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While Research In Motion Ltd. struggles to contain a service outage that’s affecting tens of million of BlackBerry users around the world, its co-chief executives are most conspicuous by their absence.
Neither Jim Balsillie, who was in Dubai Monday at an industry conference when the outage began, nor Mike Lazaridis, the dual CEOs and co-chairmen who […]

Beleaguered music and movie retailer HMV Canada says sales are up since it changed its pricing structure.
It’s looking at launching the country’s first subscription-based digital music service next year.
And it’s considering a move into movie rentals as a way to boost future revenues.
There’s a hole in market since video rental retailer Blockbuster Canada filed for […]

Asian markets were mixed in early trading Monday, as investors evaluated a pledge by Germany and France to ensure European banks have the capital to weather any shock that may occur from the region’s debt crisis.
On Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that a comprehensive response to the debt crisis […]

Stocks are closing sharply higher for a third straight day after U.S. retailers reported stronger September sales and the European Central Bank moved to support that region’s lenders.
Target, Nordstrom, Macy’s and other retailers reported sales that beat Wall Street’s expectations. Analysts said the results suggested the U.S. was not in another recession.
In Europe, investors cheered […]

Chrysler says its U.S. sales jumped 27 percent in September on strong demand for its cars and SUVs.
Chrysler sold 127,334 new vehicles, including 8,709 new Chrysler 200 sedans.
Jeeps also did well. Sales of the Jeep Compass more than tripled, while Wrangler sales surged 47 percent. Demand for the Dodge Ram pickup rose 45 percent one […]

Federal health officials said Wednesday more illnesses and possibly more deaths may be linked to an outbreak of listeria in cantaloupe in coming weeks.
So far, the outbreak has caused at least 72 illnesses _ including up to 16 deaths _ in 18 states, making it the deadliest food outbreak in the United States in more […]

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday it will shuffle $400 billion of its portfolio to try to drive down long-term interest rates and get the economy going. But economists doubted it would do much good, the stock market sold off, and the Fed itself was unusually divided over the strategy.
Lowering interest rates makes it cheaper for […]

A union representing workers at three major grocery chains in Southern California is distributing picket signs as the clock ticks toward the end of a 3-day notice period required before calling a strike.
Union negotiators intend to keep talking if a resolution appears to be in sight when the period ends at 7:10 p.m. Sunday. They […]

The Obama administration was worried about the financial health of a troubled solar energy company even as officials publicly declared the company in good shape, newly released emails show.
An email from a White House budget official to a co-worker discussed the likely effect of a default by Solyndra Inc. on President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign.
“The […]