Matthew H. Fleeger – Gulf Coast Western Oil Company – President & CEO

A new analysis suggests the nation’s economic condition is worsening, throwing a wrench into talks meant to pave the way for more financial support.

Lael Brainard, a Treasury under secretary who is America’s top financial diplomat, is trying to coax European leaders to contribute to a financial firewall.

Nokia said it lost almost 1.1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in the fourth quarter, compared with a profit of 745 million euros a year earlier.

AT&T posted a substantial $6.68 billion loss for the fourth quarter, primarily from the breakup fees incurred after the company’s failed bid to buy T-Mobile USA.

The long-anticipated management shuffle at EADS preserves the delicate balance of French and German control of the company.

Banks had the biggest drop in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index amid concern about their ability to increase profits.

Jean-Claude Mas, the founder of a French company that made hundreds of thousands of breast implants from industrial-grade silicon, was detained early on Thursday.

A company spokesman described the reductions as “part of a transformation process that is going on in France to place the business where it needs to be.”

A source said that the French supermarket retailer was in advanced talks to replace its chief executive, Lars Olofsson.

A federal judge ruled that Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon, which blew out in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, was not liable for some pollution claims.