BUSINESS

In just a few hours, Microsoft's mystery event will take place in Los Angeles at 3:30 p.m. (Pacific time). While the tech world eagerly awaits Microsoft's major announcement Monday, the Internet rumor mill is flooded with reports saying that the event's main focus would be a tablet or an e-reader, built in collaboration with Barnes & Noble.

European markets rose Monday as investor confidence was rejuvenated following the victory of the pro-austerity parties in Sunday's Greek elections.

Asian markets rose Monday as investors were relieved after the pro-bailout parties won Sunday's elections in Greece.

Crude oil futures gained Monday after pro-bailout parties won a slim majority in Greece's general election over the weekend.

The Reserve Bank of India disappointed the industry as it left the repo rate and cash reserve ratio unchanged at 8 percent and 4.75 percent, respectively, in its mid-quarter policy review Monday. The reverse repo rate, at which banks lend money to the RBI, also remains unchanged at 7 percent.

Stock markets in China and Hong Kong gained Monday as sentiment was buoyed after the news that pro-bailout parties in Greece gained sufficient votes to form a government.

India despite its slowing economic growth is poised to emerge as the top sixth wealth market in the world, according to Datamonitor's 2012 global wealth market report.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose Monday as investor concerns were eased following the Greek election in which pro-bailout parties won the majority.

Certain financial-market commentators were -- er, uh -- commentating either early Monday or late Sunday (depending on one's global positioning) about a relief rally in this market or that market allegedly propelled by Greece's election results, which suggest the euro zone will not be falling apart. This week, anyway.

The Exxon Mobil Corp. will abandon its shale gas exploration projects in Poland because the company's test wells did not produce commercial quantities of gas, the daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza reported, according to Bloomberg News.

Francois Hollande?s party and its allies will gain at least 312 seats in the 577-seats National Assembly.

the two parties which support austerity, ND and Pasok, with a total of 159 seats, would have a slight majority.

The latest exit poll from Antenna has ND grabbing between 28.6 percent and 30 percent of the tally.

The pro-bailout New Democracy Party and the anti-bailout far-left Syriza party are expected to finish in a dead heat.

Earlier exit polls suggested that Syriza and New Democracy (which supports bailout and austerity) are running neck and neck, with about 28 percent of the electorate each.

ND and Pasok are the only two parties which support terms of the EU/IMF bailouts.

Papandreou believes that given enough time, the Greeks would be able to adhere to bailout terms.

The political situation in Greece is very volatile and unpredictable.

While the Socialists are guaranteed to win, there is much concern over how well the extreme right-wing, anti-immigration National Front (FN) of Marine Le Pen will do

Are U.S. technology companies fast-growing enterprises or are they banks? In a time when banks are enduring federal ?stress tests? of their ability to withstand a crisis, the tech sector seems to be rolling in money.

The conservative New Democracy party and the far-left Syriza present a stark choice for a beleaguered Greek public:

More than 300 garment factories in a key industrial hub of Bangladesh were shut down indefinitely Saturday following five days of violent protests by a half-million laborers demanding better wages.

Asian stock markets advanced for the second straight week on expectations that major central banks in the world would act to tackle deteriorating global economic conditions.

With French President Francois Hollande's Socialist Party appearing likely to cement its hold on the country's government in elections on Sunday, the Journal du Dimanche has reported that France wants the European Union to agree on growth-boosting measures worth ?120 billion ($151 billion) this year.

In the weeks leading to the Barrett-Jackson Auction Co.'s collector car auction in Orange County, Calif., a new group of people appears to be joining aging-vehicle aficionados in paying attention to this annual event, as an increasing number of investors are turning to older vehicles as the latest safe havens for their money.

Executive compensation continued to rise last year -- despite Occupy Wall Street's vociferous howling and gnashing of teeth -- and on average the pay of CEOs at S&P 500 companies increased 6 percent, according to a report by compensation-data company Equilar.

As Greek voters prepare to the go to the polls on Sunday and central banks around the world prepare to enter crisis mode if far left-wing candidate Alexis Tsipras wins and reneges on the country's bailout package, thus threatening euro zone solidarity, the Greek economy may slip into something resembling medieval Europe's Dark Ages.

Saudi Crown Prince Nayef (Naif) bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, heir-apparent to King Abdullah and a staunch enemy of al-Qaeda as head of Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry, died today at 78, according to the International Islamic News Agency. Nayef's death reopens the question of who will succeed King Abdullah.

As expected, Apple unveiled iOS 6 -- the next-gen mobile operating system for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch -- the 2012 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco. Nobody knew what Apple would include in its latest update for iOS, but with more than 200 new features added to the mobile platform, this will the most comprehensive update Apple has ever released to its mobile devices.