COMPANIES

U.S. vaccine advisers on Tuesday voted to recommend that boys be routinely vaccinated with Merck & Co's Gardasil vaccine to protect them from human papillomavirus or HPV infections, which cause genital warts and oral, penile and anal cancers in males and cervical cancers in women.

Peabody Energy Corp's (BTU.N) quarterly profit beat Wall Street estimates as the largest U.S. coal producer realized higher pricing in all regions and domestic volumes increased.

BP said on Tuesday it wanted to return to Libya and resume oil and gas exploration work, which it halted earlier this year due to the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi's rule.

BP has turned a corner after the Gulf of Mexico disaster, its chief executive said on Tuesday, predicting the British oil firm would now return to output and cashflow growth and rejecting calls for a fundamental restructuring of the group.

Maersk Drilling has struck a four-year $780 million deal with BP for a deepwater rig, and aims to increase its fleet by 6-8 rigs within five years.

United Parcel Service reported a higher quarterly profit as increased pricing, cost cutting and technology improvements helped compensate for domestic shipping volume dulled by a sluggish economy, and it affirmed its outlook for record 2011 results.

The Case-Shiller home price index reported small increases in prices of 0.2 percent for 20 major cities between June and August. However, annual returns were down 3.8 percent for the 20 cities measured, compared to August 2010.

Delta Air Lines Inc's quarterly profit fell short of Wall Street expectations because of higher fuel costs, and its shares sank more than 6 percent in morning trading.

U.S. diesel engine maker Cummins Inc lowered its revenue and profit margin forecasts for 2011, blaming an uncertain global economy, and its shares fell 7 percent in premarket trading.

3M Co's quarterly earnings fell well short of expectations due to weakness in the electronics market, the debt crisis in Europe and inventory-reduction moves by its customers, sending the company's shares down 6 percent in early trading.

After spending a summer sidelined by fears of an exhausted consumer and nearly stopped dead on their tracks by the market correction of early August, the stocks of athletic shoe and apparel makers (and the specialty retailers that put those products in consumer’s hands) have been sprinting into marathon season, outperforming the wider footwear and apparel sectors and setting one or two all-time records along the way.

Swiss bank UBS AG overcame a 1.8 billion Swiss franc ($2 billion) rogue trading loss to post a smaller than forecast fall in third quarter net profit on Tuesday as its core wealth management business performed well.

A new study has attacked fizzy drinks as being inappropriate for teenagers. According to the study, teens who are addicted to carbonated soft drinks are more likely to be aggressive, say researchers at the University of Vermont. The research stated that teenagers consuming more than five cans of non-diet, fizzy soft drinks per week were significantly more likely to behave aggressively.

When Michael Woodford began his short tenure as Olympus president, he described the man who hired him, Chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, as an umbrella, a protective cover to deflect anyone out to stop the Briton's western-style tough cost-cutting.

The total of U.S. state debt, including pension liabilities, could surpasses $4 trillion, with California owing the most and Vermont owing the least, according to an analysis released on Monday.

McDonald's announced Oct. 23 that its boneless barbeque sandwich, the (in)famous McRib, will make a comeback this year, joining the continued success of cash ploys like McDonald's Monopoly as it storms U.S. locations through Nov. 14, 2011. Here, see ten of the best and the worst of McDonald's product ideas, from surefire hits like McDonald's Monopoly to PR disasters like the infamous McAfrica Burger.

Chemicals maker Albemarle Corp on Monday reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on strong sales of catalysts used by petroleum refiners.

Although all members were re-elected to News Corporation's board of directors Friday, many directors received substantial numbers of no votes.

Yahoo's stock rose around 3 percent on Monday, following reports that Microsoft and Google are contemplating financing roles for the private equity firms eyeing a buyout of the troubled tech firm.

FedEx announced on Monday, that it will hire about 20,000 new seasonal workers for the holidays, compared to just 17,000 last year. This increase will surely help some unemployed Americans, at least during the holiday season.

Toymaker Mattel Inc said it will buy HIT Entertainment for $680 million in an all-cash deal to own intellectual property and marketing rights for pre-school toy brands.

A proposed refinery, a petrochemical joint venture between China's CNPC, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Qatar, this week signed a framework deal with local authorities in eastern China's Zhejiang province where the mega project will be built.

Apple has posted footage of a memorial for late executive Steve Jobs on its Web site.

East African Breweries Ltd said on Monday that the sale of its 20 percent stake in brewing giant SABMiller's Tanzanian unit, expected to raise 121.5 billion shillings was delayed indefinitely.

Dubai-based City Energy & Infrastructure LLC plans to build a copper smelter and sugar plant in Tanzania over the next three years at a total investment of $500 million, a senior company official said on Monday.

The board of TNK-BP Holding , half owned by BP, on Monday voted against an initiative to join a minority shareholder in a lawsuit against the British oil major, a spokesman for BP in Moscow told Reuters.

James Murdoch will appear before the British parliament once again on Nov. 10 to discuss the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, the Media, Culture and Sport Committee announced Monday.

FedEx Corp. expects a 12 percent jump in holiday shipments this year and will add about 20,000 workers to handle the record volume driven by online shopping.

President Barack Obama will tout newly unveiled measures on Monday aimed at aiding struggling homeowners and easing the U.S. housing crisis on the first leg of a campaign-style swing through western states crucial to his re-election in 2012.