COMPANIES

California and Florida are driving losses in Bank of America's global-consumer and small business banking segment, said the president of the unit on Tuesday.

Abbott Laboratories said its medical trial shows that its Xience Eluting coronary stent system delivers clinically superior benefits for patients compared to the Taxus paclitaxel-eluting coronary stent system from Boston Scientific Corp.

European aircraft manufacturer Airbus on Tuesday admitted further delays in the delivery of its A380 super-jumbo jet, saying that the projected production timetable needs more time and resources to produce the world's largest passenger aircraft.

Wal-Mart Stores reported a profit and revenue which matched analysts estimates, however its shares fell as the company anticipates possible flat sales in the coming quarter. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc said profit grew nearly 7 percent in its first quarter as sales grew 10 percent despite the slowdown in the U.S. economy.

Westpac Banking Corp entered into an agreement to buy the smaller St. George Bank Ltd for A$18.6 billion ($17.6 billion) in an all stock deal to create the largest Australian home lender and one of the biggest banks by market value.

The former chief executive and major stakeholder insurer in American International Group Inc Maurice Greenberg called on the company to delay this week's annual meeting.

Forest Laboratories Inc. ended its agreement with Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd to help promote Sankyo's pill Azor for blood-pressure, the companies said in a press release.

Toyota has delayed plans to begin production at a new auto assembly plant in Mississippi after considering the slowing U.S. economy, a senior Toyota executive said on Monday.

India's biggest drug manufacturer Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. and Merck & Co. agree to develop new anti-infective products, the companies reported in a statement on Monday.

Shares of Pipex Pharmaceuticals Inc., developer of neurologic and autoimmune diseases treatments, jumped on Monday as it announced it has obtained an orphan drug designation for one of its drugs to cure a deadly pulmonary disease.

XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. reported a wider first-quarter loss on Monday in spite of adding more subscribers.

Losses at phone carrier Sprint Nextel grew in the first quarter as the company lost over 1 million contract customers.

Shares of Clear Channel Communications Inc. surged as much as 18 percent on media reports of settlement talks with six banks on a proposal to finance the radio and media company's buyout by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital.

Tribune Co. sealed a deal to sell its Long Island newspaper Newsday to Cablevision Systems Corp. for $650 million, the companies said on Monday.

Virgin Mobile USA Inc and Helio LLC, companies that resell wireless services from SprintNextel Corp, are in advanced merger talks, people familiar with the situation told the Wall Street Journal.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. has withdrawn its bid to buy Tribune Co's Newsday newspaper, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Serious mental illnesses became not only a national problem, but costs the United States an estimated $193 billion yearly in lost earnings, according to a recent study examining the consequences of mental disorders.

Cisco Systems Inc., the world's biggest maker of networking equipment, said its data-center chief, Jayshree Ullal will leave the company.

Merrill Lynch & Co's head of structured finance and investments Michael Blum is leaving the company as the brokerage scales back its securitization business, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

From the poorest of Africa to the United States and big business, a breakneck rally that could take oil to $200 a barrel is likely to inflict pain on everyone.

Northwest Airlines Corp. said Friday it plans to raise round-trip ticket prices $20 to offset fuel prices, bringing the total surcharge on domestic fares to $65 each way.

Valero Energy Corp., the biggest U.S. refiner, fell on Friday after Goldman Sachs analysts took the company of their conviction buy list.

Activision Inc shares soared to an all-time high on Friday a day after the video game firm reported first quarter sales which far exceeded analysts' expectations.

French pharmaceutical Sanofi Aventis shares slumped near 6 percent on Friday after a generic company in Europe announced it was likely to gain approval for a generic version of Plavix in Germany and Luxembourg.

FedEx Corp. said Friday it will cut its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings forecast, citing a spike in fuel costs on soaring oil prices by at least $100 million more than estimated.

Chevron Corp. said that about 1,100 employees are eligible for severance payments at the end of the first quarter, after eliminating the positions as part of a restructuring and reorganization plan.

Clear Channel Communications Inc. on Friday released earnings for the media and entertainment company's first quarter and declined to provide an outlook due to the pending buyout deal.

Liberty Media Corp. appealed a court ruling that gave the go ahead to split up IAC/InterActive Corp.

Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian offered to buy 20 million of Ford Motor Company's shares, according to a securities filing.