Facebook Inc. plans to test a Groupon-inspired service that will sell discount offers, an effort to use its 500 million-plus members to capitalize on the surging online-deal market.The service will get started in San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas, Atlanta, and Austin, Texas, the company said last week in a statement. It will be part of Facebook’s existing Deals program, which lets businesses offer

Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest carmaker, may lose output of at least 40,000 vehicles after Japan’s strongest earthquake damaged factories and crippled nuclear power plants, causing electricity shortages. Toyota closed 12 plants in the nation through Wednesday, Shiori Hashimoto, a spokeswoman for the company, said by phone Monday. The manufacturer’s profit will be cut by 6 billion yen ($72

Economists uncertain how Japan disaster will affect oil demand, though imports likely to riseNEW YORK (AP) ― The earthquake and tsunami in Japan took some steam out of the rally in oil prices by reducing the country’s oil imports. That won’t last long.Japan consumes about 4.4 million barrels of oil per day, most of it imported. Only the U.S. and China consume more. With steel plants, auto manufact

Apple Inc. may have sold as many as 500,000 iPad 2 computers after retail outlets ran out of the tablet-style device on its debut weekend, said Piper Jaffray Cos. analyst Gene Munster. Stores run by Apple, Target Corp. and Best Buy Co. contacted by Munster’s team had sold out of the device, he said in a research note Sunday. Online orders via Apple’s website are taking up to a month for delivery,

Authorities tackle black market for fake medicines, liquor, phones and other goodsBEIJING (AP) ― Chinese authorities have arrested 3,001 people in their latest crackdown on rampant product piracy and seized fake or counterfeit medicines, liquor, mobile phones and other goods, officials said Sunday.The campaign launched in October comes as Beijing faces pressure from the United States and other tra

BEIJING (AFP) ― For years, Wang Yulan and her husband drove their three-wheeled vehicle to an outdoor market near Beijing to sell broccoli, peppers, eggplants and tomatoes grown on their small plot of land.Now, thanks to the Web, they don’t even have to leave their living room.Two years ago the couple bought a computer and joined a growing number of Chinese farmers selling their produce online, gi

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― The updated version of Apple Inc.’s iPad tablet computer went on sale Friday afternoon, and was greeted by the now-familiar lines of buyers outside Apple stores.The Cupertino company opened online sales of the iPad 2 at 4 a.m. Eastern time, well before they became available in East Coast stores at 5 p.m. They were set to go on sale nationwide at the same hour, local time.Apple

INDIAN WELLS, California (AFP) ― Roger Federer says his priority in the coming months is to reclaim the No. 1 ranking, but before he can achieve that the Swiss star knows he has to start winning Grand Slam titles again.“I have really been playing well the last six months and that is what I look at, not that I didn’t make it to the final of the last four Grand Slams,” Federer said.Second-seeded Fed

LONDON (AFP) ― The Bank of England on Thursday held its key interest rate at a record low 0.5 percent, where it has now stood for two years, as it balanced strong inflation against a fragile economic recovery.“The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5 percent,” the central bank said in a statement after a

China’s consumer prices rose 4.9 percent in February from a year earlier, exceeding the government’s 2011 target for a fifth month.The advance was more than the 4.8 percent median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 22 economists. In January, the rise was 4.9 percent. The government has a 4 percent inflation target for the full year.Investors are concerned that monetary tightening to tame infla

Pricier oil dampens consumer spending and cuts into economic growthWASHINGTON (AP) ― Higher oil prices are slowing global economic growth, and the impact is likely to spread in coming months.Oil prices helped raise the U.S. trade deficit to a seven-month high in January, when crude prices were $87.50 a barrel. Oil is now trading at more than $100 a barrel, suggesting the gap will widen in coming m

SEATTLE (AP) ― Starbucks customers saw something new Tuesday when they sipped their coffee.The Seattle-based company rolled out its new words-free logo Tuesday on all its cups. Signs also changed at a handful of stores, and the new logo will show up on more storefronts in the future.The Associated Press first reported in January that Starbucks was updating its logo and would introduce it this mont

Japan’s machinery orders rose more than economists expected in January, signaling that companies will boost spending as economic recoveries abroad strengthen. Factory orders increased 4.2 percent from December, when they rose 1.7 percent, the Cabinet Office said Wednesday in Tokyo. Orders, an indicator of capital spending in three to six months, were projected to climb 3 percent, according to the

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. almost tripled annual profit after an increase in passenger numbers and a surge in cargo volumes that made it the world’s largest international air-freight carrier. Net income jumped to HK$14 billion ($1.8 billion) from HK$4.7 billion a year earlier, the Hong Kong-based carrier said in a statement to the city’s stock exchange Wednesday. The airline also said it had agre

Nouriel Roubini, the economist who predicted the global financial crisis, said an increase in oil prices to $140 a barrel will cause some advanced economies to slide back into recession. Underlying how fragile the global economic recovery is, Roubini said the European Central Bank may be making a mistake by raising interest rates “too soon” when debt-ridden countries on the euro region’s periphery

China faces a 60 percent risk of a banking crisis by mid-2013 in the aftermath of record lending and surging property prices, according to a Fitch Ratings gauge. Fitch sees the risk of “holes in bank balance sheets” should a property bubble burst, Richard Fox, a London-based senior director, said in a phone interview on March 4. The risk assessment is from a macro-prudential monitor used by the ra

Experts warn subsidy spree may store up trouble for the futureKUALA LUMPUR (AFP) ― As prices of food and fuel reach historic highs, Asian nations with a wary eye on Middle East uprisings are doling out subsidies that experts warn are storing up trouble for the future.Robust Asian economies largely escaped the global downturn, and are now in danger of overheating, stoked by low interest rates, dema

Toyota Motor Corp. which traditionally gets a majority of its profit in the U.S., will outline a strategy for growth in emerging markets in a 10-year plan the Japanese automaker is set to release this week, two people familiar with the plan said. Toyota also plans to cut two vice-chairman positions and shrink its board to 17 or fewer members as part of the biggest management shakeup in eight years

LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, the world’s largest maker of luxury goods, will take a controlling stake in Bulgari SpA, the Financial Times reported, citing an unidentified person close to the deal. The Bulgari family will swap its 51 percent holding for a stake in LVMH in a deal to be announced Monday, the FT reported. LVMH will offer a “significant” premium to Bulgari’s market value of 2.3

Yang Yong-eun stays in second, seeks first title since 2009 PGA Championship PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida (AFP) ― South African Rory Sabbatini fired a four-under par 66 on Saturday to seize a five-stroke lead after the third round of the $5.7 million U.S. PGA Honda Classic.Sabbatini, who began the day one stroke behind American Kyle Stanley, made five birdies against a lone bogey to stand on nine-u