KQED's California Money

South Korea's ambassador to the United States was in San Francisco today calling for the passage of a free trade agreement.

It's been an exciting week for Giants fans -- but probably not the most productive work week in Bay Area history.

A federal jury in Oakland awarded the German software company SAP to pay rival Oracle $1.3 billion for copyright infringement.

Local merchants are still crunching the numbers, but most are expecting to report an upbeat holiday shopping season.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System -- or CalPERS -- is headed for a face off against Apple.

Shares of San Francisco-based Wells Fargo fell 2 percent today, following a court ruling in Massachusetts. Also, United Airlines flight attendants angry about the pace of contract negotiations rallied at San Francisco International airport today.

Blue Shield of California has confirmed its plans to raise rates by an average of 30 percent for almost 200,000 of its individual policy holders.

A deal between Facebook and Goldman Sachs has prompted federal regulators to consider revising their financial disclosure rules for privately held companies. Also, a new report predicts the market for tablet computers will continue to explode this year.

Bankruptcy filings in California surged 19 percent last year, despite a slowdown nationwide. Bay Area unemployment rates are also on the rise.

The Goldman Sachs investment in Facebook is expected to reverberate throughout Silicon Valley. It all depends on what Facebook decides to do with $500 million.

Shortly after the New Year, some say no later than Valentine's Day, Apple is expected to roll out an iPhone that works on Verizon's network.

New federal food-safety rules could generate business for some high tech companies, specifically, companies that make software to track outbreaks of food-borne illness.

Local merchants are still crunching the numbers, but most are expecting to report an upbeat holiday shopping season.

Holiday shoppers are still grabbing last minute deals off store shelves this Christmas Eve.

The Federal Trade Commission has approved Intel's acquisition of McAfee, the Internet security company.

The real estate market may still be in the doldrums, but a San Francisco-based real estate web site is booming.

Scruffy beards and pink granny glasses are the tip-off you're in the virtual Pot Farm -- a game now on Facebook.

A recent survey found giving by San Francisco residents jumped 56 percent during the holidays compared to the rest of the year -- the biggest increase of any major city.

The Bay Area's median home price dropped last month to $380,000, down nearly 2 percent from a year ago.

Chevron just announced it's giving $1 million in grant money to seven Richmond-area nonprofits. Also, Oakland-based Sungevity is going national.

Web icon Yahoo! is handing out pink slips to more than a reported 500 people.

A federal judge has dismissed a high-profile patent lawsuit against Silicon Valley firms including Apple, Google, Facebook and Netflix.

California's population growth has slowed to a crawl, according to recently released numbers from the state Department of Finance. Also, Genentech announced promising news today.

Procter and Gamble, the world's biggest advertiser, is moving its ads from daytime soap operas to Twitter. Also, Republican governors in two states are saying "no" to $1.2 billion in federal high-speed rail funds -- and that's a good thing for California.

Members of a budget committee in San Francisco are still debating the merits and costs of hosting the America's Cup sailing race.

Economists with the closely-watched UCLA Anderson Forecast say the state's unemployment rate isn't likely to dip below 10 percent for another two years.

Palo Alto-based social networking giant Facebook is rolling out a major redesign of its user profile pages. Also, Apple employees in Cupertino may be getting some extra-fancy new digs.

The national unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to a seven-month high in November, and new hiring stalled. But at least some companies in the Bay Area are expanding -- and even hiring.

Researchers at UC Davis today released a study looking at gender diversity among the state's 400 largest public companies. They found that men still hold roughly nine out of every 10 of the highest-paid management and board positions.

Sales figures from Cyber Monday show that buyers pounced on online deals and promotions, and Groupon announced the acquisition of San Mateo-based advertising and commerce company Ludic Labs, and plans to bolster its Silicon Valley presence.

The European Commission is investigating Google for possible antitrust violations in how it ranks its search results and ad listings.

She was once known as Queen of the Net. Investment analyst Mary Meeker is leaving Morgan Stanley to join one of Silicon Valley's most influential venture capital firms, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers.

Bay Area bargain hunters braved crowds, all-nighters and near freezing temperatures to pick up Black Friday deals.

The California Supreme Court has handed a victory to the San Francisco Bay Guardian in its antitrust lawsuit against SF Weekly.

Netflix appears to be pushing customers to get more of their movies through online streaming.

California added 39,000 non-farm jobs in October. But the state's jobless rate remained unchanged at 12.4 percent.

Bay Area home sales continued to slide in October, according to new figures from MDA Dataquick. Also, Gap today announced its third-quarter profits fell 1 percent. But the clothing chain said increases in online and international sales helped drive revenue up 2 percent.

Biotech pioneer Genentech is facing job cuts over the next two years. Swiss parent company Roche today announced it plans to cut 6 percent of its workforce. Also, the explosion of smart phones is having a profound impact on businesses.

San Francisco's mayor today unveiled new electric vehicle charging stations that may signal the future for electric cars. In its own bid to recharge its faltering business, Yahoo! today announced an alliance with the hot web discount broker, Groupon.

Facebook is getting a lot of attention today with the announcement of a new messaging system. The social networking giant has also grown enough to nudge aside eBay to become the third largest Internet-only company in the U.S.

Facebook is expected to unveil an email system that's reportedly being called a "Gmail killer" within the walls of the Palo Alto social networking company. Also, auction house Christie's is hoping to get $160,000 for an original Apple-1 computer.

The state may have financial problems, but the people of California are doing a pretty good job of managing their debt loads. That's according to the latest survey by Credit Karma, a San Francisco-based credit monitoring service.

Virgin America turned its first profit since the San Francisco-based low-cost airline started three years ago. Also, the hotel industry is still facing tough times.

The U.S. hemp industry says it's grown to $360 million in annual sales. But according to the Hemp Industries Association, that growth is hampered because American farmers aren't allowed to grow the plant.

San Francisco-based Gap surprised analysts with better-than-expected sales last month. Also, this week state voters soundly defeated a measure to repeal corporate tax breaks enacted by the Legislature during the depths of the recession.

The election may be very good news for local businesses with Jerry Brown as governor and Gavin Newsom as lieutenant governor. So says the nonpartisan business group, the Bay Area Council.

As San Francisco gets ready to celebrate the Giants' World Series victory with tomorrow's ticker tape parade, many local businesses are enjoying an early holiday rush.

The Bay Area economy will not recover from this recession until at least 2015. That's according to a new forecast released today by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute.

According to a real estate tracking service called Foreclosure Radar, foreclosure sales are down 42 percent in Arizona, California and Nevada -- the states hardest hit by the real estate crisis.

Bay Area transportation officials hope to speed the adoption of electric vehicles with $14 million in grants. Also, green tech jobs appear to be among the reasons Silicon Valley is leading the rest of California in consumer confidence.