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Optimism over the state of the U.S. economy supported markets on Friday ahead of a weekend meeting of the finance ministers of the leading 20 industrial and developing nations in Mexico, where Europe’s debt crisis will likely be a key topic of debate.

With Greece pressing ahead with demands to get its hands on a euro130 billion ($173 billion) bailout, market concerns over an imminent default by the country have diminished, and that’s helped the euro spike to two and a month highs against the dollar.

On Friday, Greece is expected to launch a public offer for a massive bond swap designed to knock euro107 billion ($142 billion) off its debt held by banks and other private investors.

“We have reached a point where concerns over Europe have been abated for the time being, allowing investors to focus properly on the rest of the global economy, and what people are seeing is pretty positive,” said Simon Furlong, a trader at Spreadex.

Particularly encouraging has been the recent economic newsflow out of the U.S., especially with regards to jobs. Later in the day, investors will focus on the closely-watched consumer confidence survey from the University of Michigan and figures on new house sales.

Economic recovery in the U.S. is hugely important for the global economy because it could help Europe’s ailing economy, further ease the debt concerns and shore up confidence in financial markets.

Last summer, when Europe’s debt crisis became particularly acute, worries over the U.S. economy, symbolized best by Standard & Poor’s decision to strip the world’s largest economy of its triple A rating, fueled the turmoil in the financial markets.

In 2012, signs of calm in Europe coupled with encouraging U.S. economic indicators have supported markets, with many of the world’s leading indexes back at levels they were trading at before last summer’s massive sell-off.

The positive momentum continued on Friday, when the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 0.1 percent at 5,941 and Germany’s DAX rose 0 instant payday loan lenders.8 percent to 6,866. The CAC-40 in France was 0.5 percent higher at 3,465.

The euro traded up 0.2 percent at $1.3394, its highest level since Dec. 12.

Wall Street was poised for a similarly solid opening _ Dow futures were up 0.2 percent at 13,002 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 futures rose 0.3 percent to 1,367.

Over the weekend, investors will be interested in what transpires at a meeting of the G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Mexico. While the gathering will focus on promoting global economic stability and growth, Europe’s debt crisis will remain a key topic.

In particular, European officials will press for countries like the U.S., China and the U.K. to allow the International Monetary Fund to contribute more money to eurozone rescue measures. Several countries are reluctant, however, to expose the IMF to more risk in Europe.

Earlier in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.5 percent to close at 9,647.38 and South Korea’s Kospi added 0.6 percent to 2,019.89. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.1 percent to close at 21,406.86.

Mainland Chinese shares were boosted by speculation local governments would relax restrictions on the property market and monetary authorities would tweak policy to stimulate growth.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.2 percent to 2,439.63, its highest close in more than 3 months. The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index gained 1.4 percent to 972.62. Shares in real estate, cement and coal minters led the advance.

One growing concern is the price of oil, which has been driven higher by tensions over Iran and the weakening dollar _ kept Asian markets in check because of worries it could crimp the U.S. economic recovery.

Benchmark crude for April delivery was up 66 cents to $108.49 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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The Obama administration’s corporate tax reform plan will end “dozens and dozens” of tax breaks, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Tuesday as he defended the White House’s election-year call for higher taxes on the wealthy.

Within days, the administration is set to unveil a blueprint for revamping the corporate tax system aimed at leveling the playing field for all companies, which pay wildly differing levels of taxes, while lowering the top corporate tax rate.

Companies are clamoring for a cut in the top 35 percent corporate tax rate but disagree about how to how eliminate special tax preferences that benefit selected industries.

Geithner spoke before the Senate Finance Committee a day after President Barack Obama unveiled a $3.8 trillion budget-and-tax proposal that called for aggressive government spending to boost the economy and higher taxes on the rich.

“We think they can handle it. We think they can afford it,” Geithner said.

The budget proposal is seen as a campaign document, with few elements expected to win approval this year in a divided U.S. Congress as elections approach in November.

Republicans criticized Obama’s budget, saying it chooses winners and losers and moves away from tax reform.

For example, Obama wants to end a manufacturing tax break for oil and gas companies, but expand it for high-tech companies. “Obviously not everyone is going to be playing by the same set of rules,” Republican Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona said.

Geithner said it was a “fair question.”

He said the Obama plan would “wipe out a very substantial, dozens and dozens of special tax preferences,” in the corporate code, but keep a “very limited” number targeting incentives for “creating and building stuff in the United States.”

Senators from both parties said Obama needs to use the bully pulpit to push major changes to the tax code.

The last time major rewrite of the U.S. tax code came in 1986 under the leadership of Republican President Ronald Reagan.

“The key in 1986 was of course the presidential bully pulpit and that the executive branch every single time out talked about how you had to fit the pieces together,” Democratic Senator Ron Wyden said.

Obama said earlier he was “hopeful” of a deal on extending a 2 percentage point cut in the payroll tax paid by workers, which will expire at the end of the month without a deal between sparring lawmakers.

FISCAL CLIFF

The payroll tax extension is the first among many deadlines approaching in coming months that could hamper the fragile economic recovery.

At the end of the year, individual tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush are set to expire. In addition, $1.2 trillion in automatic budget cuts across all government programs are set to kick in as part of last summer’s deal to raise the debt ceiling.

“A perfect fiscal storm is waiting at the end of the year,” Senator Max Baucus, Democratic chairman of the Senate Finance Committee said.

Geithner agreed that the combination of the deficit reduction measures and higher taxes would hurt the economy.

But he said the administration is proposing to extend the bulk of the tax cuts so that only the wealthiest would be impacted. “The impact of that tax reform would be very, very modest,” he said.

Geithner rejected Republican suggestions that the administration should make drastic cuts to government spending even though the U.S. deficit has soared to $1.3 trillion and the federal debt has topped $15 trillion.

“That would damage economic growth,” Geithner said.

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Candy, flowers and bling may dominate Valentine’s Day gifts, but this year, one more item is likely to be among the love offerings: heart-shaped pizzas.

Searches on Google for "heart-shaped pizzas" have soared 230% since January, according to Google’s (, Fortune 500) research tool Insights for Search.

And the highest number of searches for heart-shaped pizzas over the past few weeks is coming from Illinois, Texas and California, according to Google.

The novelty pizza has easily been around for decades but lately, pizza sellers — large and small — have been rushing to capitalize on this quirky trend, especially around Valentine’s Day.

Pizza chain Papa John’s () sold 60,000 heart-shaped pizzas in 2010, and a little bit more than 60,000 last year. It expects to sell 75,000 this year.

"We first offered them nationally three years ago, and they’ve become widely popular," said Papa John’s spokeswoman Tish Muldoon, adding that the company debuted them again last week.

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"They’re popular with families who celebrate Valentine’s Day together," she said.

The traditional deep-dish pizzas at Lou Malnati’s, a family-run pizzeria chain in Chicago, already sell well on any given day.

But weeks before Valentine’s Day, their heart-shaped pizza becomes the favorite with Chicagoans and consumers nationwide.

"Valentine’s Day is now our second-busiest event behind the holiday season," said Meggie Eck, marketing manager for the 41-year-old family-owned Lou Malnati’s.

She credits Rick Malnati, the founder’s son, with coming up with the idea 22 years ago.

Rick, a basketball coach at Loyola University, thought it would be clever to create a heart-shaped pizza and initially tried to make it with a cookie cutter, said Eck. Eventually, he found a heart-shaped pan, and those pans are still used today instant credit reports.

People "eating in the restaurants quickly grew to look forward to the heart-shaped pizzas each year," said Eck.

Now, 22 years later, Lou Malnati’s heart-shaped pizza has a loyal following in Chicago and nationwide. Google said searches for the pizza chain’s novelty pizza are up 95% over the past two years.

All of Lou Malnati’s 33 locations in Chicago serve the $9.45 special 9-inch plain cheese heart-shaped deep-dish pizza on Feb. 14.

The company’s also been shipping the frozen variety since 1991.

Today, a single frozen Lou Malnati’s heart-shaped pizza costs $42.99, including shipping. A "2 pack," one frozen heart-shaped pizza and one frozen original pizza, is $57.99 with shipping.

"Last Valentine’s Day, we saw a 10% growth in [heart-shaped] pizza sales from 2010," said Eck. The company expects to see similar growth this year.

This year, Lou Malnati’s had its heart-shaped pizzas ready for shipping on Feb. 1, although it expects to ship the majority of its "love" pizzas between Feb. 6 and Feb. 13.

Wal-Mart launches “American Idol”-like contest

Looking at the orders coming in, Eck thinks the heart-shaped pizzas will outnumber their other pies, such as cheese and pepperoni, which will also be shipped this month.

So far this year, "51% of all our pizzas we’ve shipped have been heart-shaped pizzas," she said. The most orders for them are coming from customers in California, Texas, Florida and California.

And most deliveries are being made to addresses in California, Florida, Illinois, Texas and Arizona, she said.

"We will be able to ship [on] Monday for Valentine’s Day delivery on Tuesday, which we hope [will] boost sales," she said. 

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In a letter to investors included in Facebook’s IPO filing, CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined his philosophy for running what has become a multi-billion-dollar business. At core of that philosophy: Love your hackers.

"We have cultivated a unique culture and management approach that we call the Hacker Way," Zuckerberg wrote in the filing. "There’s a hacker mantra that you’ll hear a lot around Facebook offices: ‘Code wins arguments.’"

It’s a line that captures the spirit of the company’s engineering-driven culture, where all-night coding sessions and "hackathons" are popular.

"The best idea and implementation should always win — not the person who is best at lobbying for an idea or the person who manages the most people," Zuckerberg wrote.

It’s become common for tech entrepreneurs to include these kinds of missives in their IPO filings. The documents are half-warning, half-plea: ‘Hey shareholders, here’s the culture you’re about to buy into. Please don’t break it.’

Groupon’s () quirky founder Andrew Mason opened his company’s filing with a note on his management views: "Life is too short to be a boring company."

In 2004, Google (, Fortune 500) co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin cautioned shareholders that they would manage for the long haul, not the short term, and laid out their now-famous "Don’t be evil" mission.

"We aspire to make Google an institution that makes the world a better place," they wrote.

Zuckerberg struck some of the same notes in his own letter. "We don’t build services to make money; we make money to build better services," he wrote.

Zuckerberg’s stake is worth at least $16 billion

But the founder who built Facebook’s prototype from his dorm room at Harvard mainly stuck with the notion that code conquers all.

"Instead of debating for days whether a new idea is possible or what the best way to build something is, hackers would rather just prototype something and see what works," he wrote.

It’s an approach that explains both Facebook’s constant upgrades, and its equally routine privacy kerfuffles. Especially in its early years, Facebook tended to launch new features and then hash through all of their implications after the fact.

It’s an approach that’s literally built into the company’s foundation.

As Zuckerberg put it: ‘We have the words ‘Done is better than perfect’ painted on our walls to remind ourselves to always keep shipping."  

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The pace of growth in the U.S. services sector accelerated in January to its highest level in nearly a year as new orders and employment jumped, an industry report showed on Friday.

The Institute for Supply Management said its services index rose to 56.8 last month from a revised 53.0 in December. It was the highest level since February 2011.

Economists had expected the index to hold steady at 53.0, according to a Reuters survey. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.

U.S. stocks rose 1 percent heading into the data, while Treasuries yields hit session highs following its release and the euro extended losses against the dollar.

The new orders index climbed to 59.4 from 54.6, though the prices paid measure edged up to 63.5 from 62.0

Employment in the vast services sector was robust, rising to the highest level in six years at 57.4 from 49.8 and adding to signals of improvement in the labor market. The sector accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activity in the United States Business Card Holders.

The overall U.S. unemployment rate fell to close to a three-year low in January, separate data showed earlier on Friday, as the economy created jobs at the fastest pace in nine months.

Anticipation for a third round of stimulus, or quantitative easing, from the Federal Reserve had picked up after the Fed left the door open to more stimulus at its most recent meeting, the jobs report muted those expectations.

Economic growth is expected to back off in early 2012 from the 2.8 percent rate of growth in the fourth quarter, though there are signs of underlying momentum.

Global service sector data on Friday was more mixed and showed Europe’s economy probably picked up last month, while growth in Chinese service firms slowed sharply.

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Greece

One year after Egypt knocked global finance off the agenda at the World Economic Forum, Arab officials returning to Davos may struggle to drum up interest in the region.

Across North Africa, where uprisings ended the autocratic rule of three men, economic growth has stalled, stock markets have slumped and Egyptian bond yields are at a record, with the nine-month treasury bill at 15.802 percent. Foreign direct investment in the Middle East and North Africa last year was the lowest since 2005.

Failure to lure investments threatens to hinder the transition to democratic rule and may spark more deadly protests, while energy-rich states, such as Saudi Arabia, may struggle to diversify their economies and cut the world

China

Every auto show, these days, is "all about plug-in cars and hybrids," they say. Everyone’s gawking at the cherry on top while few notice how different the ice cream underneath is.

At the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, you can see the auto industry changing — deeply, quickly and probably forever. The reasons are stricter fuel economy regulations and changing attitudes toward environmental responsibility.

Yes, those are things car companies talk about when showing off cars such as the new Ford Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid or the Acura NSX hybrid performance car concept.

But fuel economy and the environment are, just as much or maybe even more, the reasons that cars such as the Dodge Dart are equipped with fuel-efficient 4-cylinder engines, or why General Motors (, Fortune 500) unveiled the very small Buick Encore compact SUV.

They’re also why there was one notable omission from this year’s Detroit show. Not a single truck or large SUV was unveiled at any of the show stands this year. There have been auto shows in recent memory at which it seemed there were nothing but massive trucks rolling out under every drape.

Cool cars from the Detroit Auto Show

There were SUVs, of course — there always will be — such as the Buick Encore.

There was also the new Nissan Pathfinder, but even that roomy, 3-row SUV proves the point that fuel economy has become the big bogie. The Pathfinder you see on the roads today is a truck-based vehicle built to withstand real off-road use. The new one rides on car-like engineering, which will allow it to be lighter and less thirsty.

Engines themselves are getting smaller, too. Even the venerable Bentley is downsizing. The British ultra-luxury automaker unveiled the Continental GT V8 at the show.

Under the hood of this car is a relatively modest twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 which, Bentley estimates, will quaff 40% less premium than the 6.0-liter V12 in the less stingy version of the car. Even with the V8, performance will still be "exhilarating," Bentley promises.

In more pedestrian cars, the "bigger engine" option is pretty much out. Today, the Ford Fusion is available with a V6 engine. The new one will not be. Only various 4-cylinder engines will be offered. The Dodge Dart, as well, will be available only with 4-cylinder engines.

Even performance is being subtly redefined. It used to be that performance was measured in one, single, easily stated number: horsepower. In auto shows past, carmakers would compete to see who could unveil the car with most eye-popping horsepower number.

And that’s not entirely over. Shelby American Inc. was on hand with its display of modified Ford (, Fortune 500) Mustangs with horsepower outputs stretching all the way to a gut-crunching 800.

The "new performance" could be found at the Subaru and Toyota () stands, where the identical Subaru BRZ and Scion FRS were on display. These cars put out a relatively slight 200 horsepower out of 2.0-liter flat-four engines. That’s an impressive figure, given the size of the engine and the fact that it doesn’t have a power-boosting turbocharger or supercharger.

But these cars aren’t about zero-to-60 times, Scion and Subaru representatives say. They’re about driving fun. Engineers put the engine as low as possible in the car to create the lowest possible center of gravity, the idea being to optimize cornering while still going quick enough to produce a healthy grin.

This new trend in less showy fuel economy was perhaps best exhibited in the show’s opening moment. A jury of automotive journalists awarded the North American Car and Truck of the Year Awards to the Hyundai Elantra and the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque.

The Elantra, a compact car, gets 40 miles a gallon without sacrificing driving fun. The Range Rover Evoque uses a turbocharged 4-cylinder engine to provide enjoyable driving performance while still getting an impressive — in this context — 22 miles per gallon in combined city and highway driving.

Of course, there are still those plug-in cars. But with standard, run-of-the-mill gasoline-powered cars pushing the fuel economy bar ever higher, they seem likely to remain car show sideshows for a few years longer. 

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Stock markets shrugged off signs of a slowing Chinese economy on Tuesday, as investors hoped for strong corporate earnings from the U.S. and looked to a new round of talks in Berlin for progress in solving Europe’s debt crisis.

The U.S. economy has shown new signs of strength recently, and investors are hoping that will boost corporate earnings results due to be announced in coming weeks. In particular, signs that the U.S. labor market is improving has raised the possibility of a recovery in American consumer spending, one of the main motors of global economic growth.

Britain’s FTSE 100 index of leading shares rose 1.0 percent to 5,668.89 and Germany’s DAX rose 2.4 percent to 6,158. France’s CAC-40 rose 2.1 percent to 3,194, while indices in Spain, Italy, Switzerland and elsewhere across Europe also recorded gains betwen 1 and 2 percent.

Ahead of the opening bell, Wall Street appeared set for a higher opening as well. Dow Jones industrial futures rose 0.5 percent to 12,402 and S&P 500 futures gained 0.6 percent to 1,283.10.

Moods were tempered by relatively gloomy indicators out of Europe.

The European Central Bank said Tuesday that the amount of overnight deposits that the region’s banks held with it rose to euro481.93 billion ($613 billion) on Monday, breaking the record euro463.56 billion set only a day before.

The high deposits mean banks are keeping spare cash in a safe place even though they earn low interest. They also reflect large amounts of cash put into the banking system from ECB emergency loans of euro489 billion taken up by more than 500 banks in late December.

Dutch electronics giant Royal Philips Electronics NV kicked of corporate Europe’s earnings season by warning that its fourth quarter profits were worse than expected due to a weak European market that made it difficult to charge customers as much as it wanted to for light bulbs.

“Our expected fourth quarter financial results have been affected by the weakness in Europe, which has impacted our health care business, as well as pricing in our consumer lighting business,” said Chief Executive Frans van Houten in a statement.

Philips shares fell 6 percent to euro14.715 in early trading in Amsterdam.

On the day that international debt inspectors were returning to Athens, Greece successfully raised euro1.625 billion ($2.07 billion) in the sale of 26-week treasury bills, at a marginally lower interest rate than a similar auction last month.

Debt-crippled Greece relies on international rescue loans to keep solvent. Although unable to issue long-term debt due to incredibly high borrowing costs, it maintains a market presence through regular treasury bill auctions business card templates.

Greece’s situation will be discusses at an “informal” meeting between Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and International Monetary Fund boss Christine Lagarde in Berlin Tuesday evening.

Ahead of that meeting, Fitch Ratings said a number of euro countries, including Italy, may see their credit ratings downgraded by one or two notches by the end of this month as they struggle to cope with the debt crisis.

Fitch’s head of sovereign ratings David Riley says Tuesday the agency will give its verdict on several countries by the end of January. Fitch currently has Italy, Spain, Belgium, Ireland, Slovenia and Cyprus on so-called “ratings watch negative.”

Much interest in the markets centers on Italy, which Riley says is the “front line” of Europe’s debt crisis.

Overnight markets in Asia were marginally higher thanks to improving economic data out of the U.S., said Cameron Peacock of IG Markets in Melbourne.

The optimism was tempered by news that China’s import growth decelerated sharply in December in a new sign the world’s second-largest economy is slowing.

The customs agency said December imports rose 11.8 percent over a year ago, down from November’s 22.1 percent gain. Exports rose 13.4 percent, down only marginally from the previous month’s rate.

The country’s politically sensitive global trade surplus widened to $16.5 billion.

Weaker Chinese demand for imports reflects a slowdown in rapid domestic economic growth after Beijing tightened lending and investment curbs to prevent overheating. A slump in global demand for Chinese goods has prompted the government to reverse course and promise measures to shore up growth.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, reopening after a three-day holiday weekend, added 0.4 percent to close at 8,422.26. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.7 percent to 19,004.28 while South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.5 percent to 1,853.22. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 rose 1.1 percent at 4,152.20. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, and Indonesia also posted gains.

Benchmark crude for February delivery rose $1.46 to $102.77 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 25 cents to settle at $101.31 in New York on Monday.

In currency trading, the euro rose to $1.2799 from $1.2762 late Monday in New York. The dollar fell to 76.85 yen from 76.89 yen.

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