MARKETS / FINANCE

Major technology companies seem to be launching multibillion-dollar acquisitions every other week, and those who don't join the race may be at risk of getting run over.

Two computer programmers designed codes to falsify thousands of fake trade blotters and phantom records for swindler Bernard Madoff and took hush money to help keep the massive fraud going, U.S. authorities said.

U.S. stocks rose on Friday, setting up a second straight week of gains, as upbeat retail news reinforced hopes for strong sales in the key holiday season.

U.S. stocks rose on Friday, setting up a second straight week of gains, as upbeat retail news reinforced hopes for strong sales in the key holiday season.

China's Huawei Technologies took the No. 2 position in the ailing mobile network gear market in the third quarter, almost doubling its market share from a year ago, and bypassing Nokia Siemens.

U.S. consumer sentiment fell in early November amid a grim outlook for future job prospects, although separate data showing rising imports in September raised some hopes of renewed U.S. economic growth.

The dollar fell across the board on Friday after unexpectedly weak trade deficit and consumer sentiment figures stoked worries about the outlook for a U.S. economic recovery. Gains in the U.S. stock market also helped boost risk appetite, pressuring the safe-haven greenback and lifting the euro and higher-yielding currencies such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars.

The U.S. imported slightly more than 1 million barrels of crude oil per day from Saudi Arabia during the first 8 months of 2009. Despite a decline of more than 33 percent compared to the same period in 2008, Saudi Arabia was still the third largest source of U.S. crude oil imports during the first 8 months of this year, according toEIA import data.

U.S. department store operator J.C. Penney Co Inc forecast earnings for the holiday quarter that could surpass Wall Street expectations, and its shares rose 7.2 percent on Friday.

Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam, accused in the biggest U.S. hedge fund insider trading case, has asked a federal court to unseal records of a 2001 criminal charge against former trader Roomy Khan, one of the government's cooperating witnesses.

U.S. stocks rose 1 percent on Friday as upbeat news from some retailers reinforced hopes of an uptick in consumer spending in the key holiday season, even as an early November gauge of consumer sentiment fell.

Hemisphere GPS, a manufacturer of global positioning systems products, posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss on weak demand in its key agriculture sector, sending its shares down a new 52-week low.

British Airways' pension fund deficit could yet scupper its planned merger with Spain's Iberia , as the UK airline still has to agree the size of the multi-billion pound shortfall with the fund's trustees.

- U.S. stocks rose on Friday, with the Dow industrials briefly rising more than 1 percent, as robust commentary from some retailers reinforced hopes of an uptick in consumer spending in the holiday season.

Hewlett-Packard Co's $3.1 billion play for 3Com Corp will help the technology giant expand its product portfolio amid rapid industry consolidation -- and few think HP is done shopping.

Two computer programmers provided technical support to falsify documents and trading records for swindler Bernard Madoff and took hush money to help keep the massive fraud going, U.S. authorities said.

JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Jamie Dimon called the idea that any bank is too big to fail ethically bankrupt and said regulators should have the power to wind down even the largest lenders.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is best equipped to supervise the largest, most complex firms, a top U.S. Treasury official said on Friday.

U.S. stocks rose on Friday as robust commentary from some retailers reinforced hopes of an uptick in consumer spending in the holiday season, even as an early November gauge of consumer confidence fell.

Liberty Global, the international cable operator controlled by John Malone, has agreed to buy Unitymedia from a private equity group for $3 billion in its first German acquisition.

U.S. consumer sentiment fell in early November amid a grim outlook for future job prospects, although separate data showing rising imports in September raised some hopes of renewed U.S. economic growth.

Shares of discount retailer Dollar General Corp rose in their debut on the New York Stock Exchange, opening at $22, or 4.8 percent above Thursday's initial public offering price of $21.

The head of the International Monetary Fund said on Friday the pace of the recovery in the U.S. economy remains sluggish but he does not believe there will be a double-dip recession.

U.S. stocks edged up on Friday as solid earnings from Walt Disney Co and JC Penney Co Inc offset weaker-than-expected consumer sentiment data.

U.S. stocks edged up on Friday as solid earnings from Walt Disney Co and JC Penney Co Inc offset weaker-than-expected consumer sentiment data.

The U.S. trade deficit widened in September by an unexpectedly large 18.2 percent, the largest increase in more than 10 years, as oil prices rose for the seventh straight month and imports from China bounded higher.

JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Jamie Dimon called the idea that any bank is too big to fail ethically bankrupt and said regulators should have the power to wind down even the largest lenders.

U.S. consumer sentiment fell in early November to the weakest in three months amid grim expectations for job and income prospects, a survey showed on Friday.