BUSINESS

Asian markets fell at week's end as Greece's inability to form a government, uninspiring Chinese industrial output growth and JPMorgan's trading losses affected investor sentiment.

Hong Kong's economy slowed down in the first quarter compared to the last quarter of the previous year as exports dipped with soft global demand.

Euro-zone paymaster Germany may be willing to consider additional measures to promote growth in Greece, but the Hellenic Republic must still carry out its previously agreed reforms, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in an interview with Welt am Sonntag this weekend.

The LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD), the business-related social-networking company, considered buying online job-listings provider Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW), but decided against the purchase, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, the private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners continues to have interest.

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.

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee said he will petition to Supreme Court to keep in state custody an accused murderer facing federal charges, to avoid the death penalty, which the governor opposes.

Fitch Ratings on Friday downgraded JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), which just revealed at least $2 billion in losses on questionable trading. The downgrade came on the same day that a U.S. senator called for a Congressional probe of the giant bank and the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed that her agents are eyeing the money center's hedging activity.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigators are probably in the process of drafting subpoenas against JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), if they have not already filed them, regarding the bank's loss of $2 billion through proprietary trading, said ex-SEC New York Regional assistant director Joseph Dever.

China's announcement that construction was down and manufacturers bought less factory equipment in April drove oil prices down and caused concerns that the global economy was slowing down. These concerns were reflected in market activity.

Apple is reportedly dropping Google Maps in favor on a new in-house application, which will be similar to Google Maps' software but is described as a much cleaner, faster, and more reliable experience. The new software will reportedly be released alongside iOS 6, Apple's next mobile operating system.

Following Thursday's financial earthquake at JPMorgan Chase & Co., fingers are pointing to Bruno Michel Iksil, who recently boasted that he could walk on water -- suggesting the French trader's ego is as outsized as the nemesis in Melville's novel from which his nickname the White Whale originates. Whether or not Iksil's reputation will go from fearsome whale to Jonah after he's blamed for the storm and tossed overboard is not yet known.

Law-enforcement officers who track the locations of people via their cell phones may be operating outside the bounds of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., said Thursday.

Shock waves were sent through a small New Jersey city after April Kauffman, a former radio host and champion of veterans' causes, was killed in her house as an arrest appears likely to be made soon.

The now-familiar call for Washington to lower energy costs by increasing domestic production of oil may not be the most effective policy, according to this month's Congressional Budget Office report on the nation's energy security.

?Halo 4? is sure to come with some new additions to the widely-successful shooter franchise, but 343 Industries is also finding fresh ways to manage the game?s expanded universe, according to Game Informer. The Halo team is making an effort to ensure that the expanding storyline will be able to stay focused by crafting side plots for different mediums.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulators are monitoring JPMorgan Chase & Company (NYSE: JPM) following the disclosure that the bank lost $2 billion in bad hedging action carried out by the so-called Whale of London, SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro said Friday.

A new poll will have to be called if parties cannot reach a consensus by next Thursday, as the risk of Greece's exit from the euro looms closer.

Papoulias's office said the president will meet Venizelos on Saturday.

About 250 AI pilots remain on strike, having called in sick since Monday.

Fisker Automotive has been struggling recently, and reports that one of its post-recall Fisker Karma cars lit up a suburban Houston garage like a match in a fireworks factory are not helping the image of the company, and unlike the grinning Aventador guy, it seems doubtful that the owner of the crisped Karma has anything to smile about since his $103,000 car set fire to his Acura NSX and Mercedes-Benz SUV as well.

The Spanish government agreed Friday to an independent audit of the holdings of its banking sector, as requested by the European Union. It also said that banks would be required to set aside more cash in the face of losses from toxic loans, as the country's economy teeters from high unemployment and weak economic output, and also offered high-interest loans for weaker lenders.

Members of Green Alliance charged the authorities with fraud for their distant third place finish.

JP Morgan Chase and Co. (NYSE: JPM) shocked the markets Thursday by announcing it would be booking mammoth losses in the range of $3 billion this quarter as a result of a hedged bet gone bad. But what exactly was that bet?

Eduardo Saverin, a Harvard buddy of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg, surrendered his U.S. passport last year when he renounced citizenship, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service said.

Rather than deal with business, directors of Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO), the No. 3 search engine, have been busy all week in the ?resume embellishment? scandal that forced one director to quit and put the CEO under a cloud.

Just about everything in China's economy seems to have gone backwards in April and the raft of weaker data raised fears that the world's second largest economy has yet to bottom out.

?Diablo 3?s? release date is approaching, and fans have been counting the days ever since Blizzard announced the game on March 15th. It turns out that the upcoming third installment to the dungeon-crawler action RPG isn?t only the most pre-ordered game from Blizzard; it?s also shattering Amazon records.

The Goldfield Corporation (NYSE Amex: GV), the U.S. southeast electric construction company, said Friday revenue nearly doubled in the quarter ended March 31 as construction activity increased.

Despite RBI's desperate efforts to prop it up, rupee declined by 18 paise to reach 53.60 against dollar in the late morning trade on Friday. However, rupee stabilized in the later sessions at 53.54/55 before closing at 53.45 and India's industrial production surprisingly declined by 3.5 percent in March, for the first time in five months, prompting the industry to seek cut in interest rates.