Amazon bolsters challenge to Netflix with CBS deal, nabs top spot on Harris annual brand reputation survey and mobile retail satisfaction survey.

Alitalia considers giving up independence to stay viable.

American Express tests Twitter purchases by hashtag.

Apple CEO Tim Cook gets VIP invite to President Obama's State of the Union Address; Apple to webcast Cook's conference remarks today.

Auntie Anne's Pretzels can't get Chinese to bite.

Barclay's plans to cut 3,700 jobs and change focus.

BNY Mellon releases research about insurance industry challenges.

Carnival sees engine fire disable cruise ship in Gulf of Mexico.

Coca-Cola profits rise on higher case volume.Continue reading...

Ford is experiencing a case of deja vu, and it doesn't like what it is seeing (again). Ford and Renault executives this week voiced concerns about the competitive effects of a French-government rescue deal for PSA/Peugeot-Citroen.

As the only one of the U.S. Big Three that didn't accept the offer of a federal-government bailout in 2009, Ford to rely instead on its own huge bet on its future financed by private capital and led by CEO Alan Mulally. But neither did Ford at the time object to the U.S.-taxpayer bailouts of GM and Ford.

This time around, however, Ford sees things differently, for at least two reasons. First, the European auto market seems to be headed on a further downward trajectory, whereas industry hopes in the U.S. in 2009 were for a turnaround that, in fact, soon materialized.Continue reading...

Eurozone difficulties and fading business and consumer confidence in Europe are creating something of a black hole for global automakers in that market. So far, Fiat, PSA/Peugeot-Citroen, Ford and General Motors seem to be getting the worst of it, while Volkswagen and Toyota struggle to float on top of the difficulties.

The latest development is that politicians and unions are trying to get the Italian government to intervene to reverse Chrysler-Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne's proclamation that the company can't give "any indication concerning future investments" in Italy because of the "economic crisis and current difficulties in the European auto market," according to Automotive News Europe.

Italy has been dancing on the fringes of eurozone difficulties along with Spain. And for months, Marchionne has been defying others in his industry by insisting that automakers need to put their heads together and figure out how to pare some of the excess capacity in the continent's car market — before the marketplace does it for them, more brutally. Marchionne even called out Volkswagen leadership this week for not being a team player on that issue.Continue reading...

Facebook is closing its online gift shop, an estimated $100 million business and a blow to charities such as (RED), WWF and Tom's Shoes, above — and, potentially, Facebook's brand as the initiative was its core platform for philanthropy. The UK government, meanwhile, is also using Facebook for crowdsourcing ideas.

Boeing will introduce its 787 Dreamliner to the public next week.

It's Chick-fil-A's annual customers-dressed-as-cows appreciation day.

Colgate-Palmolive is bringing free dental care to children affected by the Gulf oil spill.

Ferrari is replacing the controversial Marlboro barcode design from its F1 cars with a new logo for the upcoming season.Continue reading...