The National Consumer Agency is advising people to shop smart if buying online this Christmas.

Sofia Vergara has been named the highest-earning television actress.

General Motors, which turned the concept of a “car for every purse and purpose” into a global icon, will file for bankruptcy protection today, US government sources said.

US lifestyle guru Martha Stewart has been targeted in a new lawsuit accusing her company of making defective furniture that caused a hand model to lose his finger.

Wall Street extended its rally with modest gains in the major indexes today following two days of sharp advances, despite economic readings which painted a mixed picture of the economy.

A US couple upset that their 19-year-old daughter was pregnant tied her up, loaded her in their car and began driving to New York to force her to get an abortion, police said.

Upbeat reports from the Federal Reserve and DuPont lifted US stocks for a second day in a row today, pushing the Standard & Poor’s 500 past 1,300 for the first time since May 2001.

A participant in an endurance contest with a truck as its prize walked away from the event on its third day, broke into a store, found a shotgun and killed himself, police said.

US federal emergency officials are directing hurricane-aid supplies to areas where hey aren’t needed, according to an Air Force official, causing delays that have left international aid shipments for Hurricane Katrina victims sitting at an Air Force base in Arkansas.

DEVELOPED economies can no longer compete with Asian manufacturing locations, such as China, the group chief executive of Ireland’s largest private company, Glen Dimplex said yesterday.

Wall Street began 2005 with a loss today as investors shored up portfolios and abandoned risky positions taken during the post-election rally.

US stocks finished mixed in a volatile session today as investors worried that the continued fall of the dollar would spur inflation and damage the economy.

Kmart Holding Corp, the retailer controlled by billionaire Edward Lampert, agreed to buy Sears, Roebuck & Co for $11 billion to create the third-biggest US retailer. Shares of both companies soared.

The London market closed just shy of the key 4800 level today after a big retail deal boosted spirits on Wall Street.

A disappointing sales forecast from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. sent stocks mostly lower today as investors worried that oil prices, which stabilised after last week’s highs, would curb consumer spending and hurt companies’ third-quarter earnings.

A good employment report and Intel’s strong mid-quarter update gave Wall Street a moderate advance today, with falling oil prices padding the market’s gain.

By Dan Buckley IT shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that Martha Stewart learned how to cook the books.

LANA CLARKSON, the actress found shot dead at music legend Phil Spector’s ten-bedroom castle in Los Angeles, was well-known to B-movie fans.

The US government has set a deadline of August 14 for many of the nation’s largest companies to submit sworn statements from their chief executive and chief financial officers guaranteeing the accuracy of recent financial reports, in an unprecedented move to help restore investor confidence.

Merchandise sales based on Ozzy Osbourne and his family are predicted to reach €200m this year.

The Dow Jones was higher midsession while the Nasdaq was down along with confidence in technology stocks ahead of most earnings reports, dealers said.

Share prices are expected to open flat, as investors digest the latest batch of fourth-quarter corporate earnings and wait for the Federal Open Market Committee decision on interest rates tomorrow, dealers said.

Kmart is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US.

Bargain hunting have propelled US stocks sharply higher after better-than-expected results from Yahoo.

Kmart is on the brink of bankruptcy as its board met to consider how it can survive.

US investors have been selling stocks sharply lower while awaiting fourth-quarter results that begin in earnest this week.

Share prices posted slight gains on light volumes in early trade, with a lot of the buying interest concentrated in a few well-known names, with many market players absent ahead of the Christmas holidays, dealers said.

A weaker-than-expected consumer confidence report gave Wall Street another reason to sell today, intensifying a pullback that began with investors cashing in recent profits.