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The CEO of world's largest beverage company Coca-Cola, Muhtar Kent was offered a pay package of $18.1 million in the previous years after the company failed to meet its own growth targets. Kent, 60, has been working with the beverage company since 2008.

According to a filing made on Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the compensation is on par with the $18.2 million, which Kent received in 2013.

It is said that Kent's pay package might have been higher if Kent had accepted a $2.5 million cash performance bonus.

Kent said in a statement that he decided not to accept the bonus because the company has been planning to take some important decisions to improve its performance, and therefore there was a lot of work left to be done.

On Wednesday, the central banking system of the United States Federal Reserve released results of the second round of its stress tests called 'Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR)'. The stress tests included 31 big banks that are currently operating in the U. S. market.

While two foreign banks, Santander and Deutsche Bank, failed the tests, the remaining banks managed to pass the second round. According to reports, the result was not as bad as analysts had predicted.

Another bank, Bank of America, which somehow passed the test, was put on a 'warning' by the central banking system of the country. The multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Charlotte was found to have some weaknesses in aspects of revenue modeling.

On Thursday, the Commerce Department said that retail sales have declined in February. The decline has taken place for the third consecutive month.

Last month, retail sales plunged 0.6% and in January, the decline was of 0.8%. The decline might have come because consumers remained hesitant to spend the money that they have been able to save from gasoline prices. Also, bad weather created hindrance for shoppers.

Autos, gasoline, building materials and restaurants were the few areas where sales did well. Dip in temperature and snowstorms affected the sales in February, pushing Americans to stay at home. Sharp decline in gasoline prices dropped the sales in December and January.

In the final three months of 2014, Americans' net worth, fueled by higher stock and home values, has reached a record high.

On Thursday, the Federal Reserve said that household wealth has shown a 1.9% rise during the October-December quarter and has reached to nearly $83 trillion.

Stock and mutual fund portfolios have gained $742 billion, whereas the value of Americans' real estate assets increased by $356 billion.

The typical household didn't gain much, as most of the wealth remained concentrated among richer families. About 80% of the stocks are owned by the wealthiest 10% of US households. This greater wealth could still help improve spending and economic growth.

An announcement has been made by Greg Hayes, Chief Executive Officer, United Technologies, that the company is planning spin-off of Black Hawk helicopter unit. United Technologies is consolidating many departments and restructuring so that overhead costs can be decreased.

According to the company, the headquarters will be moved from the Gold Building in downtown Hartford to the former headquarters of Otis elevator by the end of the year.

Hartford, Connecticut-based United Technologies revealed that they concentrate on acquisitions in range of $5 billion of higher. Back in 2012, aerospace supplier Goodrich Corporation was acquired by the company. Goodrich Corporation was acquired in a deal of $16 billion. The company's one of the lowest-margin units is Sikorsky Aircraft.

The California Wildlife Center, an organization that works to rescue and rehabilitate native wildlife in Southern California, will require license from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for marine mammals that the organization rescues. According to reports, approved facilities of the country must show proper species care protocol and should have adequate rehabilitation facilities.

Earlier, the great lifeguards at Zuma Beach in California saw a sea lion pup. After that, they corralled the little pup and kept him safe overnight until marine mammals rescue crew from the California Wildlife Center came and took the pup with them. The pup and two others about the same age that were rescued from different beaches were taken to the center in Calabasas.