ALL RECENT AP STORIES

The approach of a new decade means a chance for a fresh start with your financial habits. Maybe your loved ones could use a nudge in that direction, too.

Either way, it's time to cast out any idea that books about money have to be boring. There's an abundance of well-written, even entertaining books on the market that could make savvy holiday gifts for either the personal finance nerd in your life or that special someone who could benefit from good information.

What follows is a sampler

Sina Corp., an operator of Chinese language Web sites, said Friday it has completed the sale of 5.6 million shares for $180 million to a Virgin Islands holding company.

New-Wave Investment Holding Co. Ltd., a British Virgin Islands company, was established and is controlled by Charles Chao, Sina's president and CEO, and other members of Sina's management.

Sina, based in Shanghai, said it will use the proceeds for acquisitions and general corporate purposes.

Under the terms of

Stocks skidded Friday as concern swept world markets that financial trouble in the Middle Eastern city-state of Dubai will upend a global economic recovery.

Major stock indexes fell more than 1 percent from 13-month highs, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which is down 125 points in a shortened trading day.

Stocks pulled off their worst levels, but five stocks still fell for every one that rose at the New York Stock Exchange and all 30 stocks that make up the Dow slid.

Trading

As shoppers around the nation crowded stores and malls in the wee hours Friday to grab discounts and hard-to-find items, early reports pointed to some renewed spending vigor.

The nation's retailers ushered in the traditional start of the holiday shopping season with expanded hours and deep discounts on everything from toys to TVs in hopes of getting consumers, many of whom have slashed spending to focus on basics amid high unemployment and tight credit, to open their wallets.

Online

Food banks across the country are undergoing a high-tech revolution, adopting sophisticated databases, bar coding, GPS tracking, automated warehouses and other technologies used in the food industry that increasingly supplies their goods.

It's a long way from handing out macaroni and canned soup from a church basement.

While more people can be fed through these innovations, food bank directors say it's also a sad acknowledgment that hunger has become a huge and seemingly unending

General Motors Co.'s top European official said Friday that a plan for Opel to be unveiled next month will include a schedule to lauch new models and a financial break-even target.

Nick Reilly's comments in an official GM blog came as the U.S. automaker finalizes its restructuring plan for Opel and British sister brand Vauxhall, a program it has said will result in about 9,000 job cuts across the continent.

"We have developed a sustainable plan for the future, including a break-even

Shoppers in North Dakota turned out in force on Black Friday, lending support to a prediction by the head of the state's Retail Association that holiday sales will be up, bucking the national trend.

Association President Mike Rud said he expects holiday sales in North Dakota to be up 1 to 2 percent over last year, compared with a predicted 1 percent drop nationally. North Dakota has not been hit as hard by the economic recession as other parts of the country.

"Consumer confidence

The Supreme Court of Canada said Friday that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was entitled to close a store in Quebec in 2005, seven months after workers voted to become the first Wal-Mart in North America to unionize.

The highest court in Canada ruled in a 6-3 margin that the multinational had the right to shut down the outlet north of Quebec City and lay off 190 employees.

Justice Ian Binnie spoke for the majority, saying that courts must be prepared to search out "anti-union animus" in cases

Cobalt International Energy Inc., an oil exploration and production company, said Friday it is seeking to raise about $955 million in an initial public offering in the next month.

The Houston company said in its prospectus it expects to price the sale of 63 million shares at $15 to 17 per share. After deducting estimated offering expenses, underwriting discounts and commissions, Cobalt said it expects to raise about $955 million, assuming the offering is priced at $16 per share.

If

Sprint Nextel Corp. has taken another step toward acquiring wireless affiliate iPCS Inc.

The Overland Park-based carrier said Friday that more than 12 million iPCS shares, or a majority of the outstanding stock, had been tendered or promised by the tender offer's Wednesday deadline. Under the deal, iPCS shareholders will receive $24 per share.

Sprint said it will be able to acquire the remaining shares of iPCS by Dec. 7 without a vote of the affiliate's shareholders. The total deal

Holiday shoppers across the state came out in droves on Black Friday, including an unruly crowd at a toy store that drew 20 police officers and delayed the midnight opening by nearly an hour.

Manchester police told the Journal Inquirer that nearly 1,000 people waited hours to get into Toys R Us. A riot nearly developed when the store was preparing to open at midnight Thursday, police said, and a large group of people tried to bypass others in line to get inside.

The store opened at

The holidays may be starting to crowd your to-do list, but one thing you shouldn't let get buried under the tinsel is your health insurance coverage.

Open enrollment period, the annual window when people get to update their health insurance choices, is winding down. The opportunity to change coverage under some employer- and union-sponsored plans has already passed, but many will continue to accept updates for a few more weeks. Medicare participants have until the end of the year to choose

An environmental group says the Hudson Bergen Light Rail is saving commuters millions of gallons of gasoline.

A report released by Environment New Jersey this week says ridership on the northern New Jersey rail line increased more than 13 percent to nearly 16 million riders in 2008.

In contrast, national light rail ridership increased about 8 percent nationally during the same period.

The report says use of the Hudson Bergen line saved commuters 3.4 million gallons of gasoline

The Arizona Supreme Court is being asked to overturn the Legislature's use of budget laws to set state policy on topics ranging from teachers' seniority rights and immigration enforcement to mortgage lawsuits and municipal building codes.

A teachers union and other groups contend in recent lawsuits that lawmakers crossed the state Constitution's rules for lawmaking, including ones intended to have legislation considered on its own merits and in the light of day.

Lawsuits filed by

Airline shares fell with the broader market on Friday, even though airline investors got something that would usually count as good news _ falling oil prices.

The Amex airline index fell 1.9 percent, with all 13 of its components trading down.

Broader markets fell after Dubai asked for an extra six months to pay $60 billowed owed to its creditors.

Crude oil fell $3.23 to $74.73 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Delta Air Lines Inc. was down 18 cents, or 2.3 percent,

An approaching global climate summit has raised the temperature at what is usually a low-key meeting of leaders from Britain's former colonial empire.

The Commonwealth heads of government, meeting in the Caribbean Friday, are discussing climate change just before a major summit on the issue in Copenhagen. Leaders of the 53-nation group, whose profile has waned in recent years, say they now have a chance to influence the global debate.

"What we can do is to raise our voices politically,"

Agriculture futures fell early Friday on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Wheat for March delivery dropped 10.5 cents to $5.61 a bushel; March corn shed 7.5 cents to $4.005 a bushel; March oats tumbled 6.75 cents to $2.6475 a bushel; and January soybeans slumped 14.5 cents to $10.40 a bushel.

Meanwhile, beef and pork futures also fell on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

February live cattle dipped 0.25 cent to 85.50 cents a pound; January feeder cattle dropped 0.43 cent to 92.87

Prentice Jones worked construction jobs around Chicago for most of his 60 years and is quick to boast of a foreman job he once held at a revamped city college and 23 years at a steel company.

But these days, work has been so scarce that the man with a penchant for cowboy hats has been forced to move in with his mother and do something this week he never expected _ visit a food pantry.

"There's no work now," Jones said while waiting in line at St. Columbanus Parish for a frozen turkey

Headset maker Plantronics Inc. said Friday it will repurchase up to 1 million shares.

Barbara Scherer, senior vice president and CFO, said Plantronics has repurchased more than 21 million shares since fiscal 1997, and the company's future cash flows will provide enough liquidity to buy back another 1 million shares.

The Santa Cruz, Calif., company said it will occasionally buy shares of its common stock, depending upon market conditions, in the open market or in privately negotiated

A Minnesota Indian community with a nuclear power plant as its neighbor is holding a rally to voice opposition to a utility's expansion plans there.

Friday's rally by the Prairie Island Indian Community is the latest step it has taken to sound off against Xcel Energy Inc.'s plans for the Red Wing plant.

The utility plans to spend $600 million to upgrade the plant so it can handle higher pressure and temperatures that could add 164 megawatts to its output. Regulators have also signed

The Kansas Lottery will take steps next week to bring two casinos online in the state.

The lottery's Gaming Facility Review Board is meeting in Topeka on Tuesday and Wednesday to hear proposals for building and managing two state-owned casinos in the northeast and south-central regions.

The Kansas City proposal calls for a $521 million project overlooking Kansas Speedway. It's being pushed by the speedway's parent firm, International Speedway Corp., and Penn National Gaming Inc.,

Debt-burdened Dubai insisted that it took into account market fallout from its appeal to delay paying creditors, but offered no specifics and did little to ease worries that dragged down global markets for a second day Friday.

Sheik Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the chairman of Dubai's Supreme Fiscal Committee, stressed that the call to defer for at least six months at least some of $60 billion owed to creditors by Dubai World, the emirate's chief investment arm, was "carefully planned" and

Tourists traveling the vast expanse of tribal lands in northern Arizona soon will have a venue to learn about the culture of one of the oldest indigenous tribes in America.

A $13 million hotel and conference center billed as the western gateway to the Hopi reservation is set to open late this year, where entertainment, lectures and demonstrations will provide non-Hopis with an insight into the tribe's culture and traditions.

The Moenkopi Legacy Inn & Suites, only the second hotel

Spanish wind turbine maker Gamesa is laying off nearly 150 people from a western Pennsylvania plant.

The layoffs reduce the work force by more than half at Gamesa's plant in Ebensburg, about 70 miles east of Pittsburgh. The layoffs will be effective January 1.

Company officials said Wednesday that a total of 141 people are being laid off. Seventy-nine will be furloughed temporarily and more than 60 could be offered buyouts or jobs in other parts of the company.

Gamesa spokesman

A New Mexico State University researcher is using tree planting to help arid, impoverished regions in the Four Corners region and Africa.

Mick O'Neill, the superintendent of New Mexico State University's Agricultural Science Center in Farmington, researched hybrid poplar trees to see which clones will grow best using drip irrigation in the arid region. The Navajo Agriculture Product Industry is working with him to evaluate whether poplar production can be a viable agroforestry crop for

A group that funds developers of North Dakota farm products is giving money to four projects.

The quarterly grants from the Agricultural Products Utilization Commission, a state Commerce Department program better known as APUC, total nearly $213,000.

The largest grant, $100,000, is going to Otoka Spiritwood LLC for a business plan and feasibility study for a cellulosic biomass refinery in the Spiritwood Industrial Park.

North Dakota State University is getting about $57,000

A new New York law seeks to protect consumers by regulating "life settlements," in which the elderly sell their life insurance for far more than the value upon cancellation to get cash, often to stave off hard times.

"It's a billion dollar unregulated market," said Sen. Neil Breslin, an Albany County Democrat who sponsored the bill. "This legislation contains numerous disclosure and consumer protection provisions which will help to ensure that an owner considering selling his or her policy

A lawyer for the owner of a closed mortgage company being investigated by the state says his client is back in New Hampshire.

Company owner Scott Farah, Financial Resources Mortgage and its partners are at the center of an FBI and state investigation after the company closed suddenly this month.

Since then, dozens of investors and borrowers have claimed that Farah and Donald Dodge are holding at least $23 million in investments.

This week, a U.S. bankruptcy court judge granted

While the U.S. Senate considers a climate bill aiming to dramatically slash air pollution linked to global warming, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and other Republican leaders in the state that leads the nation in greenhouse gas production are watching closely _ and objecting loudly.

Perry, backed by powerful business and industry groups, for months has been denouncing the measure, saying it would cripple the vibrant Texas economy and the heavy-polluting oil, gas and chemical industries it depends

A Fargo company is seeking investors for a plant in northwestern North Dakota that would make diesel fuel to help run drilling rigs in the state's oil patch, but one oil industry official said it might be a risky business.

Mike Wavra, president of Dakota Oil Processing LLC, said his company wants to build the plant near Trenton, a town of about 100 people a few miles southwest of Williston. It would cost at least $180 million and provide more than 50 jobs in the area, he said.

The

Prentice Jones worked construction jobs around Chicago for most of his 60 years and is quick to boast of a foreman job he once held at a revamped city college and 23 years at a steel company.

But these days, work has been so scarce that the man with a penchant for cowboy hats has been forced to move in with his mother and do something this week he never expected _ visit a food pantry.

"There's no work now," Jones said while waiting in line at St. Columbanus Parish for a frozen turkey

With Idaho officials trying to plug holes in the state budget, most lawmakers aren't thinking transportation funding as the 2010 Legislature nears.

But Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter is doing his best to steer at least some of the conversation back to highways.

He's organized a third meeting of the Governor's Task Force on Modernizing Transportation Funding for Dec. 2 in Boise.

There, transportation experts plan to discuss how other states are modifying their approach to funding road

It takes Sgt. Charles Denault barely two minutes to spot a dozen cars with out-of-state license plates parked in driveways and outside houses and apartments.

Driving his cruiser along this streets of coastal Kittery, Denault is on the lookout for vehicles registered in other states _ especially New Hampshire _ but owned by people who live in Maine.

"They're everywhere," Denault said as he points out car after car with New Hampshire plates. "It's like dandelions that keep popping

An improved 2010 revenue forecast prompted an analyst to slightly increase his profit estimate for Deere & Co. Friday, although he warned that the farm equipment manufacturer could be hurt by reduced demand and the weak dollar.

R.W. Baird analyst Robert F. McCarthy Jr. increased his price target for the Moline, Ill., company to $53 from $44.

He raised his fiscal 2010 estimate to $2 per share from $1.95, "largely reflecting a more robust revenue forecast" and expectations for modestly

Beneath the cold ocean waters off the coast of Maine, the nation's lobster breadbasket, lie hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of old wire lobster "ghost traps." Lost over the years to storms, boats _ even the knives of fishermen who've cut them from their buoys to settle scores _ many of the traps continue catching lobsters.

Marine biologists say lost and abandoned lobster, crab and other fish traps plague coastal waters around the globe, putting pressure on a number of already-stressed

Arizona legislators responded quickly last June when bankers complained that investor-builders were abusing a post-foreclosure protection intended for homeowners.

Within 23 days, a bill to give lenders more leeway to sue former owners of foreclosed properties had been proposed, considered and approved by the Legislature.

But after hearing complaints about unintended consequences and a lawsuit, lawmakers beat a retreat: They repealed the changes they'd made to the law that generally

They're getting nervous in Mayfair and Belgravia, London's hedge fund heartlands.

Luxury car dealerships, designer boutiques and high-end restaurants have thrived on money from the unregulated investment funds whose discreet offices sit behind the solid wooden doors of those neighborhoods' elegant Georgian buildings.

But now some funds are considering swapping London for the less-regulated alpine air of Switzerland or the emerging markets of Asia as the European Union tightens oversight

Gert Ignatiussen returns to this fjord-front Inuit town with the spoils of his hunting trip. Six seals, all killed with a single shot to the head.

With nimble handwork, his wife Bartholine cuts them up on the porch of their wood-frame home, saving the best meat for dinner. Ignatiussen throws leftover chunks of flesh and intestines to the yelping sled dogs fettered on a dusty slope below the house.

The blood-drenched scene offers a glimpse into Greenland's past _ a time not long ago

New York's apple orchards are being carpeted with red as unpicked apples drop to the ground.

With the best of the crop off to market, growers say this year it's cheaper to leave leftovers on the trees than to pick and sell them for juice.

While that's happened before, it's a far cry from last year when growers stripped branches bare and collected top dollar.

"There wasn't an apple left in western New York last year," said Bruce Kirby, who runs a small orchard in Orleans County.

Even

The bluish haze that has hung over the Third Street Diner's bar and booths for decades finally lifts next month as a new anti-smoking law takes hold in Virginia, a huge shift for a state whose tobacco habit dates to the Jamestown settlement some 400 years ago.

Starting Dec. 1, Virginia will join dozens of other states that ban smoking in restaurants. Restaurants in Virginia will be allowed to have a smoking area only if they segregate smokers into rooms with ventilation systems separate

An audience member at "The Jay Leno Show" is especially grateful this Thanksgiving. He won a new car.

Air Force Capt. Tung Ngo (TUNG' noh) was in the audience filled with men and women of the U.S. military when Leno called his name during Thursday's special holiday program. It was taped at NBC studios in Burbank, Calif., just hours before airtime.

Ngo won a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid. He told Leno he was glad to get an upgrade from the 12-year-old car he drives.

The Lincoln, Neb.,

Brazil's president said that "gringos" should pay Amazon nations to prevent deforestation, insisting rich Western nations have caused much more past environmental destruction than the loggers and farmers who cut and burn trees in the world's largest tropical rain forest.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva made the comments Thursday just before an Amazon summit in which delegates signed a declaration calling for financial help from the industrial world to halt the deforestation that causes

Edward Stimpson, an aviation advocate who pushed to rejuvenate struggling small aircraft manufacturers in the 1990s by limiting lawsuits against them, has died after a five-month illness. He was 75.

He died Wednesday from complications related to lung cancer, though he wasn't a smoker, said his sister, Catharine Stimpson.

Stimpson, president of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association for 25 years, was a major proponent of legislation signed by President Bill Clinton in 1994

Canada's prime minister is reversing his position and will attend a United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen next month, Stephen Harper's spokesman said.

Dimitri Soudas announced Thursday that Harper decided to attend one day after U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao announced their attendance at the U.N. talks. Soudas said Harper's decision was based on the fact that now "a critical mass of world leaders will be attending."

Soudas did not indicate

John and Donna Pringle were newly widowed when they fell in love and decided to slip into retirement together at a sprawling community being built for the 55-and-up crowd a few miles from their homes in this sun-bleached Southern California town.

The Peppertree subdivision promised an expansive swimming pool where visiting grandchildren could splash and swim, a gym stocked with exercise equipment and hundreds of similarly aged neighbors.

But when Peppertree's builder abandoned

Economic conditions in the 16 countries that use the euro improved further in November amid mounting optimism in the industrial sector, figures from the European Commission showed Friday.

In its monthly assessment of economic conditions, the Commission said its main economic sentiment indicator for the eurozone rose for the eighth month running to a 14-month high of 88.8 points, up 2.7 points from the previous month.

The increase was bigger than anticipated _ analysts were expecting

Japanese flocked to a large gymnasium in central Tokyo in recent weeks to see what for them was an unusual sight: senior bureaucrats being grilled over their budget requests for next year.

"Why is it just the Defense Ministry that is asking for a staff increase?" asked a particularly combative lawmaker, Renho, who goes by only one name. Later she demanded, "Could you give me a more compelling explanation please?"

In a major break with the past, new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has

Japan got word Friday that prices fell again in October, just as a surging yen threatens to worsen the deflation that is undermining the country's fragile economy.

The core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food, retreated at a near-record pace of 2.2 percent from a year earlier, the government said. Prices have now fallen for eight straight months _ a trend that the government highlighted last week for the first time in three years.

The news came amid heightened

Chinese leaders pledged Friday to stick to stimulus spending and easy credit to support growth next year, making clear their unease about the stability of China's nascent recovery from the global crisis.

Ending a closely watched annual planning meeting, the Communist Party leadership gave no sign it planned an early exit from the stimulus despite a recent upturn in growth. But it said stimulus efforts will shift emphasis from state-led investment to encouraging more consumer spending and

Honda Motor Co. set record production in Asia and China in October for the second straight month, leading a gradual and spotty recovery at Japanese automakers.

Honda, Japan's second biggest automaker, which has been relatively more resilient than some domestic rivals, reported Friday a 22.5 percent jump in October vehicle production in Asia at 86,070 vehicles, compared to the same month the previous year.

Worldwide production last month for the maker of the Odyssey minivan and Fit

Germany's Volkswagen AG on Friday announced plans to invest euro2.3 billion ($3.5 billion) in Brazil and said it hopes to be building a million vehicles a year in the country by 2014.

Volkswagen said the planned investment through 2014 is aimed at increasing production capacity and developing new models. It expects to produce some 800,000 vehicles in the South American country this year.

VW, based in Wolfsburg and Europe's biggest auto maker, said it will expand production capacity

The nation's retailers are ushering in the traditional start of the holiday shopping season with expanded hours and deep discounts on everything from toys to TVs to lure crowds of shoppers.

A number of stores, including Walmart and many Old Navy locations, opened on Thanksgiving, hoping to make the most of the extra hours. Toys R Us opened most of its stores at midnight Friday.

Online sellers also pushed to grab a piece of the action, pushing deals on Thursday and even earlier in

Asian stock markets tumbled Friday as the dollar continued its slide against the Japanese yen and worries over losses from Dubai's debt problems unnerved investors worldwide.

It was the region's second day of losses and followed a rout in European markets. Oil, meanwhile, dived below $76 a barrel.

Investors cut back their riskier bets on equities and commodities after Dubai World, the emirate's main development engine, announced it was asking creditors to delay paying back its $60

Oil prices sank below $76 a barrel Friday in Asia as investors curtailed their risky bets on commodities amid uncertainty about the global fallout from Dubai's financial troubles.

Benchmark crude for January delivery was down $2.09 to $75.87 at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, extending losses from European trade. Trading in the U.S. was closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Just a year after the global downturn derailed Dubai's

Just a year after the global downturn derailed Dubai's explosive growth, the city is now so swamped in debt that it's asking for a six-month reprieve on paying its bills _ causing a drop on world markets Thursday and raising questions about Dubai's reputation as a magnet for international investment.

The fallout came swiftly and was felt globally after Wednesday statement that Dubai's main development engine, Dubai World, would ask creditors for a "standstill" on paying back its $60 billion

Beyond the noisy town hall meetings, Tea Party protests and sky-is-falling speeches characterizing much of the health care debate is a less visible, but no less intense push to broaden the face of the immigration reform movement.

With the 2010 election year looming, Democrat Barack Obama in the White House and increasing numbers of Asian-American and Pacific Islanders in Congress, many groups, including the NAACP, are working harder in the traditionally Latino-led movement, sensing a fresh

President Barack Obama's top aides met frequently with lobbyists and health care industry heavyweights as his administration pieced together a national health care overhaul, according to White House visitor records obtained by The Associated Press.

The records, obtained Wednesday, disclose visits by a broad cross-section of the people most involved in the health care debate, weighted heavily toward those who want to overhaul the system.

The list includes George Halvorson, chairman

While the U.S. Senate considers a climate bill aiming to dramatically slash air pollution linked to global warming, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and other Republican leaders in the state that leads the nation in greenhouse gas production are watching closely _ and objecting loudly.

Perry, backed by powerful business and industry groups, for months has been denouncing the measure, saying it would cripple the vibrant Texas economy and the heavy-polluting oil, gas and chemical industries it depends

When Lori Fowlkes first saw robotic Zhu Zhu Pets toy hamsters in September, she remembers her kids started jumping up and down and saying "Please! Please! Can we buy them?"

Seeing a fully stocked shelf, she decided to hold off until Christmas.

That was "before I knew that the hamsters would soon be off the shelves and more scarce than an H1N1 vaccine," said Fowlkes, 32.

Now she can't find them anywhere.

Zhu Zhu Pets, which retail for about $10, are this year's bona fide

President Barack Obama and a top House Republican acknowledged in holiday messages Thursday the economic struggles facing Americans this Thanksgiving but offered starkly different recipes for relief.

Obama and Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., singled out U.S. service members at home and abroad for special thanks before saying what they think should be done to fix the economy.

"As much as we all have to be thankful for, we also know that this year millions of Americans are facing very difficult

RedPrairie Holding Inc., a business software provider, said Thursday it filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering.

The number of shares to be offered by the company has not yet been determined. Current stockholders will sell some shares, too. The underwriters will have an option to buy additional shares.

RedPrairie, based in Milwaukee, sells software to help companies manage their inventory, transportation and work force.

Bank

China's stimulus spending has fueled massive overexpansion in industrial capacity that could drive a surge in low-priced exports amid weak global demand, possibly igniting a protectionist backlash abroad, a European business group warned Thursday.

Industries including steel, cement and plastics are "still blindly expanding" despite the worst global slump since the 1930s, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China said in a report.

Investment in the first half jumped 40 percent

There's still family, turkey and football, but one Thanksgiving tradition is taking a hit this year. Millions of Americans are spending the holiday at home, saying the poor economy has made it unaffordable to hit the road or board a plane.

"It's too expensive," said Benita Hall, 24, a nurse's aide who can't afford to travel from Cincinnati to Atlanta to see her mother and siblings. "It's depressing because you want to be with your family for the holidays."

Nearly 38 million people

A third to a half of the Sony Corp. TV sets sold annually will be packed with 3-D features by the year ending March 2013, a senior executive said Thursday.

But Sony Executive Deputy President Hiroshi Yoshioka acknowledged that what Sony may really need for its money-losing TV business is its own display technology and the ability to make its own TV displays.

Sony has fallen behind in flat-panel TV technology to rivals like Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea.

Yoshioka acknowledged

European Union antitrust regulators have charged Royal Philips Electronics NV and others with running a cartel to fix the price of cathode ray tubes used in televisions and computer monitors, the EU executive and Philips said Thursday.

The European Commission did not name any of the companies it had charged. It said companies can defend themselves in writing and at an oral hearing before it decides to levy fines which can run as high as up to 10 percent of annual global turnover for each

Taiwan's economy contracted at a slower pace year-on-year in the third quarter and the government raised its growth forecast for 2010 as rising demand from mainland China spurs a recovery.

The island's gross domestic product shrank a smaller-than-forecast 1.3 percent from a year earlier in the July-September period, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting, and Statistics said Thursday. It shriveled 6.9 percent in the previous quarter and 9.1 percent in the first quarter.

Slumping

Toyota is slashing bonus pay for managers as the Japanese automaker tackles a massive recall in the U.S. and deep losses for the second straight fiscal year.

Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday winter bonus payments for 8,700 managers in Japan will be cut by 20 percent.

Japanese workers at major companies such as Toyota get twice-a-year bonus pay in addition to their monthly salaries which reflects the company's performance.

Toyota announced in the U.S. on Wednesday a massive recall

The dollar tumbled to 14-year low against the Japanese yen Thursday after indications U.S. interest rates will remain low and that the Federal Reserve isn't overly concerned about the dollar's slide.

The dollar sank to 86.51 yen in Tokyo trading, the lowest since July 1995.

Analysts said some investors were selling the dollar to buy gold, which surged to another record Thursday.

Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said Japan "will take appropriate steps if foreign exchange rates

There's still family, turkey and football, but one Thanksgiving tradition is taking a hit this year. Millions of Americans are spending the holiday at home, saying the poor economy has made it unaffordable to hit the road or board a plane.

"It's too expensive," said Benita Hall, 24, a nurse's aide who can't afford to travel from Cincinnati to Atlanta to see her mother and siblings. "It's depressing because you want to be with your family for the holidays."

Nearly 38 million people

President Barack Obama's top aides met frequently with lobbyists and health care industry heavyweights as his administration pieced together a national health care overhaul, according to White House visitor records obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.

The records disclose visits by a broad cross-section of the people most involved in the health care debate, weighted heavily toward those who want to overhaul the system.

The list includes George Halvorson, chairman and CEO of

Putting his prestige on the line, President Barack Obama will personally commit the U.S. to a goal of substantially cutting greenhouse gases at next month's Copenhagen climate summit. He will insist America is ready to tackle global warming despite resistance in Congress over higher costs for businesses and homeowners.

Obama will attend the start of the conference Dec. 9 before heading to Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. He will "put on the table" a U.S. commitment to cut emissions

A Dallas bank that was once allied with Donald Trump in a bid to buy the three Atlantic City Trump casinos out of bankruptcy protection now wants to buy them on its own.

Beal Bank offered Wednesday to convert its $486 million loan to the casinos into equity in Trump Entertainment Resorts.

The move came a week after Donald and Ivanka Trump, who made a joint bid earlier this year with Beal to buy the company, withdrew their support for that deal and instead backed a bid by bondholders

Freedom Communications said Wednesday that it has finalized an agreement to sell the East Valley Tribune in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa to a company that owns free papers in Tucson, Ariz., and Telluride, Colo.

The deal between Irvine, Calif.-based Freedom and Boulder, Colo.-based Thirteenth Street Media still needs approval of a bankruptcy judge. Freedom put the Tribune up for sale shortly after the company filed for bankruptcy protection in September and said earlier this month it couldn't

In a Nov. 24 story about Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC buying back auction rate securities from investors, The Associated Press, relying on information from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, reported erroneously how much the company was buying back. It has agreed to buy back up to $17.2 million from Colorado individual investors, charities, and small- and medium-sized businesses, not $79.4 million. The story also misstated how much auction rate securities the company has bought

A drop in unemployment claims and a rise in home sales pulled the stock market higher in light trading ahead of Thanksgiving.

Modest gains Wednesday left the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 index at 13-month highs.

The economic news, as well as a drop in the dollar, stoked investors' appetite for higher-returning but riskier investments like stocks. For months, investors have been weighing their desire for bigger returns with fears that the stock market

Global Defense Technology & Systems Inc. said Wednesday that it closed its initial public offering of 4.6 million common shares, which were priced at $13 apiece and yielded $36.3 million in net proceeds.

The company, which offers IT and engineering services to U.S. defense and intelligence agencies, sold 3 million shares and stockholders sold 1.6 million shares.

The offering was made through an underwriting syndicate headed by Cowen and Co., which was the book-running manager.

Deutsche Bank AG and a BNP Paribas unit sued Bank of America NA on Wednesday over allegations the bank failed to pay back $1.73 billion in secured notes.

The two sued for breach of contract.

Deutsche Bank said Bank of America failed to secure $1.25 billion in cash and mortgage loans on its behalf. BNP Paribas said the bank was supposed to hold cash and mortgage loans to secure $480.7 million in oustanding notes.

The notes were issued by a special-purpose entity, Ocala Funding

TUESDAY, Dec. 1

NEW YORK _ The Institute for Supply Management releases its manufacturing index for November, 10 a.m.

WASHINGTON _ National Association of Realtors releases pending home sales index for October, 10 a.m; Commerce Department releases construction spending for October, 10 a.m.

DETROIT _ Major automakers report U.S. auto sales for November.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. _ Staples Inc. reports third-quarter financial results.

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 2

WASHINGTON _ Federal

SUNDAY, Nov. 29

Date several airlines will add 10-dollar surcharges on most of their tickets.

TUESDAY, Dec. 1

NEW YORK _ The Institute for Supply Management releases its manufacturing index for November, 10 a.m.

WASHINGTON _ National Association of Realtors releases pending home sales index for October, 10 a.m; Commerce Department releases construction spending for October, 10 a.m.

DETROIT _ Major automakers report U.S. auto sales for November.

FRAMINGHAM,

___

Good news raises hopes recovery won't fizzle

WASHINGTON (AP) _ A flurry of good news this week _ including falling jobless claims, stronger consumer spending and higher new-home sales _ suggests the economic rebound, modest though it is, might be here to stay.

The number of newly laid-off workers filing applications for unemployment aid fell by 35,000 last week to 466,000, the Labor Department said _ the fewest new filings since September of last year.

Another report

A drop in unemployment claims and a rise in home sales pulled the stock market higher in light trading ahead of Thanksgiving. Modest gains Wednesday left the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 index at 13-month highs. The economic news, as well as a drop in the dollar, stoked investors' appetite for higher-returning but riskier investments like stocks. For months, investors have been weighing their desire for bigger returns with fears that the stock market will falter

A flurry of good news this week _ including falling jobless claims, stronger consumer spending and higher new-home sales _ suggests the economic rebound, modest though it is, might just be here to stay.

While analysts caution that the recovery will be too sluggish to stop the unemployment rate from rising, the reports are at least encouraging enough to calm fears of a dreaded "double-dip" recession.

"This recovery continues to trudge ahead," said economist Ken Mayland, president of

Total money market mutual fund assets fell $7.82 billion to $3.330 trillion for the week, the Investment Company Institute said Wednesday.

Assets of the nation's retail money market mutual funds fell $5.39 billion in the latest week to $1.082 trillion.

Assets of taxable money market funds in the retail category fell $3.8 billion to $845.7 billion for the week ended Tuesday, the Washington-based mutual fund trade group said. Retail tax-exempt fund assets fell $1.59 billion to $236.72

Key barometers in the Treasury market late Wednesday, compared with late Tuesday. Price changes in the 10-year note and 30-year bond are per $1,000 invested: 10-year bond 2.50 3.44 30-year bond 1.88 2.50 ___ Yield Pvs Session 1-month bill 0.05 0.05 3-month bill 0.03 0.03 6-month bill 0.13 0.13 2-year note 0.75 0.74 5-year note 2.11 2.10 10-year note 3.28 3.31 30-year...

The Obama administration pushed back Wednesday against claims that it's not doing enough to slow the growth of health care costs, a topic senators will debate heavily in coming weeks.

White House budget director Peter Orszag cited economists and analysts who say a pending Senate bill would take several steps in that direction. And Orszag left no doubt that the administration supports a provision disliked by many House Democrats, union activists and others: a new tax on generous health insurance

A federal probe of tainted Chinese drywall has broadened because a small number of homeowners are reporting that American-made drywall is causing some of the same problems: a sickening, sulfurous stench and corroded pipes and wiring.

"We are not limited in the scope of our investigation to just Chinese drywall," said Scott Wolfson, spokesman for the Consumer Products Safety Commission, which is conducting the largest investigation in its history after thousands of homeowners complained

The nation's largest funeral services company has resolved antitrust issues with the Nevada state attorney general and plans to proceed with the purchase of a large Las Vegas-area mortuary business, officials said Wednesday.

Service Corp. International of Houston agreed to sell assets, including one Las Vegas-based mortuary company, in order to acquire the biggest southern Nevada funeral services firm, Palm Mortuary Inc., according to company and state attorney general's representatives.

Attorney

Alcohol abuse cost New Mexico 993 lives and nearly $2.5 billion in 2006 in lost productivity, health care expenses and costs associated with property loss from crashes and fires, a new report shows.

The report, released Tuesday by the state Health Department, showed costs associated with alcohol abuse averaged $1.25 per New Mexican and were 26 times higher than the $97 million in tax revenue collected from alcohol sales.

The report covers 2006, the latest year for which data are available,

Strong overseas sales and cost-cutting kept a decline in Tiffany & Co.'s third-quarter profit to a bare minimum, causing the luxury jeweler to raise its full-year profit outlook heading into the crucial holiday season.

The luxury sector has seen sales drop sharply during the recession, but Tiffany's results signal that the high end is on the mend, said Edward Jones analyst Matt Arnold.

"The main thing that sticks out to me is that trends continue to improve, and this should persist

Otter Tail Power Co.'s North Dakota customers will be paying slightly lower rates under a settlement of an electric rate case.

The utility's 57,000 North Dakota electric customers also will be getting a small refund, with interest, for overpaying their electric bills during the past year.

An average residential customer using about 836 kilowatt hours of power each month will get a bill credit of about $6 within the next three months.

North Dakota's Public Service Commission

The state of North Carolina has hired a California company to create an archive system designed to manage and retrieve state employee e-mails more easily.

Gov. Beverly Perdue said Wednesday the state awarded Mimosa Systems a contract to develop the archive software and maintain it for a year at a cost of $695,000.

Perdue and former Gov. Mike Easley issued executive orders directing the state to buy an archive system so messages won't have to be stored on backup tapes. Easley's executive

As stores prepare for hordes of Black Friday shoppers and mark down high-definition TVs and hot toys, they're also pushing deals on something more mundane _ necessities like socks and diapers.

Toys R Us, Walmart and clothing stores in malls are responding to tough economic times by luring people who are making it a more practical holiday this year.

What should shoppers expect? Fewer sumptuous sweaters, $200 robotic toys and other flashy items. Everyday items like flannel shirts, blankets

Massachusetts Democratic Senate hopeful Stephen Pagliuca has spent $5.4 million of his own money in his bid for the seat once held by the late Edward Kennedy.

The multimillionaire and Boston Celtics co-owner used his personal fortune to buy a slew of television and Internet ads. He's raised another $560,000 in contributions.

The total reflects what Pagliuca loaned his campaign as of Nov. 18. The primaries are Dec. 8.

A campaign spokesman said the tight election schedule left

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co. said Wednesday its shareholders did not support a proposal to dissolve the company, and it will consider other options.

La Jolla said it is evaluating its options and will announce future plans after it determines the best way to obtain value for its shareholders.

The company proposed its dissolution in October, but has been unable to get a majority of shareholders to support the idea. It convened several shareholder meetings in November to try to gather

Silicon wafer manufacturer MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. amended its revolving credit agreement last week, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday.

MEMC said some parts of the agreement were changed because of its purchase of SunEdison LLC, which is North America's largest solar energy services provider, this month. MEMC paid $200 million in cash and stock for the company.

MEMC also switched to using PNC Bank, National Association from National City Bank as its lender for the

Vermont food shelves met the increasing demand for help _ barely _ but they remain concerned about helping those needing Christmas time help in a state ranked among the nation's hungriest.

"We have been experiencing very high demand," said Paul Denton, executive director of the Northeast Kingdom Community Action Agency. "A lot of it is folks we haven't seen before ... Can we meet it? It's hard to answer that question."

Just last week, the food shelf in Newport ran out of turkeys for

Sneak previews of upcoming blockbusters. Snappy reminders to buy popcorn, and turn off all cell phones and pagers.

Movie theater audiences can now add another item to the list of things to expect before the film actually begins: Federal Reserve advice about credit card use.

Timed for the upcoming kickoff of the holiday shopping season, the Fed said Wednesday it will run ads in 12 movie theaters from Black Friday through Dec. 3.

Sandwiched between soft drink and popcorn ads,

Union leader Brenda Scott worries some current state workers will be shoved into the unemployment line if Mississippi legislators adopt Gov. Haley Barbour's proposed budget.

Barbour, a Republican, said this month that he wants to give state program directors a chance to "right size" their agencies as Mississippi struggles with declining revenues amid a weak economy. He acknowledged that could mean eliminating some jobs.

The governor wants to lift state Personnel Board rules for two

Duke Energy Corp. says the cost of the coal-gasification power plant it's building in southwestern Indiana has risen another $150 million, boosting the project's estimated price to $2.5 billion _ nearly twice the original estimate.

And the latest increase won't be the project's last.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy said in documents filed Tuesday with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission that the 630-megawatt plant's cost has gone up because its design has required more steel,