Business and Finance news

MIAMI — Toyota shareholders incensed over a sudden drop in the Japanese automaker’s stock price are heading to court with lawsuits claiming company executives deliberately misled investors and the public about the depth of accelerator problems in millions of its vehicles.
At least three proposed class-action lawsuits filed by Toyota investors say the company […]

Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. shares jumped after the developer sold 900 homes in Hong Kong for HK$4.2 billion ($540 million) over the weekend, fueling speculation the city’s housing market is overheating.
Shares of the world’s biggest developer by market value added 1.7 percent to HK$101.80 at 10:41 a.m. Hong Kong time after gaining […]

WASHINGTON–U.S. regulators took a first step aimed at clamping down on oil speculation Thursday, proposing new limits on trading in energy futures by Wall Street firms and other market players.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission voted 4-1 for new trade limits on the New York Mercantile Exchange and the Intercontinental Exchange intended to keep […]

Economic growth in the U.S. this quarter is accelerating even more than previously anticipated as business investment picks up and stockpiles fall at a slower pace, according to economists at Morgan Stanley in New York.
The world’s largest economy is poised to grow at a 5.1 percent annual rate from October through December, according […]

WASHINGTON — One of the biggest challenges to ending the foreclosure crisis is this: A surprising number of homeowners who get their monthly payments reduced fall behind again within a year.   When borrowers get into financial trouble, lenders have several ways to help. They can offer grace periods, longer repayment schedules, lower interest […]

Dutch consumer confidence climbed to the highest in 21 months in December as a recovery of global trade helped boost exports.
The consumer-sentiment index in the euro area’s fifth- largest economy rose to minus 11 from minus 14 in the previous month, the national statistics bureau in The Hague said on its Web site […]

GateWay Early College High School received an award this week for transitioning students from high school to college.
The high school, a division of GateWay Community College and part of the Maricopa Community Colleges System in Phoenix, was awarded the Pathways to Higher Education Award from the Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education, USA Funds, University of […]

Twitter Inc. will reportedly try premium accounts in Japan through its subsidiary there, according to reports from Asia on Friday.
Media Asia reported that an official from DG Mobile, a subsidiary of Twitter's Japanese partner Digital Garage, talked about the plans at the Mobidec2009 conference.
The site said the premium accounts will show some text on tweets […]

Intel Corp, the world’s biggest chip-maker, expects the launch of Microsoft’s new Windows 7 operating system to prompt corporate buyers to replace hardware in 2010, a company executive said on Tuesday.
“With Windows 7 coming along, you’re going to see that as a factor in corporate computer purchasing. That stuff will start moving the PC […]

When hunting for cash, desperate small business owners may find themselves sucked into buying books and software packages promising "Billions in Free Grants!" from Web sites with names like NeverPayItBack.com, or hiring consultants who promise to find them gads of money. All they’re likely to get, though, are empty promises.
Grants are rare, but the […]