The news at a glance

U.S. economy: Modest growth seen next year

Top U.S. economic forecasters see a mixed bag for the U.S. economy in 2012, said Martin Crutsinger in the Associated Press. The good news is that the economy is expected to “muddle through the next year without a recession,” say economists with the National Association for Business Economics. The bad news is that “growth will be too weak to make much of a dent in the unemployment rate.” The economists predict that the economy will grow 2.4 percent next year, up from a forecast of 1.8 percent for 2011. That’s a higher 2012 projection than the group’s earlier forecast, but still below what’s needed to ease joblessness.

Still, it’s heartening that the economy is showing “faint, but significant, signs of life,” said Alain Sherter in CBSNews.com. First-time claims for unemployment benefits are at their lowest level since April, retail sales have increased for the past five months, and consumer confidence just hit a four-month high. But those gains are tempered by “persistent weakness in job-creation and in wage growth,” a moribund housing sector, and reports that more American children have fallen into poverty. “Modest gains are better than none, of course,” but this economic recovery remains highly vulnerable, especially in light of the ongoing debt crisis in Europe.

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Scandal: Olympus losses linked to organized crime

Officials investigating a financial scandal at Olympus suspect that billions of dollars may have flowed to Japanese organized-crime groups, said Hiroko Tabuchi in The New York Times. The Japanese camera-maker was alleged to have misused $1.4 billion to mask losses dating back to the 1990s. But investigators say at least $4.9 billion is unaccounted for, “potentially making it one of the biggest scandals in Japanese corporate history.” Investigators believe that more than half of the money may have been channeled to crime syndicates such as the Yamaguchi Gumi, possibly for help in covering up losses.

Lawsuit: Former AIG boss sues U.S. over bailout

The former head of AIG, Hank Greenberg, thinks he got a raw deal from the 2008 U.S. bailout of the insurance giant, said Liam Pleven and Serena Ng in The Wall Street Journal. Greenberg resigned from AIG in 2005, but a firm he owned was AIG’s largest shareholder when the bailout occurred. That firm, Starr International, is suing the government for $25 billion, alleging that the government’s bailout and takeover of AIG was an unconstitutional seizure of private property.

Tech: Yelp hopes to raise $100 million in IPO

Yelp, the website of user reviews of businesses and restaurants, wants to become “the latest unprofitable Internet company to go public,” said Douglas MacMillan in Bloomberg.com. The San Francisco–based company, founded in 2004, has filed for an initial public offering next year that could raise as much as $100 million. The announcement seems timed to build on the success of online coupon site Groupon, whose IPO last month generated $700 million despite the company’s lack of profits. “Investors are open to taking bets on companies that are generating losses” right now, said IPO analyst Tom Taulli.

Pharma: Gilead bets big on hepatitis C drugmaker

The world’s biggest maker of HIV drugs, Gilead Sciences, has made a “huge bet” on promising new hepatitis C treatments, buying biotechnology company Pharmasset for $11 billion, said Lewis Krauskopf and Anand Basu in Reuters.com. Pharmasset has three promising drugs in clinical trials to treat hepatitis C, which affects 180 million people globally. Gilead has agreed to pay $137 per Pharmasset share, an 89 percent premium on the company’s last closing price before the deal.