There were no fancy economic models or forecasts when former Florida Governor Jeb Bush first tossed out the idea that 4 percent annual growth should be the overarching goal for the U.S. economy.
Sectors
Oil down 2 percent ahead of long U.S. Memorial Day weekend
Oil fell about 2 percent on Friday as a rallying dollar and profit-taking ahead of a long U.S. holiday weekend cut short a two-day run-up in crude prices.
China's Didi Kuaidi ups stakes in taxi apps war
China's dominant taxi-hailing firm Didi Kuaidi will spend 1 billion yuan ($161.39 million) on promotions, the company said on Friday, in an aggressive expansion that will help lure in riders and fend of rivals like U.S. firm Uber Technologies Inc.
U.S. Senators urge Obama administration to block Arctic oil drilling
A group of 18 mostly Democratic U.S. senators on Friday urged the Obama administration to stop Royal Dutch Shell's preparations for oil exploration in the Arctic, saying the region has a severely limited capacity to respond to accidents.
Fed on track to hike rates as economic headwinds wane: Yellen
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen was clearer than ever on Friday that the central bank was poised to raise interest rates this year, as the U.S. economy was set to bounce back from an early-year slump and as headwinds at home and abroad waned.
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Greece expects to reach a cash-for-reforms deal with its creditors in the next 10 days and aims to meet all its payments in June, the government's spokesman said on Friday, after the prime minister met with EU leaders.
Market research firm Gartner Inc estimated 7.3 million Chromebooks would be sold this year, helped mainly by demand from the education industry.
Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn said Thursday that mutual funds will increasingly realize that being underweight shares of Apple will hurt their performance as the technology giant continues to innovate.
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to provide $110 billion in aid for Asian infrastructure projects, as China prepares to launch a new institutional lender that is seen as encroaching on the regional financial clout of Tokyo and its ally Washington.
Indian e-commerce firms are offering funding help and tech support to woo small retailers, emulating a strategy used by Chinese online retail giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd to expand into the towns and villages home to the majority of consumers.
Malaysian airline AirAsia Bhd's (AIRA.KL) loyalty program is in talks with private equity investors about selling a minority stake, which could value the business at about $330 million, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Oil prices rebounded on Wednesday, with U.S. crude snapping a five-day decline, after another weekly inventory draw but gains were still limited by a huge supply overhang and concerns about a stronger dollar.
Federal Reserve officials believed it would be premature to hike interest rates in June even though most felt the U.S. economy was set to rebound from a dismal start to the year, according to minutes from their April policy meeting released on Wednesday.
Microsoft's plan to make its new version of Windows a mobile hit by letting it accept tweaked Apple and Android apps has met an obstacle: some of the software developers the company needs to woo just aren't interested.
