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Shareholders are set to approve bank of america's takeover of Merrill Lynch in separate votes Friday.

Americans are spending less but not necessarily saving more as the economy slides, according to a survey by bank of america.

Bank of america is seeking to foreclose on a 17.1-acre site in southern Miami-Dade County that was planned as a residential community by Miami-based Precious Homes.

Lexus debuted the replacement for both the current RX 400h hybrid and the RX 350 petrol engine models at the recent Los Angeles Auto Show. The new RX 450h will replace both models in the UK to produce an all-hybrid RX range, while in North America a non-hybrid RX 350 will also be offered. Both the RX 350 and RX 450h are propelled by a 3.5-liter 6-cylinder petrol engine which provides 205kW (275hp) with the 450h's augmented by an electric motor to provide a combined output of 220kW (295hp)...Tags: Automotive, Hybrid, LA Auto Show, LexusRelated Articles: Hybrid-electric Lexus SUV concept shows off new styling direction Lexus Hybrid Luxury Sports Sedan announced Lexus introduces Bluetooth technology Toyota/Lexus dominate U.K. J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Awards Toyota employs noise-canceling tech on hybrid Tom Cruise's Toyata Lexus concept car from Minority Report

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Cascade Corp., which makes forklift attachments, hydraulic cylinders and other loading gear, said Thursday its third-quarter profit fell 16 percent on lower sales in North America, Europe and China.

OPEC has its work cut out to stop the oil price from sinking furtherENERGY analysts spent the first half of the year debating how expensive oil could get. Now they are asking the opposite question. On December 2nd the price of a barrel slipped below $47, the lowest level since May 2005 and less than a third of the peak reached in July. The main reason for the slump is the darkening outlook for the world economy. Demand for oil continues to grow in a few spots, such as China. But in most places it is falling. America’s appetite for oil, for example, had been more or less stagnant for the past few years, but has recently dropped dramatically (see chart). Many now expect global oil demand to fall next year, and perhaps even this year—which would be the first decline since 1993. Meanwhile, several new oilfields and refineries, which were set in motion when the price seemed likely only to rise, are due to start up in the coming months, increasing supply just as demand atrophies.

High saving and low private-sector debt have not shielded Germany and Japan from recession PAUL KRUGMAN, the winner of this year’s Nobel prize in economics, put his finger on something in the 1990s when he identified, and then ridiculed, the notion that a slump is a “necessary punishment” for the excesses of the boom that went before it. The popular idea of recession as purgative—the hangover following an ill-judged binge—has a strong and enduring emotional appeal. It allows distressed consumers in America and Britain, countries with a shared weakness for untrammelled spending and reckless borrowing, to make sense of the unfolding crisis. Recession, they reason, must be a penance for past profligacy. However, such logic is of little use in Germany and Japan, two big and rich countries that did not succumb to the boom’s vices, but are nevertheless facing nasty recessions. Each avoided the credit expansion, consumer frenzy, house-price bubbles and trad

America's Health Insurance Plans on Wednesday announced a universal health coverage proposal that would be funded in part by slowing the growth of health care costs by 30% over five years and reducing inefficiencies, the Wall Street Journal reports.read more

Stocks on Wall Street were down moderately in early trading Thursday following discouraging sales reports from many of America's big retailers, and word of big job cuts at AT&T and DuPont. ...

MARKHAM, ON--(Marketwire - December 4, 2008) - Jaime S. Gomez, President of Produelec S.A.,announces the sale of its Wellington mining operation and the transfer ofthe 3 mining concessions comprising the Wellington Project to TransoftTechnologies, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: TSTG).TSTG has entered into a transaction whereby it will acquire 100% interestin Produelec's flagship mining project, 'The Wellington Project,' locatedin Ecuador, South America. This transaction completes the transformation ofTSTG status to that of an asset-rich mineral holdings company.