Wal-Mart names Duke to succeed Scott as CEO (AP)
AP - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, unexpectedly announced Friday that its chief executive will retire in February and be replaced by the head of its international division.
Wal-Mart’s Scott retiring as CEO, Duke to succeed (Reuters)
Reuters - * Lee Scott to retire as CEO February 1
Hypo Real Estate to receive euro20 billion loan (AP)
AP - Troubled German lender Hypo Real Estate said Friday it has been granted euro20 billion ($25 billion) in loan guarantees from a government fund, which comes on top of a previous bailout to stabilize its business amid the financial turmoil.
US gas prices dip below $2 as oil prices waver (AP)
AP - The national average price for gasoline tumbled below $2 a gallon Friday, its lowest point in more than three years, yet the global economic contrast between then and now could not be more stark.
Ask AP: Importance of housing starts, honeybees (AP)
AP - American farmers have long worried about the declining population of honeybees, a key crop pollinator. But honeybees originally came from Europe, so can't U.S. farms get by without them — with a little help from good old American bugs whose ancestors were here before Columbus?
GM cutting production amid slow demand (Reuters)
Reuters - General Motors Corp said on Friday it plans additional temporary plant shutdowns in the next two months in response to deteriorating market demand.
Germany’s LBBW to receive euro5 billion injection (AP)
AP - Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany's largest state bank, said Friday it would receive a euro5 billion ($6.3 billion) cash injection from its shareholders and that it expected a loss in 2008 as the financial crisis takes its toll.
Citi extends plunge as world economy deteriorates (Reuters)
Reuters - Amid growing concern that a power vacuum in Washington was contributing to the global financial crisis, shares of U.S. banking giant Citigroup skidded on Friday while legislators and corporate chieftains weighed the fate of the U.S. auto industry.
Pelosi: Economic stimulus tops ‘09 agenda (Reuters)
Reuters - Passage of a broad economic stimulus bill, including tax cuts, will be a top priority of the next Congress when it convenes in January, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Friday.
Hundreds wait at Verizon stores for BlackBerry Storm (Reuters)
Reuters - Hundreds of people lined up at Verizon Wireless stores on Friday to buy the BlackBerry Storm, the first touch-screen phone from Research In Motion that aims to compete with Apple's iPhone.