COMPANIES

Oil led a rebound among commodities on Wednesday as investors went bargain hunting for riskier assets after the U.S. Federal Reserve promised to extend near-zero interest rates for two more years.

Facebook's new Messenger is already the top free app in Apple's App Store. The communications tool is directly taking on BlackBerry's popular BBM.

Auriga USA has raised its profit estimates of PC maker Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL), saying that the company's margin expansion story will continue even in a more challenging economic environment.

FBR Capital Markets has upgraded the shares of VMWare, Inc. (NYSE:VMW) to "outperform" from 'market perform," saying that the company would be a leading beneficiary of increasing demand for virtualization solutions.

Standard & Poor's, whose unprecedented downgrade of U.S. debt triggered a worldwide stocks sell-off, is pushing back against a U.S. government proposal that would require credit raters to disclose "significant errors" in how they calculate their ratings.

Kansas became on Tuesday the second U.S. state to return a large federal grant meant to help it create a prototype health insurance exchange as part of the Obama administration's healthcare overhaul.

World shares clawed back more ground on Wednesday as investors rattled by a run of heavy losses took comfort from the Federal Reserve's pledge to keep interest rates near zero for two more years.

Global oil demand will grow less than previously projected this year, according to forecasts on Tuesday from the U.S. and OPEC, as a worsening economic outlook will curb consumption in developed countries.

SunPower Corp on Tuesday lowered its 2011 profit outlook but backed its revenue and gross margin forecasts, saying demand for solar panels is strong after a tumultuous first half of the year.

Wall Street investors may look past an advertising rebound and a strong box office for Walt Disney Co and instead zero in on the outlook for its sprawling theme park unit as economic uncertainty grips consumers.

Saab's parent is in "real and substantive" talks with potential investors, the automaker's North American president said on Tuesday.

Caesars Entertainment, the world's largest casino operator by revenue, reported a narrower second-quarter loss after cutting costs.

In another victory for Apple's legal team, courts in Germany ruled against rival Samsung Electronics, barring it from selling its competing tablet computer in most of the European Union.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) beat earnings and revenue expectations on Tuesday, behind strong numbers in its ESPN and theme park properties.

Makers of Post Food cereals, Ralcorp Holdings has forged a $545 million deal with Sara Lee for its North American refrigerated dough business that includes private label toaster pastries, specialty biscuits, crescent rolls, pizza and pie crusts in the retail segment. The sale formalities and closure is expected by 2012.

U.S. firm, AgriSol Energy LLC, and its joint venture partner in Tanzania will invest more than $100 million over the next 10 years to develop a large-scale commercial farming project in the east African country, a company director said on Tuesday.

Sudan has granted its main ally and oil buyer China more oil exploration rights as both countries seek to boost ties, Sudan's foreign minister said.

America is on the fritz.

For plenty of financial advisers -- who also serve as quasi-therapists, spiritual gurus and confidantes -- Monday was bad.

China's Premier Wen Jiabao urged nations to work together to stabilize turbulent financial markets on Tuesday as global stocks swooned on fears the world economy is headed for a downturn.

All eyes are on Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) ahead of Tuesday's opening bell after the banking giant suffered a 20 percent loss on Monday's trading.

Shares of Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE:S), which fell 16 percent Monday, could fall further given its uncertain EBITDA, high debt leverage and lack of free cash flow.

Stock index futures rose on Tuesday, indicating a partial rebound from the previous session's nosedive, as investors looked to a Federal Reserve statement for clues on how it may combat the growing perception the nation was headed for recession.

McDonald's Corp reported a better-than-expected 5.1 percent rise in global July sales at established restaurants on Monday, as it takes share from rivals with low-priced food and new drinks.

New legislation for the reverse mortgage industry would enshrine in law many standards already applied by the industry body.

Investors fled stocks on Monday in the first session since Standard & Poor's cut the AAA credit rating of the United States, adding to worry about the economic outlook and Washington's ability to meet the challenges.

U.S. stocks plummeted for the second straight session, driving the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq down 6 percent on Monday in the first session since Standard & Poor's cut the nation's perfect AAA credit rating.

Texas billionaire Charles Wyly, a co-founder of Michaels, a chain of arts-and-crafts stores that was sold in 2006, was killed in a car crash near Aspen, Colo., over the weekend, police said Monday.

As the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 500 points on Monday, banking giant Bank of America saw its share price get hammered.