Consumer

U.K. `Fast Fashion' Clothiers to Weather Slump Better Than U.S., WGSN Says U.K. clothes retailers are better positioned than U.S. chains to weather a spending slump because they take less time to get collections from the design stage to store shelves, fashion forecaster WGSN said.

Parkson Slumps After Saying Sales Growth Slowed at China Department Stores Parkson Retail Group Ltd., the Beijing-based department store chain, fell the most in more than three years in Hong Kong trading after China sales growth slowed.

Debenhams, Next Gain as Retailers' Profit Resists Falling Christmas Sales Debenhams Plc and Next Plc led gains by U.K. retail stocks today after the store owners said profit withstood declining sales over the Christmas holiday.

U.S. Retail Sales Fell 0.8% in Week After Christmas, Industry Group Says Purchases at U.S. retailers declined last week as post-Christmas markdowns failed to overcome what may have been the worst holiday shopping season in four decades.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, GE Capital Lead $19.5 Billion in Dollar-Bond Sales Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, the world’s largest brewer, and GE Capital Corp. led 13 issuers offering at least $19.5 billion of dollar-denominated bonds today in the busiest on record.

Fonterra Milk Powder Prices Drop to Lowest in More Than 2 Years At Auction Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd., the world’s biggest dairy exporter, said whole milk powder auction prices fell to their lowest in more than two years amid slowing global demand.

Paul Newman's Daughter Told to List Wheat in Organic Spelt Pretzel Product An organic-food company founded by a daughter of the late actor Paul Newman needs to spell out that spelt, an ancient grain enjoying a revival, is wheat, U.S. regulators said.

Gome Founder's Wife Held Under House Arrest in Beijing, Caijing Reports Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings Ltd. former director Du Juan is under house arrest for “suspected economic crime,” Caijing magazine reported today, citing unidentified people.

Apple Offers All ITunes Songs Without Copy Protection, Changes Price Model Apple Inc., the most popular source of music in the U.S., stripped copy protection from all the songs in its iTunes music store and announced plans to charge as little as 69 cents a track.