COMPANIES

The bankrupt publisher of Reader's Digest won court approval on Tuesday to access some of the $150 million in funding it has lined up to continue operating while it reorganizes.

Forsys Metals Corp said on Tuesday it has terminated its agreed C$579 million ($504 million) takeover by holding company George Forrest International Afrique (GFI) after the buyer failed to transfer funds to complete the deal.

Private equity firm TPG has hired three banks to lead manage an IPO of Australia's top department store Myer Group, sources with direct knowledge told Reuters on Tuesday, valuing Myer at about $2.1 billion. The IPO, the biggest initial public offer on the Australian stock exchange since the credit crisis took hold two years ago, underscores a return of confidence in the market and heralds a wave of new listings.

Germany believes the management of General Motors Co is still committed to finding a buyer for its European unit Opel, government officials said on Tuesday after talks with the U.S. automaker in Berlin.

U.S. mortgage-backed securities risk premiums are about a half-percentage point below where they would be if it were not for massive buying from the Federal Reserve, Amherst Securities said on Tuesday.

U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as economic data and the renomination of Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke reassured investors and offset concerns about red ink in the federal budget.

Toronto's main stock index finished the session higher on Tuesday on strength in financial shares after Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) kicked off quarterly earnings results for Canada's big banks with a surprisingly strong performance.

In late August's quiet trading, four troubled financial companies have accounted for a big piece of total volume on the New York Stock Exchange, in what one analyst referred to as a dash for trash.

New Zealand tourism operator Tourism Holdings Ltd. (THL.NZ) reported a 80 percent fall in full year profit on Wednesday as the global recession hit the tourist industry.

Brazilian iron ore miner Vale is not in talks with Chinese steelmakers on 2009 benchmark prices and will likely keep offering provisional prices on ore shipments, Chief Executive Roger Agnelli said on Tuesday.

More than half the employers in a new poll say they plan to hire full-time employees in the next 12 months, according to research released on Tuesday that could spell relief for unemployed U.S. workers.

A common gene variation explains why many people are not helped by the widely prescribed blood thinner Plavix, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday in a study confirming earlier research and paving the way for tests to screen patients before they get the drug.

Hip fracture rates have declined among the elderly for a variety of reasons, but the disabling injury is still a major health threat as populations age, Canadian researchers said on Tuesday.

Chile's peso closed weaker against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, dragged down by profit-taking, while stocks opened higher on rising global bourses, traders said.

The head of China Mobile, the largest mobile carrier in the world, has seen part of the firm's future growth in the e-reader market.

A unit of Seiko Epson Corp (6724.T) agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiring to fix prices for liquid crystal screens sold to mobile phone maker Motorola Inc (MOT.N), the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday.

U.S. copper futures ended down on Tuesday as a bout of investor profit-taking dragged prices lower despite a double dose of economic data that provided further evidence the world's largest economy was emerging from recession.

Toyota Motor Corp , the world's biggest automaker, will cut its global production capacity by 10 percent, or 1 million vehicles, the Nikkei business daily reported.

Many Americans have been getting a break on their electricity bills during the recession, but they should not expect the relief to last long as power demand recovers and climate regulations loom.

The new board of General Motors Co [GM.UL] has emerged as a key player in the outcome of the automaker's long-running talks to sell off its Opel unit.

Drug maker Pfizer's Venezuelan unit paid 36.59 million bolivars ($17 million) in back taxes after auditors questioned its transfer pricing methodology, Venezuela's tax service said in a statement on Tuesday.

Creditors to collapsed British investment firm Keydata Investment Services have formed a committee to advise on the administration process, administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said on Tuesday.

President Nicolas Sarkozy unveiled new rules for French banks to limit traders' bonuses on Tuesday and said he would fight to persuade other G20 leaders to adopt the same position.

U.S. regulators are set to buttress their defenses this week against a slew of sick banks still facing closure and the risks to the dwindling fund that protects depositors.

South Africa's MTN Group said half-year adjusted headline earnings per share could fall by between 8.6 and 13.6 percent for the six months to the end of June, worse than market forecasts, it said on Tuesday.

Egypt's Orascom Telecom on Tuesday posted second quarter net profit up 38 percent at $111.8 million, the lower end of forecasts, and said it saw only timid signals of economic recovery in its markets.

Canada's Absolute Software Corp posted a fourth-quarter profit helped by a large tax gain.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised on Tuesday to fight for tougher controls on bankers' bonuses at a meeting of the Group of 20 leaders next month.

China Mobile has reached a deal with Taiwan-based High Tech Computer (HTC) to jointly develop 3G smartphones based on TD-SCDMA 3G technology and TD-LTE, a 4G mobile broadband technology based network, in China, executives said Monday.