Business - Investing

LONDON - European and U.S. stock markets traded without much direction Tuesday as investors weighed economic data that showed U.S. wholesale inflation rose more than expected last month. Volumes stayed low ahead of the holiday season. Full Story »

DUBAI (Reuters) - Dubai firms told bondholders they were safe a day after a bailout allowed troubled developer Nakheel to repay its bond, but investors still fretted over the future of the United Arab Emirates as an investment destination. Full Story »

ATLANTA - A case could be made for further consolidation in the U.S. airline industry, but it's unclear whether the Obama administration would allow it, the CEO of Delta Air Lines Inc. told investors at a conference Tuesday. Full Story »

NEW ORLEANS - A lawyer for a Louisiana businessman charged with defrauding investors out of nearly $20 million in an alleged Ponzi scheme has asked to withdraw from the case. Full Story »

LONDON (Reuters) - Kraft Foods vowed on Tuesday to stay disciplined in its pursuit of Cadbury , with investors saying it could take a rival offer to push the U.S. group to increase its $16.2 billion hostile bid. Full Story »

LONDON (AFP) - Royal Bank of Scotland said Tuesday that investors had backed its plans to join a state insurance scheme for toxic assets and raise the government's stake to 84 percent in another huge bailout. Full Story »

DUBAI (Reuters) - Repayment of a $4.1 billion bond issued by Dubai developer Nakheel was set to complete on Tuesday, when other Islamic bond issuers reassured investors in replies to a "soundness and health" check by Nasdaq Dubai. Full Story »

LONDON (Reuters) - The euro hit a 2-1/2 month low against a broadly firmer dollar on Tuesday while world stocks slipped as concerns grew about the European banking sector and the fiscal health of Greece. Full Story »

LOS ANGELES - A Los Angeles man has pleaded not guilty to running a Ponzi scheme that cheated about 50 investors in a NASCAR merchandise wholesale business out of at least $10 million. Full Story »

Thailand is trying to determine the destination of a cargo plane loaded with N. Korean weapons that was detained after it stopped to refuel in Bangkok. A Thai court ordered the plane's 5-man crew detained for 12 days. The U.S., which is particularly concerned about N. Korea selling weapons and nuclear technology in the Middle East, tipped off authorities to the aircraft's illicit cargo, according to media reports. Full Story »

Fed'l prosecutors said that Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who is accused of planning a terrorist attack against a Danish newspaper, also knew in advance about a militant group's plan to attack Mumbai and offered congratulations to the killers afterward. Rana, 48, is charged with providing material support to terrorists. Rana was arrested Oct. 18 and charged with plotting an attack on a Danish paper that ran cartoon images of the Prophet Muhammad. Full Story »

A bipartisan group of former lawmakers and budget officials urged Congress and Pres. Obama to keep federal debt from exceeding 60% of GDP to prevent damage to the economy, according to the Peterson-Pew Commission on Budget Reform. "A hard landing -- where higher deficits and debt cause investors to lose confidence in the U.S. economy and rising interest rates choke off the economic growth -- is a real possibility," the report said. Budget forecasts see the debt reaching 80% of GDP by 2019. Full Story »

Fidelity OTC Fund has been riding the market rally. The fund was up 55.04% this year going into Monday. Full Story »

Consumer spending makes up 70% of the U.S. economy. So studying people and where they are in their lives can provide a crystal ball for what's going to happen in the economy years ahead of time, according to HS Dent, a financial research firm founded by economist Harry Dent. Full Story »

As the economy shows more signs of recovery, the mood of cautious optimism is flowing into that traditionally most optimistic of sectors: start-ups. Full Story »

NEW YORK - Investors left the safe haven of the dollar Monday as Dubai's $10 billion bailout eased worries over global credit problems, while the euro rose despite anxiety about government debt and credit in euro-zone nations Greece and Spain. Full Story »

Hospital staffing and administrative support company Team Health Holdings is set to complete its initial public offering this week, but it faces an investment community that's winding down for the year and still smarting from hits taken in last week's IPOs. Full Story »

NEW YORK - Hedge funds saw more than $150 billion flow in from investors during the year's first nine months, with clients increasingly demanding funds provide more information about their investments, Barclays Capital said Monday. Full Story »