M icrosoft Corp. MSFT-Q has no plans to pull out of China, its chief executive said on Thursday, playing down concerns about recent cyberattacks and censorship raised by rival Google Inc. GOOG-Q “There are attacks every day

L et’s face it, numbers in earnings reports mean pretty much what company accountants want them to mean, neither more nor less. That’s why investors looking at fundamentals must determine on a company-by-company basis what earnings are really saying. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a standard measure that could make earnings evaluation easier, clearer and more meaningful

O il prices CL-FT fell marginally on Thursday, in a fourth straight session of losses, as weak U.S. economic signals and high inventories spurred fears of a sluggish rebound in demand in the world’s largest energy consumer.

A three-way takeover stalemate that has gripped North America’s fertilizer industry for more than a year saw some signs of easing on Thursday, with CF Industries Holdings Inc. CF-N saying it is dropping its hostile pursuit of U.S. rival Terra Industries Inc

Don’t blame state regulators for the financial crisis; blame those who took power away from state regulators. That was the message today from the president of the North American Securities Administrators Association, who testified today to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. “Our presence did not contribute to the crisis

T he Canadian dollar CAD/USD-I shot to a three-month high against the U.S. currency Thursday as the greenback fell on soft U.S.

T oday’s top stories from Report on Business : Obama unveils controversial bank tax As U.S. President Barack Obama put it today as he unveiled his controversial bank tax, “We want our money back.” The President slapped a new tax on major financial institutions that, when approved by Congress, would pull in about $90-billion over 10 years. The 0.15-per-cent tax on liabilities would affect institutions with more than $50-billion of assets, and is expected to include about 50 companies