France And Germany Press For Rapid Greek Debt Deal On Monday, euro zone finance ministers rejected an offer made by private bondholders to help restructure Greece's debts terming it as insufficient to send back negotiators to the drawing board and raising the threat of Greek default. The EU ministers said they could not accept demands of the bondholders for a coupon of four percent on new, longer-dated bonds that are expected be issued in...

Nikkei Hits Closing High Of Three Months On Tuesday, the Nikkei share average of Japan hit its highest closing level in nearly three months on Tuesday on expectations that a Greek debt swap deal will still be reached even after European finance ministers rejected an offer by private creditors of Greece. The Nikkei average .N225 closed 0.2 percent higher at 8,785.33.

FXCM Announces Credit Facility FXCM Inc. (NYSE:FXCM), a leading online provider of foreign exchange, or FX, trading and related services, recently announced that FXCM Holdings LLC has entered into a three-year revolving credit facility with Bank of America, N.A., as Administrative Agent and several lenders from time to time parties thereto.

David Hodge joins Alpari UK as CMO David Hodge has been appointed by Alpari UK as its Chief Marketing Officer. Hodge will be responsible to oversee the strategic direction and brand initiatives for the Alpari group of companies worldwide. Hodge will work closely with the Alpari Board of Directors to increase the brand profile and help company achieve the vision of becoming the world’s premier broker.

Venezuela Sees No World Bank Ruling On Exxon In 2012 On Saturday, the oil minister of Venezuela said he does not expect a ruling in World Bank arbitration with Exxon Mobil this year. Last week, another tribunal awarded $$908 million to the U.S. major. "There is no way it will come out in 2012," Ramirez told Reuters. From Reuters.com:

Partner Communications Chairman To Resign The second largest mobile phone operator of Israel, Partner Communications, said on Sunday that its chairman Ilan Ben-Dov plans to step down. The board will discuss appointing a new chairman in the next few days and Ben-Dov intends to continue to serve as a director of Partner, the company said in a statement. From Reuters.com:

Olympus President May Resign While the new President of Olympus Corp is considering resignation, the scandal-tainted company is considering suing current and former executives for compensation totaling about 90 billion yen ($1.2 billion). A source familiar with the matter said the company is preparing a suit for helping cover damages from a $1.7 billion accounting fraud that has savaged the finances, market cap, and...

Gold And Silver Rally As New Year Rekindles Risk Appetite On Tuesday, gold rallied more than 1 percent and silver jumped over 2 percent as investors returned in the New Year with a renewed appetite for riskier assets like commodities though global economic worries still weighed on sentiment. Interest among investors who had moved to the sidelines was fuelled by better-than-expected manufacturing data from China.

New Iran Sanctions More Scalpel Than Axe, U.S. Hopes The United States of America has armed itself with some of the toughest sanctions yet targeting Iran but it is time for it to carefully assess on how to avoid catching energy-importing allies such as Japan, South Korea, and India in the crossfire. On Saturday, President Barack Obama signed the law imposing sanctions on financial institutions that deal with the central bank of Iran, the main...