NEW YORK (AP) ― Exxon has once again surpassed Apple as the world’s most valuable company after the iPhone and iPad maker saw its stock price falter. Apple Inc.’s stock has been on the decline since the company’s quarterly earnings report Wednesday suggested that its fast growth phase, rare for a company of its size, may be coming to an end. Apple’s stock fell 2.4 percent to close Friday at $439.88 for a market capitalization of $413 billion. That followed a 12 percent drop on Thursday, the bigg

Jan. 27, 2013

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) ― The crisis mood is gone, but that doesn’t mean you can slip back into your old ways ― that’s the message from top international finance officials wrapping up the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. They warned governments Saturday against letting their relief over an improved economic climate turn into complacency over reforms many want to see in order to sustain a still-uncertain recovery. “Do not relax,” International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde urged

Jan. 27, 2013

Apple shares extended their losses Friday, ending a miserable week for the California tech giant as it surrendered its position as the world's biggest company based on market value.Apple ended down 2.36 percent at $439.88, giving it a market capitalization of $413 billion, while oil giant ExxonMobil rose 0.36 percent to $91.68 with a market cap of $418 billion to edge into first place.Apple first overtook ExxonMobil in August 2011 as the most valuable company in the world based on the value of i

Jan. 26, 2013

A sharp drop in Apple's stock pulled the Nasdaq down with it after the tech giant warned of weaker sales. Other stock-market indexes eked out slight gains.Apple sank $63.50 to $430.50. With iPhone sales hitting a plateau and no new products to introduce, Apple said sales would likely increase just 7 percent in the current quarter. That's a let-down for a company that has regularly posted growth rates above 50 percent.The Standard & Poor's 500 index edged up 0.01 of a point to 1,494.82. Earlier i

Jan. 25, 2013

The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid fell last week to the lowest level in five years, evidence that employers are cutting fewer jobs and may step up hiring.The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly unemployment benefit applications dropped 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 330,000. That's the fewest since January 2008.The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell to 351,750. That's also the lowest in nearly five years.The decline may reflect the government's difficulty adju

Jan. 25, 2013

TOKYO (AP) ― Japan’s trade deficit in 2012 rose to a record 6.93 trillion yen ($78.3 billion), as fuel imports surged and a bitter territorial dispute with China hammered its exports. The provisional figures reported by the Finance Ministry on Thursday showed the trade deficit narrowed, however, in December, to 641.5 billion yen ($7.25 billion) from the 954.8 billion yen shortfall in November. That’s despite a 5.8 percent drop in exports for the month. Recovering overseas demand has coincided wi

Jan. 24, 2013

DAVOS (AP) ― If there is one place bankers should be able to let down their guard a little, you would think it would be at the World Economic Forum in Davos, an exclusive gathering of 2,500 of the globe’s financial and corporate elite. Yet even here top banking executives found themselves on the defensive. It’s a reflection of how big banks ― blamed by some politicians and the public for the 2007 financial crisis and the resulting Great Recession ― are still grappling with pressure from recent s

Jan. 24, 2013

The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to suspend the U.S. debt ceiling until May, averting a potential default crisis and buying time for high-stakes budget negotiations.The bill, which must be approved by the Senate before being signed into law by President Barack Obama, temporarily has defused partisan tensions, as Democrats and Republicans struggle to reach a broader deal to rein in deficits and the federal debt.The Republican-introduced measure passed 285-144, with bipartisan support.

Jan. 24, 2013

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The White House said Tuesday that President Barack Obama would not block a Republican plan to extend government borrowing authority by three months but would prefer a longer term debt ceiling hike.Defusing a showdown with Obama, Republican House leaders are ready to permit the government to borrow more money to meet its obligations until May 18, despite earlier demands that debt ceiling hikes be matched by spending cuts.The move would effectively remove the debt ceiling questi

Jan. 23, 2013

BERLIN (AFP) ― France and Germany on Tuesday agreed to hammer out joint proposals for strengthening the crisis-battered eurozone as they marked 50 years since a treaty sealing their post-war reconciliation.Setting past tensions aside, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande put on a show of unity, even dropping past formalities and trumpeting their personal “chemistry.”At a joint news conference in the middle of a hectic agenda of pomp and ceremony marking the 1963

Jan. 23, 2013

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, who worked to get trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama through Congress, is leaving the Obama administration next month.Kirk, a former mayor of Dallas, announced his departure in a brief statement Tuesday. He had served as the administration's top trade negotiator through President Barack Obama's first term in office.Kirk also led the administration's effort to bring cases before the World Trade Organization that accused China of unfair trade

Jan. 23, 2013