SEATTLE (AP) -- Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 video game console will be $50 cheaper starting Wednesday, confirming fuzzy snapshots of leaked advertisements posted by bloggers in late July.
The company said its most popular console, which comes with a 20-gigabyte hard drive, will cost $349.

A basic console without a hard drive or wireless controllers will retail for $279, $20 less than its current price, while the Xbox 360 Elite, a black version with a 120-gigabyte hard drive and high-definition video support, will drop $50 to $449.

In July, the company clipped the price of its add-on HD-DVD player to $179, from $199.

Microsoft has been dodging questions about a console price cut since competitor Sony Corp. slashed the price of its 60-gigabyte PlayStation 3 to $499, from $599, in early July. Nintendo Corp.'s Wii, the least expensive of the so-called next-generation consoles, costs $250.

Last week, spokespeople for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Toys "R" Us Inc. and Microsoft all refused to say whether blurred

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Harrah's Entertainment Inc., which is being taken private in a $17.1 billion deal, said Tuesday its second-quarter profit surged 85 percent on strong results in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, but adjusted results from continuing operations missed estimates.

Earnings climbed to $237.5 million, or $1.25 per share, versus $128.6 million, or 69 cents per share, in the prior-year period.

Income from continuing operations rose to $195.5 million, or $1.03 per share, compared with $128.7 million, or 69 cents per share, a year earlier.

Adjusted earnings from continuing operations were 96 cents per share versus 95 cents per share in the year-ago period.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial forecast net income of 98 cents per share.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- While Wall Street has been on a wild roller-coaster ride and housing troubles continue to mount, the Federal Reserve still seems to be most concerned about inflation.

For that reason, most economists believe Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues will keep interest rates unchanged for a ninth consecutive time when they wrap up their meeting Tuesday.

That would mean that the federal funds rate will remain at 5.25 percent, where it has been for more than a year. It would also mean that the prime lending rate, the benchmark for millions of consumer and business loans, will remain unchanged at 8.25 percent.

Both rates have remained at that level since June 2006 when the Fed raised the funds rate for a record-setting 17th consecutive time, capping a two-year campaign to push rates high enough to slow the economy and keep inflation under control.

While there is a widespread belief that the central bank is not going to change interest rates, there is plenty of debate among economists over how the Fed will acknowledge the recent market turmoil, which has reflected spreading worries about credit quality, especially in such areas as subprime mortgages, loans offered to borrowers with weak credit

Offshore corporations & trusts: do you really need them?

To many people, corporations are essential tools in making money, discharging liabilities or owning assets globally; often in deep secracy.

A corporation or trust is what lawyers call a "legal entity". Whereas a company does not eat, sleep or go to the movies, it may own just about anything you care to mention: bank accounts, stocks, bonds, investments, cars, boats, and even areoplanes. So may a trust (foundation).

How to open a foreign bank account without a bank reference.

Most bankers want a reference on you mainly "for the record" The world is full of swindlers and con men who pretend to be someone else in order to divert (i.e. steal) funds that don't belong to them. Bankers do not need the aggravation of being involved with customers who immerse them in litigation or unfavourable publicity.