O il prices CL-FT fell to near $78 a barrel Tuesday as the dollar recovered against the British pound and the yen. Expectations of falling U.S. stockpiles and gains on stock markets helped contain the retreat

T he UK in the first decade of the new century recorded the lowest economic growth of the postwar period and the worst returns for stock-market investors since the 1930s, according to a Financial Times analysis of official and market data. Information provided by the Office of National Statistics to the FT shows that GDP, on average, rose by 1.7 per cent annually in real terms throughout the so-called noughties, Britain’s weakest period of economic expansion of any since the 1940s. Manufacturing was particularly hard hit and, on average, after adjusting for inflation, output actually contracted over the decade by 1.2 per cent annually

A London banker who was dismissed by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce CM-T at the age of 42 has won an age discrimination case against the bank. The unusual case has garnered a high profile in London. Achim Beck had worked in derivatives marketing for a number of banks before being hired as head of marketing for CIBC’s commodity structured products division in 2007.

H ome prices rise for the fifth month in a row in October, but the recovery continues to be uneven with only 11 of the 20 metros tracked showing gains. The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday edged up 0.4 per cent to a seasonally adjusted reading of 145.36 in October. The index was off 7.3 per cent from October last year.

A stop foreclosure loan is a loan that a borrower will avail themselves to when there is an impending foreclosure at hand. This loan is taken out to stop the foreclosure on the home and there are actually many lenders that will offer these types of loans.

T o understand the tsunami of takeovers that will roll through markets in 2010, you only need understand one simple concept: Cash is trash. Interest rates have never been lower. It is now punitive for companies to hold cash reserves – the capital doesn’t earn its keep, and will weigh heavily on financial results

T wo Chinese companies are offering $650-million (U.S.) for Canadian miner Corriente Resources Ltd. CTQ-T in China’s latest bid to acquire resource assets abroad. China Railway Construction Corp