TOP STORIES 
 
WAL-MART, TARGET REPORT STRONG TRAFFIC 

Wal-Mart and Target reported strong Thanksgiving Day traffic as shoppers focused on big-ticket electronic items. A host of retailers began offering special "Black Friday" sales on Thanksgiving Day, starting at 6 p.m.

 
OIL PRICES TUMBLE TO FIVE-YEAR LOWS 
 

Oil prices tumbled, plumbing five-year lows, following an OPEC decision that will likely translate into a lingering glut of crude. Nymex crude settled down 10.2% from Wednesday at $66.15 a barrel.

 
U.S. STOCKS END MIXED AS OPEC ROILS MARKETS 
 

Stocks finished mixed, with energy shares down sharply a day after OPEC's decision to maintain its production target triggered a tumble in oil prices. The Dow industrials closed flat, while the Nasdaq inched up and the S&P 500 edged down.

 
EU APPROVES MEDTRONIC'S MERGER WITH COVIDIEN 
 

Medical-device maker Medtronic secured EU approval for its $43 billion merger with rival Covidien, subject to conditions, two days after U.S. authorities cleared the deal.

 
EUROZONE INFLATION WEAKENS AGAIN 
 

Europe's economic prospects worsened as inflation across the euro area weakened again and unemployment in Italy reached its highest rate in nearly four decades--putting added pressure on the ECB to step up stimulus.

 
U.S. AIRLINES RECOVER FROM NOR'EASTER 
 

After canceling more than 750 flights on Wednesday, a busy travel day before the Thanksgiving holiday, due to snow, rain and winds across the East Coast, airlines were operating close to normal on Friday.

 
U.S. APPEALS WTO MEAT-LABEL RULING 
 

The Obama administration appealed a recent World Trade Organization ruling that would have limited meat-origin labeling, angering Canadian officials who threatened retaliation for what they called violations of international trade rules.

 
STOCKTON, CALIF., ASKS THAT APPEAL NOT DELAY BANKRUPTCY EXIT 
 

City leaders in Stockton, Calif., are urging a federal judge to let the city exit bankruptcy with a court-approved reorganization plan, despite an appeal of that plan filed by mutual fund company Franklin Templeton Investments.

 
FRENCH COURT VERDICT ON UBER BAN IN TWO WEEKS 
 

Car-hailing service Uber argued that a new French law governing car-service apps is unconstitutional; an effort to throw roadblocks into a lawsuit that could end up banning one of the company's main services in France. A decision is expected on Dec. 12.

 
CANADA 3Q GDP EXPANDS 2.8% 
 

Canadian economic growth slowed in the third quarter from the second, but beat market expectations and the central bank's forecast by a wide margin, led by exports and household spending.

 
BCE TO BUY WIRELESS-PHONE DISTRIBUTOR GLENTEL 
 

BCE said it will pay about $524 million to buy mobile-phone retail distributor Glentel as the Canadian communications giant looks to expand its wireless operations.

 
 
 
 
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The Wall Street Journal 
SAVINGS RATE PORTENDS HEALTHY HOLIDAY SPENDING 
 

Amid jitters over whether holiday shoppers can give the economy a year-end lift, here's an unexpected cause for optimism: Americans aren't feeling the need to save as much.

 
The Wall Street Journal 
ENERGY WORLD QUAKES AS CRUDE PRICES THREATEN OUTLOOK 
 

The outlook for U.S. energy companies dimmed in the wake of the decision by Mideast oil producers to keep pumping lots of crude despite a global glut of oil.