INVESTMENT

Most of the Asian markets fell in the week as investor confidence was weighed down by the intensifying tensions between China and Japan, raising concerns of economic slowdown and undermining the stimulus measures announced by the Bank of Japan.

The German DAX 30 index advanced 0.40 percent or 29.68 points to 7419.17. Shares of Commerzbank AG rose 0.84 percent and shares of Volkswagen AG climbed 0.70 percent.

Asian markets fell Thursday as investor confidence was weighed down by the report that Japan's trade deficit increased in August, raising more concerns about the faltering global economy.

Electronic Arts Inc. (Nasdaq: EA) announced plans today to expand its global customer service center in Galway, Ireland, by hiring 300 more employees in the coming months. The expansion that almost doubles the size of its European customer support center will be done with the support of the Irish government, which was competing with other major cities in Britain, Europe, and the United State to woo the company's customer service headquarters away from Galway.

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of the state of West Bengal, declared that her party, the All India Trinamool Congress ? currently the second largest segment of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition ? could no longer cooperate with the UPA.

Square, the new rising star of Silicon Valley founded and lead by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, closed a $200 million fundraising round on Monday that now places the start-up's value at $3.25 billion. The privately-held San Francisco based company hopes to establish itself as the go-to mobile wallet in a growing industry of digital payment systems that all seek to turn smartphones into people's primary means of transaction.

Popular art often mirrors common ideas about current economic affairs and reflects the conventional wisdom guiding public opinion. This is particularly true of film.

Pakistan's Supreme Court finally got its way late Tuesday in a long-simmering row regarding President Asif Ali "Mr. 10 Percent" Zardari's unwillingness to respond to a Swiss inquiry into his alleged corruption dating back to his days as a high-ranking official under his wife Benazir Bhutto's second administration.

Tax cuts for the rich don't seem to be associated with U.S. economic growth and instead are linked to a different outcome: greater income inequality in the U.S. These findings will likely fuel the already bitter political fight over extending the Bush tax cuts for upper-income groups.

Occupy Wall Street returned to the Zuccotti Park in a Monday celebration of the movement's one-year anniversary. And while the occasion was replete with the drums, banners and heated political discussions that pervaded Zuccotti a year ago, it seemed unlikely that another occupation was imminent.

The U.S. Treasury Department is unwilling to sell the government's stake in General Motors Co because a sale now would mean huge investment losses, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people close to the matter.

While market sentiment for China's growth outlook has been overwhelmingly negative, Nomura's Chief China Economist Zhiwei Zhang remains very bullish.

In the wake of the rising tensions with Japan over a disputed set of islands in the East China Sea, China has threatened to retaliate with economic measures that would negatively impact the Sino-Japanese trade.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) left interest rates unchanged but cut the cash reserve ratio for banks on Monday, disappointing market hopes that it would follow up the government's unexpected spate of bold reform measures by reducing borrowing costs.

In a surprise move, the Reserve Bank of India Monday cut the cash reserve ratio by 25 basis points while keeping the other key rates unchanged in its Mid-Quarter Monetary Policy Review 2012.

Venezuela and Colombia are both rich in natural beauty, but have taken two very different approaches to tourism. One has seen tourist numbers stagnate while the other is an international success story. What happened, and why are two neighbors so radically different?

Dan Marino, the record-holding play caller for the Miami Dolphis, lost more than $14 million investing in 'Titanic' director James Cameron's media company. Here's five other NFL stars whose decisions cost them millions.

NFL Hall of Famer Dan Marino is one of the major investors who lost millions when the visual-effects company filed for bankruptcy last week. The Oscar-winning company, founded in 1993 by James Cameron, had created effects for such movies as "Titanic," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and the "Trasnformers" franchise.

Following the historic disaster at Fukushima nuclear power plant last year, the Japanese government is poised to completely shift its energy policy by phasing out its dependence on atomic energy by the 2030s.

The government of India, the world's 10th largest economy by gross domestic product, passed wide-ranging laws on Friday expanding foreign investment in the retail, broadcasting and airline sectors, opening its doors to companies like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) amid slowing growth.

Clearly, there is no debate. Based on the facts, it’s Obama who deserves all of the credit. His actions and policies saved the great State of Ohio from economic calamity.