The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Friday that Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) will withdraw an application to open a specialty bank. "Wal-Mart made a wise choice," FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair said in a statement. "This decision will remove the controversy surrounding their intentions." The FDIC was considering Wal-Mart's application to establish an industrial loan corporation, which is a limited-pu.. more

Shares of Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp. lost more than half their value Friday after the struggling fitness center operator said it may file for bankruptcy. The slide accelerated a steep decline in the company's stock that began last year amid questions about management and failed efforts to sell the company. Its stock plummeted $1.19, or 60 percent, to 80 cents a share in afternoon trading .. more

Stocks gave up early gains and fell Friday as Wall Street wrestled with inflation data that wasn't as bad as the market had feared but showed prices continue to rise despite a slowing economy. Stocks found some minimal support from a stronger-than-expected increase in industrial production. The Labor Department's report that its Consumer Price Index rose by 0.4 percent in February renewed some o.. more

Oil prices dropped below $57 a barrel Friday as investors dumped the front-month contract before its expiration next week. Light, sweet crude for April delivery fell as much as $1.38 to $56.17 a barrel in afternoon trading before recovering to $57.07, down 48 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. "This is a market hitting the skids going into the April contract's expiration on Tuesday," sa.. more

China's parliament passed a landmark bill on property rights on Friday as its annual session closed after two weeks of deliberations on issues which have ranged from green growth and corporate taxes to bear bile. The National People's Congress was widely expected to approve the property-rights and corporate income-tax law bills and the 2007 budget at a session from 0200 GMT, ending a 12-day meeti.. more

The last bottle of HP sauce to be made in Britain has rolled off the company's production line. Production of the iconic brown condiment, which carries an image of Britain's Houses of Parliament, ended at the company's factory in Aston, Birmingham, on Friday morning, marking the end of 108 years of sauce-making at the site. Parent company Heinz will now move production to the Netherlands, with t.. more

EU ministers agreed on Thursday that mobile phone operators should be obliged to offer consumers a capped roaming rate in addition to a regulated wholesale price, the German presidency said on Thursday. But Britain maintained its opposition to a proposal that would switch customers automatically to the regulated rate from their existing one and said it had broad support from some countries. "All.. more

Yahoo Inc. said on Friday it plans to launch a Chinese language version of its popular photo-sharing site Flickr.com this year to tap demand from Chinese digital photo enthusiasts. The development comes as Sunnyvale, California-headquartered Yahoo tries to localize and expand its services -- such as bookmark-sharing site Del.icio.us, Yahoo Mail and Yahoo Groups -- that center on user-generated co.. more

Workers at Airbus plants in France, Germany and Spain staged strikes and protests Friday, maintaining a united front against a restructuring plan the troubled aircraft maker said would slash 10,000 jobs across Europe. Thousands joined Friday's protests at Airbus facilities around the continent, following a similar movement last week by at least 12,000 workers. The actions hit a company reeling f.. more

European shares dipped on Friday with banks under pressure on worries about the U.S. economy, but M&A talk boosted stocks including consumer products maker Unilever and oil and gas group Repsol. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index ended 0.07 percent lower at 1,454.9, below the day's high of 1,462.1 but above a low of 1,447.2. Earlier, stocks trimmed losses after U.S. core consumer prices, exc.. more