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HONG KONG (AP) - Billionaire Li Ka-shing's conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. said Thursday its 2008 profit tumbled by 42 percent as the global economic crisis hampered growth at various businesses.

As a young boy growing up in Japan, Nobu Matsuhisa dreamed of becoming a sushi chef in a restaurant where he could create his own menu. It took more than 30 years of experimentation, failure and incompatible business partners to reach his goal, as he worked his way from dishwasher in Tokyo to co-owner of a small sushi establishment in Lima, Peru.

News at a GlanceEconomic Update: Final reading of Q4 GDP due later.Ready to Rally: Stock futures point to early gains.Tough Sell: European AIG execs reluctant to return bonuses.Asia Rises: Nikkei, Hang Seng rose on data.The LowdownWall Street is aiming for its fourth day of gains in the last three sessions.Stocks looked to open higher Thursday, as traders cheered more enthusiasm in world markets and awaited new details on the Treasury's plan to impose tighter regulations on financials. Shortly before 6 a.m., Dow, Nasdasq and S&P 500 futures were trading above fair value.Another day in the black would go a long toward validating the market's recent optimism. Stocks have risen sharply this week, largely on the Obama adminitrations's promise to loosen the credit markets by vastly expanding the holdings of the Federal Reserve with asset-backed securities and bonds.In Washington, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner prepared to unveil more details of his plan to expand the r

Assembla is easiest to describe as a project management service. I haven't heard much from Assembla since I interviewed their President Andy Singleton last year. Today Assembla is announcing a new partnership with outsourcing marketplace oDesk. Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed.The partnership will bring Assembla's tools to the oDesk workers. Assembla's tools include subversion and git code repositories, ticketing, collaboration, multi-project portfolios, and project management.Assembla's community of users will also be able to directly connect with the workforce on oDesk. Today's partnership should give Assembla a new level of visibility into their target market.Check out our awesome SXSW coverage!CN Sponsors:-- CloudContacts - get your business cards scanned and connect socially!

News at a GlanceEconomic Update: Final reading of Q4 GDP due later.Ready to Rally: Stock futures point to early gains.Tough Sell: European AIG execs reluctant to return bonuses.Asia Rises: Nikkei, Hang Seng rose on data.The LowdownWall Street is aiming for its fourth day of gains in the last three sessions.Stocks looked to open higher Thursday, as traders cheered more enthusiasm in world markets and awaited new details on the Treasury's plan to impose tighter regulations on financials. Shortly before 6 a.m., Dow, Nasdasq and S&P 500 futures were trading above fair value.Another day in the black would go a long toward validating the market's recent optimism. Stocks have risen sharply this week, largely on the Obama adminitrations's promise to loosen the credit markets by vastly expanding the holdings of the Federal Reserve with asset-backed securities and bonds.In Washington, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner prepared to unveil more details of his plan to expand the r

It's not easy to break in, but the Defense Department awards $55 billion of its contracts to small businesses, and the Obama stimulus plan will make even more money available.

Asian shares hit their highest level in 11 weeks on hopes the US economic downturn may be easing, while the dollar recovered after its latest wobble about its status as the main reserve currency

European stocks opened modestly higher, helped by the late rally on Wall Street and a turnaround in Asia. The U.K. FTSE gained 0.2%.

Aluminum giant Alcoa doesn&os;t get much press for its wheel business, because about 90 percent of it is supplying factories with original-equipment wheels, and those don&os;t get rolled out with fanfare and SEMA-show babes draped over them. But Alcoa has

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose to their highest in nearly three months on Thursday, led by energy and financial shares, and oil climbed on hopes the U.S. economic slowdown may be easing.