| Union 'is the key to global economy'
BREAKING up the UK would risk Scotland's place in a new world order, Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, said last night. The MP for Edinburgh South West told an audience at Stirling University that Scotland and England are better off together in facing the challenges from a fast-changing global economy. .
Retailers brace for soft sales season
Oil and gas prices are soaring. Home values and sales are falling. Foreclosures are rising. The mortgage industry is melting. Bank profits are dissolving. Homeowners are struggling as $1.1 trillion in adjustable-rate mortgages reset. And the Dow Jones Industrial Average is tumbleweed caught in the economic winds. Happy holidays: The troubled macro economy with its deteriorating consumer confidence could be the Grinch that steals Christmas, according to economists and retail analysts. "It is likely to be a softer season than in the past, due, in part, to the credit crunch, mortgages and gas," said Patti Freeman Evans, a senior retail analyst at New York-based Jupiter Research. The National Retail Federation forecasts nationwide holiday sales to grow 4 percent this year.
FTSE skids as credit woes hit banks
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Toronto stocks end flat as credit worry linger
The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index finished little changed on Friday, supported by energy shares but undermined by anxiety after Bank of Montreal said it will take charges that result partly from securities hit by the credit crunch. Most of the index's sectors were lower a day after the index fell to its lowest level in 2-1/2 months amid worries over the fallout from the credit squeeze and the health of the U.S. economy. The lightweight consumer staples sector lost the most on Friday, 1.5 percent, dragged down by a decline in Loblaw Cos. Loblaw fell nearly 3 percent, down C$1.01 at C$34.54, as analysts cut their stock-price targets a day after the company posted disappointing results. The big financials group, under pressure from writedowns at Canadian and U.S.
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