COMPANIES

A rumor that Verizon will buy Netflix is flying around, pushing up Netflix shares by 6.2 percent to $75.26 on Monday. The stock continues to rise Tuesday, with Netflix trading up $1.20 to $76.16 in early-afternoon trading.

AT&T Inc and Sprint Nextel Corp asked a U.S. court on Tuesday to delay hearings in their private litigation over whether the telecommunications giant can buy T-Mobile USA, and the judge promptly agreed.

Diamond Foods said Tuesday that it would miss its fiscal first-quarter filing deadline because of an ongoing investigation by its own audit committee into how the company accounted for payments to walnut growers.

Facebook launched a suicide prevention program with the Lifeline Tuesday, which will give troubled users an ability to chat with crisis experts 24 hours a day.

The Chinese government has allowed the iPhone 4S to be sold in mainland China and could be in stores by mid-December in time to bring in big bucks for the Christmas holiday.

ConocoPhillip's Bohai Bay oil spill may be over, but like its British counterpart in the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. super major's Chinese subsidiary has not seen the end of litigation in the wake of its Chinese spill.

Morgan Stanley (MS) is taking a step back to reach a mutually beneficial settlement with bond insurance firm MBIA. The investment bank announced Tuesday that it's willing to take a pre-tax loss of $1.8 billion in the current quarter to resolve outstanding legacy exposures.

People who knew recent Virginia Tech gunman Ross Ashley have painted polarizing pictures of his personality and attitude, which makes his motive for his killing even that much more mysterious.

Canada on Monday became the first country to announce it would withdraw from the Kyoto protocol on climate change, dealing a symbolic blow to the already troubled global treaty.

The New York-based telecommunications company must pay up to $11 million a month in royalties to ActiveVideo for providing video-on-demand service found to violate patents, U.S. District Court Judge Raymond Jackson ruled last month in Norfolk, Va.

In what is one of the oil and gas industry's largest financing project, ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum officials announced they have amassed $10.4 billion for a gas project in that country.

Southwest will be the first airline to receive the 737 MAX. Boeing said the company now has orders and commitments for some 900 737 MAX aircraft from 13 customers. The company opted earlier this year against a total new design for its new fuel-efficient engine, decided instead to load it into the popular 737 framework.

Apple Inc is in talks to buy Israel's Anobit, a maker of flash storage technology, for as much as $500 million, according to a report published on Tuesday.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Urban Outfitters, Diamond Foods, Netflix, Arena Pharma, DryShips and Clearwire. The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: ProShares UltraPro Short and Amazon.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) shares are expected to touch $70 in 2012 as it is poised to benefit from the strong demand for smartphones and tablets, and from increased spending on wireless infrastructure.

Apple is apparently interested in Anobit for the company's technology to increase and enhance the memory volume and performance of its devices, including the world's most popular smartphone, the iPhone, and the world's most popular tablet, the iPad. Anobit has about 200 employees.

Chip giant Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) slashed its fourth-quarter outlook Monday citing hard disk drive (HDD) supply shortages related to flooding in Thailand.

Raymond James has lowered its profit estimates of telecom giant AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), which is facing several regulatory roadblocks in its $39 billion deal to acquire T-Mobile USA, a subsidiary of Germany's Deutsche Telekom.

Despite car makers and government agencies efforts, a gap between advertised fuel economy and real life exists. The truth is, all parties involved are married to a system that's anachronistic, a set of regulations in desperate need of an update, and a mixed consumer market that sees gas-guzzlers make up three of the top five best selling cars of 2011.

As the Department of Justice gears up for a rare criminal trial against a publicly traded company, the Taiwanese defendant wants to argue that prosecutors just don't get Asian business culture.

Game publisher Activision is on a high as its latest installment of Call of Duty topped $1 billion in worldwide sales in just 16 days since its Nov. 8 release.

The top after-market NASDAQ gainers are: Saba Software, Urban Outfitters, Skullcandy, Cypress Semiconductor, Avanir Pharma and Atmel Corp. The top after-market NASDAQ losers are: Liquidity Services, Perceptron, Diamond Foods and BioMarin Pharma.

John Atterberry, chief of the Death Row Records, died Monday after being shot in the face by a rampaging gunman on a Hollywood street Friday morning.

With such new enhancements and improved performance, the Nook Color seems to be more like a tablet than an e-reader. Priced at $199, B&N has proved there's a market for low cost tablets that provide high content features.

Jive Software Inc priced its initial public offering at $12 per share, above its expected price range of between $8 and $10 per share, according to an underwriter.

Lexus announced Monday that it will introduce a new concept vehicle at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this January.

Chrysler and Hyundai led the way for strong automotive sales in the United States in October, as sales continue to rebound from recession slumps, according to analysis from the Great American Group released Monday.

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) announced Monday it is hiring about 160 Merrill Edge Financial Solutions Advisors across Southern California and Arizona by the end of first quarter 2012 as part of the firm's plan to enhance the solutions it offers to preferred customers -- those with investable assets of $50,000 to $250,000.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, on Monday sued the city of Chicago over its new vacant buildings ordinance.