Business and Finance news

By year’s end, the St. Louis area’s biggest business group will have a new leader. Now a growing number of people are saying it may be time for a whole new direction.
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay is adding his voice to those calling for big changes at the Regional Chamber and Growth Association, where longtime […]

The world’s bond buyers have turned on Europe’s deeply indebted governments and fled to another deeply indebted government across the Atlantic — the U.S. As a result, U.S borrowing costs have plunged to historic lows while rising rates in Europe have many worried about a catastrophic financial crisis.
The European debt crisis has made the U.S. […]

World stock markets edged higher Thursday as speculation that China might ease its monetary policy soothed fears that the German economy _ Europe’s strongest _ may be succumbing to the continent’s debt crisis.
Benchmark oil hovered above $96 per barrel while the dollar fell against the euro and the yen.
European shares rose in early trading, tracking […]

A former board member of Olympus Corp. said Friday that he launched an online petition to persuade the Japanese company to bring back Michael Woodford, the British executive fired for questioning payments made to cover up huge investment losses.
Koji Miyata, who served on Olympus’ board from 1995 to 2006, told The Associated Press that he […]

Nigeria’s government has fined air carriers British Airways $135 million and Virgin Atlantic Airways $100 million over what it describes as unfair trade practices that hiked up airfare prices in the oil-rich nation, an official told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The official said the fines came after a six-month investigation into fuel charges added to […]

TORONTO — Paying with plastic takes on a new meaning today as the Bank of Canada rolls out new $100 bills to replace the cotton-paper blend note.
The $100 is Canada’s first polymer bank note and features a wealth of anti-counterfeiting features such as partially-hidden numbers.
The bill also includes a large, transparent window, transparent text, a […]

His legacy tarnished and his hopes of clinging to power dashed, Silvio Berlusconi faces daunting legal and financial challenges now that he has left office and the prospect of life outside the international spotlight.
He has vowed he won’t run again for office, though few expect he’ll abandon Italian politics for good. Berlusconi himself has already […]

Thailand’s energy minister said the flood crisis in Bangkok is likely to drag on for another month, as authorities issued another evacuation advisory in a northern neighborhood and floodwaters inched further into the city’s heart.
Energy Minister Pichai Naripthaphan said, however, that floods may finally begin to subside in the capital by mid-November, according to a […]

Some of the latest developments in the Occupy protests:
GEORGIA
Police arrested 20 people after an Occupy Atlanta protest rally in a city park spilled onto the streets and officers converged on them on motorcycles, riding horseback and in riot gear.
A crowd of several hundred protesters had gathered at Woodruff Park, the scene of about 50 arrests […]

Asian markets were mostly lower in early trading Monday, as investors shifted their focus from Europe to the U.S. economy.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.5 percent to 9,096.27. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.4 percent to 19,938.46, while South Korea’s Kospi was 0.4 percent lower at 1,921.78. Benchmarks in Australia and Singapore also fell, while […]