December | featured news

When top retailers post their December sales this week, Wall Street analysts are expecting them to report a healthy end to the holiday season, helped by discounts, improved consumer sentiment and tactics like extended hours and layaways.

A monthly survey showed consumers’ confidence in the economy surged in December and was near a post-recession peak, although home prices fell in October in most major U.S. cities.

US retail sales rose in December for the sixth consecutive month, but questions about the economy still remain.

Back in December, Facebook introduced its new profiles to the world. For the first month, users could choose between the new profile and the old profile.

Though December was weaker than expected, the overall holiday season was still relatively strong, analysts said.

General Motors Co posted a 7.5 percent rise in December U.S. auto sales and said it expects the industry to report sales at a 13 million-vehicle annualized rate for last month -- far higher than many forecasts and what would be the highest rate of 2010.

While three other firms disputed the finding, StatCounter of Dublin said Firefox surpassed Internet Explorer as the top European browser in December.

Europe's sovereign debt crisis will still hang over global markets this week, but on Wall Street, investors will not be afraid to bet on stocks.

Amid the deluge of holiday music that comes in November and December, Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas II You and Susan Boyle’s The Gift are poised to make all those other seasonal crooners sound like off-key carolers.

Apple is expected to build its first 3 million Verizon-compatible CDMA iPhones in December 2010, contacts in the company's overseas supply chain reportedly indicated.