Business Highlights
Associated Press
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Updated 3:04 p.m., Monday, November 12, 2012
BRUSSELS (AP) — Greece's international creditors are proposing giving the country two more years to reform its economy, but European finance ministers were split Monday over how to put together a comprehensive deal to help Athens dig out of its mountain of debt. A draft report on Greece's progress from the so-called troika of creditors — the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund —recommends giving it until 2016 to implement the reforms necessary to restart growth and bring its debts down to a sustainable level. Ahead of Monday's meeting of the 17 eurozone finance ministers in Brussels, Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan said the extension would mean €31 billion to €32 billion ($39.48 billion-$40.75 billion) in extra financing. China's painful slowdown likely bottomed out in the third quarter, with recent indicators such as factory production and auto and retail sales showing improvement. Europe, though it may have turned a corner on its debt crisis as the financial system stabilizes, is forecast to get worse before it gets better. LONDON (AP) — A leading British medical journal is asking the drug maker Roche to release all its data on Tamiflu, claiming there is no evidence the drug can actually stop the flu. The United States will become the world's largest oil producer by around 2020, temporarily overtaking Saudi Arabia, as new exploration technologies find more resources, the International Energy Agency forecast on Monday. In its World Energy Outlook, the energy watchdog also predicted that greater oil and natural gas production — thanks partly to a boom in shale gas output — as well as more efficient use of energy, will allow the U.S., which now imports some 20 percent of its energy needs, to become nearly self-sufficient around 2035. NEW YORK (AP) — Struggling consumer electronics chain Best Buy said Monday that a former Williams-Sonoma executive will become its new chief financial officer beginning Dec. 10. Sharon McCollam, 50, was chief operating officer and chief financial officer at the home goods retailer before retiring. The transaction will make Jefferies the largest business for a diversified holding company with more than $9 billion in assets, ranging from lumber and plastics manufacturers, energy production facilities and anoil and gas contract driller to medical product developers, a hotel and casino, wineries and other real estate interests. Reported by SeattlePI.com 1 hour ago.
Associated Press
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Updated 3:04 p.m., Monday, November 12, 2012
BRUSSELS (AP) — Greece's international creditors are proposing giving the country two more years to reform its economy, but European finance ministers were split Monday over how to put together a comprehensive deal to help Athens dig out of its mountain of debt. A draft report on Greece's progress from the so-called troika of creditors — the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund —recommends giving it until 2016 to implement the reforms necessary to restart growth and bring its debts down to a sustainable level. Ahead of Monday's meeting of the 17 eurozone finance ministers in Brussels, Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan said the extension would mean €31 billion to €32 billion ($39.48 billion-$40.75 billion) in extra financing. China's painful slowdown likely bottomed out in the third quarter, with recent indicators such as factory production and auto and retail sales showing improvement. Europe, though it may have turned a corner on its debt crisis as the financial system stabilizes, is forecast to get worse before it gets better. LONDON (AP) — A leading British medical journal is asking the drug maker Roche to release all its data on Tamiflu, claiming there is no evidence the drug can actually stop the flu. The United States will become the world's largest oil producer by around 2020, temporarily overtaking Saudi Arabia, as new exploration technologies find more resources, the International Energy Agency forecast on Monday. In its World Energy Outlook, the energy watchdog also predicted that greater oil and natural gas production — thanks partly to a boom in shale gas output — as well as more efficient use of energy, will allow the U.S., which now imports some 20 percent of its energy needs, to become nearly self-sufficient around 2035. NEW YORK (AP) — Struggling consumer electronics chain Best Buy said Monday that a former Williams-Sonoma executive will become its new chief financial officer beginning Dec. 10. Sharon McCollam, 50, was chief operating officer and chief financial officer at the home goods retailer before retiring. The transaction will make Jefferies the largest business for a diversified holding company with more than $9 billion in assets, ranging from lumber and plastics manufacturers, energy production facilities and anoil and gas contract driller to medical product developers, a hotel and casino, wineries and other real estate interests. Reported by SeattlePI.com 1 hour ago.