BANKER BONUSES
Just to be clear, Barack Obama still thinks Wall Street's cats are fat. The White House was quick to issue a rebuttal to a Bloomberg News report that said the U.S. President doesn't "begrudge" the multimillion-dollar bonuses paid to the chief executive officers of bailed-out U.S. banks. The White House says the story wrongly made it sound as if Mr. Obama "applauded the role of bankers" and "brushed off the impact of the bonuses."
Japanese firms wary of U.S. backlash
Recalls of Toyota models spark worries of return to political battles over autos
U.S. facing bleak outlook on property, new jobs
As the U.S. Congress pushes ahead with another stimulus package, two sobering government reports paint a picture of an economy that still faces huge hurdles - absorbing losses in commercial real estate, and creating jobs.
Dow Jones sells index business to CME
The name will remain when Chicago Mercantile Exchange takes ownership of world's best known stock benchmark
Google takes aim at re-wiring Internet
Company to build super high-speed, fibre-to-the-home broadband connection for up to 500,000 U.S. households
Media
Magazine sales hit hard at newsstands
Newsstand sales fell 9.1 per cent in the U.S. and 4.34 per cent in Canada in the last half of 2009, compared to the same period a year before
Top N.Y. lawmaker cites 'fraud' in B of A civil suit
With this story, Joanna Slater joins The Globe and Mail as New York bureau chief.
Darth goes to the Dogg
Rapper and Adidas endorser Snoop Dogg poses with a man dressed as Darth Vader in New York Time's Square. In a bid to cash in on the popularity of the long-running movie series, the shoe maker has launched a line of Star Wars-themed running shoes.
As U.S. eases protectionism, Canada moves a step closer to economic union
jibbitson@globeandmail.com
Deaths offer glimpse of Obama's secret war
Special operations soldiers and unmanned drones covertly strike at militants outside Iraq and Afghanistan
Housing freeze
Gregory Holm turns the hose on an abandoned home in a rundown Detroit neighbourhood as part of the "Ice House Detroit" art project. He and colleague Matthew Radune have spent weeks spraying water on the boardedup building - one of tens of thousands in the city - to draw attention to the U.S. housing crisis. The foreclosure rate in Michigan is among the highest in the country, at one in every 225 households. The U.S. National Association of Realtors reported yesterday that pending sales of existing homes rose slightly in December, up 1 per cent over November, thanks in part to the extension of a taxcredit plan for first-time home
U.S. headed for another bubble: watchdog
Proposed bank reforms address neither 'too big to fail' issue nor government's dominant role in housing market, report says
'Complacency and confusion' to blame for Buffalo plane crash, report says
Chatty and tired, a pair of pilots crashed a perfectly flyable aircraft nearly a year ago, slamming their Canadian-built Bombardier Q400 turboprop into a house as they approached Buffalo's airport, according to investigators who painted a frightening picture of incompetence and inattention in the cockpit.
IT'S ALL ABOUT WORK
Canadian and U.S. data gatherers will release on Friday what are possibly the most tell-tale signs of a healing economy: jobs
Baptist group accused of child-trafficking in Haiti
At least 10 of the 33 Haitian children a group of American Baptists tried to take across the border into the Dominican Republic have parents, says the group taking care of them while the Haitian government investigates an alleged case of child trafficking.
Taiwan arms sale the latest wedge between U.S. and China
After years of trying to block it, Beijing now says it will retaliate by suspending military ties with Washington and imposing sanctions on the American companies involved
Obama, court at public odds on campaign spending
Controversial ruling removing limits on corporate donations leads to rare attack on judiciary during State of the Union address
Currencies
U.S. dollar slump to continue
Meeting an export target contradicts the Obama administration's "strong dollar" policy
Obama vows new focus on jobs
President faces juggling act of boosting employment spending while taming nation's deficit
Unbowed by setbacks, Obama sticks to his agenda
Embattled President vows to push ahead on health-care reform and climate change, taking partial blame for his patchy first year THE ECONOMIST Jobs and tax cuts kicked things off: "I want a jobs bill on my desk without delay," he said THE POPULIST The language was casual and folksy, with quips and off-the-cuff asides THE APOLOGIST He took the blame for not explaining his health-care reforms to Americans, and other Democrat setbacks THE NATIONALIST "I do not accept second-place for the United States of America," he said, displaying more patriotism than usual