November 30, 2009 Oil, most metals see prices higher by Elaine Frei Oil prices were higher Monday after the US dollar weakened and tensions between the West and Iran escalated as Iran vowed to continue and expand its uranium enrichment activities and on the news that Iran is holding a UK yacht and five UK nationals who had been sailing the boat to a race. January contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude were up $1.59 in afternoon trade to $77.62 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while January Brent crude added $1.61 to $78.79 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London. Nymex January gasoline futures were up 6 cents to $2.01 per gallon in afternoon trade in New York

Fred Joseph, who as CEO of investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert helped create the modern junk-bond market in the 1980s before the firm’s collapse, has died. He was 72. Joseph died Friday at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center after a long fight with multiple myeloma.

Almost a year after a court dismissed a complaint against Wal-Mart over its 401(k) plan fees, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has brought the case back into play. On Nov.

The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether Australian investors can use U.S. securities law and American courts to sue an Australia-based bank for fraud. The justices said Monday they will use the lawsuit against Melbourne-based National Australia Bank to clarify whether and when U.S.

Citigroup Inc. on Monday named Willem Buiter, a London-based economics professor and author, as its new chief economist. Currently a professor at the London School of Economics, Buiter is a widely published author and blogger

American International Group Inc. shares fell sharply Monday as a Sanford Bernstein analyst reportedly said the embattled insurer doesn’t have enough reserves to pay some potential claims. Separately, the Financial Times reported AIG may soon get a bid for a part of its aircraft leasing unit from a group that includes the head of that business