COMPANIES

Target Corp said on Thursday that its board of directors agreed to declassify its structure, in a move that would make directors stand for reelection each year.

Shares of U.S. health insurers climbed on Thursday as analysts said President Barack Obama's highly anticipated speech urging Congress to act on health reform revealed no game changers.

The U.S. commercial paper market expanded for a fourth straight week for the first time since December, adding to signs of an economic rebound as the global financial crisis continued to abate, Federal Reserve data showed on Thursday.

General Motors Co on Thursday announced it was selling a 55 percent stake in Opel to Magna and Sberbank.

Funeral services company Stewart Enterprises Inc's third-quarter profit fell short of market estimates as expense reductions only partially offset a decrease in cemetery property sales and fewer deaths in its markets.

American Electric Power Co Inc planned to shut the 528-megawatt Unit 2 at the Welsh coal-fired power station in Texas on Sept. 10-14 to work on auxiliary equipment, the company told Texas regulators in a report.

General Motors has told Germany it wants to sell its European subsidiary Opel to Canadian auto parts group Magna, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday.

Daiwa Securities Group said it would pay about $2.2 billion to buy out Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group from their investment banking joint venture, leaving Daiwa vulnerable amid intensifying competition for deals in Japan.

France's Carrefour launched its second Russian store on Thursday with a pledge to pursue acquisitions in the country, and said the crisis had not changed its long-term vision of the market.

Japanese brewer Suntory Holdings, seeking overseas growth as Japan's population ages, is in talks to buy soft-drinks maker Orangina for at least the $2.6 billion that private equity firms including Blackstone paid for the company just three years ago.

U.S. mortgage foreclosure filings in August hovered near July's record high despite broad efforts to keep borrowers in their homes and will probably rise for another year, according to a report released on Thursday.

General Motors is prepared to sell its European carmaker Opel to Canada's Magna, two people familiar with the negotiations told Reuters on Thursday.

General Motors was set to end months of suspense over the fate of its Opel unit on Thursday and announce whether it plans to sell the European carmaker to one of two rival bidders.

General Motors was set to end months of suspense over the fate of its Opel unit on Thursday and announce whether it plans to sell the European carmaker to one of two rival bidders.

The Opel trustees are set to make a decision on Thursday about the future of General Motors' European business should GM decide to sell it to an investor, a source close to the matter told Reuters.

The price of gold could rise as high as $1,600 an ounce as investors opt for assets with lasting value rather than volatile currencies, says one hedge fund manager who has increased his exposure to the precious metal.

After driving his BMW 5 series model for just three years, Chinese futures trader Jerry Lin traded in his car for an Audi A6.

Home Retail Group, Britain's biggest household goods retailer, on Thursday posted better-than-expected second-quarter sales at both its Argos and Homebase businesses.

Meat-packaging firm Hilton Food Group Plc posted a 7 percent rise in first-half pretax profit, aided by strong volume growth and positive impact from foreign currency translation, and said it expected to meet its forecasts for financial year 2009.

Six companies are scheduled to price and begin trading the week of Sept. 21, which could become the busiest for U.S. initial public offerings since December 2007.

North American companies are flocking to sell shares this week, signaling to some investors the U.S. stock market may be close to sputtering after a long rally.

Japanese brewer Suntory Holdings is in talks to buy soft drinks maker Orangina from private equity funds Blackstone Group and Lion Capital, as it pushes for growth outside a shrinking beer market at home.

Privately owned Swiss company Evolva is taking over troubled fellow-biotech firm Arpida, the two companies announced on Thursday.

Britain's Wm Morrison Supermarkets met forecasts with a 22 percent rise in first-half profit and boosted its dividend, even as it forecast second-half growth would slow as food price inflation eases.

U.S. private equity firm Blackstone is in talks to buy a 63 percent stake in an Indian agro-chemicals and veterinary drugs maker for about 6.3 billion rupees ($130 million), the Economic Times reported on Thursday, citing an unnamed person with knowledge of the matter.

U.S. oil firm Chevron has agreed to sell nearly 3 million tonnes a year of liquefied natural gas from its Gorgon project in Australia, paving the way for a final investment decision in coming weeks.

General Motors Co shook up its management and dispatched a negotiator on the sale of its Opel unit to Berlin after a watershed two-day board meeting under the direction of Chairman Ed Whitacre, people familiar with the proceedings said.

China's next iron ore pricing negotiation is now in jeopardy after Rio Tinto suspended this year's talks with Chinese steel mills without agreement just two months before the 2010 round was due to begin.

Men's Wearhouse reported a quarterly profit that beat market estimates, helped by lower expenses, but forecast weak third-quarter earnings.