U.S. economic growth slows
Washington: U.S. economic expansion slowed down in the second quarter of 2007 to less than half the rate reported at the beginning of the year. Inflation however shot up at the fastest rate since 1994, the government figures showed. The US Commerce Department said the sharp slowdown was caused mainly by lower consumer spending.

Financial markets felt this would lead the Federal Reserve to halt its two-year-old campaign of interest-rate rises. Stock and bond prices also gained on the news. Gross domestic product grew at a 2.5 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter, well below Wall Street analysts' forecasts for 3 percent and less than half the robust 5.6 percent rate registered in the first quarter.

Not only was there a decrease in consumer spending on costly durables like cars, but export growth slowed, government spending was weaker and housing investment turned down.
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Wal-Mart exits Germany
Frankfurt: Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, is selling its stores in Germany to the country's leading retail chain Metro making losses of about $1 billion. The U.S. retail giant entered the cut-throat German retail arena eight years ago and has since then been frustrated by wafer-thin margins and tight labour and trade laws in the country. The exit from Germany marks the second time in two months that Wal-Mart has pulled out of one country to focus on more promising opportunities elsewhere -- such as in China, South and Central America, or India.

Wal-Mart operates 85 hypermarkets across Germany, and would incur a roughly $1 billion pretax loss on the deal in the second quarter of its fiscal 2007 year.
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