Bear Stearns Cos Inc shares jumped 4 percent on Wednesday on rumors the investment bank, which has faced hedge fund losses and asset write-downs, is close to selling a minority stake to another financial institution, traders said.
General Motors Corp's quick settlement with its major union allows the softening U.S. economy to sidestep another blow and sets the stage for similar deals that could boost domestic automakers, analysts and investors said on Wednesday.
Standard & Poor's, under fire for its role in the U.S. housing market meltdown, is taking steps to ensure its ratings are sound and is reviewing its rated transactions more frequently, the credit rating agency told a Senate panel on Wednesday.
French-Dutch airline Air France KLM is planning to team up with two Spanish firms to bid for Spain's Iberia against a group led by private equity group TPG, Expansion newspaper said on Wednesday.
The European Union said on Wednesday U.S. subsidies for Boeing Co. had caused Airbus billions of dollars of damage in recent years and described the U.S. response to the charges as weak.
Bank of America Corp said it will lay off about 2,500 workers in Illinois and 1,500 in Michigan over the next two years in connection with its $21 billion purchase of LaSalle Bank Corp from Dutch bank ABN AMRO Holding NV.
Russia unveiled its first all-new airliner since the fall of the Soviet Union on Wednesday, hoping to curb dependence on oil and gas exports and restore pride in its teetering aviation industry.
Nasdaq and Borse Dubai, aiming to muscle out potential rival bidders, boosted an offer for OMX to $4.9 billion on Wednesday and pushed close to a majority stake in the Nordic exchange group.
Stock futures rose on Wednesday as news of a tentative deal ending a strike at General Motors Corp raised hopes that Detroit's automakers would soon slash their health-care costs.
The United Auto Workers union and General Motors Corp reached a tentative contract on Wednesday to end a national strike by 73,000 workers with a deal that includes a groundbreaking health-care trust fund. Production will resume on Wednesday, ending the first national UAW strike against GM since 1970 after two days.
India's Unichem Laboratories is in talks with a few Brazilian drug firms for a $20-25 million acquisition, after it failed to seal a takeover deal there, a top official said, forecasting a faster revenue growth for FY08.
Armed with pruning clippers, a worker in a white lab coat snips a plastic Hello Kitty play set into lentil-sized bits that will be bathed in chemicals simulating gastric acid.
Negotiators for the United Auto Workers union and General Motors Corp have resumed bargaining on Tuesday while more than 73,000 factory workers participated in the second day of the first national strike against the automaker in more than 30 years.
Satellite television operator EchoStar Communications Corp said it may spin off its technology assets and announced plans to buy Sling Media, the maker of a device that relays TV programs to laptops and cell phones.
Hedge fund Appaloosa Management LP said in a U.S. regulatory filing on Tuesday that its offer for bankrupt auto parts supplier Dana Corp could be conditioned on there not being a strike at any of the major U.S. automakers.
Royal Bank of Scotland Plc said on Tuesday it will establish a new global banking centre in Amsterdam if its joint bid for Dutch bank ABN AMRO is successful.
Britain's government has appointed U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs to advise it on Northern Rock, a source close to the Treasury said, as the stricken bank told politicians its business was sound.
Shares in China Construction Bank (CCB) closed 32 percent higher on their Shanghai debut on Tuesday, beating other big Chinese lenders' first-day gains and boosting hopes for future large Shanghai share offers.
The London Stock Exchange said in a trading statement on Tuesday it would report very strong first-half results and was very close to completing its merger with Borsa Italiana.
Austrian oil and gas group OMV upped the ante in its battle to take over Hungary's MOL on Tuesday, telling MOL shareholders it would pay $20 billion if they overruled board opposition.
Home builder Lennar Corp posted a quarterly loss on Tuesday weighed down by charges and write-offs in a deteriorating housing market, and said it will cut more jobs in the fourth quarter.
Nationstar Mortgage, the subprime unit of Fortress Investment Group LLC, said it is no longer accepting new loan applications from brokers, a signal the lender is winding down operations.
Singapore lender DBS Group's chief executive resigned on Monday, after a run of bad news battered the company's share price, leaving an unfulfilled quest to make the bank a big Asian player.
The head of Wal-Mart Store Inc's India operations said on Monday that the retailer is confronting issues securing real estate and talent, but it remains reasonably confident it can open its first cash-and-carry store in the country by the end of 2008.
Investors cashed out of China Eastern Airlines on Monday, sparking a 10.5 percent drop in its shares as hopes waned that Cathay Pacific Airways would unveil an alliance with Air China to buy part of the Shanghai-based carrier.
Countrywide Financial Corp, the largest U.S. mortgage lender, said on Monday it expects to modify terms on nearly 25,000 home loans this year to help people avoid foreclosures.
Harman International Industries Inc, whose $8 billion sale fell apart last week, warned on Monday that quarterly profit would be less than half what Wall Street expected, sending its shares down as much as 8 percent.
More than 73,000 General Motors Corp workers walked off the job on Monday after marathon contract talks between the United Auto Workers union and GM stalled and the union called the first national strike since 1970 against the top U.S. automaker.
An advocacy group for low-income housing on Monday accused Morgan Stanley of discriminating against minority borrowers seeking mortgages.
Abu Dhabi National Energy Co will buy Canada's Primewest Energy Trust for C$5 billion in cash, Primewest said on Monday, as the state-controlled firm makes good on plans to turn its new Canadian unit into a major oil producer.
