BUSINESS

In a what is turning out to be a most bizarre missing persons case, there are still no solids leads that indicate what exactly happened to movie executive Gavin Smith. Smith, who is known for having distributed blockbusters such as Titanic and Avatar, went missing on May 1, after reportedly returning from a conference in Las Vegas, NV.

The earnings calendar for the week ahead will be comparatively light, but a number of bellwether companies will be reporting results.

Consumer sentiment crept up slightly in May to its highest level in four years as gasoline prices declined and many perceived the job market to be improving.

The new era of 4G LTE phones are setting to take strong ground and Sprint operator is bidding high on these new set of smartphones category. HTC EVO 4G LTE, its next LTE phone coming on May 18. Recent image leaks suggests two more biggies are there on the block -- Samsung SPH-L300 and LG LS970 'Eclipse'. Which one will be yours?

U.S. consumer sentiment rose to its highest in more than four years in early May as Americans remained upbeat about the job market, a survey released on Friday showed.

Twitter, the mobile messaging giant, said it had acquired RestEngine, a social marketing company specializing in emails, mainly to obtain its developers.

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is on an investment spree, bulking up its holdings in several major companies including Royal Dutch Shell Plc (NYSE: RDS.A), Eni SpA (NYSE: E), and Xstrata PLC (London: XTA), and the sovereign fund has already taken a holding Total SA (NYSE: TOT) and is pursuing avenues to invest in Glencore International Plc (London: GLEN), sources reported Friday.

Gold prices fell to a four-month low on Friday as worries over the financial health of Greeceand Spain and huge trading losses for JPMorgan hurt stock markets and the euro, prompting investors to seek refuge in the dollar.

A political deadlock would result in new snap elections sometime next month -- thereby creating even more anger and concern among Greece?s nervous lenders, particularly Germany.

U.S. wholesale prices edged down in April as energy costs declined, pushing the measure of inflation to its lowest annual rate in two and a half years, supporting the Federal Reserve's view that the jump in fuel costs is only temporary.

China Thursday ordered four international auditing firms in the country to hire Chinese nationals in a bid to suppress foreign control of their operations in the country.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading on Friday are: Pluristem Therapeutics Inc, Mechel OAO, Zynga Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup Inc, Morgan Stanley and Apartment Investment and Management Co.

Astrologer David Mallard was walking around the area of Culver Cliffs when he saw a Renault Scenic car crash through the fence and drive off the cliff, falling on the rocks on the beach below.

The top after-market NASDAQ gainers Thursday were: Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Brooks Automation, Inc., Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc., Mindspeed Technologies, Inc. and Leap Wireless International, Inc. The top after-market NASDAQ losers were: Amtech Systems, Inc., American Public Education, Inc., Codexis, Inc., Nuance Communications, Inc. and SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Asian markets fell on Friday as concerns surrounding Greece, weak industrial output growth in China and JP Morgan's trading loss dampened sentiments.

China's inflation rate slowed in April from the previous month, showing signs that the price pressure is gradually diminishing to make room for monetary easing.

Asian shares retreated Friday, spooked by JPMorgan's $2 billion loss from a failed hedging strategy, with investors warily watching political turmoil in the euro zone as they await new Chinese data for clues on its growth outlook.

Facebook's record initial public offering is already oversubscribed, a source familiar with the share listing said Thursday night, days after the world's largest social network embarked on a cross-country roadshow to drum up investor enthusiasm.

Jose Baez is coming out with a book.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has recommended Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin for a seat on the board of the state oil and gas holding company while announcing that Sechin will leave the Cabinet Sunday.

Stock index futures fell sharply on Thursday evening as JPMorgan Chase & Co stunned investors with news that its chief investment office had incurred significant mark-to-market losses that it said could easily get worse.

Shares of JPMorganChase (NYSE: JPM) plunged 8 percent Friday after disclosing it had lost at least $2 billion in credit default swap trading.

The national Republican star and oft-mentioned vice presidential candidate vetoed a bill to set up a health insurance marketplace mandated under the Affordable Care Act.

The battle for control of Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO), the No. 3 search engine, will be fought next Thursday, the company confirmed.

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives added amendments to a Justice Department funding bill that would restrict taxpayer money from litigation involving voter ID laws, the health care law and other politically-divisive issues.

Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC), the second-largest U.S. mortgage guarantor, said Thursday it was appointing Donald Layton, the former head of E*Trade as its CEO.

After much speculation when photos leaked a few months ago, Nestle officially confirmed it will make candy bars inspired by Girls Scouts of America cookie flavors, namely the unofficially declared favorite, Thin Mints. Produced under the Girl Scouts of America license, Nestle announced the limited-edition candy bars will hit participating retail stores beginning on June 1 until September.

Prince Charles, the Duke of Rothesay and the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II, decided it would be fun to perform a reading of the lunchtime weather during his tour of BBC Scotland's headquarters, reading and improvising the weather as photographers' camera shutters noisily clicked away in the background.

Ford Motor announced its second recall of Windstar vans for axle problems in two days Thursday, bringing the number of Windstars recalled so far this month to 36,000.