COMPANIES

The United States may have hit a bump on the road to economic recovery, according to data released on Wednesday, with half a million private sector jobs lost in May and mortgage applications falling last week in the face of rising interest rates.

Saks Inc shareholders voted on Wednesday to call on the struggling upscale retailer to put directors up for election annually, eliminating a staggered board with three-year terms, in a move to make the board more accountable.

Biogen Idec Inc officials called a three-hour recess in their annual meeting on Wednesday, a move activist investor Carl Icahn blasted as an effort to hijack the shareholder voting.

Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, but said it would not give earnings outlook due to several uncertainties related to its business.

Anglo-French property company Hammerson has sold its Les Trois Quartiers office and retail property in Paris to private equity real estate investor MGPA for 210 million euros ($300 million), both parties said on Wednesday.

General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC, both bankrupt, will try on Wednesday to ease congressional concern, and in some cases anger, over their plans to slash more than 2,400 dealerships.

Singapore state investor Temasek sold its stake in British bank Barclays Plc several months ago at a big loss, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Russia's market regulator has sketched out new regulations on stock floats which would effectively limit initial public offerings on foreign markets to 5 percent of the company, a draft order on the new rules showed.

Dutch utility Essent scrapped the sale of its waste-management unit, blaming low prices and other problems with bids for the failure of an auction that had once aimed to raise a billion euros or more.

Specialty food maker Premium Brands Income Fund said it signed a deal with Thallion Pharmaceuticals Inc to convert its company structure to a dividend-paying corporation from a trust.

Wall Street and European banks have long sat atop the rankings for arranging initial public offerings across Asia.

Canadian auto supplier Magna International aims to close a deal with General Motors over its Opel unit in September, Magna's co-Chief Executive Siegfried Wolf said Wednesday.

Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, but said it would not give earnings outlook due to several uncertainties related to its business.

(Corrects both headline and paragraph one to say quarterly loss was wider than market expectations, not narrower.)

U.S. car sales fell again in May, dropping 34% to 925,824 vehicles, but showed some signs of stabilization as Ford, General Motors and Toyota reported their highest monthly totals this year.

Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc posted a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss, but said it would not give earnings outlook due to several uncertainties related to its business.

A U.S. Court of Appeals agreed on Tuesday to hear a challenge to Chrysler LLC's sale of most of its assets to a group led by Italian automaker Fiat , in a move that could potentially delay the deal.

General Motors Corp said on Tuesday it reached a tentative deal to sell its Hummer brand to a privately held Chinese heavy machinery maker, part of an effort to drop four unprofitable vehicle lines and leave bankruptcy as a leaner company.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc employees could be shouting the retailer's corporate cheer with renewed vigor at this year's annual meeting.

Two months ago President Obama stood with other Group of 20 nations' leaders in London and pledged not to introduce protectionist measures in the global economic crisis.

A brief veil of anonymity has been lifted for the likely new owner of General Motors Corp’s Hummer brand. The American automaker and China-based Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., Ltd announced Tuesday they have reached a preliminary agreement that will retain the brand’s current management, operational team and U.S. headquarters.

U.S. auto sales fell nearly 34 percent in May from a year earlier, but aggressive discounting helped steady results for the battered industry, according to monthly results released on Tuesday.

A chip maker and memory, storage provider Micron Technology has reached an agreement with Riverwood Capital and TPG Capital to sell a majority interest in its imaging solutions Aptina Imaging Corporation.

MillerCoors, the second-largest brewer in the United States, sees beer sales growth slowing less rapidly in the downturn than wine and spirits and as the beermaker focuses on premium light and craft beers.

General Motors Corp said on Tuesday it reached a tentative deal to sell its Hummer brand to a privately held Chinese company, part of an effort to drop four unprofitable vehicle lines and leave bankruptcy as a leaner company.

U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday will open a debate that has stymied them for at least a decade: the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the giant housing finance agencies nearly felled by the credit crisis.

The number of customers who don’t buy personal computers directly from PC makers will continuously increase over the next four years, forcing manufacturers to do a better job of customer segmentation and go-to-market strategies, research firm Gartner Inc. said on Tuesday.

U.S. auto sales fell nearly 34 percent in May from a year earlier, but aggressive discounting helped steady results for the battered industry, according to monthly results released on Tuesday.

General Motors filed the largest bankruptcy of any industrial company in US history this Monday, and alongside it, unveiled plans to close more dealerships, factories, and support services across the nation.