BUSINESS

The Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival will be officially launched on Jan. 5. However, tourists have already begun flocking to visit the sculptures.

China has arrested former executives at two brokerages on charges of insider trading, the securities watchdog said, as part of a crackdown on market malpractice that the new head of the agency has said will be one of his top priorities.

The Obama administration cleared the way for U.S. states to legalize Internet poker and certain other online betting in a switch that may help them reap billions in tax revenue and spur web-based gambling.

The yuan hit an all-time trading high against the dollar on Monday, guided by a stronger mid-point by the People's Bank of China, and looks set for an over-4-percent appreciation for 2011, traders said.

While the threat of credit rating downgrades hangs over Europe, a few big emerging market economies are on the upswing.

While the threat of credit rating downgrades hangs over Europe, a few big emerging market economies are on the upswing.

Japan will seek to buy Chinese government bonds, the Japanese government said in a statement issued after Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda held talks in Beijing with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Sunday.

The Japanese government is considering a dollar swap arrangement with India to provide emergency liquidity in case the European debt crisis reaches emerging economies, the Nikkei business newspaper said on Sunday.

Europe faces another year of dismal economic performance in 2012 that will weigh on global growth, but emerging markets and the United States should at least keep the world economy moving in the right direction.

Retailers saw a steady flow of last-minute shoppers on Saturday, the day before Christmas, putting a moderate cap on a pre-holiday season that started with a bang and has since waned.

George Eastman is best known as the inventor of photographic film and founder of Eastman Kodak Co, but his century-old legacy of entrepreneurship now rides on the lesser-known Eastman Chemical Co.

What’s ahead for 2012? Obviously, change, some for the better and others for worse. Fortunately, the Island’s unemployment rate fell to 6.7 percent from 7.2 percent a year ago, the state labor department said. But its principal Long Island economist, Michael Crowell, said that may reflect a declining work force, with too many “discouraged workers” who’ve given up looking.

European Central Bank Governing Council Member Ignazio Visco said in a newspaper interview on Saturday that the bank will be attentive to the economic cycle when setting monetary policy, suggesting rates could fall more if the euro zone economy worsens.

Tom Nenon, a philosophy professor at the University of Memphis, is vexed with his online shopping experience at Best Buy, a sentiment shared by other U.S. Internet shoppers this holiday season.

Bank of America Corp is lagging behind its major U.S. competitors in complying with new capital rules, leading the bank to consider even more asset sales, sources said.

Get ready. The last trading week of the year will be a test for stocks to prove whether they have the strength to carry a rally into next year.

Yahoo Inc's board of directors has agreed to keep exploring a plan to split off the Internet company's Asian assets in a complex deal valued at $17 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

General Electric Co acknowledged that three former traders at a finance unit engaged in bid-rigging of municipal bonds and agreed to pay authorities $70.4 million in penalties and damages, the latest settlement in a long-running probe that has ensnared some of the largest financial institutions.

The S&P 500 turned positive for the year and closed out its third week of gains in four on Friday as equities extended their rally after a string of unexpectedly strong economic data.

The S&P 500 turned positive for the year and closed out its third week of gains in four on Friday as equities extended their rally after a string of unexpectedly strong economic data.

Here's a surprising 'free gift' from the sky above, ahead of Christmas - Comet Lovejoy was unexpectedly spotted falling into the horizon vertically. NASA Commander Dan Burbank, who was photographing lightning storm over the Pacific Ocean had captured this surprising and fantastic scene at the International Space Station on Wednesday.

Consumer spending was tepid in November and a gauge of business investment fell for a second straight month, suggesting the economy lost some of its recent momentum.

CME Group Inc fined a trader $50,000 for running a rapid-fire trading strategy that malfunctioned last year, sending thousands of erroneous orders to the New York Mercantile Exchange and sparking a $1 surge in oil prices.

Europe faces another year of dismal economic performance in 2012 that will weigh on global growth, but emerging markets and the United States should at least keep the world economy moving in the right direction.

U.S. companies Facebook, Google and Yahoo, and other internet firms, have been ordered by two Indian courts to remove material considered religiously offensive, the latest skirmish in a growing battle over website content in the world's largest democracy.

The European debt crisis roiled markets all year, producing the most volatile trading since the 2008-2009 meltdown. That is, except in one market -- the euro.

Shares of United Continental Holdings fell about 7 percent on Friday as some analysts cut their fourth-quarter profit estimates, citing weaker-than-expected revenue.

Wall Street extended a year-end rally on Friday as the S&P 500 rose for a fourth day and turned positive for the year after a recent run of better-than-expected economic data.

Bank of America Corp is lagging behind its major U.S. competitors in complying with new capital rules, leading the bank to consider even more asset sales, sources said.