SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (PNN) - January 27, 2013 - A warning came Saturday morning from state treasurer Illinois State Treasurer Dan Rutherford. The Standard and Poor’s downgrade from A to A-minus puts Illinois last on the list, and means a higher cost to borrow money.

ATHENS, Greece (PNN) - January 25, 2013 - Pig thug cops stormed a Metro depot in Athens occupied by subway workers who refused to go to work for nine consecutive days. On Friday, all public transport workers in the Greek capital joined the strike, putting the city on the verge of transport collapse.

QUITO, Ecuador (PNN) - January 22, 2013 - Combined profit for Ecuador's private banks fell 21% in 2012 due to a series of measures taken by President Rafael Correa's regime.

According to the Bank Superintendency of Ecuador, 25 private banks operating in Ecuador, plus the state-run Banco del Pacifico Ecuador, posted a combined $312 million net profit in 2012, up from $395 million the previous year.

NEW YORK (PNN) - January 22, 2013 - After tepid economic news and a dim earnings outlook from Johnson & Johnson, stocks inched down, with few big gainers.

Economic news was weak with existing home sales and the Chicago Fed National Activity Index falling short of expectations. Existing home sales for December, reported by the National Association of Realtors, fell 1.0% last month to 4.94 million units.

WASHINGTON (PNN) - January 22, 2013 - Forget about raising the federal debt limit. House Republicans are proposing to ignore it altogether - at least until May 18.

The House plans to vote Wednesday on a measure that would leave the $16.4 trillion borrowing limit intact but suspend it from the time the bill passes until mid-May. The declaration that the debt ceiling “shall not apply” means that the government could continue borrowing to cover its obligations to creditors until May 18.

NEW DELHI, India (PNN) - January 22, 2013 – India, the world’s largest bullion buyer, increased taxes on gold imports to reduce a record current-account deficit and moderate demand for the precious metal that’s rallied for 12 straight years.

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (PNN) - January 22, 2013 - Costa Rica’s currency tumbled a day after the government announced measures to slow capital inflows that President Laura Chinchilla called “weapons of mass destruction” against the nation’s economy.

The colon depreciated 0.7% to 500.83 per dollar at 12:01 p.m. local time. The currency has gained 2.2% this month through yesterday, the most among 19 Latin American and Caribbean economies tracked by Bloomberg.