The data released in a report by the European Central Bank on Friday saw the hesitation of financial institutions in extending credit to households and businesses despite the economic recovery of the Euro Zone.

Countries in emerging markets like Turkey and India should see the bright side of the tapering of the $85 billion-a-month money-printing program by the US Federal Reserve this month, according to a Reuters report.

The yields of Spanish bonds have dropped to record lows not seen since 2011, indicating that the European economy is gaining its momentum, a Bloomberg report said.

45 year-old recycling magnate Chen Guangbiao, whose charity works and publicity stunts are more known rather than his business sense, has claimed that he will be extending an offer to acquire the New York Times Co for $1 billion.

In an attempt to argue against beliefs that this year will bear witness to a lot of bubbles, Jeff Bussgang said on his report that the technology sector will be contributing majority of groundbreaking records in terms of initial public offerings.

John Hancock Funds and Merk Investments LLC, the top US foreign-exchange mutual funds who earned profits last year, had opposing views about the US dollar's performance this year, a Bloomberg report said.

A report by brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate and appraiser Miller Samuel Inc released today indicated an influx of home property sales in the Manhattan, New York area in anticipation of increasing prices and interest rates.

The consolidation of security software companies FireEye and Mandiant was said to have signaled the hesitation of US firms to entrust the federal government the responsibility to protect its computer systems and will turn to private security providers instead, said a New York Times report.

The central bank of Finland has expressed its worry about the possibility of the country's debt ballooning should no monetary reforms to curb spending take place, according to a Bloomberg report.

According to social marketing company Spredfast, who has accumulated over $60 million in funding to date, it has raised $32.5 million in Series D funding from several investors led by Lead Edge Capital.

Ezra Klein of The Washington Post's Wonkblog might be leaving the newspaper, said four sources, after his proposed news media venture was rejected by upper management, including owner Jeff Bezos.

In an announcement made today, Groupon said it has completed its $260 million acquisition of LivingSocial Korea, which is the holding company of Korean ticket and e-commerce company Ticket Monster.

Bitcoin ATM startup Robocoin intended to prioritize the demand of Bitcoins in the Asian region with the planned debut of its ATMs in Hong Kong and Taiwan this January, said a TechCrunch report.

Pinterest, the popular US social networking startup, will be having difficulties expanding in international markets after a ruling the European Commission's Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, Trade Marks and Designs Division said the true owner of the brand name in the region is a London startup.

Blackberry Ltd has said in a statement on January 2 that it will be parting ways with its global creative director, musician and celebrity Alicia Keys.

Competition Commission of India (CCI), the fair trade regulator, said in a published order that it has given its approval for the planned merger of steel companies Shree Uttam Steel and Power and Uttam Galva Steels.

Business news site ValueWalk pointed out in its report that several top players on HSBC Holdings plc's list of best performing hedge funds for 2013 were found to have made value equity plays.

Indices of S&P Dow Jones indicated that exchange-traded funds might surpass hedge funds in terms of being attractive investments. Analysts earlier argued that the attractiveness of the securities were due to ETFs' cheap prices.

Data released by research firm and data provider Eurekahedge revealed that hedge funds worldwide posted record gains not seen since 2007, said a Business Insider report.

The Rady Venture Fund, a part of pioneering model business school The Rady School of Management, was said to have helped over 60 small businesses in starting up in the San Diego area and launched over a hundred products while providing a hands-on experience for the management school's business students.

Despite the relatively low price Fiat managed to score in its buyout of Chrysler Group LLC, analysts said the ballooning debt of Fiat should be something to worry about.

Tobii and SteelSeries have perfected an eye-tracking control system perfect primarily for game interaction, for example, will be showcased in a Las Vegas trade show next week, said a VentureBeat report.

A report on new digital news site Re/Code quoted sources, who said the current massive fundraising of home gadget startup Nest could put its valuation to over $2 billion.

A statement from the office of the British Prime Minister David Cameron revealed that 6,000 mortgage applications, with over 80% of them as first-time buyers, applied for home loans under the government's Help-to-Buy program.

Arabian Business said in its report that businesses of the state of Saudi Arabia, including Prince Sultan Aviation Academy and Saudia Private Airline, will be privatized soon.

According to a report by The New York Times, mergers are picking up activity as financial markets worldwide, including the US, are becoming stronger and more stable.

After leaving digital news publication AllThingsD with owner News Corp, editors and founders Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg are focused on building its newest online news site venture called Re/code.

Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry was said to have earned $2.8 billion last year because of its holdings in Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and significant earnings in his construction group, Shapoorji Pallonji Group.

Plans to improve oil production facilities in Indonesia are underway to meet rising local consumption of oil and in effect, increasing drilling-related expenses reimbursed by the national government

Despite recording huge losses in 2013, gold and silver investments are seen increasing, and analysts attributed these to the improving major economies, including the US.