• Doors finally close at Woolworths

The last remaining Woolworths stores have closed their doors exactly 100 years since the company opened its first shop.

  • Bosses rap 'sickie' TV commercial

A TV commercial and a website advertising a cold remedy has been criticised by company bosses for apparently encouraging workers to 'throw a sickie.'

  • Airline boss confident in 2009

The chief executive of Virgin Atlantic has spoken of his confidence for the future of the airline industry, despite predictions of big losses in 2009 by trade experts.

  • UK retailers fight the slowdown

As the last Woolworths stores finally closed their doors, two major retailer announced a drop in sales in the run-up to Christmas.

  • House prices down 16% in 2008

The Nationwide's chief economist says house prices are not going to improve any time soon, after a survey shows they dropped 15.9% last year.

  • ExeBay chief aims to follow Terminator

Meg Whitman looks set to enter race to follow Arnold Schwarzenegger as next governor of California.

  • Ten groups in talks on Waterford Wedgwood

More than 10 parties are seriously interested in buying Waterford Wedgwood administrators Deloitte have said.

  • Woolworths' shareholder slams chain's closure

Ardeshir Naghshineh the Iranian property entrepreneur who owned a 10pc stake in Woolworths condemns closure of the chain as "unnecessary".

  • Next's Mr Cautious sees upbeat future

Simon Wolfson the chief executive of Next tends to err on the side of caution when it comes to predictions about the economy.

  • Pound stages unexpected recovery ahead of MPC meeting

The pound continued its unexpected comeback gaining against the euro and dollar ahead of the Bank of England's interest rate decision.

  • Retailers ease Christmas fears but gloom lingers

LONDON (Reuters) - A string of retailers eased fears of a collapse in consumer spending over Christmas but warned on Tuesday that rising unemployment and plunging house prices would blight trading for months to come.

  • Global stocks rise on stimulus plans

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks climbed across the globe on Tuesday, extending last week's advance, as investors bet economic stimulus packages would spur economic recovery, while demand concerns pulled oil off of levels above $50 a barrel.

  • Bank set to cut interest rates to record low

LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England looks set to cut interest rates by at least half a percentage point this week to their lowest level on record as it tries to prevent the economy sliding into a long and painful recession.

  • Lawyer says Madoff cooperating with U.S. probes

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bernard Madoff is cooperating with government investigations into his alleged $50 billion (£33.5 billion) fraud, one of his lawyers said on Tuesday, as prosecutors sought to revoke his bail and jail him.

  • U.S. and European data grim as Toyota and Alcoa to cut back

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dismal economic data from the United States and Europe pointed to further pain for the world's two largest economies, while aluminium maker Alcoa plans to slash thousands of jobs and curtail operations to conserve cash in a deepening recession.

  • U.S. court orders Enron's Skilling resentenced

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A U.S. court upheld the 19 felony convictions of former Enron Corp President and Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling stemming from his role in the collapse of the energy trading company, but said he must be resentenced.

  • Iceland weighs taking Britain to European court

REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Iceland said on Tuesday it was considering going to the European Court of Human Rights over Britain's use of anti-terrorism legislation to seize assets of Icelandic bank Landsbanki during the island's financial crisis.

  • German tycoon Adolf Merckle commits suicide

BLAUBEUREN, Germany (Reuters) - German billionaire Adolf Merckle has committed suicide, in despair over the huge losses suffered by his business empire during the financial crisis, his family said on Tuesday.

  • Macworld fizzles with no surprises

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple announced plans to drop copy protection from songs sold over the Internet and debuted a slim, big-screen laptop, but with no dramatic products or master pitchman Steve Jobs, the company's final Macworld performance disappointed Wall Street.

  • Fed and other agencies to join U.S. fraud task force

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve and five other U.S. agencies will join a presidential corporate fraud task force that is being strengthened to focus on mortgage and securitization fraud cases, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday.