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AP Business NewsBrief at 4:58 a.m. EST
(AP Online Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Asian markets mixed on outlook for China, USSEOUL, South Korea (AP) _ Asian stock markets were mixed Monday as investors digested signs that the U.S. holiday shopping season got off to a tepid start over the key Thanksgiving weekend. While Japan's market fell, stocks in Hong Kong and mainland China rose on expectations of further measures by the Chinese government to boost the economy after last month's big interest rate cut and multibillion dollar stimulus package.
Holiday shopping season off to modest startNEW YORK (AP) _ Deep discounts on everything from sweaters to TVs drove shoppers out of hibernation for the Thanksgiving weekend, but the buying was tempered and sales for the traditional start of the holiday season appear at best in line with stores' low expectations. The sales receipts, however, came at the expense of profits, and merchants are facing a big challenge exciting financially strapped shoppers for the rest of the season that's expected to be the weakest in decades.
AP IMPACT: US diluted loan rules before crashWASHINGTON (AP) _ The Bush administration backed off proposed crackdowns on no-money-down, interest-only mortgages years before the economy collapsed, buckling to pressure from some of the same banks that have now failed. It ignored remarkably prescient warnings that foretold the financial meltdown, according to an Associated Press review of regulatory documents. "Expect fallout, expect foreclosures, expect horror stories," California mortgage lender Paris Welch wrote to U.S. regulators in January 2006, about one year before the housing implosion cost her a job.
Protesters move to besieged airportsBANGKOK, Thailand (AP ) _ Anti-government protesters reinforced their siege of Bangkok's two airports Monday as the politically paralyzed country struggled with more than 300,000 stranded travelers. In a switch of tactics, the People's Alliance for Democracy said demonstrators will end their more than three-month sit-in at the prime minister's office compound and join compatriots at the airports, which they seized last week in their push to oust the government. That action severed all civilian flights in and out of the capital.
Wall St. looks to extend rally; consumers in focusNEW YORK (AP) _ Wall Street will look to build on the strongest weekly performance for stocks since 1932 on Monday, with investors focused on how recession-minded shoppers fared at the malls and a raft of government data that could give a clearer picture of the economy. So far, it appears consumers still opened their wallets and might have met analysts' gloomy projections for the kickoff of the holiday shopping season. Preliminary reports show that sales got off to a decent start on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally one of the biggest shopping days of the year.
Gas pipelines race out of mountains, into yardsDENVER (AP) _ In the push toward more energy independence, massive infrastructure projects that will help to deliver it have clashed with cherished rights of land ownership. Proven natural gas reserves have jumped 10 of the past 11 years, according to the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration, and thousands of miles of new pipelines have snaked in every direction.
Autoworker chief pleads for government aidWASHINGTON (AP) _ The head of the United Auto Workers made a public plea Sunday for government help for U.S. carmakers as the Big Three put the final touches on stabilization plans to submit to Congress. "We cannot afford to see these companies fail," said Ron Gettelfinger, the UAW chief, calling on Congress to approve the aid during a special session the week of Dec. 8.
Police seek Wal-Mart shoppers who killed NY workerNEW YORK (AP) _ Police are reviewing surveillance videos of a post-Thanksgiving shopper stampede that trampled a suburban Wal-Mart worker to death, but they acknowledge it may be difficult to bring criminal charges. Nassau County police and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said no new information was available Saturday on the employee's brutal death, which rattled shoppers even as they flocked to the Valley Stream store a day later.
International hotels draw elites and terror threatLONDON (AP) _ Consider how a city looks to a terrorist seeking targets. There's the airport _ inviting, but heavily secured. There's the U.S. Embassy, perimeter guarded by crack local forces and Marines. And there's the plush international hotel, open to anyone with a decent outfit and money for a cup of coffee. Across the world, the finest hotels draw foreign businessmen, droves of tourists, and local movers and shakers who crowd the restaurants and bars to see and be seen. There are society weddings, banquets and even "Sweet Sixteen" birthday parties for the daughters of the well-to-do.
Food crunch opens doors to bioengineered cropsKUNMING, China (AP) _ Zeng Yawen's outdoor laboratory in the terraced hills of southern China is a trove of genetic potential _ rice that thrives in unusually cool temperatures, high altitudes or in dry soil; rice rich in calcium, vitamins or iron. "See these plants? They can tolerate the cold," Zeng says as he walks through a checkerboard of test fields sown with different rice varieties on the outskirts of Kunming, capital of southwestern China's Yunnan province.
Copyright ? 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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