Financial News Updates

Challenges abound for Bush at last economic summit (AP)
The problems do not get any easier as President Bush attends his final summit with leaders of industrialized democracies.

Employers use federal law to deny benefits (AP)
Dying of cancer, Thomas Amschwand did everything he was told to make sure his wife would collect on the life insurance policy he had through his employer.

Companies begin quest for oil, gas off Fla. coast (AP)
Oil companies once viewed drilling in the deep waters off Florida as cost prohibitive. Politicians feared even the slightest sign of support would be career suicide.

Small-cap stock run could herald broader recovery (AP)
Even as Wall Street skids lower almost by the day, and the major indexes have touched the levels of a bear market, some analysts are actually finding some signs in the performance of small-company stocks that might be pointing to the early stages of a much broader recovery.

FBI probe latest setback for beleaguered Detroit (AP)
Auto industry cutbacks, double-digit unemployment and one of the nation's highest home foreclosure rates have left Detroit with a dreary economic future.

Travel experts: US share of foreign tourists slips (AP)
Despite the weak U.S. dollar, a boom in international travel around the world hasn't translated into an explosion of foreign tourists to the United States.

SocGen fined over trading scandal (AP)
France's central bank announced Friday that it has fined Societe Generale $6.3 million for "serious shortcomings" in its internal controls that led to nearly $7.8 billion in trading losses announced earlier this year.

Canadian telecom BCE, suitor agree on terms (AP)
BCE Inc, Canada's largest telecommunications company, said Friday it has agreed on terms of a $35 billion sale to a group led by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in the biggest leveraged buyout ever.

9 convicted in Austria fraud case (AP)
Nine people, including a prominent executive who fled to France in an attempt to elude justice, were convicted Friday of criminal charges in a major Austrian bank fraud case linked to the 2005 collapse of New York-based commodities brokerage Refco Inc.

Smooth sailing for yacht builders despite economy (AP)
Fuel prices are soaring and credit markets tightening, but the super-rich are still lining up to pay tens of millions of dollars for mega yachts.