COMPANIES

Sears is joining the battle to win book sales, saying on Tuesday that it will give shoppers a credit toward a future purchase if they buy select books on its website or those of Target Corp, Amazon.com and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management is in advanced preparations to take rifle and ammunition maker Freedom Group Inc public, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Regulators approved the 359 million euro purchase of BP Plc's Greek ground fuel network by Hellenic Petroleum, with minor conditions attached.

U.S. automaker Ford Motor Co may beat consensus estimates in the third quarter, an analyst at Barclays said, while raising his outlook for the quarter and upgrading the stock to equal weight from underweight.

A government-appointed task force crafting a revival plan for Japan Airlines cut its debt relief request to 250 billion yen ($2.8 billion) from 300 billion, but creditors still rejected the plan, two sources said.

Coca-Cola Co reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue, hurt by declines across all its businesses, and said a weak economy would keep consumers under pressure next year, sending shares down 2.4 percent.

Asset manager Invesco Ltd said quarterly profit fell 20 percent as investment management fees declined, but its shares rose on news of a deal to buy the mutual fund business of Morgan Stanley.

Biogen Idec Inc reported third-quarter earnings on Tuesday that topped expectations, but data related to its controversial multiple sclerosis drug was mixed and its shares fell 1.5 percent.

Caterpillar Inc reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings on Tuesday and raised its full-year forecast, hailing what it said were growing signs of a global economic rebound and sending its shares up more than 4 percent.

Russia's MTS would achieve synergies of more than $300 million if it fully consolidates Comstar, Sistema, the parent of both the companies, said in a presentation on Tuesday.

UAL Corp , parent of United Airlines, posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss on Tuesday, and its shares rose 4 percent.

Education provider Corinthian Colleges Inc said it agreed to acquire Heald Capital, the parent company of Heald Colleges, in a cash deal valued at about $395 million, including debt.

General Motors looked poised to sign over carmaker Opel to Canada's Magna as fears the EU might scupper the deal were dispelled, but Spanish workers planned strikes to protest looming cost cuts.

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is probing more than 100,000 doubtful claims of a tax credit meant for first-time home buyers, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Tuesday.

New construction of U.S. homes rose less than expected in September as ground-breaking activity for multi-family dwellings fell sharply, highlighting the economy's uneven recovery path.

More than half of U.S. companies are reducing bonuses, and nearly half are scaling back on raises in an effort to cut costs in a tough recession, according to research released Monday.

Foreman Danny Miranda remembers the days when the Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, ports were so jammed that ships waited in line to unload. Now the lingering recession has longshoremen waiting in line for work.

Some store chains are hedging a major bet they made this year by slashing inventories, sometimes as much as 25 percent, to make sure they do not get stuck with a glut of merchandise for a second consecutive year.

Coca-Cola Co reported a third-quarter profit that topped Wall Street estimates by a penny, helped by higher sales volume and cost cuts.

Volkswagen AG set out plans to raise as much as 10 billion euros ($14.9 billion) from shareholders, which analysts said would be enough to make fresh acquisitions as well as merge with Porsche.

French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen (PEUP.PA) expects output at its Slovak assembly plant to be slightly above 200,000 units this year, with similar volume in 2010, the outgoing chief executive of PSA's Slovak operations, Jean Mouro, said on Monday.

Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) said on Friday it plans to resume a second shift at its San Antonio, Texas plant in February for the first time since August 2008, adding production of Tundra full-size pickup trucks.

As a boost from state-sponsored schemes to help consumers replace old vehicles with newer ones tapers off, investors will be looking at the auto sector's longer-term prospects when European carmakers and suppliers post third-quarter results in the coming weeks.

General Motors Co's [GM.UL] bid to find an outsider to replace its chief financial officer is being complicated by pay restrictions imposed on companies that got big U.S. government bailouts, The Wall Street Journal said on Saturday.

The German trust set up to oversee Opel said it saw no reason to reopen the carmaker's sale despite EU concerns that Germany's promises of state aid had skewed the bidding process.

Electric cars will not be dramatically cleaner than autos powered by fossil fuels until they rely less on electricity produced from conventional coal-fired power plants, scientists said on Monday.

Payments on credit default swaps protecting the loans of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer will need to be made after the Hollywood studio failed to make a payment due on its loan on Sept. 30, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association said on Monday.

American International Group Inc, the insurer bailed out by the U.S. government, has extended $2 billion in credit to its aircraft leasing arm, allowing the lessor to meet debt obligations due last week, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.

Medical device company CareFusion Corp said on Monday it has begun shipping more than 3,900 ventilators to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for inclusion in its strategic national stockpile in preparation for the H1N1 swine flu pandemic.