Business news for Wed, 19 Mar 2008. 1348 news.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s five-star rating system, which started in 1994, is out of date and needs to be changed.

COMPANIES already committed to spending millions to advertise at the Beijing Olympics will find it hard to pull their TV ads.

ABOUT $84 billion has been wiped off superannuation accounts since January as the financial market turmoil hits our retirement funds.

Merrill Lynch shares fell by 11 per cent after it sued bond insurer XL Capital to secure up to $3.1bn that it could be owed under credit insurance contracts

Occidental Petroleum Corp. Chief Executive Ray Irani received compensation the company valued at $34.2 million in 2007, a third less than the $52.8 million he pulled in the year before, according to a regulatory filing.

The government relaxed capital requirements at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Wednesday as part of a plan to quickly inject an additional $200 billion of financing for home loans.

As more than 14,000 Bear Stearns employees watch the value of their stock sink and brace for firings, some of the company's 550 brokers are receiving job offers from competitors promising windfalls of $2 million or more.

Stocks pulled back sharply Wednesday, erasing most of Tuesday's big gains as investors grew concerned about the possibility that banks remain vulnerable to further problems from soured debt.

Catapulted by the biggest IPO in U.S. history, Visa shares climbed 28% in their stock market debut Wednesday. Investors are betting an accelerating shift to electronic payments will enrich the world's largest processor of credit and debit cards.

Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou is running for the U.S. Congress in 2010.

Barrow Neurosurgical set to open new center

BioIndustry Association will showcase 15 firms

CO{-2} emissions up 8% for Ariz. power plants

Media chain purchases Sierra Vista TV station

(Crain's) — Patrick Ryan, one of Chicago’s most prominent business leaders for the past two decades, will retire later this year from Aon Corp. Mr. Ryan, 70, announced late Wednesday that he will retire as executive chairman Aug. 1, leaving the company that he founded in 1964. Mr. Ryan ...

The amount of time donated blood is stored makes a big difference in whether patients getting blood transfusions during heart surgery die soon after the operation or suffer serious complications, according to a new study.

Verizon Communications is to expand its global communications network to provide its multinational corporate customers in emerging markets like China and India with additional services

Chrysler is on track to return to profitability within the next couple of years in spite of the worsening US economy

By Chris Bucholtz I ventured down to San Jose earlier this week to speak to Chris Cabrera, CEO of Xactly and a contributor to Inside CRM. Xactly, in case you’re unaware of it, specializes in sales performance management – in other words, keeping track of commissions, territories, non-cash awards, territories and quotas, and all that [...]

NEW YORK -- Treasurys staged a massive rally Wednesday, as fears about continuing fallout from the credit crisis prompted investors to seek safe assets ahead of a long holiday weekend.