UNITED STATES

Hewlett-Packard is expected to launch two Palm Web OS-based Tablets today at a company event in San Francisco.

American International Group will take a fourth-quarter charge of $4.1 billion for raising its loss reserves, the insurer said on Wednesday.

Dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez said on Tuesday the Cuban government apparently has unblocked access to her blog, which had been off limits on the island's Internet since 2008.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-OH said on Tuesday that he should be a member of the Tea Party, the activist movement pursuing big cuts in government spending.

U.S. job openings slipped in December, a government report showed on Tuesday, but a decline in layoffs supported views of a gradual labor market recovery. Job openings, a measure of labor demand, eased 139,000 to a seasonally adjusted 3.1 million, the Labor Department said in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.

Coca-Cola Co reported higher-than-expected quarterly sales, as it gained market share and also saw growth in each of its major markets for the first time in years.

President Barack Obama will propose giving financial relief to U.S. states struggling with high unemployment insurance debt, the White House said on Tuesday, hoping that a lifeline now will avoid bailouts later.

U.S. stocks opened modestly lower on Wednesday as investors await comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on the economic outlook and monetary policy.

Gold rose back towards yesterday's 3-week peaks in London on Wednesday, pushing higher against all major currencies as world stock markets slipped.

Though the official version, and most of the media, paints a rosy picture, the reality on the ground is vastly different, with people finding it ever harder to find jobs, according to many observers. Some even say the BLS unemployment figures are an eyewash.

Gold held close to the previous session's near three-week high in Europe on Wednesday, supported by an increased focus on inflation after China's second interest rate hike in six weeks.

Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its Revo MRI pacemaker - the first such device in the U.S. designed for safe use during certain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exams.

U.S. stock index futures fell on Wednesday a day after the Dow posted its seventh consecutive advance in the year's lowest overall volume, possibly signaling the rally could be wilting.

Coca-Cola Co reported higher-than-expected quarterly sales, helped by its third straight quarter of sales growth in North America.

Nissan Motor Co's <7201.T> quarterly profit fell 15 percent on a stronger yen and sliding Japanese demand, but the decline was the slimmest among local automakers and it lifted its outlook on growing overseas sales.

The U.S. home loan demand fell sharply in the week ended Feb. 4, as the mortgage rates continue to rise from their lowest levels amid growing confidence on the economic conditions of the nation, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said on Wednesday.

RBC Capital Markets said banks with strongest capital and increased profitability are expected to get green light on dividends. The Federal Reserve is expected to approve dividend increases.

Toyota vehicles didn't have any electronic flaws that were earlier blamed to have caused sudden acceleration in its vehicles, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Wall Street was set for a slight fall on Wednesday, after a strong run that has taken share prices to their highest levels in more than two and a half years, and with investors awaiting the latest batch of earnings in a reporting season in which most companies have beaten forecasts.

LG, Sony are indulging in patent wars over PS3

Overcoming the blues of recession, US companies’ spend on business travel in 2010 increased by 5.3 percent for an average of $96,851, and is expected to advance by 5 percent in 2011.