Benjamin Reeves

Lorenzo Thione believes in fate and approaches the world with a somewhat self-confident naivete. This outward optimism comes across most clearly when he talks about his new business: He wants to be an artist among the artists, unchaining fine art from wealthy collectors and setting it free among the hoi polloi.

Investing in Brazil's booming economy has turned another page as foreign companies, especially Japanese firms, move from putting money into the nation's financial industry to putting it into the real economy of South America's largest nation.

The Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) wants to make itself king of the hill once more and reclaim the No. 1 global sales position from the General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) by adding eight compact cars for emerging markets, Reuters said Friday.

Airbus will probably not increase production of its narrowbody A320 airplane in the near future due to supply chain limitations, Aviation Week reported Friday.

Investors are increasingly making a flight to quality as they pull out of credit-default swaps hedges on Europe's primary index as well as the markets for periphery nations like Spain, a trend which indicates higher expectations that periphery nations are unable to repay their debts and a lack of confidence in the political will of the economic union.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City said Thursday that manufacturing growth in the Midwest and part of the Rocky Mountain region rebounded in May and that firms were more optimistic than in previous months.

MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) said Thursday it will appeal a decision by Europe's second-highest court rejecting the credit card company's argument against an EU ban on cross-border card fees, Reuters reported.

U.S. auto sales will likely reach a 14.2 million seasonally adjusted annual sales rate in May 2012, the greatest year-over-year gain in more than 12 months, as consumers take advantage of credit and low interest rates to replace aging cars. Moreover, increasing car sales are now a primary driver of U.S. GDP growth, according to a Wednesday report by Kelley Blue Book.

Mazda Motor Corporation (Tokyo: 7261) and Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A. (ETR: FIAT) will jointly develop and manufacture a new rear-wheel-drive, roadster sports car based on the next-generation Mazda MX-5 Miata for the Mazda and Alfa Romeo brands, the companies announced Wednesday.

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) shares climbed almost 2 percent in mid-day trading Wednesday, a day after Moody's Investors Service upgraded the Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker's credit rating to investment grade.

Tesla Motors Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) shares got a big boost Tuesday following the announcement that the new Tesla Model S will begin shipping on June 22, ahead of schedule.

The UK government may have made illegal promises to General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) to shift production of the Astra compact car to its Opel/Astra plant in England from locations in Germany, reports said.

Formula 1, the popular global auto racing sport, is on its way to a possible IPO as financial investors such as Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. (NYSE: WDR), Norges Bank Investment Management and BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) bought 21 percent of the company, CVC Capital Partners, owner of Formula 1, confirmed Tuesday.

The Lotus F1 Team made one of its weirder announcements for the Formula 1 season on Monday when it said that it had teamed up with the slightly whiny and outdated emo rock band Linkin Park to create an iPad App for the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix.

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (Nasdaq: NDAQ) will change its initial public offering trading procedures as a result of glitches and delays which occurred during Friday's Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) IPO, mistakes for which the exchange operator hopes to pay $13 million to burned investors, sources reported Monday.

Chrysler Group LLC is recalling 67,872 model year 2010 Jeep Wrangler cars equipped with automatic transmissions because of fire hazards associated with the transmission skid plate, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported Monday.

A Chinese conglomerate will buy a major U.S. cinema chain, AMC, for $2.6 billion, in China's biggest takeover of an American company to date.

Japan's vaunted automakers may soon stop building cars in their homeland for export as a soaring yen combines with Mother Nature's mood swings, and an aging population saps the strength of its domestic market, driving the companies across wide oceans and far from their birthplace.

Honda Motor Company Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) is voluntarily recalling 52,615 model year 2007 to 2008 Acura TL sedans in the U.S. to replace the power steering hose, the company announced Thursday.

General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) announced Thursday it will build its next generation Vauxhall/Open Astra cars at two factories in Ellesmere Port, UK and Gliwice, Poland, leaving the company's Bochum, Germany plant facing closure.

Warren Buffett's investing powerhouse, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.B) took a 10 million share stake in General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) during the first quarter, an investment it disclosed Wednesday, delivering a 2.29 percent bump to car company's shares and a welcome dose of investor confidence.

General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) rocked the automotive and advertising worlds with its announcement Tuesday that it will stop buying advertisements on Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB), a value of roughly $10 million a year, on the eve of social networking site's monster IPO. The rest of the automotive industry's major players are not following suit, though, Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), banking on the strength of the network effect, is actually upping its investment.

The euro fell to its lowest levels since January following the news Greece would have to hold a new round of elections, making the prospect of the dissolution of the euro zone economic union significantly more compelling.

J.C. Penney Company Inc. (NYSE: JCP) reported net losses of $163 million for the three months preceding April 28, 2012, and said that it would discontinue its 20 cent per share quarterly dividend to help fund its ongoing restructuring, the company announced Tuesday.

Coty Inc. withdrew its $10.7 billion offer to buy Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) following months of failed communication by Avon, the company announced on Monday.

Manufacturing activity in New York state improved moderately in May as shipments rose and employment levels and hours expanded, a report from the New York Federal Reserve Bank said Tuesday.

Concho Resources Inc. (NYSE: CXO) will buy all of the oil and natural gas assets of Three Rivers Operating Company LLC for $1 billion in cash, increasing Concho's production by 7,000 barrels of oil a day, the company announced Sunday.

Euro zone industrial production fell by 0.3 percent from February to March, despite gains made the previous month, and year over year production plummeted 2.2 percent, a report from the European Commission's Eurostat statistics bureau said Monday.

Legendary entrepreneur, American muscle-car manufacturer, and race-car driver Carroll Shelby died Friday at the age of 89, according to a statement by his company Carroll Shelby International Inc. (OTC: CSBI.PK). The cause of death was not disclosed.