COMPANIES

The protest against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu, South India, intensified on Saturday as the fishermen blocked the Tuticorin port in the state. Anti-nuclear activists and the local villagers have been opposing the construction of the nuclear plant in the Idinthakarai district since several months.

Wal-Mart says it's ready to open an Indian store as nation's leader defends allowing foreign direction investment in the nation's retail sector.

Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) will shut down its once-popular China music download service on Oct. 19. A move that would benefit local rival Baidu.com Inc. (Nasdaq: BIDU).

Caterpillar's August deal statistics highlighted fears of a global slowdown, and the WTO lowered its 2012 global trade growth forecast to 2.5 percent.

London-based inventor Dominic Wilcox has created a pair of footwear with a built-in global positioning system (GPS) that guides the wearer in the direction of home or any desired destination. But they are yet to be mass produced, Examiner has reported.

The U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart is expected to launch its first store in India within 12 to 18 months following an economic reforms drive by the Indian government last week that allowed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the multi-brand retail sector.

Since billionaire entrepreneur Phil Anschutz announced on Monday that he was selling his sports and entertainment business AEG, the news has sparked the interest of several media and private equity firms looking to capitalize on the deal.

The proposed project to pump bitumen-infused gas from Alberta to Asia via the Northern Gateway project has activists facing off against the energy industry.

The world's largest retailer said it would stop selling Amazon's Kindle tablets.

Shortly after Apple's launch of iOS 6 on Wednesday, developers are already flocking to the new operating system's organized mobile payments storage application, Passbook. With major online ticket retailers and services like StubHub, Ticketmaster, and Fandango all jumping on the Passbook bandwagon, Apple may have gained an early lead in the mobile payment marketplace even as new enterprising operations like Square and eBay try their hands at integrating credit card transactions with smartphones and mobile devices.

Nike Inc (NKE.N) is beefing up its capacity to use its cash to purchase its own shares, with the board of the world's largest sportswear maker approving an $8 billion buyback program.

Ben & Jerry's new Limited Batch flavor is Cannoli ice cream. It's mascarpone based with fudge and is with covered cannoli pieces, in addition to a mascarpone swirl.

BP Plc is in talks with Marathon Petroleum Corp. to sell its Texas City refinery to pay for Deepwater Horizon spill costs.

Sales of previously owned homes rose 7.8 percent in August to the highest level since May 2010, and construction starts also increased.

American Airlines may fire people.

Now 50 years old, Kampgrounds of America pioneered the U.S. campground industry to take advantage of vacationers riding the then-new interstate highways.

It's that time of the year when retailers operating in the U.S. begin dribbling out statistics on holiday hires, a closely watched batch of communications considered an important economic indicator.

The latest United Colors of Benetton promotional campaign, valued at approximately $26 million, will give seed money to young entrepreneurs whose ideas are most popular among registered visitors to the company's site.

Car sales fell 8.9 percent in Europe in August, with Germany's activity dropping 4.7 percent, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) had the worst month, with a nearly one-third drop in sales.

Men and makeup aren't necessarily commonplace ideas in the United States, but according to new market research South Korea is the largest market in the world for men's skincare thanks to fad that has developed over recent years with Korean men wearing makeup.

Three key U.S. housing reports Wednesday are expected to show small improvements in the market.

An Ohio convict, sentenced to death by lethal injection early next year, has requested that his execution be delayed, arguing that he is to obese to be executed.

The top after-market Nasdaq gainers Monday were Brightcove Inc, Body Central Corp, Renewable Energy Group, 3SBio Inc and AngioDynamics Inc.The top after-market Nasdaq losers were Kraft Foods Group, Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc, TriQuint Semiconductor, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc and Tree.com.

Shares of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) surged past $700 for the first time, just a year after topping $400. The move brings Apple's market value to about $650 billion, cementing its 2012 role as the world's most valuable company, ahead of Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM).

Swedish home appliance maker embarks on small market for very expensive kitchens. For the rest of us: It recently began selling its Frigidaire brand at The Home Depot.

Freemium video games like "FarmVille 2" and "Angry Birds," the cheap and easily accessible counterpart to premium boxed copies of "Skyrim" or "Call of Duty" that run players upwards of $50 or $60 a sale, now make up more than half of the total market for video games in Europe, a new study shows.