Demand for Barbie helps push Mattel 4Q profit up

Mattel Inc. says strong holiday demand for toys including Barbie, Hot Wheels and American Girl helped push its fourth-quarter net income up 14 percent.
The holiday quarter is crucial for toy makers, who can make up to half of annual sales during the period.
The No. 1 U.S. toy maker reported Tuesday that its net income rose […]

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Fewer people sought unemployment aid last week

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell further in the final week of 2011, a positive sign for hiring one day ahead of Friday’s December employment report.
The Labor Department says weekly applications dropped 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 372,000 last week. It was the fourth drop in five weeks. The four-week average, which smooths […]

German Unemployment Drops More Than Forecast as Mild Winter Fuels Building - Bloomberg

German unemployment (GRUECHNG) fell more than forecast in December as exports of cars and machinery boomed and one of the mildest winters on record helped support jobs in construction.
The number of people out of work fell a seasonally adjusted 22,000 to 2.89 million, the Nuremberg-based Federal Labor Agency said today. Economists forecast a decline […]

3 foreign oil workers, 2 from US, freed in Nigeria

Gunmen have freed three foreign workers, two from the U.S., kidnapped from a ship supplying a Chevron Corp. offshore oil field near Nigeria’s coast, authorities said Friday.
The U.S. Embassy in Abuja and Chevron separately confirmed the release of the kidnapped workers from contractor Edison Chouest Offshore, based in Galliano, Louisiana. A spokesman for Edison Chouest […]

Egypt stocks extend gains after elections

Egypt’s benchmark stock index is extending its gains for the third consecutive day, after landmark parliamentary elections eased investor sentiment about the country’s political instability.
The Egyptian Exchange’s EGX30 index was up about 1.25 percent by 1:15 p.m. local time on Thursday, climbing to 4,070 points. The index posted gains slightly under 1 percent on Wednesday […]

Berlusconi’s party backs Monti to be new PM

Economist Mario Monti won pledges of support Sunday to lead a new technocratic government to try to rescue Italy from financial disaster, including from Silvio Berlusconi’s conservative party.
But Berlusconi’s ally, the Northern League, said it would become an opposition party rather than back Monti.
After days of being pummeled by international investors skittish about Italy’s massive […]

Banks bracing for Occupy Toronto

Businesses in Toronto

CDC reports additional listeria death in Colorado

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported a third Colorado death linked to listeria in cantaloupes, bringing the nationwide death toll in the outbreak to as many as 17 people.
The CDC said Friday that 84 people in 19 states have become ill after eating Colorado cantaloupes. That number includes 15 deaths, the CDC […]

Finance ministers differ on how to resolve debt crisis

WASHINGTON

US stocks mixed after brutal week of selling

U.S. stocks are rising modestly at midday, but doing little to wipe out heavy losses from a brutal week of selling.
Investors have been racked by growing fears that the economy is headed for another recession. Europe appears no closer to solving the debt crisis that threatens some of its biggest banks. U.S. political leaders are […]