Business News

• Global stocks at 5-1/2 year lows (Reuters) -

  Reuters - World stocks dropped to 5-1/2 year lows and oil hit 22-month troughs as investors reacted to dire Federal Reserve warnings on the economy and fears about the viability of major U.S. auto makers and bank giant Citigroup.

  
  
• Prolonged recession looms (Reuters) -

  Reuters - Global economic misery spread on Thursday with the Federal Reserve predicting U.S. recession well into 2009, Japan's exports to Asia falling for the first time in six years and another sharp sell-off on global equity markets.

  
  
• Prospect for auto bailout dims (Reuters) -

  Reuters - Chances dimmed that a last-minute plan being crafted by Republican senators, with White House support, to provide $25 billion to bail out U.S. automakers would receive enough backing from Democrats to pass before the end of this week.

  
  
• Financials need at least $1 trillion: analyst (Reuters) -

  Reuters - The U.S. financial system still needs at least $1 trillion to $1.2 trillion of tangible common equity to restore confidence and improve liquidity in the credit markets, Friedman Billings Ramsey analyst Paul Miller said.

  
  
• Citi to use scalpel not axe in trimming Asia units (Reuters) -

  Reuters - Citigroup is scrambling to slash costs in the face of collapsing investor confidence, but the embattled bank is unlikely to retreat from Asia, its strongest performing region.

  
  
• Wall Street sinks to lowest since 2003 (Reuters) -

  Reuters - Stocks plunged to their lowest in five-and-a-half years on Wednesday as investors girded for a lengthy economic downturn and automotive executives predicted a far-reaching calamity without a government lifeline.

  
  
• Homebuilder, REIT shares tumble as recession spreads (Reuters) -

  Reuters - The shares of big U.S. homebuilders and real estate companies alike slumped on Wednesday as housing starts fell to a record low and concerns spread the commercial real estate market is going the way of residential.

  
  
• British retail sales down 0.1 percent in October (AP) - AP - British retail sales fell only slightly in October, official figures showed Thursday, despite mounting evidence from retailers such as Woolworths PLC and Marks & Spencer PLC, that business conditions are extremely tough.

Entertainment News

• Matthiessen wins National Book Award fiction prize (AP) -

  AP - The economy hung like a cloud over the 59th annual National Book Awards. Barack Obama was the silver lining.

  
  
• Publicist: Paris Hilton and Benji Madden split (AP) -

  AP - Paris Hilton and her boyfriend of nine months, Benji Madden, have broken up.

  
  
• America's Next Top Model Rises (E! Online) -

  E! Online - It was down to Analeigh Tipton, McKey Sullivan and Samantha Potter—all lovely, leggy and hungry (to win!), but only one could be crowned America's Next Top Model.

  
  
• Lifetime Fashions a Project Runway Suit (E! Online) -

  E! Online - Lifetime isn't going to just sit and watch Project Runway pass it by.

  
  
• Miley Cyrus Isn't Only Teen Star Who's Not Dead (E! Online) -

  E! Online - Miley Cyrus and Urkel have something in common. They're both not dead.

  
  
• Movie will show White House butler did it all (Reuters) -

  Reuters - Columbia is bringing the story of Eugene Allen, a black man who served as a White House butler for 34 years, to the big screen.

  
  
• The Who look back to '77 on live DVD (Reuters) -

  Reuters - A 1977 concert filmed for the Who documentary "The Kids Are Alright" has long been considered a holy grail by rock fans. But frontman Roger Daltrey remembers it as taking place on "kind of a weird day."

  
  
• Cable channel FX will televise the revolution (Reuters) - Reuters - FX is plotting a revolution. The cable network is developing "AR2," a drama about a group of Midwestern youths who spark a second American Revolution.
• Matthiessen wins National Book Award fiction prize (AP) -

  AP - The economy hung like a cloud over the 59th annual National Book Awards. Barack Obama was the silver lining.

  
  
• Theo Allyn Will Return to Role She Created for Florida Premiere, 'Mezzulah, 1946' (Playbill) - Playbill - Casting has been announced for the second regional production of Michele Lowe's Mezzulah, 1946, a play-with-music about women factory workers during World War II - and their status following the war - running Dec. 10-Jan. 18, 2009, at Florida Stage in Manalapan, FL.
• Michael Jackson to testify in British court: lawyer (Reuters) - Reuters - Singer Michael Jackson plans to testify next week in a British court in a lawsuit brought against him by a Bahrain prince, Jackson's lawyer said on Thursday.
• Marc Jacobs settles with NY over improper payments (Reuters) -

  Reuters - Top fashion designer Marc Jacobs' company agreed to pay New York state $1 million for improper payments made to secure a venue to hold fashion shows, the New York attorney general's office said on Wednesday.

  
  
• Matthiessen wins National Book Award fiction prize (AP) -

  AP - The economy hung like a cloud over the 59th annual National Book Awards. Barack Obama was the silver lining.

  
  

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