S&P downgrades holding companies of eight U.S. banks
(Reuters) – Standard & Poor’s cut its nonoperating holding company (NOHC) ratings on eight U.S. “global systemically important banks” by one notch, citing uncertainty about the U.S. government’s willingness to provide support to the banking system if it came under stress.
Digital toymaker VTech hires FireEye to secure systems after hack
(Reuters) – Hong Kong-based digital toy and gadget maker VTech Holdings Ltd said FireEye Inc’s Mandiant forensics unit was helping the company secure its systems after a hacking attack exposed data on 6.4 million children.
ECB cuts deposit rate, extends purchases to boost inflation
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank cut a key interest rate on Thursday and announced an extension of its monthly asset purchases but the euro leapt higher as financial markets signaled they had been expecting yet more stimulus.
Transportation buoys U.S. factory orders in October
WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) – – New orders for U.S. factory goods rebounded in October after two straight months of declines, but manufacturing remains crippled by a strong dollar and spending cuts in the energy sector.
GM’s Opel denies understating CO2 emissions, fuel consumption
BERLIN (Reuters) – General Motors’ Opel division has denied understating carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and fuel consumption after a German media report said the carmaker’s own tests on one of its models had shown strong deviations from official data.
Supermarket operator Kroger’s profit beats on lower costs
(Reuters) – Kroger Co , the biggest U.S. supermarket operator by store count, reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit as the company cut costs and its comparable sales grew.
Bill Gross urges investors to gradually de-risk portfolios
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bill Gross, the closely watched bond investor, on Thursday said low interest rates are keeping alive “zombie corporations” that are unproductive and warned investors to de-risk portfolios into the new year.
Fiat Chrysler does not plan hostile bid on GM, will focus on growth plan
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) does not plan a hostile bid for rival General Motors at the moment and will focus on executing its growth plan to 2018 until the right and willing partner is found, CEO Sergio Marchionne said.
Top fashion CEOs fear rising costs from climate change
PARIS (Reuters) – The chief executives of seven top clothing companies, including Hennes & Mauritz Gap and Adidas , are calling on governments to agree a strong climate change deal, saying they fear global warming will drive up their costs.
Dollar General’s quarterly sales miss estimates
(Reuters) – Dollar General Corp , the No.2 U.S. discount retailer by store count, reported lower-than-expected quarterly net sales, saying the retail environment was similar to the preceding quarter when it said consumers were holding back on spending….
