Economy

Tuesday, January 8th 2013 - 21:13 UTC
Sub-prime mortgage scandal: several US banks agree compensations totalling 20bn

Bank of America has agreed to pay US government mortgage agency Fannie Mae 11.6bn dollars to settle claims relating to residential home loans. The bank will pay 10.3bn to settle claims relating to the loans and 1.3bn in compensation to the agency.
Tuesday, January 8th 2013 - 20:41 UTC
Euro-zone unemployment up for 19th month running; Spain with record 26.6%

The unemployment rate across the troubled Euro zone hit 11.8% in November, up from 11.7% in October, with the number of people out of work in the 17-nation single currency area now nudging 19 million. Spain again recorded the highest with 26.6% and 57% for the under-25s.
Tuesday, January 8th 2013 - 20:37 UTC
Record year for car sales in Brazil, but production was down 1.9% in 2012

Brazil, the world's fourth largest car market, sold a record 3.8 million vehicles last year, according to industry data released this week. Brazil's National Association of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (ANFAVEA) reported that sales were up 4.6% on the previous year despite a 1.9% drop in production, the first decline since 2002.
Tuesday, January 8th 2013 - 20:21 UTC
Corn-seed sales in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico help Monsanto with record earnings

US agricultural giant Monsanto Tuesday posted a large increase in quarterly earnings on strong results in corn seed sales in the US and Latin America and better sales of pesticides. The St Louis-based corporation said net income for the first quarter was 339 million dollars, up from 126 million a year earlier.
Tuesday, January 8th 2013 - 20:06 UTC
Top animal health organization calls on countries to lift ban on Brazilian beef

The head of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) called on countries that are banning Brazilian beef imports, following a case of mad cow disease last month, to lift restrictions as soon as possible, saying they were not justified.
Tuesday, January 8th 2013 - 06:58 UTC
Chile government spending rate below the economy’s performance for second year running

Government expenditure in Chile expanded an estimated 5% last year while the economy grew 5.5%, making it the second consecutive year in which the economy outperforms outlays.
Tuesday, January 8th 2013 - 00:04 UTC
Uruguay wants to become one of the world’s leading wind power producers

The Uruguayan government has set its sights on becoming one of the world's leading wind power producers as part of plans to produce 90% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2015, although much of the plan is still on the drawing board.
Monday, January 7th 2013 - 14:14 UTC
Argentina gains a new ally in its fight against hedge funds: WEF’ Schwab

Argentina’s worldwide court battles against the hedge funds which did not accept the restructuring of its defaulted debt and are after the country’s assets, has gained another ally, the president of the World Economic Forum, (WEF) Klaus Schwab.
Monday, January 7th 2013 - 13:52 UTC
Several Fed members fearing inflation want a cap to the bond-buying program

A number of senior figures at the Federal Reserve want the US central bank to stop or slow down its bond-buying program “well before the end of 2013”. December minutes of its interest rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) showed that “several” of its twelve members made the call.
Monday, January 7th 2013 - 13:49 UTC
Koreans again in love with US beef following aggressive campaign from industry

Only four years ago 100.000 South Koreans lined the streets of Seoul to protest the return of US beef to Korea. Consumer confidence in US beef was at an all-time low to the extent that media outlets would not even accept paid ads promoting the products for fear of getting pulled into the protest backlash – instead joining the outrage by declaring US beef to be unsafe from BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) or ‘mad cow’.