commodity news

• Lehman bosses severely criticised

A report into the collapse of US bank Lehman Brothers criticises senior executives and auditor Ernst & Young for serious lapses.
• BA union announces strike dates

BA cabin crew will go on strike for three days from 20 March and for four days from 27 March in a dispute over pay and staff levels.
• US retail sales in surprise rise

US retail sales showed a surprise rise in February as consumers braved extreme bad weather to get to the shops
• Sarkozy and Brown attack US deal

Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown criticise the US for "protectionism" over an aerospace deal after talks in London.
• China oil demand is 'astonishing'

Oil demand in China rose by an "astonishing" 28% in January compared with a year ago, the International Energy Agency says.

• China Struggling to Strike Monetary Policy Balance

China will find it tough to strike the right balance between cooling lending while sustaining growth in the world's third-largest economy, a senior central bank official said in remarks published on Friday.
• Will Ending Yuan Peg Cure the Global Economy?


• Toyota Discounts Boost Sales, US Mulls 'Black Box'


• Cathay Pacific Won't Subscribe to Air China's Share Sale


• Puzzled by BOJ Policy Moves? Watch the Yen

• Greek Austerity to Prolong Recession: C. Banker

Greece's economy will shrink another two percent this year, much more than currently forecast by the government, though its debt servicing costs will fall, central bank Governor George Provopoulos told Reuters.
• Euro Zone Production Posts Record Rise in January


• New York, London Tied as Top Financial Center


• F1 Highlights the Real Gulf Competition


• British Airways Staff to Strike 7 Days this Month

• Iraq's election race tight as results delayed again

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had a narrow lead over rival Shi'ites, partial results in Iraq's tight election race showed on Friday, but a secularist challenger remained far ahead in minority Sunni areas.
• Witness: Battlefield dead haunt U.S. Marines and Afghans alike

MARJAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Corporal Jacob Turbett gave out a single groan of pain before the Taliban bullet, which had pierced his heart, ended his life.
• Confrontations, anger in Jerusalem over building

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli forces sealed off the West Bank and massed riot squads around Jerusalem's Old City and Arab neighborhoods during Muslim weekly prayers on Friday, facing down Palestinian anger over Jewish settlement expansion.
• Old and new converge in rising British Conservative

STAINES, England (Reuters) - A son of Ghanaian immigrants who was educated at Eton, Britain's most exclusive private school, parliamentary candidate Kwasi Kwarteng embodies both change and continuity in the Conservative Party.
• Thai protesters start bid to topple government

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Anti-government protesters began gathering in Bangkok on Friday for what they promise will be a "million-man march" in coming days to paralyze Thailand's capital and force the government to call elections.

general news

• Iraq's election race tight as results delayed again

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had a narrow lead over rival Shi'ites, partial results in Iraq's tight election race showed on Friday, but a secularist challenger remained far ahead in minority Sunni areas.
• Obama delays Pacific trip for healthcare

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is delaying his trip to Indonesia and Australia next week to stay home and focus on his final push for a healthcare overhaul, White House officials said on Friday.
• Obama to tap Yellen for Fed vice chair: source

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama plans to nominate San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Janet Yellen, a respected policy dove, to be vice chairman of the central bank, a source familiar with the process said on Thursday.
• Leave yuan to us, China tells Obama

BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States should not make a political issue out of the yuan, a Chinese central banker said on Friday, as the two countries lurched toward a potential bust-up over Beijing's currency regime.
• Toyota discounts boost sales

DETROIT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Unprecedented discounts after a series of damaging recalls boosted Toyota Motor Corp's U.S. sales in early March, as U.S. regulators weighed new auto safety measures.

• Movers & Shakers: Friday's biggest advancers and decliners

MarketWatch's daily rundown of major gainers and decliners in the U.S. stock market.
• Bond Report: Treasurys pare losses as consumer sentiment dips

Short-term yields touch a two-month high after reports on U.S. retail sales and consumer sentiment, but overall Treasury prices pare some of their earlier losses.
• Economic Report: Consumer sentiment dips in March

U.S. consumer sentiment dips in early March, according to media reports on Friday of the Reuters/University of Michigan index.
• Europe Markets: Europe looks set to end choppy week with gains

European shares maintain modest gains on Friday, the final session in a choppy week.
• Airline Stocks: Airline stocks mixed as the Dow edges higher

Airline stocks are mixed in early trading activity as the wider market edges higher and labor unrest is at the forefront of industry concerns again.

• Examiner: Lehman Torpedoed Lehman

A federal judge released a scathing report on Lehman's collapse that raps executives, auditor Ernst & Young and banks for lapses that sparked bankruptcy.
• Twin Suicide Bombs Kill 40 in Pakistan

Suspected Islamist suicide bombers set off two near-simultaneous blasts targeting the Pakistani military in Lahore, killing at least 40 people.
• China Warns Google

A Chinese minister warned that Google "will have to bear the consequences" if it stops censoring its Chinese site.
• Retail Sales Post Strong Gain

U.S. retail sales posted a 0.3% gain in February from a month earlier despite falling car demand amid trouble at Toyota and fierce blizzards that crippled the East Coast for days.
• Schwab Issues Profit Warning

Charles Schwab warned first-quarter earnings will fall short of fourth-quarter levels as the brokerage said February trading fell 14%.

• CURRENCIES: Dollar Pares Loss After Confidence Data

CURRENCIES: Dollar Pares Loss After Confidence Data
• OECD Head: China, Developed Nations Not Acting On Imbalances

OECD Head: China, Developed Nations Not Acting On Imbalances
• Crude Oil, Gold Drop After Sentiment Data

Crude Oil, Gold Drop After Sentiment Data
• Hibbett's 4Q Net Climbs 54%, Exceeds Expectations

Hibbett posted a stronger-than-expected profit of 40 cents a share.
• Survey: Consumer Sentiment Dipped in Early March

According to Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumer, sentiment dropped slight in March.

• What killed Lehman

Failings by Lehman Brothers executives and its auditor led to the bank collapse that unleashed the worst of the financial crisis, according to a report by court-appointed investigator.
• Stocks boosted by retail sales

Stocks extend this week's gains at Friday's open after a government report showed surprising strength in retail sales for February.
• Retail sales beat expectations

Retail sales rose in February, the government said Friday, surprising economists who expected a decline.
• Some nurses make more than doctors

Despite the growing shortage of family doctors in the United States, medical centers last year offered higher salaries and incentives to specialist nurses than to primary care doctors, according to an annual survey of physicians' salaries.
• Apple's online store braces for iPad preorders

Apple's online store was temporarily closed Friday morning as the company got ready to start taking preorders for its highly anticipated iPad tablet computer.