Greek aid pledge helps lift European markets (AP)

FILE - In this Feb. 24, 2010 file photo, traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks fell Monday, March 15, 2010, after Moody's Investors Service said the U.S. could eventually lose its top-notch credit rating. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)AP - European stock markets rose Tuesday after the 16 countries that share the euro agreed to help Greece with loans, if needed, and a German investor sentiment survey fell less than expected.



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China without Google: 'a lose-lose scenario' (AP)

AP - China without Google — a prospect that looks increasingly likely — could mean no more maps on mobile phones. A free music service that has helped to fight piracy might be in jeopardy. China's fledgling Web outfits would face less pressure to improve, eroding their ability to one day compete abroad.
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Markets cautious about EU aid pledge to Greece (AP)

Greek Finance Minister Giorgos Papakonstantinou, right, gestures as he talks with France's Economy Minister Christine Lagarde, center, Swedish counterpart Anders Borg, second left, and Spain's counterpart and President of the EU Council Elena Salgado Mendez, at the EU finance ministers meeting in Brussels, Tuesday, March 16, 2010.  Finance ministers of the 27 EU nations review Greek austerity measures and other financial regulations reform to ease the financial crisis. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)AP - European countries' pledge to help Greece with loans received a lukewarm welcome from markets on Tuesday as investors remained worried that the form and timing of the aid remains unclear.



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Fed weighs how and when to signal higher rates (AP)

The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep its key lending rate at virtually zero percent as financial markets look for signals of future monetary policy tightening.(AFP/File/Paul J. Richards)AP - Debate is heating up within the Federal Reserve over how and when to signal that the days of record-low interest rates are numbered.



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Landlords must pay taxes for renters to get credit (AP)

AP - Missouri tax officials are warning people who live in rented housing that they do not qualify for a tax break unless their landlords pay property taxes.
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Air Berlin to cut $1.7B in Boeing aircraft orders (AP)

AP - German airline Air Berlin Plc says it will cut back its order of Boeing Co. 787 aircraft to 15 from 25 and reduce its option for additional 787 aircraft to five aircraft from 10.
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FTSE shares close down (AFP)

FTSE 100 shares slipped back as a wobble in the recovery of the US industrial sector tempered investor confidence.(AFP/File/Shaun Curry)AFP - FTSE 100 shares slipped back Monday as a wobble in the recovery of the US industrial sector tempered investor confidence.



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Pay czar limits exec pay at still-struggling GMAC (AP)

AP - The Obama administration's pay czar is limiting 2010 compensation for top executives at GMAC Inc. because the auto finance giant continues to lose money and can't yet repay its $16.3 billion taxpayer bailout, according to people familiar with the negotiations.
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Deutsche Bank confirms 2009 net income of $6.9B (AP)

AP - Deutsche Bank AG says it made net income of euro5 billion ($6.9 billion) in 2009 and that it expects the banking market to progress slowly toward "a new form of normality" this year and next.
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EU ministers discuss standby plans for Greece (Reuters)

Spanish Finance Minister Elena Salgado (2nd L) and her French counterpart Christine Lagarde (R) talk at the start of a European Union finance ministers meeting in Brussels March 16, 2010. REUTERS/Yves HermanReuters - EU finance ministers on Tuesday discussed standby plans drawn up by countries using the euro to provide Greece with financial help if it becomes the first state in 11 years of monetary union to seek such aid.



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The Recovery Is Gaining Momentum, but Government Is in the Way (The Motley Fool)

The Motley Fool - It's been a long row to hoe since the economy entered the Great Recession. Even though the recovery seems to be under way, there's still a way to go until the economy returns to normal. Take a peek at the latest economic activity: On the plus side, February's retail sales rose by a better-than-expected 0.3%, despite the major snowstorms that blanketed parts of the nation and kept people off the roads. Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO - News), J.Crew (NYSE: JCG - News), and Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN - News) all posted good-looking quarters recently. ...
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Greek power company workers strike (AP)

Police take part in rally in central Athens, Thursday, March 11, 2010. Savage street clashes erupted between rioting youths and police in central Athens Thursday as more than 30,000 people demonstrated during a nationwide strike against the cash-strapped government's austerity measures. Hundreds of masked and hooded youths punched and kicked motorcycle police, knocking several off their bikes, as riot police fired volleys of tear has and stun grenades to disperse the rioters. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)AP - Greece's state power company workers have begun a 48-hour strike to protest government austerity measures designed to pull the country out of a major financial crisis.



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Limited Brands to pay $1 dividend, start buyback (AP)

AP - Retailer Limited Brands Inc., owner of Victoria's Secret, said Monday that its board of directors has declared a special dividend of $1 per share and authorized a share repurchase program of $200 million.
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Homebuilder sentiment index falls in March (AP)

FILE - In this Feb. 18, 2010 file photo, a construction worker builds a new home in Grosse Pointe Park, Mich. The National Association of Home Builders releases its housing market index for March on Monday, March 15. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)AP - Harsh winter weather and competition from deeply discounted foreclosures are putting a damper on sales prospects for homebuilders.



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Oil extends rise on eve of OPEC meeting (AFP)

An Iraqi engineer look over towards the flares at the Zubair oil field in southern Iraq in 2009. World oil prices rebounded slightly on Tuesday, after recent heavy losses, with traders on tenterhooks on the eve of a key production meeting of the OPEC oil cartel in Vienna.(AFP/File/Essam al-Sudani)AFP - World oil prices rebounded slightly on Tuesday, after recent heavy losses, with traders on tenterhooks on the eve of a key production meeting of the OPEC oil cartel in Vienna.



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Renault shares up on report Daimler talks widen (AP)

AP - Renault SA shares rose in early trading on the Paris stock exchange Tuesday after a newspaper reported the French car maker could swap stockholdings with Mercedes owner Daimler AG.
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Caution: Stats May Be Slippery (BusinessWeek)

BusinessWeek - Peril permeates a steel mill. Molten metal explodes when exposed to water. Overhead cranes hoist steel coils weighing up to 80,000 pounds. Heavy vehicles roll within feet of high-voltage wires. "We have a work environment that presents every hazard known to man," says Alan H. McCoy, vice-president and spokesman at AK Steel in West Chester, Ohio.
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