even Rich Balk at Luxury Prices

Kim Kardashian might as well be naughty this Christmas, because even if she’s nice her fiancé is unlikely to shell out for a Louis Vuitton handbag.
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Russia Crisis Haunts Deutsche Bank’s Smith Seeing China Bust

China’s push to open up its economy is winning praise from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to Morgan Stanley and Jefferies Group LLC, which predicted last month a “massive” multiyear bull run for stocks.
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Apple Reaches Deal to Sell IPhones Through China Mobile

Apple Inc., ending six years of negotiations, struck a deal to sell the iPhone through China Mobile Ltd., giving both companies a means to fight declining share in the market of 1.2 billion wireless subscribers.
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Khodorkovsky Buries Putin Challenge at Berlin Cold War Relic

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former oil tycoon released after 10 years in Russian prisons, ruled out mounting a political challenge to President Vladimir Putin on his third day of freedom.
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Secret Currency Traders’ Club Devised Biggest Market’s Rates

It’s 20 minutes before 4 p.m. in London and currency traders’ screens are blinking red and green. Some dealers have as many as 50 chat rooms crowded onto four monitors arrayed in front of them like shields. Messages from ...
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Gold Climbs From Lowest Close Since 2010 as Goldman Sees Losses

Gold rose from the lowest close in more than three years to pare a weekly loss that was spurred by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to begin tapering stimulus. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said that bullion’s decline isn’t ...
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Facebook, Zuckerberg Plan to Sell $3.9 Billion of Shares

Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg is selling shares to help pay taxes, joining the company and board member Marc Andreessen in an offering worth about $3.9 billion.
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At 61 She Lives in Basement While 87-Year-Old Dad Travels

Eighty-seven-year-old Lew Manchester has just returned from a three-week trip touring Buddhist temples in Laos and cruising the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. His 61-year-old daughter Lee lives year-round in the basement of her ...
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Fed Trims QE Pace to $75 Billion on Labor Market Outlook

The Federal Reserve is trimming its monthly bond purchases to $75 billion from $85 billion, taking the first step toward unwinding the unprecedented stimulus that Chairman Ben S. Bernanke put in place to help the economy ...
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U.S. Stocks Rise to Record After Fed Plans Stimulus Cuts

U.S. stocks rose, sending benchmark indexes to all-time highs, after the Federal Reserve said it will reduce the pace of its monthly bond purchases and expressed confidence in the labor market recovery.
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Mom Can’t Visit Daughter as Airlines Shun Venezuela Cash

Gladys Varela is stuck in Venezuela this Christmas. After scanning travel agencies in Caracas for three months for a plane ticket to visit her daughter in Mexico, she found airlines want nothing to do with bolivars.
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U.S. Attorney Bharara Defends India Diplomat Strip-Search

The U.S. prosecutor who triggered an uproar with India over the arrest of diplomat Devyani Khobragade last week defended the charges and strip-search, saying she knowingly tried to evade U.S. law.
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Accidental Tax Break Saves Wealthiest Americans $100 Billion

Sheldon Adelson makes no secret of his disdain for the estate tax.
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Fed’s $4 Trillion in Assets Draw Lawmakers’ Scrutiny

The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet is poised to exceed $4 trillion, prompting warnings its record easing is inflating asset-price bubbles and drawing renewed lawmaker scrutiny just as Janet Yellen prepares to take charge.
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Indian Diplomat’s Strip-Search Triggers Fight With U.S.

India scaled back security outside the U.S. embassy in New Delhi and revoked transit privileges for American diplomats as a row deepened over the arrest and strip- search of a consular official in New York.
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Wind Power Rivals Coal With $1 Billion Order From Buffett

The decision by Warren Buffett’s utility company to order about $1 billion of wind turbines for projects in Iowa shows how a drop in equipment costs is making renewable energy more competitive with power from fossil fuels.
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Deportations Drop as Obama Pushes for New Immigration Law

The Obama administration has cut back on deporting undocumented immigrants, with forced departures on track to drop more than 10 percent, the first annual decline in more than a decade.
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North America to Drown in Oil as Mexico Ends Monopoly

The flood of North American crude oil is set to become a deluge as Mexico dismantles a 75-year-old barrier to foreign investment in its oil fields.
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Secret Inside BofA Office of CEO Stymied Needy Homeowners

Isabel Santamaria thought she finally caught a break in her effort to save her Florida home from foreclosure after nine frustrating months: She reached Bank of America Corp.’s Office of the CEO and President.
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TIPS Wipeout Signals Fed Losing Fight Against Disinflation

Bond investors are signaling they expect the Federal Reserve to lose its battle against disinflation, even after inundating the U.S. economy with more than $3 trillion in the past five years.
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Fed Taper Message Succeeds as Bonds Adjust to Economic Data

After misleading investors with a time line for tapering its unprecedented stimulus, the Federal Reserve now is stressing that any reduction in bond purchases will depend on the economic outlook -- and the message is sinking ...
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Antibacterial Hand Soaps Must Prove Germ-Killing Claims

Antibacterial hand washes would have to be proven safe and more healthy than plain soap to remain on store shelves under a U.S. proposal that could affect about half of the $900 million in liquid soaps sold each year.
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No One at Ford Is Laughing Anymore

Now tech design and software are the leading engines of economic growth, and a bumbling behemoth such as Microsoft can talk about taking Ford’s CEO without hearing gales of laughter ripple across the land.
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North Korean Officials Praise Leader Kim at Memorial After Purge

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un commanded pledges of loyalty from his party and military at a televised rally commemorating the death of his father, days after he executed his uncle and de facto deputy for treason.
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Gold Funds See Unprecedented 31% Slump With World Losing Faith

Investors are dumping gold-backed exchange-traded products at the fastest pace since the securities were created a decade ago, mirroring the steepest price drop in 32 years.
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Why Is Pope Francis Promoting Sin?

Pope Francis recently weighed in on the economics of inequality. As a professional in that field, I could respond by detailing his errors of fact and reasoning. Maybe some other time. For now, I think that if the pope can ...
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North Korea Executes Purged Uncle of Leader Kim Jong Un

North Korea said it executed leader Kim Jong Un’s uncle Jang Song Thaek after a military trial convicted him of trying to overthrow the regime, the most senior figure to be purged since Kim took power nearly two years ago.
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South Africa Mandela Event Translator Wasn’t a Professional

The sign-language translator who stood near President Barack Obama and other world leaders at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service wasn’t a professional interpreter and told South African news organizations he suffers from schizophrenia.
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World Led by U.S. Poised for Fastest Growth Since 2010

The world economy is primed for its fastest expansion in four years, with the U.S. propelling the improvement in output.
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VIX Trader Buys $5.1 Million in Calls to Bet on 50% Increase

An investor bought $5.12 million in call options that will be profitable if the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index jumps at least 50 percent in the next four months.
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Asiana Pilot Set Throttles He Didn’t Understand to Idle

Pilot error was involved in the Asiana Airlines Inc. crash that killed three passengers July 6 in San Francisco after a captain inadvertently disabled a speed- control system and the plane crashed into a seawall, documents ...
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Budget Deal to Ease Spending Cuts Gets Republican Backing

Congressional negotiators selling a budget accord won Republican endorsements for the plan to ease automatic U.S. spending cuts for two years, remove the risk of a government shutdown and cut the deficit by $23 billion.
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Mandela Event Sign Language Translator Accused of Being Fake

An interpreter used to communicate with hearing-impaired people at a memorial service held for Nelson Mandela yesterday was a “fake,” according to the Deaf Federation of South Africa.
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Volcker Says He Didn’t Help Write Rule Bearing His Name

Paul Volcker said he wasn’t involved with writing the final version of the rule that bears his name, staying abreast of developments from a distance as regulators crafted details of his curbs on trading by banks.
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Obama Needs to Fire Some People

When the Barack Obama administration realized that its HealthCare.gov website was fundamentally broken rather than merely glitchy, aides called former management consultant Jeff Zients to fix it.
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Boehner Lashes Out at Anti-Spending Groups Fighting Deal

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner lashed out at groups that ally with Republicans on spending cuts for mounting a campaign against a budget agreement.
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GM Chooses Barra as First Female CEO of Global Automaker

General Motors Co. named Mary Barra to succeed Dan Akerson as chief executive officer, completing the GM insider’s rise from a factory-floor worker to the industry’s first female CEO after more than a century of global automaking.
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Planes Parked in Weeds in Kabul After $486 Million Spent

Sixteen broken-down transport planes that cost U.S. taxpayers at least $486 million are languishing among the weeds, wooden cargo boxes and old tires at Kabul International Airport, waiting to be destroyed without ever being ...
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Volcker Rule Ushers in Era of Increased Oversight of Trades

Wall Street faces more intensive government scrutiny of trading after U.S. regulators issued what they billed as a strict Volcker rule today, imposing new curbs designed to prevent financial blowups while leaving many details ...
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Hidden Obamacare Website Costs Show Lack of Transparency

President Barack Obama’s health agency said it has spent $319 million building an online health- insurance marketplace through October.
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Wealthy Go Frugal This Holiday Amid Uneven U.S. Recovery

Last holiday season, literary agent Linda Chester bought herself a sheared sable fur coat and red evening gown, both from Ralph Rucci, and designer suede leggings. This season, the bicoastal fashion lover settled for costume ...
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Singapore Warns on Violence After Riot in Indian District

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has ordered an inquiry into Singapore’s first riot in four decades as tensions rise over the reliance on foreign workers in the city state.
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Singapore to Charge Rioters After Little India Violence

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong ordered an inquiry into Singapore’s first riot in more than four decades as tensions rise over the influx of foreign workers in the city state.
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Herbalife Turns Tables on Ackman Meeting Pershing Clients

Herbalife Ltd. is taking a page from Bill Ackman’s playbook.
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First China Default Seen as Record $427 Billion Debt Due

Chinese company debt twice the size of Ireland’s economy will come due in 2014, spurring concern the nation is on the cusp of its first corporate bond default.
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Russia Backs Off Ukraine Union After Lenin Statue Falls

Russia cast doubt that Ukraine may soon join its customs bloc, a plan that has sparked the ex- Soviet republic’s biggest protests in almost a decade and fueled calls for President Viktor Yanukovych to resign.
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Sysco to Acquire US Foods for $3.5 Billion

Sysco Corp. agreed to acquire closely held US Foods for $3.5 billion, adding brands from Cattleman’s meat to Devonshire desserts, in the largest food-distribution deal in eight years in North America. The shares jumped the ...
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Emerging Stocks Rise on China as Rupee, Natural Gas Gain

Emerging-market stocks rose the most in three weeks as better-than-estimated Chinese exports added to optimism the global economy is strengthening. Indian shares climbed to a record, and U.S. natural gas jumped on the season’s coldest weather.
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China Exports Rise More Than Estimated

China’s exports rose more than estimated in November, pushing the trade surplus to the highest in more than four years in a sign global demand is helping sustain a recovery in the world’s second-biggest economy.
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China Bans Financial Companies From Bitcoin Transactions

China’s central bank barred financial institutions from handling Bitcoin transactions, moving to regulate the virtual currency after an 89-fold jump in its value sparked a surge of investor interest in the country.
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Ford’s Sleeker Mustang With Smaller Engine Goes Global

Ford Motor Co., taking its 50-year old Mustang global for the first time, today unveiled a revamped muscle car boasting a sleeker look and optional smaller engine that will target the widest set of buyers ever.
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Angry Self-Insured Voters Dim Democratic Takeover Plans

To appreciate why U.S. Representative Scott Peters has twice broken with his Democratic colleagues and voted to roll back parts of Obamacare, it’s helpful to know that his San Diego-area district is teeming with voters who have reasons to be angry about the law.
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Hidden U-Haul Billionaire Emerges With Storage Empire

Mark V. Shoen had to endure his father’s suicide, a sister-in-law’s murder and an internecine battle on his way to becoming the largest shareholder of Amerco, the parent of truck rental company U-Haul, North America’s biggest moving and storage business.
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Ford Redesigns Camaro-Chasing Mustang for Global Buyers

Almost 50 years after Ford Motor Co.’s first Mustang introduced Americans to the fast and affordable pony car, the automaker is counting on a new design it unveils on four continents tomorrow to spur global sales.
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Greenspan Says Bitcoin a Bubble Without Intrinsic Currency Value

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Bitcoin prices are unsustainably high after surging 89-fold in a year and that the virtual money isn’t currency.
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Mercedes Rides $29,900 Coupe to Bigger U.S. Luxury Lead

Mercedes-Benz widened its U.S. luxury-vehicle lead over Bayerische Motoren Werke AG’s BMW in November as sales of the new entry-level CLA coupe contributed almost all of the Daimler AG unit’s gain.
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Detroit Retirees Put on Notice in Bankruptcy Ruling

Detroit, once the symbol of U.S. manufacturing muscle, was given the authority to try to pare billions in debt and slash employee pensions in a federal court ruling that may have implications for distressed cities across the U.S.
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Philippines’ Aquino Races the World’s Fastest Economies

Just after midnight one sultry Friday in August 1987, Manila became a battleground as rebel troops attempted a coup against Philippine President Corazon Aquino. Two blocks from the besieged presidential palace, insurgents opened fire on a car carrying Aquino’s only son, a bespectacled and soft-spoken 27-year-old junior insurance executive nicknamed Noynoy.
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Amazon Tests Drones for Same-Day Parcel Delivery, Bezos Says

Amazon.com Inc. is testing drones to deliver goods as the world’s largest e-commerce company works to improve efficiency and speed in getting products to consumers.
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Obamacare Website Sign-Ups Said to Reach 100,000 in Month

About 100,000 people signed up for health insurance through the online federal exchange last month, a roughly four-fold increase from October even as a team of U.S. government and contractor programmers was fixing the troubled Affordable Care Act website, said a person familiar with program’s progress.
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Amazon Rejected by U.S. High Court on New York Sales Tax

The U.S. Supreme Court stayed out of the multibillion-dollar fight over Internet sales taxes, leaving intact a New York law that forces Amazon.com Inc. to collect money from customers in that state.
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Black Friday Weekend Spending Drop Pressures U.S. Stores

The first spending decline on a Black Friday weekend since 2009 reinforced projections for a lackluster holiday, increasing chances retailers will extend the deep discounts already hurting their profit margins.
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Oman Oil Billionaire Building Moving Pools on Superyachts

From an office overlooking the Oceanco shipyard in Alblasserdam, the Netherlands, energy tycoon Mohammed al-Barwani watched workers putting the finishing touches on a yacht that’s longer than a football field.
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Anti-Government Protests Roil Thai Capital Bangkok as 3 Killed

Protesters seeking to oust Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra vowed to incite more unrest this week after clashes left three dead in Bangkok at the weekend and the central bank warned the standoff was hurting the economy.
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America’s Role as Consumer of Last Resort Goes Missing

Not long ago, before the financial crisis and the global recession it triggered, economists referred to Americans as the consumers of last resort. When the U.S. grew at a healthy pace, its citizens were buyers, fueling demand for the goods China and other nations produced. They kept the world economy humming.
Read more: Bloomberg news