MADRID (AP) ― Spain will slide back into recession early next year with the current quarter and the first of 2012 both registering negative growth, new Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said Monday.De Guindos said he expects the economy ― the eurozone’s fourth largest ― to contract by between 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent on the previous quarter in the final three months of this year and again in the first quarter of next year. He said the outlook for next year was poor.If the Spanish economy were

  Britain loses spot as sixth-largest economy to Brazil, Mantega saysBrazil will remain one of the fastest-growing nations in the coming years after overtaking the U.K. this year to become the world’s sixth-largest economy, the country’s Finance Minister Guido Mantega said. “The countries that will grow the most are the emerging markets such as Brazil, China, India and Russia,” Mantega said in a statement published on the finance ministry’s website, referring to findings by the London-based Cent

PARIS (AFP) ― Europe’s market in carbon emissions is hoping for outside help after a year in which prices slumped to record lows, savaging claims that trading in CO2 brakes the rise of dangerous greenhouse gases.Launched in 2005 and accounting for 97 percent of global carbon commerce, the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme is the big daddy of initiatives which harness the power of the market against carbon dioxide.Under it, some 12,000 plants have been given CO2 quotas.If firms get below

China should reduce its reliance on overseas rating companies by encouraging large financial institutions to strengthen their research and make their own judgments, central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said. The nation is also considering establishing credit-rating companies backed by the government, Zhou said at a financial forum in Beijing Sunday. A copy of his speech transcript was posted on financial news portal hexun.com. Zhou’s remarks reflect China’s desire to seek alternatives to the top

It’s that time for caroling, eggnog, holiday cheer ― and for some, a frantic dash to the mall. Last-minute shoppers hit stores on Christmas Eve in a surge that retailers hope will top off a strong holiday shopping season. Among them was Len Boswell. He started his shopping at 6 a.m. at Starbucks. Later in the morning he was at a CVS drugstore in Decatur, Georgia, picking up candy and a neck pillow for his wife. “I should have done this a couple of weeks ago,” acknowledges Boswell, 68, a director

Toyota Motor Corp. said its global vehicle sales may rise 20 percent next year as Asia’s biggest carmaker recovers from production disruptions caused by Japan’s March earthquake and Thailand’s record flooding. The maker of Prius hybrid cars may sell 8.48 million vehicles worldwide next year, compared with an estimated 7.05 million in 2011, it said in a statement Thursday. The forecast excludes Toyota’s Hino Motors Ltd. and Daihatsu Motor Co. units. Toyota aims to recover market share lost this y

Nokia’s long-awaited Windows phones may be too little, too late in the smartphone war dominated by Apple and Google, despite positive reviews by handset critics.Its first Windows model, the Lumia 800, has won little interest from consumers, with only 2 percent of Europeans in the market for a smartphone saying they would pick it, according to a survey by Exane BNP Paribas.Analysts said there was nothing particularly wrong with the sleek-looking handsets, other than a software glitch on some mode

Firm examining complex $17 billion proposal to sell most holdings in China, Japan: reportsSAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― Yahoo appears to be getting closer to giving its frustrated shareholders something they’ve long wanted: a sale of the Internet company’s holdings in China and Japan. The prospect of Yahoo Inc. finally consummating a deal with China’s Alibaba Group and Softbank Corp., the controlling owner of Yahoo Japan, emerged in online reports published Wednesday by The New York Times and The Wall St

BUDAPEST (AP) ― Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services on Wednesday downgraded Hungary’s credit rating to “junk” level because of worries about proposed policy changes regarding the country’s central bank. The S&P analysts lowered their ratings on Hungary’s debt to the non-investment grade with a “Negative” outlook. That means there is at least a 1-in-3 possibility of another downgrade over the next year if Hungary’s fiscal performance deteriorates. The lower rating could mean that Hungary has more

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The IMF’s chief economist said Wednesday that dithering EU policy makers had wasted a year and allowed their crisis to deteriorate, leaving Europe more exposed to “schizophrenic” investors.Olivier Blanchard described 2011 as a year of missed opportunities to reverse the economic crisis in Europe.The keys to resolving the crisis remain the same, he said: extra funds available for governments under stress and real implementation of coherent and cohesive solutions.“We started 201

Massive loans to 523 banks are biggest credit infusion in euro’s historyFRANKFURT (AP) ― Struggling banks snapped up 489 billion euros ($639 billion) in cheap loans from the European Central Bank on Wednesday, a sign of just how hard or expensive it has become to borrow from each other. The huge demand for newly available three-year loans comes as fears rise that heavily indebted European governments could default and force banks and other bond holders to take big losses. The loans to 523 banks