Business

October 29, 2011

Italy sells bonds at record high of 6% at auction

Italy's cost of borrowing has reached a record high, despite the deal reached to contain the eurozone debt crisis. Italy paid 6.06% to borrow for 10 years at an auction on Friday, the most since the euro was created in 1999. The rate jumped from…

October 29, 2011

Directors’ pay rose 50% in past year, says IDS report

Pay for the directors of the UK's top businesses rose 50% over the past year, a pay research company has said. Incomes Data Services (IDS) said this took the average pay for a director of a FTSE 100 company to just short of £2.7m. The rise, covering…

October 27, 2011

Shell and Exxon see profits up sharply on oil prices

Higher gas and oil prices have pushed up profits at ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell during the three months to the end of September. Current cost of supply net income at Shell doubled to $7.2bn (£4.5bn), compared with $3.5bn during the same period…

October 26, 2011

Boeing’s Dreamliner set for maiden commercial flight

After three years of delays, Boeing's Dreamliner jet is set for its maiden commercial voyage. The…

October 26, 2011

Amazon profits dive after heavy Kindle investment

Profits at the online retailer Amazon have dropped 73% after the company invested heavily in the Kindle tablet computer. The company, the world's largest online internet retailer, said third quarter net income was $63m (£40m, 45m euros). During the…

October 26, 2011

Indiana Town’s Economy Benefits from Canadian Oil Boom

The town of Whiting, Indiana, is home to the largest inland oil refinery in the United States.  The energy company BP operates the Whiting Refinery, which originally was built by the Standard Oil Company in 1889.  Now with heavier crude oil piped…

October 26, 2011

US Stocks Decline

U.S. stocks declined in Tuesday's midday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped nine-tenths of one percent, the S&P 500 fell 1.1 percent, while the NASDAQ slid 1.2 percent. European stock markets were down by the close of Tuesday's…

October 26, 2011

Europe Scrambling to Complete Debt-Relief Plan

European leaders are scrambling to finalize a plan aimed at resolving the continent's government debt contagion, ahead of a Wednesday summit in Brussels. The outline of a package of reforms is emerging, but details have yet to be set, and a…

October 23, 2011

EU leaders urge action from Italy to reduce debts

European leaders have demanded that Italy make a major effort to reduce its 1.9tn euro (£1.6tn)…

October 23, 2011

BP wins approval to resume drilling in Gulf of Mexico

BP has won approval to resume drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, 18 months after a well blowout killed 11 workers and caused an environmental disaster. Regulators approved plans for drilling to depths of up to 6,000ft about 200 miles off the coast of…