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AP Business NewsBrief at 3:36 a.m. EDT(AP Online Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Asian stocks sink amid anxiety over world economyHONG KONG (AP) _ Asian stock markets sank Monday, with Hong Kong's benchmark dropping almost 2 percent, amid persistent fears that a recovery for slumping economies in the U.S. and elsewhere is still far off. Investors continued to shun banks on worries they still haven't raised enough capital to make up for their colossal losses. European heavyweight lender HSBC tumbled more than 10 percent in Hong Kong trade. Oil rises above $46 as investors eye OPEC cutsSINGAPORE (AP) _ Oil prices rose to above $46 a barrel Monday in Asia as investors anticipated another OPEC production cut will shrink global supplies. Benchmark crude for April delivery rose 61 cents to $46.13 a barrel by midafternoon in Singapore on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil prices rose $1.91 on Friday to settle at $45.52. Recession on track to be longest in postwar periodWASHINGTON (AP) _ Factory jobs disappeared. Inflation soared. Unemployment climbed to alarming levels. The hungry lined up at soup kitchens. It wasn't the Great Depression. It was the 1981-82 recession, widely considered America's worst since the depression. Outside buyers drawn to Detroit's foreclosed homesDETROIT (AP) _ Welcome to Landlord Nation, where foreclosure notices are plentiful and for-sale signs offer at least 1,800 homes for under $10,000 that once were worth at least 10 times more. In extreme cases, homes are on sale for $1 or less, which has enticed investors to Detroit from as far away as the United Kingdom and Australia. Recession finds even those with jobs losing payIn cubicles, factories and stores these days, anxious workers are trying to ease each other's economic fears with something akin to, "Well, at least we still have a job." Yet for many, that's becoming small comfort as more employers cut hours or hire only part-timers. People paid on commission, meanwhile, are suffering as sales dry up. And state workers around the country have been put on unpaid leaves. Tentative deal between Canadian Auto Workers, GMDETROIT (AP) _ The Canadian Auto Workers union said Sunday it had reached a tentative agreement with General Motors Corp. on a multiyear pay freeze and other concessions needed to qualify the company for government aid. The deal freezes wages and pensions through September 2012 and for the first time requires workers and retirees to pay health care premiums. Cost-of-living adjustments also are frozen until June 2012. After 60 years Circuit City powers downRICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ What began 60 years ago as a humble television store in this sleepy Southern capital ended Sunday as Circuit City closed its doors for good _ its 567 remaining U.S. stores to be left broom clean and vacant. For the last month and a half, a group of four liquidators have conducted going-out-of-business sales for what was the nation's second-largest consumer electronics retailer, selling its remaining $1.7 billion worth of inventory weeks sooner than expected. World Bank says global economy will shrink in 2009NEW YORK (AP) _ The World Bank predicts the global economy will shrink this year for the first time since World War II, and sees trade at its lowest point in 80 years. The World Bank also said Sunday the growing global financial crisis will create a multibillion-dollar financing shortfall for poor and developing nations. Lundberg Survey: Gas prices up 1.8 cents a gallonCAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) _ The average price of gasoline continues to creep upward and is about 1.8 cents a gallon higher now than it was two weeks ago, according to the national Lundberg Survey of fuel prices. The U.S. average price for regular gasoline, according to the survey released Sunday, is $1.96 a gallon. White House budget director says economy is 'weak'WASHINGTON (AP) _ The White House's top budget official declared on Sunday that "fundamentally, the economy is weak" while saying the administration's own financial predictions could need a revision by midyear. Peter Orszag, President Barack Obama's Office of Management and Budget director, said in television interviews that the economic downturn has been years in the making but cautioned that the new administration wasn't yet looking at a second economic stimulus package. Orszag said the already-in-place $787 billion stimulus should have a chance to work before officials ask Congress to consider a sequel. Copyright ? 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |