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Lancashire Holdings Ltd. (LRE.LN) on Thursday reported that its loss before tax in the fourth quarter of 2018 widened five-fold due to a high number of catastrophic events and volatility in the insurance market. Full Story

BEIJING--China's foreign direct investment rose 2.8% in January from a year earlier, to $12.41 billion, the Commerce Ministry said Thursday. Last month's growth slowed sharply from a 23.2% increase in December. In yuan terms, foreign direct investment rose 4.8% in January... Full Story

Ashmore Group PLC (ASHM.LN) on Thursday reported a 6% fall in pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2019 and said it has experienced a positive start to the year. The specialist emerging markets asset manager made a pretax profit for the half year ended Dec. 31 of 93... Full Story

FRANKFURT--The German economy came close to entering its first recession in six years in the final quarter of last year, and seems set for another year of weak growth amid uncertainty about the future of global trade rules. Full Story

AstraZeneca PLC (AZN.LN) said Thursday that net profit in the fourth quarter decreased 21% on post-tax adjustments, and guided for product sales growth in the year ahead. The Anglo-Swedish drug maker said net profit for the quarter ended Dec. 31 was $1.03 billion... Full Story

By Katie Marriner Feb. 14, 2019, 2:39 a.m. EST

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act pretty much doubled the standardized deduction, which means for millions of people, itemizing no longer makes sense. As this is the first tax season since the TCJA passage, MarketWatch has created a calculator to help guide you through the... Full Story

Low-cost airline easyJet PLC (EZJ.LN) confirmed Thursday that it is in discussions with Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane and Delta Air Lines Inc. DAL regarding Alitalia SpA. The budget carrier said it is in talks with the Italian state-owned rail company and the U.S. airline... Full Story

China's factories are trimming investment, but consumers are still spending more on some luxury and everyday items. That is the message from corporate results in Japan, one of the better real-time indicators of the Chinese economy. Full Story

NN Group NV (NN.AE) said Thursday that it will launch a share buyback program of up to 500 million euros ($565.2 million), as it swung to a net loss in the fourth quarter of 2018 due to an impairment. Full Story

Renault SA (RNO.FR) said Thursday that net profit slumped in 2018, despite a significant contribution from Japanese partner Nissan Motor Co. (7201.TO), and said it would keep its dividend at the previous year's level. Full Story

Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (RR.LN) said Thursday that it has secured new orders from Emirates Airline EA.YY. Under the deal, Emirates has ordered Trent 7000 engines to power 40 Airbus A330neo aircraft and 30 Airbus A350 aircraft, powered by the Trent XWB. These orders... Full Story

BEIJING--China's exports to the U.S. dropped 2.4% from a year earlier in January, easing from the 3.5% decline recorded in December, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs on Thursday. Full Story

Air Liquide SA (AI.FR) said Thursday that profit dropped slightly in 2018, partly because of unfavorable currency swings. Net profit at the industrial-gas supplier fell 3.9% to 2.11 billion euros ($2.39 billion) from EUR2.20 billion a year earlier. However, profit rose 4... Full Story

Koninklijke DSM N.V. (DSM.AE) on Thursday announced plans to buy back 1 billion euros ($1.13 billion) of its shares, starting in the second quarter of this year, as it reported a 49% rise in fourth-quarter net profit. Full Story

Schneider Electric SE (SU.FR) said Thursday that its net profit rose to a new record after it beat its 2018 guidance, and that it launched a new share-buyback program. The French energy-management company said net profit for the year was 2.33 billion euros ($2.63 billion)... Full Story

Airbus SE on Thursday pulled the plug on its A380 superjumbo jet even as it reported a record profit and said it would increase production to take advantage of a boom in global air travel and keep pace with rival Boeing Co. Full Story

Aegon NV (AGN.AE) said Thursday that net profit fell 83% in the second half of 2018 after a challenging period in which the company was hit by market turmoil. The Dutch insurance and asset-management company said it made a net profit of 253 million euros ($286.0 million)... Full Story

Commerzbank AG (CBK.XE) said Thursday that its earnings rose sharply in the fourth quarter, and said it expects underlying revenue to rise in 2019. The German lender's net profit rose to 113 million euros ($127.7 million) from EUR75 million, while revenue excluding... Full Story

Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN.EB) swung to a profit in the fourth quarter and posted the first annual profit in four years. Net profit for the quarter was 292 million Swiss francs ($290 million), the bank said Thursday. This compares with a net loss of CHF2.13 billion a... Full Story

Capgemini SE (CAP.FR) said Thursday that it met or exceeded all of its financial targets for 2018, a result due in part to double-digit growth in its digital and cloud business. Revenue rose in 2018 to 13.20 billion euros ($14.92 billion), an 8.1% increase at constant... Full Story

Credit Agricole SA's (ACA.FR) fourth-quarter net profit rose substantially, supported by higher revenue and lower tax expense, beating analysts' expectations. Net profit for the period was 1.01 billion euros ($1.14 billion) compared with EUR387 million a year earlier, the... Full Story

Nestle SA (NESN.EB) said Thursday that 2018 net profit rose, boosted by several large one-off items including income from disposals. The Swiss food-and-beverage company said net profit was 10.1 billion Swiss francs ($10.03 billion), compared with CHF7.20 billion the... Full Story

By Mike Murphy Feb. 13, 2019, 11:31 p.m. EST

“We want that money back now,” Trump tweeted Wednesday. Full Story

By Therese Poletti MarketWatch First Take Feb. 13, 2019, 11:26 p.m. EST

Yelp Inc. made some moves to stave off a possible proxy battle with one of its top five investors, but it did not do much to alleviate a hedge fund’s recent claims that the company has been beset with operational missteps. Full Story

By Associated Press Associated Press Feb. 13, 2019, 11:24 p.m. EST

NASA’s Opportunity, the Mars rover that was built to operate for just three months but kept going and going, rolling across the rocky red soil, was pronounced dead Wednesday, 15 years after it landed on the planet. Full Story

President Donald Trump may extend the tariff truce with China by another 60 days if a trade deal appears near, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday night. Trump has threatened to raise tariffs on more than $200 billion in Chinese goods from 10% to 25% starting March 2 if a... Full Story

By Associated Press Asia Markets Feb. 13, 2019, 11:00 p.m. EST

Asian stocks were mostly lower on Thursday as China and the U.S. kicked off two days of trade negotiations in Beijing. Full Story

BEIJING--China's exports unexpectedly accelerated last month in a possible sign of solid external demand for Chinese goods, official data released on Thursday showed. The country's exports surged 9.1% from a year earlier in January, reversing a 4.4% decline in December... Full Story

By Bryan Hood The New York Post Feb. 13, 2019, 9:09 p.m. EST

Revered singer-songwriter Ryan Adams has been accused of nearly two decades of emotional abuse and sexual misconduct toward female musicians in a startling new report. Full Story

By Valentina Pop The Wall Street Journal Feb. 13, 2019, 8:35 p.m. EST

The Wednesday deal comes after months of opposition and lobbying from internet giants and open-internet activists that led to a stalemate among EU governments. Full Story

TOKYO--The Japanese economy rebounded in the final quarter of 2018 thanks to solid spending by households and companies, suggesting that the previous quarter's contraction was a temporary setback. The world's third-largest economy after the U.S. and China expanded at an... Full Story

By Associated Press Associated Press Feb. 13, 2019, 7:30 p.m. EST

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has set off a flurry of speculation after he said the state’s consumers should get a piece of the billions of dollars that technology companies make by capitalizing on personal data they collect. Full Story

Wednesday's top personal finance stories Full Story

By Associated Press Associated Press Feb. 13, 2019, 7:15 p.m. EST

Paul Manafort intentionally lied to investigators and a federal grand jury in the special counsel in the Russia probe, a judge ruled Wednesday. Full Story

By Jeremy C. Owens MarketWatch First Take Feb. 13, 2019, 7:09 p.m. EST

Throughout this earnings season, stocks and sentiment have swung on tech companies’ complaints about softening orders from customers worried about geopolitical unrest and a slowing of the market for data-center equipment. Full Story

By Wallace Witkowski Earnings Results Feb. 13, 2019, 5:34 p.m. EST

Cisco Systems Inc. shares rose in the extended session Wednesday after the network giant’s quarterly results topped Wall Street estimates. Full Story

By Aaron Hankin Cryptos Feb. 13, 2019, 5:04 p.m. EST

Bitcoin prices fall Wednesday afternoon, extending the slide that has seen the cryptocurrency fall 5% since making a three-week high above $3,700 on Friday. Full Story

The ability to raise prices while sales are going up is always a good sign. Full Story

By Joshua Jamerson The Wall Street Journal Feb. 13, 2019, 4:59 p.m. EST

The House of Representatives passed a war-powers resolution directing the removal of U.S. armed forces involved in the conflict in Yemen, setting up a contentious vote in the GOP-controlled Senate and the possibility of a veto by President Trump. Full Story

Shares of Sleep Number Corp. rose more than 10% in the extended session Wednesday after the mattress company reported fourth-quarter earnings above Wall Street expectations and called for bigger profit in 2019. Sleep Number said it earned $27 million, or 81 cents a share... Full Story

Airbus pulled the plug on its poorly selling A380 superjumbo, a rival to Boeing’s 747, as airlines flock to smaller, nimbler long-range planes. Full Story

Seattle-based Columbia Pacific Management is trying to sell a collection of hospitals in Asia for close to $2 billion, with the first round of bids due by the end of March. Full Story

President Trump is likely to sign the border-security bill finalized Wednesday that would keep the government from closing this weekend, people familiar with his plans said... Full Story

January’s rise reverses a 4.4% decline in December and beat the expectations of many economists, who had forecast another decrease. Full Story

President Trump’s top disaster relief official had come under fire for his unauthorized use of government vehicles. Brock Long said he planned to step down in two weeks. Full Story

Detective Brian Simonsen was shot during a showdown with an armed suspect that ended with the detective and six other officers firing 42 times during an 11-second burst. Full Story

Too many clients contract for services that don’t match their needs—and end up paying far more than they have to. Full Story

News Challenge: Ten questions to challenge your knowledge about financial advisers and how they operate. Full Story

Lyndon LaRouche Jr., the political extremist who ran for president in every election from 1976 to 2004, including a campaign waged from federal prison, has died. He was 96. Full Story

The federal judge weighing whether Harvard University discriminates against Asian-American applicants pointed to potential weaknesses in each side’s case, but didn’t tip... Full Story

A federal judge ruled that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied to investigators about his contact with an associate linked to Russian intelligence, despite... Full Story

Japan’s economic growth rebounded in the last quarter of 2018 but the slowdown in China is expected to weigh going forward. Full Story

Federal tax revenue declined 0.4% in 2018, the first full calendar year under the new tax law, despite robust economic growth and the lowest unemployment rate in nearly... Full Story

Former New York state Legislature employees told lawmakers how they were sexually harassed by Assembly members and called for changes in how complaints are handled. Full Story

The SEC rejected Options Clearing’s plan to boost cash reserves, dealing a blow to what had been one of the clearing firm’s key initiatives since the financial crisis. Full Story

One of the women accusing Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault is planning to meet with prosecutors in Boston to detail her allegations, her attorney said. Full Story

Johnson & Johnson’s $3.4 billion cash deal to buy Auris Health, the largest acquisition of a venture-backed medical-device company, could have far-reaching impact across... Full Story

The U.S. lumber industry is struggling but across the globe, New Zealand’s logs are being snapped up by China. Full Story

Corrections & Amplifications for the edition of Feb. 14, 2019 Full Story

Pepper...and Salt Full Story