US consumer spending up weak 0.1% in July

WASHINGTON: US consumers barely increased their spending in July after their income grew more slowly, held back by steep government spending cuts that reduced federal workers' salaries.

Bond Sales to Fall 1st Time Since 2010 as U.S. Revenue Soars

Wall Street’s biggest bond dealers are starting to forecast that the U.S. Treasury will reduce the size of its debt auctions in coming months for the first time in three years as government revenue soars.

Goldman Sachs Deal Averted Osborne Embarrassment, Group Says

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) was able to avoid paying as much as 20 million pounds ($31 million) in U.K. taxes as the government fought to shield Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne from political embarrassment, an advocacy group said at a London trial.

London property no longer looks safe for investors

LONDON: London's property is losing its attraction for investors as they start to venture out of 'safe havens' and worry that the city's prices look high given a slowing British economy.

Hedge Funds Rose 0.9% Last Month on U.S. Budget Agreement

Hedge funds climbed 0.9 percent last month, posting their best gain since September while trailing global equities, as markets rallied in the wake of a U.S. budget agreement and correlation between stocks diminished.

Economic jitters compete with Obama agenda

WASHINGTON: Just as U.S. President Barack Obama is pushing new initiatives on gun control and immigration, the gloomy old problem of a sluggish economy is elbowing its way back into prominence.

Gold Seen Rallying From Worst Streak in Eight Years: Commodities

Gold traders expect prices to rebound from the longest weekly losing streak in eight years as mounting concern that U.S. lawmakers are doing too little to control the budget deficit spurs demand for a protection of wealth.

Greece's lenders warn of 'very large' risks to bailout

ATHENS: Political resistance and potential court challenges are among "very large" risks to reforms required for Greece's bailout programme, the country's European lenders said on Monday.

Peering into a Fiscal Cliff Crystal Ball: Stocks Could Dive 15% by February

With the clock ticking on the fiscal-cliff negotiations, investors are increasingly dreading what their portfolios will look like if Washington fails to reach a deal before this $600 billion batch of spending cuts and tax increases wreaks havoc on the markets.

Warren Buffett: Fiscal cliff talks could miss deadline

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett believes the US fiscal cliff may be solved by January rather than December. Congress has until 31 December to cut a deal to stop existing economic stimulus measures terminating and huge automatic spending cuts coming into effect.

US Presidential Elections 2012: Bond-heavy overseas funds want Obama win

LONDON: Overseas investors, many of whom are creditors to the highly-indebted US government, reckon a re-election of President Barack Obama would be best for world markets even if US counterparts say otherwise.

Greek PM Antonis Samaras takes debt crisis talks to Paris

PARIS: The Greek prime minister headed to Paris Saturday on the second leg of a trip to try and win more time for his country to meet a deadline to slash billions of euros (dollars) from its budget.

Greece to discuss, not ask for, spreading out cuts

ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras intends to discuss but make no official request to spread out spending cuts when he meets his German and French counterparts, a newspaper reported Thursday.

IMF: UK should slow budget cuts if growth does not recover

The government should slow the pace of budget cuts next year if growth in the UK does not recover, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said.

Stock futures signal drop after JPMorgan loss

PARIS (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were down on Friday, pointing to a lower open on Wall Street, after JPMorgan Chase & Co stunned investors with news of "significant mark-to-market losses" that it said could "easily get worse."