UNITED STATES

The dollar eased against the yen and euro on Monday, weighed down by weakness in the U.S. stock market after comments by a top Citigroup official raised anew concerns about global credit.

President George W. Bush ratcheted up the pressure on U.S. Democrats on Monday to adhere to his budget plans or face a string of vetoes on government spending bills.

Oil jumped nearly 3 percent to a record over $86 a barrel on Monday as fresh tensions in the Middle East added to worries of a supply crunch when cold weather stokes up heating demand this winter. Oil prices have more than quadrupled since 2002 but remain below the inflation adjusted peak of around $90 a barrel struck after the Iranian revolution of 1979.

Ford Motor Co Chief Executive Alan Mulally said on Monday he is pleased with the breadth and depth of interest in Ford's British luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover.

U.S. stocks fell on Monday, led lower by the financial services sector after Citigroup Inc offered a gloomier outlook and worries resurfaced about the stability of the buyout market.

Green -- not greed -- is good these days, especially if you're rich and want to be seen to care. Some clients are increasingly seeking environmentally friendly investments and ways to minimize their impact on the environment, their private bankers said at the Reuters Wealth Management Summit in Geneva.

Central Europe has evolved from a collection of Soviet Communist satellite states into the most dynamic part of the capitalist European Union in less than a generation.

Time Warner Inc's Internet unit AOL will eliminate 2,000 jobs as part of an ongoing restructuring to better focus on boosting online advertising, according to a memo obtained by Reuters on Monday.

General Motors Corp said on Monday it will shift $16 billion from an existing trust fund to a new entity that will take over $47 billion in health-care obligations for some 270,000 union-represented retirees.

Random House, the world's biggest book publisher, is considering joining a book-search project run by Google, once considered an arch-enemy by the paper publishing industry.

Companies will spend a record $31 billion this year to advertise everything from toothpaste to home loans on the Internet, supporting countless news sites, social networks, video exchanges and blogs.

World stocks hovered slightly off their record highs on Monday and the dollar firmed as investors gained confidence in the health of the U.S. economy and paid little heed to oil prices near $84 a barrel.

Workers are painting, patching stucco and peeling protective plastic from gleaming panes of balcony glass at a new 1,000-unit condo called The Plaza, two towers that rise 43 and 56 stories over Miami's bank district.

Oil zoomed to a new record high above $85 a barrel on Monday as a robust demand picture amid booming commodity markets and fresh geopolitical worries put tight oil supplies into sharp focus.

Citigroup Inc, the largest U.S. bank, said on Monday third-quarter profit fell 57 percent, hurt by losses from subprime and leveraged loans, fixed-income trading and its U.S. consumer business.

Asian stocks pared early gains on Monday, pausing after their recent rally, while the dollar held firm as strong U.S. retail sales data prompted investors to trim bets of further U.S. interest rate cut.

The race to generate greater returns is luring hedge funds into untraditional areas

Despite the credit crunch, firms in Germany still have ample financing

McDonald's Corp on Friday forecast third-quarter earnings above Wall Street analysts' average estimate as September same-store sales rose 5.9 percent on strength in Asia. McDonald's has outperformed many other restaurant chains and retailers this year, with successful new products and extended restaurant hours.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday relations between Turkey and the United States are in danger over a resolution branding as genocide massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War One.

The head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in China meeting with safety officials, said on Friday talks are progressing toward an agreement to boost the safety of food and drug imports.