Reuters - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), the world's biggest automaker, is to halt production at all its Japanese plants for a total of 11 days in February and March in a bid to reduce stocks of unsold cars as demand has slumped.

Reuters - Asian stocks edged up for a seventh day on Tuesday, boosted by hopes for a global economic recovery later in 2009, though the rising yen and falling high-yielding currencies suggested such optimism was limited.

Reuters - U.S. prosecutors asked a judge to jail accused swindler Bernard Madoff on Monday, saying he sent jewelry and other items worth more than $1 million to family and friends in violation of his bail.

Reuters - U.S. auto sales plunged by 36 percent in December led by outsized declines at Chrysler LLC, Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) and Toyota Motor Corp(7203.T) as the battered industry closed out its weakest year since 1992 in its largest single market.

Reuters - U.S. prosecutors asked a judge to jail accused swindler Bernard Madoff on Monday, saying he sent jewelry and other items worth more than $1 million to family and friends in violation of his bail.

Reuters - General Electric Co's finance arm on Monday launched a $10 billion sale of FDIC-backed debt, the largest sale under the government guarantee program since its inception last November.

Reuters - U.S. prosecutors asked a judge to revoke the bail terms for alleged swindler Bernard Madoff and detain him on Monday, claiming he was a flight risk.

Reuters - Stocks fell on Monday as investors booked profits after last week's run-up, while concerns about slowing cell phone sales hit shares of the biggest telecommunications companies.

Reuters - Major automakers reported U.S. sales in December that plunged by more than a third, closing out the weakest year for the battered industry in over a decade and a half in its largest single market.

Reuters - The prospect of new tax cuts in the United States and Germany injected a measure of New Year cheer on Monday, and a euro zone investor survey indicated new hope that the worst of the financial crisis had passed.

Reuters - The worst financial crisis in more than a half century is going to get even worse, putting further pressure on U.S. home prices and driving the unemployment rate above 11 percent, according to two prominent academic economists.

Reuters - Apple Inc Chief Executive Steve Jobs sought to soothe investor concerns about his health on Monday, saying his weight loss was caused by a hormone imbalance that is relatively simple to treat.

Reuters - Walgreen Co's sales at drugstores open at least a year rose a better-than-expected 4.9 percent in December, as cash-strapped consumers continued to buy basics but shied away from holiday items.

Reuters - Tyson Foods Inc Chief Executive Dick Bond said on Monday that he was leaving the No. 1 U.S. meat company, effective immediately.

Reuters - Shares of top phone companies AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc fell on Monday after Bernstein Research downgraded their ratings and price targets.

Reuters - Pfizer Inc , the world's biggest pharmaceutical group, is open to acquisitions, its chief executive Jeff Kindler told the Financial Times in an interview.