U.S. budget deficit shrinks 35% from last year

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The U.S. government posted a narrower budget deficit in August compared with a year ago, keeping the annual gap on track to be the smallest in five years.The deficit for August was $147.9 billion, the Treasury reported Friday. That brought the annual budget gap through the first 11 months to $755 billion, or 35 percent lower than the nearly $1.2 trillion in red ink for the same period last year.The budget year ends on Sept. 30. The Congressional Budget Office projects the gover

Sept. 13, 2013

Twitter titillates users, investors with IPO tweet

Twitter, the short messaging service named after chirping birds, is finally ready to migrate to Wall Street.Fittingly enough, the company resorted to a tweet to titillate its more than 200 million users and a flock of potential investors with its long-awaited plans to pursue an initial public offering of stock.Twitter isn't baring everything about its business just yet because it's taking advantage of federal legislation passed last year that allows companies with less than $1 billion in revenue

Sept. 13, 2013

Japan to raise sales tax, launch $50b stimulus: reports

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan’s prime minister has decided to hike the nation’s sales tax next year, but will soften the blow with a $50-billion stimulus package aimed at protecting a budding economic recovery, reports said Thursday.Shinzo Abe, who has spearheaded a drive to turn around years of tepid growth, will press on with a plan to lift taxes to 8 percent from the current 5 percent in April, Japanese media reported, a move seen as crucial to tackling a staggering national debt. Parliament has alread

Sept. 12, 2013

New iPhones fail to impress markets

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Apple’s launch of two new iPhones raised fresh doubts Wednesday about its strategy to expand its smartphone market share, prompting a slide in the company’s shares and harsh analyst comments.Some analysts said Apple had failed to slash prices enough to make an impact in key emerging markets or with budget-conscious buyers, and did little to show it has regained its edge in innovation.Shares slid 5.4 percent to end at $467.71 in New York, a day after the technology giant presente

Sept. 12, 2013

New iPhone 5C 'too costly for China': analysts, users

BEIJING (AFP) -- Apple's lower-cost iPhone 5C will retail for more than $700 in China, putting it out of reach of most consumers and raising questions over the firm's ability to build sales in the world's biggest mobile market.The iPhone 5C is seen as part of the US tech giant's bid to counter cheaper handsets from rivals, particularly in China where it  has only a five percent share of the smartphone market.But the new phone will retail in China for 4,488 yuan ($733) for the 16GB version, accor

Sept. 11, 2013

China billionaires pass 300 as richest get richer

BEIJING (AFP) -- The number of dollar billionaires in mainland China has passed 300 for the first time, an annual ranking of wealth in the world's second-largest economy showed Wednesday.The Hurun Report, a luxury magazine publisher, named property tycoon Wang Jianlin as China's new richest person, saying he had more than doubled his worth to $22 billion.There were a total of 315 dollar billionaires in the country, it said, up 64 from a year ago.The average fortune of the top 1,000 stood at $1.0

Sept. 11, 2013

France says 2013 deficit to be higher, 2014 growth lower

PARIS (AFP) -- Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said Wednesday that France would fail to reach the deficit target it agreed with the EU for this year and lowered the government's growth forecast for 2014.Moscovici said France's 2013 public deficit will come in at 4.1 percent of GDP, higher than the 3.9 percent agreed with the European Union.But he said the 2014 deficit will come in at 3.6 percent and that France plans to push it back under the EU ceiling of 3.0 percent of GDP in 2015, which is

Sept. 11, 2013

China's Li says basis of recovery `fragile'

BEIJING (AP) -- Premier Li Keqiang said Wednesday the basis of China's economic recovery is still fragile and promised to promote growth by opening markets to private competition and improving the investment climate for foreign companies.China's economic fundamentals are stable but the global economy faces a "complex situation," said Li in a speech at a meeting of the World Economic Forum in the northeastern city of Dalian. His comments were broadcast live on national television."The foundation

Sept. 11, 2013

Study: U.S. could default as early as Oct. 18

The United States could default on its obligations as early as Oct. 18 if Washington fails to agree on legislation to raise the government's borrowing cap, a new study predicted Tuesday.The Bipartisan Policy Center analysis says the default date would come no later than Nov. 5 and that the government would quickly fall behind on its payments, including Social Security benefits and military pensions.The think tank's estimate is in line with a warning last month by Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew tha

Sept. 11, 2013

Toyota recalls 870,000 vehicles in U.S., Canada

Toyota has reissued a recall of 870,000 vehicles in the United States and Canada after discovering initial repairs were not performed properly, the Japanese automaker said Monday.“We got reports there was a problem with vehicles that had supposedly been fixed in the initial recall,” spokeswoman Cindy Knight told AFP. “It turns out dealerships weren’t performing the repairs correctly.”Toyota has issued new instructions to dealers and will be notifying customers that they need to bring their vehic

Sept. 10, 2013

Frankfurt IAA show offers signs of hope for automakers

FRANKFURT (AFP) ― The world’s automobile makers are counting on the IAA auto show, which opens in Frankfurt this week, to give the sector a boost as recovery signs are becoming increasingly discernible in Europe. Held in Frankfurt every two years in alternation with the Paris Motor Show, the IAA opens its doors initially to trade professionals on Thursday and then to the wider public two days later and runs until Sept. 22. And experts say that after years of decline, automobile sales are stabili

Sept. 9, 2013

New Australia government keeps ‘AAA’ ratings

SYDNEY (AFP) ― International credit agencies Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Monday kept Australia’s sovereign rating at “AAA” after the conservatives won power, saying they expected little change to the fiscal framework.S&P’s said its ratings were not immediately affected by the change of government.“The ratings on Australia reflect the country’s significant fiscal and monetary flexibility, economic resilience, and public policy stability,” it said in a statement.“We expect the new government to

Sept. 9, 2013