COMPANIES

Honda Aircraft Co. said Friday it will build a new manufacturing plant for its first-ever commercial jets and an adjoining headquarters facility in North Carolina.

Even as Harry Potter author JK Rowling proclaims that saying goodbye to Harry Potter was as hard as she always thought it would be, retailers are preparing to give the boy wizard a record setting send off.

The Beatles and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) ended their long standing trademark dispute, possibly paving the way for the band's music to appear on the Apple iTunes online music store.

General Motors Corp. won't budge from its strategy of reducing rebates and other incentives just because it saw a steep sales drop in January, a top executive said Saturday.GM's sales were off 16.6 percent compared with January 2006.

Viacom (NYSE: VIA) informed YouTube on Friday that over 100,000 unauthorized clips on its web site – representing 1.2 billion video streams – must be removed immediately from its site.

Just one day after the announcement that the seventh and last book in the Harry Potter series would be released July 21, Pottermania is raging once again, with e-retailer Amazon.com reporting record advance sales of the heavily discounted book.

The chief executives leading the world's two largest stock markets - the New York Stock Exchange and Tokyo Stock Exchange - shook hands high above the NYSE trading floor before the opening bell on Wednesday, after announcing that the groups will create an alliance that sets the stage for a possible merger or acquisition.

'Google' was the brand with the greatest impact around the world in 2006 for the second consecutive year, according to the results of a new survey.

News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) social networking site MySpace filed a lawsuit against the Spam King today, who the firm alleges flooded millions of its members with unsolicited messages.

Burger King is introducing one dollar items to its breakfast lineup, looking to compete in the morning market, which is quickly becoming a lucrative and crowded battle ground for fast-food restaurants.

German car manufacturer Mercedes Benz presented the latest version of its entry level compact-car luxury car on Thursday, touting new styling and safety features.

Parody publication The Onion Inc. announced that it is expanding its offline publications by opening a new bureau in the nation's capital today.

Coca-Cola Co. is ready to capitalize on the monster ratings expected for the sixth season of talent show phenomenon ‘American Idol,' which garnered 37.3 million viewers on Tuesday.

Rail transport company Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) has announced that it has begun testing an experimental technology that can reduce the amount of pollution from a train's diesel engine through a special chemical process.

Ikea, the world's leading home furnishing retailer, announced Wednesday that it will expand its presence into the Southeast region of the U.S., with plans to begin construction in North Carolina within months.

Dunkin' Brands Inc. opened its first Dunkin' Donuts store in Taiwan on Wednesday as part of the company's larger push to expand into China.

MTV's 24-hour college network, mtvU, a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B) has agreed to purchase the Internet's largest listing of college professor ratings, RateMyProfessors.com.

The parent company of the New York Stock exchange and three other financial institutions have agreed to purchase a combined stake of 20 percent in the National Stock Exchange of India, a move which contributes to a global trend of financial markets consolidation.

Delphi Corp. (OTC: DPHIQ) announced on Wednesday that NASA and the Michigan Research Institute (MRI) are expected to give a $1 million grant to the firm to promote the development of an advanced welding process that would be beneficial for making vehicles and spacecraft.

With the New Year sure to bring many weight loss resolutions, fast-casual restaurant Boston Market is launching a web marketing promotion to present its food offerings as healthy and affordable solutions for reducing excess belly fat.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) announced on Tuesday the sale of two gas fields off the coast of Louisiana to Exco Resources Inc. (NYSE: XCO) for $1.6 billion.

ajor record labesl sued Russian music web site AllofMp3.com on Wednesday claiming that the site was profiting illegally from their music.

Fed Ex Corp. (NYSE: FDX) reported Wednesday that its net profit rose in its second fiscal quarter for 2006 but fell short of Wall Street expectations.

The Metropolitan Opera launched ticket sales this week for a new series of live high-definition (HD) broadcasts into movie theatres.

As holiday shopping winds down, new research shows Toy shoppers are migrating more to Target stores than the main competition which includes Toys R Us and Wal-Mart.

Lowe's Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) on Friday announced the promotion of Larry D. Stone to be the next president and chief operating officer of the firm, effective immediately.

Black & Decker Co. (NYSE: BDK) on Friday announced that it had reduced its earnings outlook for the fourth quarter for fiscal 2006, attributing the change to weaker demand by key retailers.

CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS) on Friday said it is reintroducing CBS Records in an attempt to give its television producers lower production costs and to gain a share of the growing digital music market.

Burger King Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BKC) on Friday announced that it had signed an exclusive agreement with Burger King Japan Co. Ltd paving the way for the first store to be open in the first half of 2007.