Business_Finance

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Battalion Chief Richard Sterne may be demoted for reprimanding rather than suspending firefighters who had beer at a station. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

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Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, speaks to the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo on Feb. 20, 2012. At right is Apache Chairman and CEO G. Steven Farris. (Associated Press)

Alex Machaskee (left), retired publisher of the Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio, and Michael Djordjevich, founder of the Serbian Unity Congress, offer remarks during an interview in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

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**FILE** A currency exchange bureau worker counts U.S. dollars, as Iranian bank notes are seen at right with portrait of late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, in downtown Tehran on Dec. 21, 2011. (Associated Press)

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**FILE** Customers try out iPad tablet computers May 6, 2011, at an Apple's authorized dealer outlet in Changsha in south China's Hunan province. (Associated Press)

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News Corp. chief executive Rupert Murdoch reads his group's the Sun daily newspaper on Feb. 17, 2012, as he is driven from his home in central London. (Associated Press)

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Heavy-duty pickups are assembled in a General Motors' plant in Flint, Mich. The company announced Thursday that it made a record profit of $7.6 billion in 2011as it reclaimed the title of world's largest automaker. (Associated Press)

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Rory McIlroy feels the changes he's made to his swing will work in time for the Masters, which begins April 5. The 22-year-old has been working with longtime coach Michael Bannon on improving his setup. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

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Washington Nationals General Manager and Executive Vice President of baseball operations Mike Rizzo introduces Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez, right, who puts on a hat and his jersey at a press conference at Nationals Park, Washington, DC, Wednesday, January 25, 2012. Gonzalez finished last season as a member of the Oakland A's with a 16-12 record, 3.12 ERA and 197 strikeouts in 202 innings pitched. (Andrew Harnik / The Washington Times)

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** FILE ** Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012, before the Senate Finance Committee hearing on President Obama's fiscal 2013 federal budget. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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A gold pot is displayed for sale Feb. 16, 2012, in a booth from China at the International Jewelry Fair in Hong Kong. (Associated Press)

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**FILE** Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke takes part in a news conference Jan. 25, 2012, at the William McChesney Martin Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington. (Associated Press)

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LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja accuses the government of bowing to pressure in blocking his wireless broadband network. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

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Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping speaks Feb. 15, 2012, to the US-China Business Council in Washington. (Associated Press)

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Matthew Huron, owner of two medical-marijuana dispensaries and an edible-marijuana company in Denver, pays his bills with money orders. That's because processing transactions or investments with pot money puts federally insured banks at risk of federal drug-racketeering charges. Mr. Huron's business is cash-only. (Associated Press)

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Rick Berman, President and CEO, Berman and Company, takes time for a portrait in his office on Vermont Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, February 14, 2012. (Rod Lamkey Jr/ The Washington Times)

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The Olympic Village, a construction zone a year ago, will house many of the 15,000 athletes coming to London this summer for the 2012 London Games. Traffic officials fear gridlock along the 100-mile Olympic Route Network of traffic lanes reserved for athletes, sponsors and dignitaries. (Olympic Delivery Authority via Associated Press)

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An employee of the Greek Stock Exchange passes past charts with stock prices, indicating gains, in Athens on Monday. World stock markets rose Monday after Greece's parliament approved a new set of austerity measures that were required by international lenders in exchange for an emergency bailout. The move was labeled a "crucial step forward." (Associated Press)

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Dogs Against Romney will rally Tuesday outside the Westminster Dog Show at Madison Square Garden in New York. The group was launched in 2007 by Alabama-based marketing entrepreneur Scott Crider. (Photo courtesy Dogs Against Romney)

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New York's Empire State Building looms as an investment opportunity. The company that runs the building is planning a stock offering, according to documents filed Monday. (Associated Press)