Arc Bike News

AP – Asian stock markets were muted Monday as signals the global economic recovery has hit a plateau kept investors from delving into riskier assets.

AP – The safest corporate debt isn’t looking so smart anymore.

The Christian Science Monitor – Peru, Colombia, and Chile will formally merge their stock markets Monday, creating the second-largest bourse in Latin America after Brazil and promising to increase liquidity in the mineral-rich Andean region.

AP – Stocking shelves in a Chinese grocery store, Thiago warned that he didn’t want to be caught chatting during working hours. Within seconds, however, the Brazilian unleashed a pent-up flood of complaints about the owners, who lingered just beyond hearing distance.

AFP – US stocks ended down Friday for the fourth week in a row with trade dulled by disappointing economic data and investors looking ahead to the long Memorial Day holiday weekend.

AP – An unexpected jump in consumer confidence and slight gains in Americans’ spending and income helped push stocks higher for the third day in a row Friday. Stocks were still down slightly for the week, however, giving the market its fourth week of losses.

AP – CONFIDENCE BOOST: A decline in gas prices this month helped Americans feel more confident about the economy. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment index came in above analysts’ estimates.

AP – Maybe American consumers are better off than everybody thought.

Reuters – The Dow and S&P 500 closed out their fourth week of losses with a small gain on Friday, but only with the help of a weaker dollar boosting metals prices and basic materials stocks.

AP – A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Friday: