COMPANIES

Japanese car maker Toyota Motor Corp is looking to launch a small car within two years, and the first production facility may be in India, its chairman said on Wednesday.

Tightening global credit markets have taken a toll on U.S. mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and it will take more than recent Federal Reserve measures to boost liquidity.

Surging growth in international travel is driving revenue increases at the foreign units of U.S. online travel agencies and has spurred heated competition for a bigger slice of the lucrative and expanding market.

H&R Block Inc said on Wednesday its Block Financial Corp. unit tapped working capital credit lines twice as a skittish market cuts off its access to short-term debt financing.

Online brokerages TD Ameritrade Holding Corp and E*Trade Financial Corp have been in serious merger discussions for weeks but are not close to a deal, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Shock losses at some of the world's biggest banks have left some people asking whether new global bank risk rules have failed their first test of fire.

Toll Brothers on Wednesday reported sharply lower quarterly profit amid tightening credit standards that the builder said would likely to shrink the number of potential home buyers.

Nasdaq Chief Executive Robert Greifeld said on Wednesday he was listening to OMX owners and repeated the U.S. exchange group was flexible on the terms of its offer for the Nordic firm.

Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co said on Wednesday it has stopped taking loan applications and will cut 1,600 jobs, citing turmoil in the subprime mortgage industry. Accredited said it will close substantially all of its retail lending business, consisting of 60 branches and five central support operations.

The site for one of Tesco Plc's first stores in the United States is a sun-scorched intersection in the sprawling Phoenix valley, opposite two pay-day loan firms and a gas station minimarket.

Toyota Motor Corp aims to sell around 10.4 million vehicles worldwide in 2009, up 18 percent from last year as it grabs market share in North America and taps growing demand in China and other emerging economies, business daily Nikkei reported on Wednesday.

Delta Air Lines Inc on Tuesday named board member and industry veteran Richard Anderson the airline's new chief executive.

Nestle SA, the world's largest food company, expects U.S. volume growth of its bottled water brands to improve in the next few months as comparisons with last year become easier, an executive said on Tuesday.

Ford Motor Co is considering exporting more North American-built vehicles to South America to meet growing demand, Dominic DiMarco, president of Ford's South American division, said on Tuesday.

A prolonged U.S. housing slump is causing a surge in the number of job losses announced by U.S. financial services companies, consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. said on Tuesday.

U.S. private equity fund Lone Star confirmed on Tuesday it was in exclusive negotiations with HSBC to sell its 51 percent stake in Korea Exchange Bank, with a market value of $4.8 billion.

A U.S.-based workers' rights group said it found brutal conditions and labor violations at eight Chinese plants that make toys for big multinationals, and called on the companies to take steps for better standards.

Nasdaq expects the sale of its London Stock Exchange stake to boost its stock price and enrich its bid for Nordic bourse operator OMX, target of a higher offer from Borse Dubai, Nasdaq CEO Robert Greifeld said on Tuesday.

The U.S. space shuttle Endeavour returned to its Florida home port on Tuesday, touching down safely at the Kennedy Space Center following a hectic but successful 13-day mission to the International Space Station.

Adams Respiratory Therapeutics Inc posted a quarterly loss, forecast its outlook for the year below Wall Street expectation and indicated that its key drug may face competition from a generic version.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Tuesday he was talking with housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac about policy options to ease strains in mortgage markets, including possible legislation that could expand their mortgage investment options.

Marsh Inc. the world's largest insurance broker and risk adviser, on Monday warned financial institutions they may face more claims as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil fraud charges on Monday against Sentinel Management Group Inc, the cash management firm serving the U.S. futures industry that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late on Friday.

Target Corp on Tuesday said its quarterly profit rose more than 12 percent, boosted by strong sales at stores open at least a year and returns from its credit-card business. The retailer also reiterated its full-year earnings outlook.

Dow Jones & Co Inc Vice President Paul Ingrassia said on Monday he plans to quit, making him the first top executive to leave since News Corp said it would buy The Wall Street Journal publisher.

Shareholders in OMX are weighing a $4 billion bid by Borse Dubai for the firm and waiting to see whether U.S. rival Nasdaq sweetens its $3.7 billion offer, Borse Dubai's head said on Tuesday.

Shares in Bayer rose on Tuesday on renewed market talk that Switzerland's Novartis was interested in the German drugs and chemicals group, traders said. There is the rumour again that Novartis is bidding for Bayer, one trader said without giving any further details.

Capital One Financial Corp on Monday said it will eliminate 1,900 jobs and shut down a wholesale mortgage unit it acquired less than a year ago, as it struggles with the U.S. housing downturn.

Countrywide Financial Corp, the largest U.S. mortgage lender, said it had eliminated about 500 jobs nationwide as it tries to cope with a credit shortfall stemming from the U.S. housing downturn.