Business News

WASHINGTON - Republican and Democratic House members said Monday that the alleged $50 billion fraud involving Wall Street figure Bernard Madoff reflects deep, systemic problems at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

NEW YORK - Caution returned to Wall Street Monday as investors gave back some gains from last week's rally even as they found encouragement from President-elect Barack Obama's calls for an economic stimulus package.

NEW YORK - Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Monday on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - North American fertilizer company Mosaic Co said on Monday its quarterly profit jumped, boosted by rising potash and phosphate sales, but said it would cut output and expected weak results for its current quarter.

CARACAS, Venezuela - Record prices boosted Venezuela's oil income by 225 percent in the first nine months of 2008, allowing the state-run oil company to stash $10.8 billion in government reserves now that oil prices have dropped dramatically.

A Dec. 11 story about Costco's quarterly results was datelined Issaquah, Wash. It should have been datelined Portland, Ore., where the writer is based.

CHICAGO (AFP) - US auto sales crashed again in December as the industry posted its worst year since 1992 and the Detroit Three saw their annual market share slip beneath 50 percent for the first time, industry data showed Monday.

TOKYO - Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it will suspend production at all of its Japanese plants for a total of 11 days in February and March because of faltering global demand.

(Reuters) - Pfizer Inc , the world's biggest pharmaceutical group, is open to acquisitions, its chief executive Jeff Kindler told the Financial Times in an interview.

As 2008 becomes a bitter and fading memory, it's fair to assume U.S. consumers are doing what they usually do as they ring in a New Year: make yet another round of resolutions that range from losing weight to eating more healthfully, and to spending more quality time with their families. This year there's a catch. Most lifestyle changes call for discretionary spending, and with the recession expected to deepen and bring more job losses, people tend to forego changes until they feel more financially secure.

When times are tough, people tend to hold on to what they have that much more tightly. But for those who can get beyond that psychological response, there's a silver lining in today's combination of depressed asset values and low interest rates: Transferring assets to the next generation has rarely been less costly.

Just a few months ago political leaders worldwide were fretting mightily over the growing power of sovereign wealth funds, those vast pools of government-controlled cash in oil-rich countries and other big exporters. The fear was that they would gobble up trophy assets and start to demand a say in running businesses. But as the past year's market turmoil has hit the funds hard, those worries are fading.

LONDON - Waterford Wedgwood PLC, the maker of classic china and crystal, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday after attempts to restructure the struggling business or find a buyer failed.

DETROIT - Chrysler LLC's December U.S. sales plunged by more than half and it sold 30 percent fewer vehicles in 2008, dwarfing the steep declines at the other major automakers as consumers remained uncertain about the economy and their jobs.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The call to use oil as a weapon against Israel's friends once would have echoed in capitals across the Middle East and struck fear in the West's heart. But even as the crisis in Gaza deepens, threats of an embargo by some officials in Iran and Bahrain are falling flat.