COMPANIES

Chrysler LLC plans to shed 789 of its U.S. 3,200 dealerships, many located in the suburbs of major U.S. cities, it said in a bankruptcy court filing Thursday.

Wachovia Capital Markets upgraded Johnson Controls Inc to outperform, saying the auto parts maker was well positioned to generate strong earnings growth in 2010 and beyond.

Colombia's state oil company Ecopetrol said on Thursday it could seek up it $3.7 billion in debt this year, including issuing bonds on the international market, and is studying other types of credit.

Bahrain's central bank urged creditors of The International Banking Corporation to meet over debt restructuring, two days after S&P said TIBC had chosen not to pay back some of its debt and downgraded it.

The bidding war for software-maker SumTotal Systems Inc heated up with private-equity firm Vista Equity Partners sweetening its bid by 6 percent, trumping Accel-KKR's offer that SumTotal had agreed to.

Europe's pharmaceutical industry hit back at the European Commission on Thursday, saying a probe into lack of competition in the sector was exaggerated and misleading.

Ford Motor Co executives face stockholders on Thursday to detail the automaker's plans to complete a turnaround without resorting to U.S. government help and steer clear of the industry collapse now swallowing rivals General Motors Corp and Chrysler.

U.S. producer prices rose faster than expected in April, government data showed on Thursday, driven by a surge in food costs.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc reported a roughly flat quarterly profit on Thursday as its low prices attracted shoppers amid a global economic slowdown, but the retailer's results were limited by a stronger U.S. dollar.

British telecoms carrier BT cut its dividend and announced 15,000 further job losses on Thursday after a 1.58 billion pound ($2.4 billion) writedown tipped it into a quarterly loss and its pension costs almost doubled.

Britain's BT Group cut its dividend and said a further 15,000 jobs would go after a 1.58 billion pound ($2.4 billion) write down and restructuring at its Global Services unit drove it to a fourth quarter loss.

Motorola, Inc. announced today the signing of a one-year frame agreement with China Mobile Communications Corporation to provide mobile telecommunication equipment and services.

The European Union vindicated AMD with a fine on competitor Intel Corp. for antitrust violations Wednesday, but the ruling is not likely to change Intel’s dominant position in the microprocessor industry.

Apple has release a patch for its safari 3.2.3 to cover trio of flaws in the Safari Web browser as well as new beta safari 4.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on Wednesday said its world demand in oil will continue to shrink in the current global economic recessions inline with its rising prices in oil demand and outputs cuts of 2.6 percent from the International Monetary Fund.

The pending sale of Verizon Communications landlines to Frontier Communications Corp. has raised serious concerns from their respective unions.

The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved legislation to require radio station owners to pay new fees to the recording industry to play music on the air.

General Motors Corp and Chrysler aim to drop as many as 3,000 U.S. dealers and are expected to begin sending notifications as early as Thursday, three people briefed on the still developing plans said.

General Motors Corp and Chrysler plan to shed as many as 3,000 U.S. dealers, Reuters reported.

Honda Motor Co (7267.T) is taking steps to raise output in Japan in preparation for a likely uptick in demand if a bill to offer consumers cash to replace old cars becomes law, its chief financial officer said on Wednesday.

Fiat (FIA.MI) is discussing closing one of its plants in Italy and reducing operations at another, German unions have told their Italian counterparts, an official of Italy's FIM-CISL union told Reuters on Wednesday.

Auto dealers lobbied Congress on Wednesday to try to slow plans by General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC to cut their ranks.

With General Motors Corp planning to end production of Saturns and Pontiacs at its Delaware plant which employs more than 1,000 people, state leaders are scrambling to win new work at the facility or persuade the company to move other operations to the region.

U.S. mortgage application demand slid to the lowest level since mid-March, driven by a drop in requests to refinance loans even as borrowing costs dipped toward record lows last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.

Frontier Communications Inc has agreed to buy 4.8 million access lines from Verizon Communications Inc for $5.25 billion in stock, in a deal that triples its size and makes it the largest U.S. communications provider serving rural areas.

Macy's Inc posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss on Wednesday as cost cuts eased the pain of declining sales at its department stores, and its shares rose 1.6 percent in premarket trade.

Macy's Inc posted a wider quarterly loss on Wednesday, hurt by a persisting decline in sales as shoppers at its department stores shunned unnecessary items in the recession.

Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday as consumers drank up its value-priced soft drinks, and the company raised its 2009 profit forecast, sending its shares up 5.9 percent in premarket trade.

Fashion company Liz Claiborne Inc reported a quarterly loss deeper than Wall Street expected as retail sales remained weak in the recession, and its shares fell nearly 12 percent in light premarket trading.