COMPANIES

Billionaire hedge fund investor John Paulson and other investors are bidding on land they will sell to lot-strapped homebuilders even as the housing market remains uncertain, according to sources familiar with the matter.

U.S. mortgage rates rose for the first time in three weeks, leaping above 5 percent, a key level that could suppress demand for home loans, a closely watched mortgage survey showed on Thursday.

Freddie Mac, the second-largest U.S. home funding company, said on Friday its mortgage investment portfolio shrank in January, while delinquencies on loans it guarantees accelerated.

Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 rise 0.1 to 0.3 percent, pointing to a rise on Wall Street on Friday.

General Motors has approached previous potential bidders for its Hummer unit after a deal to sell the brand to an obscure Chinese firm collapsed.

Toyota Motor President Akio Toyoda has ordered the creation of a temporary task force to improve internal and external communication.

Palm, the struggling mobile device maker, lowered its guidance for revenues on Thursday, citing slower than expected consumer adoption.

General Motors Co is considering two offers for its Hummer brand after plans to sell it to China's Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery failed

Coca-Cola Co will take over the North American operations of its top bottler, Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc, in a strategic reversal that would level the field after a similar deal by PepsiCo.

Deere & Co has retained Goldman Sachs Group Inc to help review options for its $1 billion wind energy portfolio, including a possible sale.

Auto finance company GMAC has largely been stabilized, but an initial public stock offering that will reduce the taxpayers' stake is probably at least a year away.

JPMorgan Chase & Co is in talks to buy a stake in Brazilian hedge fund and private equity firm Gavea.

Toyota North America President Yoshimi Inaba and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will testify before a Senate committee next week.

Cablevision Systems Corp reported a fourth-quarter profit on Thursday as it added more Internet and phone subscribers than expected.

Cablevision Systems Corp reported lower-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday as its investments lost money and video subscribers defected to competitors.

Coca-Cola Co plans to buy the North American operations of its largest bottler, Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc, in a substantially cashless deal.

Anxious Toyota workers in the automaker's hometown rallied behind their president after he faced a grilling from U.S. lawmakers over the company's safety problems, but many fear the crisis is far from over.

The parent company of Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd said on Thursday it plans to buy Chinese special vehicle maker Zhejiang Zhongyu Automobile Co as it moves to expand its product portfolio.

Honda Motor Co on Thursday launched the sporty CR-Z model, its second in a line of low-cost hybrid cars aimed at meeting stricter environmental regulations and expanding sales in the tough global car market.

After agreeing to pump in 3.5 billion euros ($4.7 billion) to save the troubled Airbus A400M military plane project, the buyer nations have postponed a final deal.

Start-up Bloom Energy unveiled a new fuel cell technology that can power buildings, positioning the energy generators as an alternative to the electricity grid.

SolarWorld disappointed markets by giving a weak outlook as the sector's crisis finally hit the giant long believed to be invulnerable.

A mortgage banking group on Wednesday said it proposed to top U.S. officials a new plan offering forbearance to unemployed homeowners and asked the Treasury for credit to support the plan.

Continental Resources Inc posted a a fourth-quarter profit that beat market estimates by a penny due to lower expenses.

Diversified U.S. manufacturer SPX Corp expects profit to fall sharply in the first quarter, weighed down by weak demand for power transformers.

Telecom Italia postponed the Thursday release of its 2009 results amid a probe into an alleged 2 billion euro ($2.7 billion) money-laundering operation involving its Sparkle unit and broadband group Fastweb .

Akio Toyoda stood tearful under a giant display bearing the name of the company his legendary grandfather founded.

Nissan Motor Co will recall 76,415 cars across 10 models in Japan due to a possible defect that may cause engine failure, a filing with the transport ministry showed.

Toyota Motor Corp's president apologized to U.S. lawmakers and ended the day in tears, marking a potential climax to his company's safety crisis.