News and Finance

Police arrested another employee of Societe Generale on Wednesday as they probe the world’s biggest rogue trading scandal, Paris prosecutors said.
In January, France’s second-biggest listed bank SocGen unveiled 4.9 billion euros ($7.53 billion) of losses which it blamed on rogue deals carried out by Jerome Kerviel, a 31-year old junior trader at the bank.
The […]

Confidence in the economy dropped to a new low as worries about a possible recession, persistent problems in the housing and credit markets and lofty energy prices put people in a more gloomy mind-set.
According to the RBC Cash Index, confidence sank to a mark of 33.1 in early March, down from 48.5 in February. […]

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel may call on Thursday for further restrictions on the use of anemia drugs in cancer patients, leading some investors to expect lower sales for Amgen Inc’s (AMGN.O: Quote, Profile, Research) top-selling Aranesp.
Amgen shares have fallen about 20 percent since early December, largely over the risk […]

China is fast losing its manufacturing competitiveness in some industries, and companies need to upgrade their operations there to stay profitable, according to a survey released Tuesday.
The study comes amid reports that thousands of manufacturers, both Chinese and foreign, are shifting operations away from coastal regions, where labor and other costs are […]

United Technologies Corp. said Sunday it has made an offer to buy Diebold Inc. for $2.63 billion.
United Technologies (UTX, Fortune 500), parent company of jet engine-maker Pratt & Whitney, Otis elevator and Sikorsky Aircraft, said it made the unsolicited offer to Diebold (DBD) on Friday after trying to negotiate a deal for two years.
Diebold, […]

Japan's wages rose at the fastest pace in 19 months in January, a boost to consumers at a time when the economy's export-led expansion is set to slow.
Monthly wages, including overtime and bonuses, climbed 1 percent from a year earlier, the most since June 2006, the Labor Ministry said in Tokyo today. […]

For owners of small businesses with low, little or no credit, Justine Petersen Housing & Reinvestment Corp. is their last hope.
Clients of the St. Louis nonprofit are entrepreneurs with a conundrum: They’re desperate for small loans to start their companies, buy equipment or pay business bills. Yet banks won’t lend to them. And […]

American International Group (AIG.N: Quote, Profile, Research), on the heels of reporting its largest-ever loss, said on Friday the subprime crisis had thrown it into “uncharted waters” that were likely to remain choppy through 2008.
The world’s largest insurer recorded a loss of $5.3 billion on Thursday, stemming from a $11.12 billion write-down of a […]