Business and Finance news

Comcast Corp. launched its high-speed wireless data service in Houston this week, adding its name to the growing list of local competitors in the wireless data market.
In late March, Kirkland, Wash.-based Clearwire Communications LLC expanded into the Houston area with its mobile Internet service. Sprint launched its 4G wireless service in March as well.
Comcast’s “High-Speed […]

The Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., is seeking to ramp up its renewable energy production in a partnership with the University of Hawaii and federal government.
Federal agencies are investing up to $12 million for biofuel research at HC&S, which is a division of Alexander & Baldwin (NYSE: ALEX).
The Office of Naval Research is giving $2 […]

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 […]

Peter Ueberroth may be the most popular person in golf this year: As the owner and co-chairman of Pebble Beach Co., this June he’ll play host to the U.S. Open, the sport’s hottest ticket.
Ueberroth is no stranger to epic sports events: His leadership during the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984 made […]

The European Central Bank said its offerings of three-month cash will return to variable interest rates on April 28. President Jean-Claude Trichet made the announcement at a press conference in Frankfurt.
“Amounts will be set with the aim of ensuring smooth conditions in money markets” and avoiding “significant spreads” between the ECB’s benchmark rate […]

The federal government has offered Hawaii $16.6 million in stimulus relief to help cover the costs of prescription drugs for residents eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday that the temporary boost is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It comes in the […]

Pakistan’s central bank aims to resume cutting interest rates when inflation eases, Governor Salim Raza said.
Inflation will slow as the effects of higher energy costs wear off, Raza said in an interview in Singapore today, without saying when. Consumer prices may rise between 11 percent and 11.5 percent in the six months through […]

Regulators shuttered six banks on Friday, notching up 15 failed banks in the first month of in 2010.
The biggest to fall was First Regional Bank in Los Angeles, which had deposits of $1.87 billion. The others were Community Bank and Trust in Cornelia, Ga.; Florida Community Bank in Immokalee, Fla.; First National Bank of […]

Little more than a decade ago, Monsanto Co. began selling the corn seed with a novel gene to help farmers ward off a pest known as the European corn borer.
This year, the Creve Coeur-based agricultural biotech giant expects to sell 4 million acres worth of a new line of corn seed called […]

General Motors has suspended production of Hummer vehicles pending Chinese government approval of its deal to sell the unit to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., a GM spokesman said Thursday.
The H3 and H3T, the last two Hummer models still being made, are produced at GM’s Shreveport, La., factory. The factory, which also makes […]