JPMorgan Chase plans to exit prepaid card business
NEW YORK (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co plans to sell or exit over time its business of issuing prepaid cards for corporate payrolls and government tax refunds and benefits, the company said on Thursday.
U.S. automakers call for currency rule in Pacific trade pact
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – American automakers on Thursday pushed for rules against currency manipulation to be included in an ambitious trade pact being negotiated between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries.
Insight: Credit Suisse sticks with money-losing U.S. brokerage
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Credit Suisse Group AG is betting it can turn around its unprofitable U.S. private wealth business with new loan products and a focus on the ultra-rich, a strategy greeted with skepticism by some securities analysts and former offi…
Labor market data suggest economy strengthening
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits last week fell and planned layoffs hit a 13-1/2 year low in December, adding to a range of data that have suggested the economy is gaining steam.
Dish pulls bid for LightSquared; shares drop
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Satellite TV provider Dish Network Corp has pulled its bid to buy bankrupt wireless spectrum provider LightSquared Inc, a lawyer said in court on Thursday.
VW’s Audi, Porsche to keep growing after top 2013 sales
BERLIN (Reuters) – Volkswagen’s flagship luxury car brands Audi and Porsche aim to keep sales growing this year helped by overseas demand and new models, after posting record deliveries in 2013.
Yellen hopeful for 3 percent GDP growth in 2014: Time magazine
(Reuters) – Janet Yellen, who is set to take over as head of the Federal Reserve next month, is “hopeful” that U.S. economic growth will accelerate in 2014 to 3 percent or more and persistently low inflation will move up toward the central bank’s targe…
EU clears $35 billion Omnicom, Publicis merger
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU antitrust regulators said on Thursday they had cleared the $35 billion merger of U.S. advertising agency Omnicom and French peer Publicis without conditions.
Barnes & Noble holiday comparable sales fall 5.5 percent
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Barnes & Noble Inc on Thursday reported a 5.5 percent decrease in comparable sales at its bookstores and on its website over the holiday period, caused largely by a drop in the number of Nook e-reader devices sold.
ECB holds rates, assesses inflation ‘danger zone’
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank left interest rates at a record low on Thursday, holding off fresh action for now while it assesses whether it needs to respond to cost-of-living numbers weak enough to raise concerns about deflation.
