INVESTMENT

Scandal-hit Olympus Corp on Monday forecast a $410 million full-year loss due largely to its ailing camera operations, but strength in its endoscope business suggested its core division would emerge from the debacle unscathed and its president said it might try to go it alone without seeking outside capital.

Canada's Barrick Gold, the world's largest gold producer, plans to sell its 20 percent stake in Russia's Highland Gold, pulling out of one of the world's most promising - but also toughest - gold frontiers.

Shares of Apple, the world’s most valuable technology company, hit the $500 mark Monday valuing the company at $462 billion. It remains the world's most valuable company.

Empire State Realty Trust, owners of the iconic Empire State Building, filed to sell up to $1 billion of its Class A common stock, giving ordinary investors a chance to own a piece of the building that has been fought over by billionaires.

The State Bank of India (SBI), the country's biggest lender, reported an unexpected rise in bad loans for the third quarter, taking the shine off healthy growth in loan demand and interest income that helped it post a 15 percent rise in net profit.

The head of China's $410 billion sovereign wealth fund CIC brushed aside a call by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to buy European government debt, saying such investments were difficult for long-term investors.

The BSE Sensex edged 0.14 percent higher after a choppy trading session on Monday, as hopes of stability in Greece improved global risk appetite and offset weak corporate earnings at home. Hopes of Greek austerity deal boosted the market.

European government bonds are not ideal for long-term investors such as China Investment Corporation , the head of China's $410 billion sovereign wealth fund said on Monday.

With the rising economy of China ensuring its steady march toward superpower position, the country has rolled out special programs to attract foreign elites which could make it the land of opportunities for skilled immigrants rivaling the U.S.

China has instructed its banks to embark on a huge roll-over of loans to local governments, the Financial Times reported, aiming to give itself more time to deal with a debt hangover from the global financial crisis.

China is half a world away from the 2,300-acre family farm in east-central Iowa where John Weber and his son plant corn and soybeans.

Turkmenistan votes on Sunday in a one-sided election certain to extend the rule of President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov over a Central Asian country holding 4 percent of global natural-gas reserves, which rights groups rank among the world's most repressive.

From what I have seen, North Asian media has given the sensational rumors scant coverage.

An increasingly violent insurgency by Islamist sect Boko Haram in Nigeria's economically stagnant north has begun pressuring the country's finances by forcing extra spending on security. It could be costing as much as 2 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

America Movil SAB, the Mexican telecommunications firm, plans to make capital expenditures of $8.5 billion to $9 billion in 2012 as part of its investment plan in networks and focus strategy on subscriber growth.

The trustee supervising the liquidation of MF Global Holdings' brokerage has said that there is a shortfall of at least $1.6 billion to pay commodity customers' claims.

Chemical maker DuPont has started the auction of its car paint business, which could bring in more than $4 billion and has drawn early interest from a number of private equity firms, according to sources familiar with the matter.

A California-based hedge fund manager surrendered to FBI agents on insider-trading charges on Friday, an FBI spokesman in New York said.

President Jacob Zuma squashed more than two years of talk on Friday about the nationalisation of South Africa's massive mining sector, saying state control or ownership of the mines in the world's biggest platinum producer could not work.

Apollo Global Management LLC became the latest private equity group on Friday to report lower fourth-quarter earnings due to mark-to-market valuations of its assets, even as the cash flow from its share of investment profits more than tripled.

Tighter bank financing is the big threat to shipping companies, and many are looking at alternative sources of funding such as private equity to fill gaps amid a worsening credit squeeze, a transport survey showed on Friday.