MARKETS / FINANCE

Investor holdings in the by Goldessential monitored (pure-play) gold-backed exchange-traded funds were seen decreasing 4.106 tonnes (-132,025 ounces) or 0.25 pct in the week from January 15th up to and including January 21st, in-house calculations based on official data showed on last Friday. Our gold ETF monitor furthermore added the ETFS Physical Swiss Gold (SGOL) to the standard list, bringing the total number of monitored tracked to thirteen. As per January 21st, the single trust held 309,54...

The chief executive of International Lease Finance Corp., the airline leasing company of American International Group , is expected to leave as soon as this week, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The U.S. economy probably closed out 2009 with the fastest growth rate in nearly four years, yet it won't be enough to tempt the Federal Reserve to lift record-low interest rates.

The U.S. economy probably closed out 2009 with the fastest growth rate in nearly four years, yet it won't be enough to tempt the Federal Reserve to lift record-low interest rates.

Embattled Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke edged closer to winning support for a second term after the Senate's Republican leader predicted confirmation and Democrats aimed to have a vote this week.

Sam's Club, the warehouse club division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc is cutting roughly 11,200 jobs, or about 10 percent of its workforce, as it outsources in-store product demonstrations and eliminates positions used to recruit new business members.

The Aussie dollar dipped below 90 cents during Friday's Asian session following a larger than expected 4.3% fall in the Australian Q4 import price index.

China could overtake Japan as the world's second-largest economy in 2010, one year before Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Jim O'Neill had previously expected.

Iceland has approached several governments about the possibility of mediating talks on the more than $5 billion its owes to Britain and the Netherlands after the island's banking crisis, Icelandic media reported on Sunday.

White House senior advisers voiced confidence on Sunday that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke would be confirmed by the Senate for a second term.

Iceland has approached several governments about the possibility of mediating talks on over $5 billion its owes to Britain and the Netherlands after the island's banking crisis, Icelandic media reported on Sunday.

China's Communist Party mouthpiece on Sunday accused the United States of mounting a cyber army and a hacker brigade, and of exploiting social media like Twitter or Youtube to foment unrest in Iran.

Switzerland has not yet handed over data on clients of UBS to the U.S. authorities as part of a probe into possible tax evasion among wealthy bank customers, a government spokesman was quoted as saying on Sunday.

President Barack Obama called senators on Saturday to check that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had enough support for a second term and two key senators said the nomination was on track.

President Barack Obama called on the U.S. Congress on Saturday to create a bipartisan panel that would look at ways to rein in the country's soaring deficits.

The Democratic chairman and a Republican on the Senate banking committee said on Saturday they were confident Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke would win confirmation for a second term.

Zain Saudi Arabia , the kingdom's newest mobile phone operator, said on Saturday it is in talks with lenders after missing some commitments last year on a two-year $2.5-billion Islamic loan.

Volkswagen revised its previous assumptions for global car market sales lower by 67 million vehicles for the period through 2018, Automobilwoche reported, citing a letter presented to VW's top management.

Germany will host a meeting of the Group of 20 nations in May to focus efforts on reforming financial regulation in the wake of new U.S. proposals for governing banks, a finance ministry spokesman said.

Google Inc founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin plan to sell about 10 million of the company's shares over the next five years, the company said in a regulatory filing on Friday.

Technical problems caused an engine to be disengaged during the maiden flight of the Airbus A400M last month, but at no time was the flight in danger, a company spokeswoman said on Saturday.

The Financial Stability Board , charged by the G20 to coordinate national regulation in response to the financial crisis, on Saturday welcomed U.S. proposals to limit banks' size and trading activities.

Ben Bernanke's confirmation to a second term as Federal Reserve chairman suddenly appeared in jeopardy on Friday even after U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he would back him.

China needs no lessons about its Internet from the United States, the head of an online media association said through official media on Saturday after the United States rapped Beijing over information freedom.

In 2009, almost all central banks showed an increased love for gold. In the recent past, Russia's central bank addded 800,000 ounces of gold to its reserves last month, increasing its holdings of the metal to $22.4 billion. The bank's gold reserves climbed to 20.5 million ounces from 19.7 million the previous month. And, India's central bank also purchased gold in 2009 to increase its foreign reserves.

¨Gold prices will continue to witness an uptrend in 2010 but investors should expect continued high volatility-resembling an amusement park roller coaster ride, according to Jeffrey Nichols, Senior Economic Advisor to Rosland Capital. In his latest commentary on market trends, Jeffrey Nichols said that gold prices won't move up higher without interruption.The two main sources of gold price volatility will continue to be the investment demand for the yellow metal and volatility in dollar's exchan...

A favorite Wall Street measure of investor anxiety surged on Friday as U.S. stocks sank on concerns over the White House's plan to rein in risk-taking by banks indicating more stock market turmoil in weeks ahead.

China hit back at U.S. criticism of Internet censorship and hacking on Friday, warning that relations between the two global heavyweights were being hurt by a feud centered on web giant Google.

Twitter has temporarily disabled one of the features on its website after a security researcher warned of a programing flaw that left the login credentials of its users vulnerable to hackers.