TOKYO (AFP) ― Energy-saving electric cars with advanced green technology vie for attention as the Tokyo Motor Show opens Wednesday, with robots and computers becoming ever more part of the vehicles on display.Companies are showcasing concept cars with “transformable” bodies and automotive computers linked to smart phones, while showing off energy-efficient vehicles with electric, fuel cell and hybrid engines.On display on Wednesday will be the compact, fuel-efficient cars with which Japanese car

Nov. 30, 2011

BUDAPEST (AP) ― Hungary’s central bank said Tuesday it was raising its main interest rate from 6 percent to 6.5 percent after Moody’s recently downgraded the country’s debt rating to junk status.The decision takes effect on Wednesday. The change is the first time the National Bank of Hungary has adjusted its base rate since Jan. 25, when it raised it by a quarter percentage point.Central bank President Andras Simor said the bank’s rate-setting Monetary Council voted unanimously for the hike, add

Nov. 30, 2011

BRUSSELS (AFP) -- Eurozone inflation hit 3.0 percent for the third month running in November, official data showed on Wednesday, but analysts expect the European Central Bank to slash its main rate due to the debt crisis.The ECB, the guardian of euro price stability, wants to keep inflation below 2.

Nov. 30, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) _ Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has lowered its credit ratings for many of the world's largest financial institutions, including the biggest banks in the U.S.Bank of America Corp. and its main subsidiaries are among the institutions whose ratings fell at least one notch Tuesday, a

Nov. 30, 2011

Facebook Inc. is considering raising about $10 billion in an initial public offering that would value the world’s largest social-networking site at more than $100 billion, a person with knowledge of the matter said. The company may file for the IPO before the end of the year, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private. Exact timing for the filing hasn’t been determined, the person said. Facebook’s $100 billion valuation would be twice as high as it was

Nov. 29, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) ― Shoppers seem to be just as enthusiastic about shopping on their computers and smartphones on Cyber Monday as they were about finding deals over the weekend.Online sales on Cyber Monday, which was started in 2005 by a retail trade group to encourage Americans to shop online on the Monday after Thanksgiving, were up mid-afternoon by 15 percent from a year ago, according to data from IBM Benchmark. Meanwhile, sales from mobile devices were up 7.4 percent. The group did not give dol

Nov. 29, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Fitch said Monday that it will keep its rating for long-term U.S. debt at the top AAA level, despite a congressional panel's failure to agree on long-term deficit cuts. But it is lowering its outlook to negative.The rating agency said it has less confidence in the federal governmen

Nov. 29, 2011

U.S. retail sales during Thanksgiving weekend climbed 16 percent to a record as shoppers flocked to stores earlier and spent more, according to the National Retail Federation. Sales totaled $52.4 billion, and the average shopper spent $398.62 during the holiday weekend, up from $365.34 a year earlier, the Washington-based trade group said in a statement Sunday, citing a survey conducted by BIGresearch. More than a third of that ― an average of $150.53 ― was spent online. “Consumers are clearly d

Nov. 28, 2011

Standard and Poor’s said Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s administration hasn’t made progress in tackling the public debt burden, an indication it may be preparing to lower the nation’s sovereign grade. “Japan’s finances are getting worse and worse every day, every second,” Takahira Ogawa, Singapore-based director of sovereign ratings at S&P, said in an interview Thursday. Asked if this means he’s closer to cutting Japan, he said it “may be right in saying that we’re closer to a downgrad

Nov. 24, 2011

DUBAI (AFP) -- Two years after its debt crisis rocked global markets, Dubai has emerged as a safe haven in a troubled region, reaping the benefits of building strong service and tourism sectors.But the Gulf emirate, which has so far succeeded in restructuring its mountain of debt, could face tougher conditions if it seeks refinancing in a sickly international market, while a global drop in demand could harm its core sector, analysts say.Before the global financial crisis struck in 2008, drying u

Nov. 24, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) ― Retailers awaiting the arrival of Black Friday are on the edge. How well they do during the biggest shopping season of the year will have lasting consequences not just on them, but the still-fragile economic recovery.This weekend, many stores will for the first time use midnight openings along with the usual bevy of deals as they try to lure consumers, whose appetite for good-buys has been increasing since the Great Recession.Economists and business executives will be watching cl

Nov. 24, 2011

BRUSSELS (AP) ― The European Commission backed the introduction of jointly issued eurobonds, coupled with stricter budgetary discipline, as the best way out of a debt crisis that’s threatening the 17-country eurozone.EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Wednesday that the countries using the euro currency needed to work more closely together to dovetail their budgetary policies and avoid having one nation endanger all others by not living by its financial commitments. The crisis, whi

Nov. 24, 2011