10 Smart Things I've Learned from People Who Never Went to College

By Poornima Gupta SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co raised its 2013 earnings outlook after quarterly results beat low expectations, as CEO Meg Whitman's turnaround plan helped offset shrinking personal computer sales with enterprise computing services. While fiscal second-quarter profit plummeted 32 percent, …

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co said on Thursday it is closing its two Australian auto plants and will cease production in the country in October 2016. Ford Australia Chief Executive Bob Graziano said the company will close its engine plant in Geelong and its assembly plant in Broadmeadows, both in the state of Victoria. …

By Pedro da Costa and Alister Bull WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve's monetary stimulus is helping the economy recover but the central bank needs to see further signs of traction before taking its foot off the gas pedal, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday. A decision to scale back the $85 billion in bonds …

By Ben Klayman DETROIT (Reuters) - Electric carmaker Tesla Motors Inc on Wednesday paid off its U.S. Department of Energy loan nine years earlier than required, using money raised last week in a stock and debt offering. The automaker said on Wednesday that it wired $451.8 million to repay the full loan with interest. . …

By Angela Moon NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Wednesday with the S&P 500 posting its biggest decline in three weeks, after minutes from the latest U.S. Federal Reserve meeting showed some officials were open to tapering large-scale asset purchases as early as at the June meeting. Trading was volatile - the Dow and …

By Tom Bergin LONDON (Reuters) - Apple's ability to shelter billions of dollars of income from tax has depended on an unusual loophole in the Irish tax code that helps the country compete with other countries for investment and jobs. A U.S. Senate investigation revealed Tuesday that Apple, maker of iPhones, iPads and Mac …

By Ros Krasny WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives approved a bill as expected on Wednesday declaring that a presidential permit was not needed to approve the Canada-to-Nebraska leg of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, a move that would take a decision on the project away from the Obama administration. The Republican-controlled …

(Reuters) - Starbucks Corp executive Michelle Gass, who was instrumental in the world's biggest coffee chain's post-recession U.S. turnaround, is leaving after more than 16 years to become chief customer officer at retailer Kohl's Corp . Gass, known for having led many big initiatives at Starbucks, including the development …

By Alwyn Scott (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc wants the U.S. Export-Import Bank to stop helping state-owned foreign airlines buy wide-body jets from Boeing Co , and would be willing to forgo such support for its own purchases if all such subsidies were eliminated, its chief executive said on Wednesday. "We would be perfectly …

By Andy Sullivan, Gabriel Debenedetti and Poornima Gupta WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For years, Apple Inc kept a low profile in Washington as it grew into one of the most valuable companies in the world. Now the iPad maker has taken the lead, perhaps inadvertently, on a top priority for U.S. business: simplifying America's tax …

By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Home resales rose in April to the highest level in nearly 3-1/2 years and prices surged, offering the economy a buffer from the stiff headwinds posed by belt-tightening by Washington. The National Association of Realtors said on Wednesday existing home sales advanced 0.6 percent …

By Dhanya Skariachan (Reuters) - Lowe's Cos Inc reported a weaker-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, hurt by colder-than-usual weather at the start of the spring selling season and strong competition from larger rival Home Depot Inc . The results contrasted sharply with those of Home Depot and signaled that Lowe's, …

By John O'Donnell and Martin Santa BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe edged closer to lifting banking secrecy on Wednesday after Austria said it was ready to share data on foreign depositors but Vienna's support could fade should efforts to strike a similar deal with Switzerland fail. Austria's dropping of objections allowed EU …