NEW YORK (AFP) ― The oil price plunge will force energy companies to slash capital spending in North America, Europe and Asia in 2015, investment bank Evercore IS said Tuesday.But investment will continue to rise in Africa and the Middle East as producers in those areas seek to boost long-term output in the flooded global oil market.Evercore estimated that oil companies would cut spending on exploration and production globally this year by 10-15 percent, and by 25-30 percent in North America.“To

Jan. 7, 2015

PARIS (AFP) ― A government which refuses to pay its debts, bank runs and investors fleeing: that is what a Greek exit from the euro, or a “Grexit,” would look like according to economists, although most still believe it is unlikely.Europe has seen this drama played out several times since Greece’s first bailout in 2010: a difficult event for Athens, a more or less official comment coming from Germany, markets tanking on Grexit speculation.This past week the plot was the same: the German magazine

Jan. 7, 2015

Bond investor Bill Gross. (Bloomberg)Bill Gross, the former manager of the world’s largest bond fund, said prices for many assets will fall this year as record-low interest rates fail to restore sufficient economic growth. With global expansion still sputtering after years of interest rates near zero, investors will gradually seek alternatives to risky assets, Gross wrote Tuesday in an investment outlook for Janus Capital Group Inc., where he runs the $1.2 billion Janus Global Unconstrained Bond

Jan. 7, 2015

NEW YORK (AFP) ― U.S. automakers reported strong December domestic sales Monday to cap off a solid year of growth, with consumers still readily buying cars and trucks despite a record year of recalls.Analysts estimate the December surge took the total 2014 U.S. market to more than 16.5 million vehicles, giving the industry its best year since 2006, just before the economy began sinking into crisis and recession.GM reported that it had the best December in seven years, with a 19 percent year-on-y

Jan. 6, 2015

LAS VEGAS (AP) ― Imagine a world in which your garage door opens automatically as you pull into the driveway. The living room lights and heater turn on ― perhaps the oven starts warming up, too. In the so-called “smart home,” cars, appliances and other devices all have sensors and Internet connectivity to think and act for themselves, and make your life easier.We’re not there just yet, but we’re getting closer.The smart-home concept is known in tech circles as the Internet of Things. Current ite

Jan. 6, 2015

Japan’s biggest trading houses are calling 2015 a pivotal year for the world’s third-largest economy as cheap oil, easy money and a weaker yen promise to boost growth. Twenty five years on from the bursting of Japan’s bubble economy, which brought two decades of deflation, the nation is at a turning point with potential for “painful improvement” in the areas of employment, agriculture and health, said Marubeni Corp. chief executive officer Fumiya Kokubu. A confluence of factors gives Japan a uni

Jan. 6, 2015

NEW YORK (AP) ― Mark Zuckerberg wants to add a little more “book” to Facebook. The Facebook founder and CEO announced on his page recently that he has vowed to read a book every other week in 2015, with an emphasis on learning about different beliefs, cultures and technologies. Zuckerberg created a page called “A Year of Books” and urged his friends to join him in the project. As of late Sunday afternoon, it had more than 100,000 likes. “I’m excited for my reading challenge,” Zuckerberg wrote. “

Jan. 5, 2015

Venezuelans have lunch while waiting in a long line to buy gasoline in Caracas, Venezuela. (Bloomberg)CARACAS (AFP) ― Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro begins a trip to China and OPEC member countries Sunday in search of financial support as his country reels from falling oil prices and a tattered economy.The South American oil giant confirmed Tuesday that it has entered recession, while annual inflation topped 63 percent, exacerbating the outlook for an economy already hit by global crashing

Jan. 5, 2015

TEHRAN (AFP) ― Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said Sunday that foreign investors should no longer be viewed as a threat and signaled his country’s decades-long isolation from the world economy could soon end.Speaking at an economic conference in Tehran, he said the Islamic republic would not give up its principles but it would be better placed to conclusively emerge from recession if it opened up.Iran is engaged in long-running negotiations with world powers aimed at a comprehensive deal over i

Jan. 5, 2015

BAGHDAD (AFP) ― Iraq’s oil exports reached their highest level in decades in December, the oil ministry’s spokesman said on Saturday, but vital revenues were being hit by the plummeting prices of crude.Iraq exported 91.141 million barrels of oil in December for an average of 2.94 million barrels per day, the highest daily average since 1980, Assem Jihad told AFP, citing initial figures. December exports were far and away the highest in 2014, eclipsing the previous best month by more than 11 mill

Jan. 4, 2015

Mario Draghi gave his strongest signal yet that the European Central Bank is likely to start large-scale government-bond purchases by saying he can’t rule out deflation in the euro area. The ECB president seldom gives interviews and his comments to the German newspaper Handelsblatt reflect a drive to win over that nation. Policy makers there have led criticism of quantitative easing, saying it threatens financial stability, reduces the incentive for governments to restructure their economies, an

Jan. 4, 2015

BUENOS AIRES (AFP) ― The fine print Argentina blames for failed negotiations with disgruntled creditors expires Thursday, theoretically clearing the way for a deal to lift the country out of default ― if the two sides want it. Even as it careered toward its second debt default in 13 years last July, Argentina insisted it could not swerve away from the precipice because of something called a RUFO, or Rights Upon Future Offers clause.The RUFO clause is part of Argentina’s 2005 and 2010 debt restru

Jan. 1, 2015

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Thursday pledged to carry out crucial structural reforms this year as part his drive to kickstart the economy, while stressing the country remained pacifist as he pursues his nationalist agenda.“This year we will once again make the economy the foremost priority, delivering the warm winds of economic recovery to every corner of the nation,” he said in his new year statement, weeks after winning a landslide election.“We will decisively execute our

Jan. 1, 2015

Greece’s flirtation with an exit from the euro in 2011 and two cliffhanger elections in 2012 prompted the darkest days of the debt crisis, halted only by the European Central Bank’s pledge to save the currency come what may.Now, with the collapse of another Greek government, Europe’s leaders, its more vulnerable economies and financial markets are better prepared. While euro in-or-out threats will echo through the Greek election campaign, the spillover across Europe this time is likely to be con

Dec. 31, 2014