Roberto Murga, a construction manager from Barcelona, loved his platinum gray Porsche Cayenne until the debt crisis made the sport-utility vehicle’s leather interior and electronic seats expendable. The 66,370-euro ($88,800) status symbol is now unnecessary ballast for Murga, 33, who like other Spaniards has been forced to cut spending because of the country’s weakening economy. Car demand, which has halved since peaking in 2007, probably won’t recover this decade, analysts predict. “I can’t spl

Dec. 13, 2011

SYDNEY (AFP) ― Australian miners Aston Resources and Whitehaven Coal announced they will merge to form the nation’s largest listed independent coal company, worth AU$5.10 billion ($5.18 billion).Under the deal, valued at AU$3 billion, Aston shareholders will receive 1.89 Whitehaven shares per Aston share, and majority owner Tinkler Group said it intended to vote in favour of the merger.Billionaire mining magnate and Aston chairman Nathan Tinkler recommended shareholders approve the deal, which h

Dec. 12, 2011

SYDNEY (AFP) -- Qantas chief Alan Joyce Monday said he was pushing ahead with plans for a joint-venture premium airline in Asia while insisting damage to the brand from grounding the fleet was only “temporary.”Uncertainty over global economic conditions and volatile fuel prices have sparked reports that the airline was ready to shelve plans for an Asian carrier as part of its strategy to refocus on the fast-growing region.But Joyce said talks were ongoing, with Kuala Lumpur or Singapore seen as

Dec. 12, 2011

Toyota Motor Corp. was already counting on the revamped Camry to spark a U.S. sales rally. The carmaker’s flagship model is now under additional pressure as a stronger currency and Thailand’s floods cut into profit. The company reduced its earnings forecast last week by more than 50 percent for the year ending in March, blaming a slump in production after Thailand’s worst floods in almost 70 years. The 2012 Camry was released in October with a goal of boosting sales hurt by Japan’s earthquake an

Dec. 12, 2011

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Standard & Poor’s on Friday warned a swathe of European insurers that they could face a credit downgrade as a result of the continent’s fiscal crisis.Allianz, Aviva, Axa, Generali and Mapfre were among 15 firms warned by the U.S.-based ratings agency.S&P said the “creditwatch” was related to an earlier warning on the ratings of 15 of the 17 countries of the eurozone.S&P’s warning on Monday threatened a one-notch cut to the hallowed “AAA” ratings of Germany, the Netherlands, Fi

Dec. 11, 2011

BRUSSELS (AP) ― Leaders of 23 European countries desperate to save the continent’s shared currency agreed in all-night talks Friday to surrender some sovereignty in a new treaty ― but failed to get all 27 European Union members to join in.The split between those in the new treaty and those outside rattles the foundations of a union created to foster peace and prosperity across a bloodied Europe after World War II. The EU has struggled to unite to stem a 2-year-old spiral of debt that started in

Dec. 9, 2011

Warren Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings utility agreed to buy the $2 billion Topaz project in southern California, branching into solar power after the industry was battered by stock markets around the world.The Topaz Solar Farm will be one of the world’s largest photovoltaic power plants and is being developed by the seller, First Solar Inc. of Tempe, Arizona, according to a joint statement Wednesdday. Terms weren’t disclosed. The project’s 550- megawatt capacity is equal to about half a n

Dec. 8, 2011

Foreign firms, employees under tough pressure from pension, tax changesBEIJING (AP) ― Foreign companies that are looking to China to shore up wilting global sales have been hit by higher payroll taxes, surcharges to subsidize unions and other changes that are making conditions tougher just as economic growth slows. The biggest worry for many is an abrupt order for foreign workers and their employers to start paying up to 40 percent of their wages for pensions and other welfare. Automakers face a

Dec. 8, 2011

Most global investors predict China will face a banking crisis within the next five years, paring their appetite for the nation’s shares and eroding confidence in its leadership, a Bloomberg Global Poll indicated. Sixty-one percent of respondents said they anticipate a crash in the financial industry by late 2016, and only 10 percent were confident China’s banks will escape trouble, according to the quarterly poll of 1,097 investors, analysts and traders who are Bloomberg subscribers conducted D

Dec. 8, 2011

China sees an increase in domestic costs and a slowdown in overseas demand putting “severe” pressure on its exports next year, a sign that policy makers may have little appetite to allow faster gains in the yuan. Premier Wen Jiabao’s embrace of higher wages, along with a jump in land and raw-materials prices and a stronger yuan are restraining shipments, the Commerce Ministry said Wednesday. While the nation can achieve export gains as long as Europe’s crisis doesn’t deepen, it will need to focu

Dec. 7, 2011

E-book publishers owned by Lagardere, Pearson Plc, News Corp.and two other firms  under investigationBRUSSELS (AP) ― The European Union’s antitrust watchdog is probing whether Apple helped five major publishing houses illegally raise prices for e-books when it launched its iPad tablet and iBookstore in 2010.The probe, announced Tuesday by the European Commission, offers a glimpse into the fierce fight for share of the growing e-book market as Apple tries to take on Amazon and its Kindle e-book r

Dec. 7, 2011