Economy

• Saturday, January 31st 2015 - 10:44 UTC

  Moody's downgrades Petrobras credit rating because of corruption scandal

  

  Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the credit rating of Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras because of the widening kickback-corruption scandal affecting the country's largest corporation.The credit rating agency announced its decision late Thursday in a statement posted on its website.

• Saturday, January 31st 2015 - 09:30 UTC

  Despite fourth quarter blip US economy fundamentals remain robust with strong tailwind

  

  US economic growth slowed sharply in the fourth quarter as weak business spending and a wider trade deficit offset the fastest pace of consumer spending since 2006. GDP expanded at a 2.6% annual pace after the third quarter's spectacular 5%, the Commerce Department said in its first fourth-quarter GDP snapshot.

• Thursday, January 29th 2015 - 08:41 UTC

  Federal Reserve pledges to be 'patient' on raising interest rates from record lows

  

  The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday after a two-day meeting reiterated its pledge to be patient and hold off on raising interest rates from the record low levels they’ve been at for the last six years. The Fed also pointed out it was watching “international developments” closely.

• Thursday, January 29th 2015 - 07:55 UTC

  UK economy expanded 2.6% in 2014, the fastest since 2007

  

  The UK's economy grew by 2.6% last year, the fastest pace since 2007 and up from 1.7% in 2013, official figures have from the Office of National Statistics, ONS, have shown. The economy expanded 0.5% in the last quarter of 2014, which was a slowdown from the 0.7% of the previous three months.

• Thursday, January 29th 2015 - 07:38 UTC

  YPF and China's Sinopec sign memorandum to develop shale oil and gas in Patagonia

  

  Argentine state-controlled energy company YPF said it signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday with China's Sinopec pertaining to the eventual development of conventional and non-conventional oil and gas projects in Patagonia.

• Thursday, January 29th 2015 - 07:23 UTC

  Petrobras releases long delayed 3Q results but did not include reserves for corruption scandal

  

  Brazil’s embattled Petrobras released its long delayed third quarter results Wednesday but did not include any reserves tied to an ongoing corruption scandal that has already landed three former executives in jail. The company recorded a third quarter 2014 net profit of 1.18 billion dollars, down from 1.32 billion during the same period last year.

• Thursday, January 29th 2015 - 07:17 UTC

  Consumer confidence in Brazil drops in January to its lowest

  

  The reading of consumer confidence dropped in Brazil in January--to its lowest level ever--as the country's economy struggled. Brazil's main consumer-confidence index was at 89.8 points in January, down from 96.2 points in December, the Getulio Vargas Foundation, or FGV, said earlier this week.

• Thursday, January 29th 2015 - 06:32 UTC

  Raul Castro demands the return of Guantanamo and compensation for US trade embargo

  

  Cuban President Raul Castro demanded on Wednesday that the United States return the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, lift the half-century trade embargo on Cuba and compensate his country for damages before the two nations re-establish normal relations.

• Wednesday, January 28th 2015 - 07:21 UTC

  US moves into the Caribbean to replace Venezuela as cheap gas supplier

  

  The United States Monday rolled out a new initiative for Caribbean countries to ensure energy security in a move widely seen as distancing the Caribbean from Venezuela for their oil and energy needs.

• Tuesday, January 27th 2015 - 06:50 UTC

  Oil Prices Changing The Face Of Global Geopolitics

  

  In a documentary that aired recently on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's popular The Fifth Estate program, an allegory of Vladimir Putin was presented. The wily Russian president was described growing up in a shabby St. Petersburg apartment, where he would often corner rats.