AP Business

February marks the start of the year of the rabbit in the Chinese lunar calendar. It may be an auspicious sign for Playboy Enterprises Inc. , which opened a nightclub in Macau last month as it seeks to expand its licensing of the trademark bunny head logo on lifestyle products in Asia , its fastest growing region. The company, founded by Hugh Hefner in 1953, also plans to open a Playboy Mansion in 2012 in Macau, a former Portuguese colony on the southern coast of China , and has been busy...Read Full Story

A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Monday: ___ BEIJING — Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is trying to reassure the public about the government's ability to control inflation with new fears that rising prices will create instability. Wen said Sunday on China National Radio that the government has already taken 16 measures to fight inflation and is fully able to control the general level of prices. The remarks came a day after China raised interest...Read Full Story

Total money market mutual fund assets rose $22.39 billion to $2.810 trillion for the week, the Investment Company Institute said Thursday. Assets of the nation's retail money market mutual funds rose $290 million to $945.50 billion. Assets of taxable money market funds in the retail category rose $370 million to $740.16 billion for the week ended Wednesday, the Washington -based mutual fund trade group said. Retail tax-exempt fund assets decreased $80 million to $205.34 billion. Assets of...Read Full Story

Total money market mutual fund assets fell $9.28 billion to $2.788 trillion for the week, the Investment Company Institute said. Assets of the nation's retail money market mutual funds rose $5.63 billion to $945.30 billion. Assets of taxable money market funds in the retail category rose $3.55 billion to $739.88 billion for the week ended Tuesday, the Washington -based mutual fund trade group said. Retail tax-exempt fund assets climbed $2.08 billion to $205.42 billion. Assets of institutional...Read Full Story

West Virginia environmental activist Julia "Judy" Bonds, who garnered national attention for her homespun opposition to mountaintop removal coal mining, has died, the environmental group Coal River Mountain Watch said Tuesday. Bonds died Monday evening at a hospital, Coal River Mountain Watch co-director Vernon Haltom told The Associated Press . Bond, the group's 58-year-old executive director, had cancer. A descendant of generations of West Virginia coal miners, Bonds became known as a...Read Full Story

Gold prices rose Monday despite a lending rate hike in China , an even that many traders believe will lead to a gold sell-off at the end of the year to lock in profits. Gold for February delivery rose $2.40 to settle at $1,382.90 an ounce. Industrial metals rose as well on the belief that economic growth could boost demand for platinum, palladium or other materials used in manufacturing. On Saturday, the Chinese government announced that the benchmark one-year lending rate will climb 25 basis...Read Full Story

Japan's industrial production rose in November for the first time in six months, easing worries that the country's recovery might veer off track. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Tuesday that factory output climbed 1 percent from the previous month due to stronger demand for transport equipment and electronic parts. The result suggests that overseas demand is starting to climb again, sparking the country's vital manufacturing sector. Indeed, data last week showed that export...Read Full Story

Orders to U.S. factories are expected to strengthen in November outside of transportation in a further sign that manufacturers will be cranking up production in anticipation of greater spending by businesses and consumers in 2011. Economists at JPMorgan Chase are forecasting that factory orders will post a 0.2 percent increase in November. The Commerce Department will release the report at 10 a.m. EST Tuesday. Economists believe tax cuts will give consumers and businesses the incentive to...Read Full Story

Time Warner Cable Inc. and Bright House Networks customers could lose access to one of their network TV stations because of a contract dispute with Sinclair Broadcast Group . Here is a list of stations Time Warner customers could lose while negotiations continue: _ Fox affiliates: KABB ( San Antonio , Texas ), KBSI (Girardeau, Mo.), WDKY ( Lexington, Ky. ), WPGH ( Pittsburgh ), WRGT ( Dayton , Ohio ), WSYT ( Syracuse , N.Y.), WTAT ( Charleston, S.C. ), WTTE ( Columbus, Ohio ), WUHF...Read Full Story

The Federal Aviation Administration gave the go-ahead Tuesday to a $5.2 billion expansion of Philadelphia International Airport , a project that will extend two runways, add a fifth and overhaul the layout of one of the country's most congested airports. The long-discussed and controversial project is expected to take 12 to 15 years and be financed through bonds, passenger-facility charges and FAA grants. One runway will be extended 2,000 feet and another by 1,500 feet; a fifth, 9,100-foot...Read Full Story