Google + opens to younger users

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Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
Mountain View, CA, United States (AHN) – Teens as young as 13 can now log into Google’s social network site Google +, with some enhanced safety features. The move is a bid to attract more users. The service has until now only been open only to adults. The announcement on Thursday comes just after the internet search giant announced changes to its users privacy policy. Beginning March 1, the company will follow the activities of users as they move across the firm’s web sites, including its highly popular YouTube, Gmail and main [...] Continue Reading…

IMF boss joins other economic bodies in warning against austerity measures

Linda Young – AHN News Writer
Davos, Switzerland (AHN) – The International Monetary Fund joined 10 other economic bodies in warning of a threat to global economies posed by the austerity drives adopted by many governments around the world. In an expression of concern over the weakness of global economic activity and rising unemployment, the head of the IMF, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization on Friday issued a statement warning about the economic and social risks of government austerity programs. The leaders said they were issuing a “call to action” aimed at boosting economic growth [...] Continue Reading…

Consumer credit card debt down

Linda Young – AHN News Writer
Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Consumers decreased their credit card debt by 11 percent last year, with the average debt load declining in every state. That information came from a report released Tuesday by credit tracking and financial education website CreditKarma.com. It analyzed data from more than 300,000 of its users. “The new year typically inspires consumers to get in control of their finances, especially after the bout of holiday spending that occurred in December. Starting in January, you’ll see consumers start focusing on decreasing debt,” said Ken Lin, CEO of [...] Continue Reading…

Banking giant JPMorgan reports big drop in profits

Linda Young – AHN News Writer
New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Wall Street banking giant JPMorgan reported a steep plunge in its quarterly earnings Friday morning caused by large losses in its investment banking and trading divisions. JPMorgan is the nation’s largest bank by assets. Bank officials reported that it earned $3.7 billion, or 90 cents per share, in the final quarter of 2011, down by 23 percent from $4.8 billion, or $1.12 per share, during the same quarter a year earlier. The news caused shares of JPMorgan (JPM, Fortune 500) stock to fall by [...] Continue Reading…

VW sells record 5.1 million cars in 2011

Linda Young – AHN News Writer
Wolfsburg, Germany (AHN) – Volkswagen AG announced it had record sales of 5.1 million cars and sport-utility vehicles worldwide in 2011. Sales were up worldwide by 13.1 percent in 2011 from 2010, company officials said. Volkswagen is Europe’s largest carmaker. Although much of its growth came from gains in China, India, Russia and the United States, its two largest markets were Europe and China. The Wolfsburg, Germany-based automaker sold 1.72 million vehicles in each of those markets. However, company officials said they expected challenges in the market environment for 2012. [...] Continue Reading…

NATO chief, McCain welcome Obama’s outline of ‘leaner’ military

Tejinder Singh – AHN News Correspondent
Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Both the NATO chief and a former United States presidential candidate on Thursday welcomed plans announced by the U.S. leadership to make its military “leaner” but keep it “agile, flexible, and ready for the full range of contingencies and threats.” Flanked by Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other military officers, President Barack Obama, the first president to address journalists in the Pentagon briefing room, unveiled a new military strategy to make the U.S. [...] Continue Reading…

Sears releases list of 79 closing stores

Linda Young – AHN News Writer
Hoffman Estates, IL, United States (AHN) – Sears Holdings has released a list of 79 Sears and Kmart stores it will close nationwide because of the company’s poor sales over the critical holiday period. The company did not give an estimate of job losses because it said that employment numbers varied by store. The first list of stores to close are located in every region of the country. But Florida in the Southeast led the list with 11 stores closing followed by Midwest states Michigan and Ohio with six each. Alabama, [...] Continue Reading…

U.S. stocks little changed early after durable goods report

Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
New York, NY, United States (AHN) – U.S. stocks opened higher Friday after a mixed November durable goods orders report that showed a 3.8 percent increase, the most in four months. In light trading, just after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 15 points, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up about 2 points and the NASDAQ was up 5 points. The Commerce Department reported Friday that bookings for equipment meant to last three years rose 3.8 percent in November after no change in October. However, demand [...] Continue Reading…

No. 1 worry among Americans is the economy

Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
New York, NY, United States (AHN) – It’s the economy that keeps Americans up at night, on edge and worried, revealed a new CNN/ORC International poll released Friday. Some 70 percent said that things are not going well in the United States, with just three out of 10 saying things are okay, putting the state of the economy as the top worry and the most pressing issue heading into the new year. More than half of those surveyed, or 57 percent, said the economy is the most important issue facing the country [...] Continue Reading…

Mortgage rates return to record lows

Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Fixed mortgage rates in the United States fell back to historic lows over the past week, with the 30-year loan dropping back to the record 3.94 percent. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported in its weekly survey of mortgage rates for the week ending Dec. 15 that the average rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell below its all-time low of 3.26 percent in October, and the average rate on a 30-year fixed matched its all-time low of 3.94 percent. Helping mortgage rates continue their run [...] Continue Reading…

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