The word "business" leads here; for other meaning see The Business.

In economics, business is the social science of managing people to organize and maintain collective productivity toward accomplishing particular creative and productive goals, usually to generate revenue.

The etymology of "business" refers to the state of being busy, in the context of the individual as well as the community or society. In other words, to be busy is to be doing commercially viable and profitable work.

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NPR Topics: Business

Risks, Benefits Of Securitization Under Scrutiny
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:01:00 -0400
As part of its plan to reform financial markets, the Obama administration will turn its focus to the securitization industry. These days, almost anytime someone borrows money, the debt gets repackaged into a security that can be bought or sold like a stock.
Apple Warns Some iPhones May Have Heat Issues
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:24:00 -0400
Apple Inc. has issued an advisory that some 3G and 3GS iPhones may not do well in hot conditions. Apple is telling owners to keep the phones in places where the temperature is below 95 degrees.
FDIC Closes 1 Banks In Texas, 6 In Illinois
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:14:00 -0400
Seven banks were shut down Thursday — pushing the total number of banks that have failed this year to 52. The year is just half over, and already the figure is more than double what it was for all of 2008. Back in 2007, only three banks failed.

Latest financial news - CNNMoney.com

Japan backs dollar as reserve currency
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:45:13 -0400
Read full story for latest details.
Bacon entrepreneurs bring in the bucks
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:33:58 -0400
Tired of hearing that everything tastes like chicken? So are Seattle entrepreneurs Justin Esch and Dave Lefkow. They want it all to taste like bacon.
Oil below $67
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:34:31 -0400
Read full story for latest details.

The Financial Page

James Surowiecki: Caveat Mortgagor
James Surowiecki Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:00:00 -0000
In 1937, the Massengill Company began selling a health product called Elixir Sulfanilamide, which contained one of the antibiotic sulfa drugs. Unfortunately, it also contained diethylene glycol, a solvent that happens to be deadly to humans. In a matter of months, the elixir killed more than a hundred consumers. The . . .
Will gas prices pump up inflation?
James Surowiecki Mon, 15 Jun 2009 04:00:00 -0000
How fast the world turns. Only a few months ago, as consumer spending evaporated and commodity prices collapsed, investors and policymakers were haunted by the spectre of deflation. Today, with the economy showing some signs of bottoming and commodity prices back on the rise, the worry du jour has suddenly . . .
James Surowiecki: Argentina's great coin shortage.
James Surowiecki Mon, 01 Jun 2009 04:00:00 -0000
As you walk into the Retiro train station in downtown Buenos Aires these days, you pass a long line of people snaking their way from the station’s entrance to a single window. At first glance, this is unsurprising: what’s more common than a queue in a train station? But there . . .

Reuters: Business News

Global stocks dip as investors cautious on recovery
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:22:41 -0400
LONDON (Reuters) - World stocks fell on Friday after a disappointing U.S. jobs report and a sluggish euro zone services sector survey reinforced expectations that the process of recovery in the global economy would be long and slow.
Major nations should back dollar as key currency: Japan
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:31:17 -0400
TOKYO (Reuters) - Major countries should support the dollar as the key international currency, although emerging nations may discuss a new global reserve currency on the sidelines of the G8 summit next week, a Japanese official said on Friday.
Earnings to set tone for stocks in week ahead
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:54:44 -0400
NEW YORK (Reuters) - With Wall Street stuck in a range since May, the start of second-quarter earnings season next week could prove to be a decisive factor for determining how much faith investors should have in an economic recovery.

ABC News: Money

July 4th Getaway: Fight High Gas Prices
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:44:40 -0400
Traveling this holiday weekend? Here are some tips to save at the pump.
States Set to Ring in Independence Day Sans Budget
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:35:29 -0400
States beleaguered by budget woes set to ring in Independence Day without fiscal game plan
Wake Up, Check Your E-mail, Buy Some Weed
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:25:50 -0400
LA medical marijuana "collective" solicits its selection through Twitter.

BBC News | Business | UK Edition

Rogue trades cost oil broker $10m
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:19:10 -0000
A rogue trader at a London-based oil brokerage causes his employer to lose $10m (£6m) after making unauthorised trades.
Darling issues warning to bankers
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:49:16 -0000
Chancellor Alistair Darling warns bankers it would be "disastrous" to repeat past mistakes - especially excessive bonuses.
Mandelson hints at Vauxhall loans
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:53:02 -0000
The UK is prepared to make loans or loan guarantees to help push through the sale of Vauxhall, says Lord Mandelson.

The Economist: Business

Corporate bankruptcies in America: The boom in busts
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:54:22 -0000
Bankruptcies are at near-record levelsIT IS not quite the Armageddon that was being predicted in the weeks after Lehman Brothers became America’s biggest corporate bankruptcy last September. But this recession is still on course to be second only to the Depression in terms of companies going bust. Measured by the firm’s assets at the time of filing for protection from their creditors, the past year has seen five of the eight biggest bankruptcy filings in the history of American business—with Washington Mutual, Thornburg Mortgage, General Motors (GM) and Chrysler joining Lehman on the list.A good indicator of the awfulness of the downturn is the market for junk bonds, which surely deserve the name again after nearly two decades of attempts to rebrand them as safer-sounding “high-yield debt”. At the end of May 9.2% of high-yield debt issues (globally, but dominated by American paper) had defaulted during the previous 12 months, compared with less than 1% in the year to December 2007. The failure rate is on course to hit 13.8% in the fourth quarter of this year, according to Moody’s, a credit-rating agency, after which it should start to decline. That would be slightly higher than in the two previous recessions, when the percentage of defaults peaked at 10.9% (in January 2002) and 12.8% (in June 1991), but below the all-time high of around 16.3% in 1933. ...
Russia's dismal investment climate: Courting disaster
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:54:22 -0000
Legal and bureaucratic caprice is still undermining foreign investmentTHE website of Telenor, a state-controlled Norwegian telecoms firm, has a special section dedicated to its investments in Russia and its dispute with Alfa Group, its Russian partner. It is a long and unhappy saga filled with headings such as “Geneva arbitration”, “Court abuses” and “Black PR campaigns”.Telenor and Altima, the telecoms arm of Alfa, are shareholders in both VimpelCom of Russia and Kyivstar of Ukraine. In 2004 Altima, which wanted to expand its business in Ukraine further, suggested that VimpelCom buy another Ukrainian telecoms firm. Telenor resisted, saying that the price was too high. Altima accused Telenor of sabotaging its growth. ...
Restructuring South Korea's chaebol: A helping hand
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:54:22 -0000
Is the government taking a hard enough line with indebted conglomerates?ON THE face of things, the restructuring of South Korea’s heavily indebted family-owned conglomerates (chaebol) is proceeding apace. On June 28th the eighth-biggest, Kumho Asiana, said it would sell its one-third stake in Daewoo Engineering & Construction, one of its biggest units. Past governments have coddled chaebol, but the current one says free-market principles should prevail. Regulators say that they have been urging banks to take a hard line with nine struggling chaebol, including Kumho Asiana.In addition to Daewoo, Kumho Asiana owns Asiana, the country’s second-biggest airline, and petrochemical, tyre, life-insurance, resort and transport businesses. As with other chaebol, descendants of the founder still control the business. In 2008 it used its airline and Daewoo to become the biggest shareholder in South Korea’s biggest logistics company, Korea Express. That acquisition, along with the purchase of Daewoo in 2006, has left it with debt of 15 trillion won ($11.8 billion). Moreover, the 18 South Korean banks and other investors that had bought almost 40% of Daewoo alongside Kumho Asiana are likely to exercise an option in December to sell the conglomerate their shares at a price of 31,500 won—over three times the level of June 26th. So Kumho Asiana needs to find another 4 trillion won. ...

Business News - UPI.com

Bank fees rise, bailout notwithstanding
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:57:33 -0400
NEW YORK, July 3 (UPI) -- U.S. banks are increasing fees for a variety of transactions in spite of massive taxpayer bailouts, industry research groups said.
Michigan on path to lose 310,700 jobs
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:23:58 -0400
ANN ARBOR, Mich., July 3 (UPI) -- University of Michigan economists predict the state's labor market will lose 310,700 jobs in 2009, a sharp increase over a previous prediction.
Report: Canadians' debt load mounting
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:16:45 -0400
TORONTO, July 3 (UPI) -- Canada's consumer credit delinquency rate soared 19 percent in the year ending May 31, a report from the Equifax Canada credit bureau said.
Asian markets mostly lower Friday
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:12:26 -0400
TOKYO, July 3 (UPI) -- Asian markets followed U.S. stock indexes lower Friday, although declines were softer than Thursday's pre-holiday losses on Wall Street.
Government bluffing, bondholders say
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:54:06 -0400
NEW YORK, July 3 (UPI) -- An attorney representing General Motors Corp. bondholders told U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Gerber the government was bluffing with a July 10 deadline.
Economic Outlook: China's new green
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:15:00 -0400
By ANTHONY HALLUnited Press International Markets in Europe and Asia tipped lower Friday following Thursday's tumble in the United States prior to the Independence Day break.

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