Business">
NYT > Business

• Grim November for New-Home Sales
  Sales of new homes hit a 12-year low in November, falling short of even the most skeptical Wall Street estimates.
• Stocks End Mixed After Housing Data
  Stocks finished an erratic week narrowly mixed after the government new-home sales report stirred concerns that weakness in housing will continue to dog the economy.
• Letterman Makes Deal With Striking Writers
  The deal will allow David Letterman to resume his show next Wednesday with his team of writers on board.
• Wal-Mart Abandons Online Movie Downloads
  The retreat for Wal-Mart follows the company’s 2005 decision to abandon efforts to build an online DVD rental service.
• China Finds American Allies for Security
  For the Olympics, some American companies are helping to design one of the most high-tech surveillance systems.
• Berkshire to Buy ING Unit for $441 Million
  In its second acquisition this week, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway agreed to buy the NRG reinsurance unit of ING, the Dutch financial services company.
• Broadcast of Golden Globes Is in Doubt
  Hollywood’s glamour machine is stuck between a promise that the stars will still show up at next month’s Golden Globes and a threat that 3,000 picketing writers will chase them away.
• A Post-Google Fraternity of Investors
  A growing number of Google millionaires are hoping to parlay their newfound wealth into even greater riches by bankrolling technology start-ups.
• China Moves to Improve Quality of Its Seafood
  China said this week that it would introduce an array of production standards to improve safety and guard against the use of illegal veterinary drugs in its seafood.
• Aetna to End Payment for a Drug in Colonoscopies
  Aetna is the latest insurer to clamp down on the use of a powerful anesthetic during an increasingly common form of colon cancer screening.
• Holiday Online Receipts Are Strong, but Reflect a Decline in Rate of Growth
  Holiday e-commerce sales were robust, but, with sales growth of 19 percent, showed their slowest-ever growth, industry analysts projected.
• Amazon to Sell Warner Music Minus Copy Protection
  The Warner Music Group’s announcement is the recording industry’s latest move away from its reliance on digital locks to reduce piracy.
• Essence Editor Is Leaving Magazine
  Susan L. Taylor, the longtime editor and driving force behind Essence, the magazine aimed at black women, is leaving the publication after 37 years.
• Discover Tries Nurturing Parents
  The Discover credit card has a new marketing partnership with Parents magazine, the nation’s most popular glossy about the world’s most demanding job.
• Apple Making Deals for Web Video Rentals
  Apple’s sputtering efforts to be a major purveyor of video downloads may get a boost in 2008 from an agreement with 20th Century Fox for digital movie rentals.
• Weak Data Puts Shares in a Tailspin
  Weak economic data and concerns about fallout from the assassination of the Pakistani opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto, pushed shares lower on Thursday.
• Durable Goods Orders Rise, but Disappoint
  Orders for manufactured goods at American factories rose only slightly in November, falling short of expectations.
• Another Big Order for Boeing’s Dreamliners
  Boeing said that it had sealed a deal with British Airways, raising the number of orders for its long-awaited 787 Dreamliner plane to 790 during the last three years.
• Europe Charges Airlines With Price Fixing
  The air cargo haulers All Nippon Airways, Air New Zealand and the Malaysian Airline System were charged Thursday with violating European competition rules.
• Sony Discontinues Rear-Projection TV
  Sony said that it was dropping its money-losing rear-projection TV business worldwide to focus on flat-panel technologies.
• Equity Group Seeks to Redo Deal for Auto Glass Business
  Platinum Equity said that it wanted to renegotiate its planned $500 million purchase of the automotive glass division of PPG Industries, alleging PPG had misrepresented the health of the business.
• General Re Subpoenas Supported
  Berkshire Hathaway and its General Reinsurance unit must comply with subpoenas from the subsidiary’s former chief executive, Ronald E. Ferguson, whose fraud trial begins Jan. 7 in federal court, a judge has ruled.
• Sallie Mae Sells Securities to Try to Pay Off Derivatives
  Sallie Mae said it sold $2 billion of common stock and $1 billion of convertible securities Thursday in a deal that would help pay off bad derivatives bets.
• Fed Increases Lending to Banks
  U.S. banks on average borrowed $4.83 billion a day directly from the Federal Reserve in the week ended Dec. 26, up from $4.62 billion a day the previous week.
• Steven T. Florio, Executive Who Expanded Condé Nast, Dies at 58
  Mr. Florio led Condé Nast during a period of great change in the magazine industry, with many companies downsizing because of the growth of the Internet.
• People in the News
  Comings and goings in the financial industry.
• Credit Crisis? Just Wait for a Replay
  How different was subprime lending from other lending in the days of easy money that prevailed until this summer?