Top Stories

Toyota Corolla Steering Complaints Are Being Reviewed By U.S. Regulators Toyota Motor Corp.’s Corolla, the world’s best-selling car, is being reviewed by the U.S. after driver complaints about steering, according to a government spokeswoman.

Commonwealth Bank Forecasts Stronger Demand for Loans After Record Profit Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation’s biggest lender, forecast strengthening demand for loans and fewer bad debts after posting record profit in its fiscal first half as the financial crisis abates.

BHP Billiton Posts First-Half Profit of $6.1 Billion, Exceeding Estimates BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, said first-half profit more than doubled after one-time charges for closing mines and plants in Australia and the U.S. crimped earnings a year earlier.

Temasek Plans $3 Billion Hedge Fund to Boost Returns, AsianInvestor Says Temasek Holdings Pte is planning a $3 billion hedge fund, AsianInvestor reported on its Web site, without saying where it got the information.

Exclusive

Greece Says Call for Help Would Send `Worst Signal' as Bond Yields Surge Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said he can’t call for outside aid as his government struggles to cut the European Union’s largest budget deficit.

Holders of Billions in Czar Bonds Sue to Recovery Kremlin's Paris Property The Russian government vowed to “defend our rights” after French holders of czarist bonds valued at as much as 100 billion euros ($137 billion) threatened to sue the Kremlin and seize property it owns in Paris.

Sugar Shortage May Turn Acute in Third Quarter on Demand From U.S., Mexico A global sugar shortage, which drove prices to the highest level in three decades, may peak in the third quarter this year on demand from the U.S., Mexico, India and Pakistan, according to U.S.-based Tropix Capital Management.

`Blind Pools' Lose Appeal as Ziman, Callahan Plan Real Estate IPO Comeback Richard Ziman and Timothy Callahan want to raise money in the equity market after selling their real estate companies for a combined $12 billion before the property crash. Investors may balk at bankrolling their return.

`Avatar' Triumphs in China as State-Backed `Confucius' Fails to Break Even A film about the Chinese philosopher Confucius was overwhelmed at the box office by News Corp.’s “Avatar,” grossing 97 million yuan ($14 million) in 2½ weeks on the mainland and failing to break even, its producer said.

Bankers' Stew Disguising CDO Scraps as Tasty Morsels: Book Excerpt Since its inception, the derivatives market has echoed the fairground hawkers’ call to “scream if you want to go faster.” Among the new derivatives, collateralized-debt obligations (CDOs) were particularly hot.