Hong Kong's inflation slowed for a third month as commodity prices fell and the government waived public-housing rents and subsidized electricity bills. Consumer prices rose 1.8 percent in October from a year earlier, the government said today on its Web site, after gaining 3 percent in September. That compared with the 1.9 percent median estimate of 14 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

Best Buy Co Inc. slashed its fiscal 2009 profit forecast Wednesday driven by weak consumer spending trends heading into the crucial holiday selling season.

ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. plans to trim five per cent of its workforce – or about 170 jobs – by next spring after reporting a quarterly net profit of $9.3 million, up from a year-ago loss of $18.8 million.

Exxon Mobil Corp. set a quarterly profit record for a U.S. company Thursday, surging past analyst estimates.

The think-tank’s latest poll, conducted between Nov. 6 and Nov. 13, found the largest one-month decline on record for consumer sentiment in the Prairie region. Confidence also sagged in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, but edged up slightly in Atlantic Canada.

The German economy, Europe's largest, contracted more than economists expected in the third quarter, confirming it has entered its worst recession in at least 12 years as the global financial crisis curbs exports.

The price of goods leaving Spain’s factories, mines and refineries fell 1.2 percent from the previous month after a 0.7 percent decline in September, the National Statistics Institute in Madrid said in an e-mailed statement today. That compared with a median forecast for a 0.7 percent decline in a Bloomberg News survey of eight economists. Prices rose 5.9 percent on the year.

General Motors pensioners in Canada are seeking advice from a leading pension lawyer as the embattled automaker holds out its hand for help from the American and Canadian governments.