MARKETS / FINANCE

U.S. property and casualty insurer Alleghany Corp said on Monday it would buy reinsurer Transatlantic Holdings Inc for $3.4 billion in cash and stock -- though a sharp drop in Alleghany shares meant a separate, hostile bid for Transatlantic was at least temporarily more valuable.

General Motors Co moved on Monday to speed up the restructuring of its money-losing Opel brand, naming its vice chairman and two other senior executives to lead the unit's board.

Wall Street bankers are used to vicious swings in fortunes - it is in their DNA. Make a killing in the good times, they say, because markets may turn against you tomorrow.

Retailers trying to woo shoppers with early deals and longer hours this week, and throughout the holiday season, could be putting their profits at risk as shoppers search for bargains and not much else.

U.S. stocks fell for a fourth session on Monday, as the lack of progress in dealing with heavy debt both in the United States and Europe further sapped investor confidence in equities.

U.S.-listed shares of Focus Media Holding Ltd plunged to multiyear lows on Monday after short-selling firm Muddy Waters accused the company of significant overstatement of the number of screens in its LCD network, among other charges.

EBay said it acquired the data analysis firm Hunch to help it develop more recommendation technology for its online marketplace.

The shares of Apple (AAPL), maker of the iPhone 4s, have pulled back to about $370. Does the pull-back represent a buying opportunity?

General Motors named its second highest-ranking executive as chairman of its struggling German unit Opel and named two further senior managers to its board, as the U.S. carmaker tries to steer its second biggest brand back to profitability.

U.S. retailers trying to woo shoppers with early deals and longer hours this week and throughout the holiday season could be putting their profits at risk as shoppers search for bargains and not much else.

U.S. existing home sales unexpectedly rose in October as low interest rates for mortgages and rising rents led more homebuyers into the market, the National Association of Realtors said on Monday.

U.S. retailers trying to woo shoppers with early deals and longer hours this week and throughout the holiday season could be putting their profits at risk as shoppers search for bargains and not much else.

Gilead Sciences Inc struck a deal to buy biotechnology company Pharmasset Inc for about $11 billion in a huge bet on the next generation of hepatitis C treatments.

Japan's Olympus Corp said on Monday that a third-party panel appointed by the company to look into an accounting scandal has, so far, found no evidence that funds from its M&A deals went to organized crime syndicates or that yakuza gangsters were involved.

U.S. stocks tumbled on Monday, with the Dow turning negative for the year, as concerns about heavy debt loads both in the United States and Europe heightened worry about recession and increased volatility.

Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. on Monday doubled the amount of gold it estimates is at its Back River project in Nunavut, Canada.

U.S. property and casualty insurer Alleghany Corp made a surprise entry into the battle for Transatlantic Holdings with a $3.4 billion cash-and-stock deal to buy the reinsurer, squaring off against a hostile bid from Validus Holdings Ltd .

Gold hurtled toward a one-month low Monday as fear that neither the U.S. nor Europe are able to tackle their sovereign debt problems drove investors to the dollar.

Gold dropped more than 2 percent on Monday, hit by margin selling related to an equities sell-off that stemmed from mounting fears about government debt in Europe and the United States.

Under pressure from financial markets, Canada eliminated its budget deficit in short order in the 1990s, going from the second worst fiscal performer in the Group of Seven industrialized nations, after Italy, to the top of the pack.

A top South African government officials says that nationalizing the nation's mines is not likely, according to reports.

U.S.-based stock exchange operator Direct Edge plans to open a bourse in Brazil in a move meant to tap the country's fast-growing financial sector, and to speed the splintering of marketplaces globally.

Gold prices tumbled below the psychologically significant $1,700 level Monday as fears that neither the U.S. nor Europe appear able to make progress on their sovereign debt problems drove investors to the dollar.

Hony Capital, one of China's most successful private equity funds, aims to raise up to $2.6 billion in a new fund, two sources said on Monday, in what is set to be the biggest ever dollar fundraising for a China-based firm.

Silver mining company shares plunged Monday, in many cases falling more sharply than the broader stock market or the price of silver itself.

Alexandria Minerals Corp. discovered gold about 60 miles northwest of Montreal at the company's Akasaba gold project in Val d'Or, Quebec, the Toronto-based company said Monday.

Stock index futures pointed to a drop of about 1 percent on Monday as growing concerns about heavy debt loads both domestically and abroad added more uncertainty to a troubled market.

Harmony Gold said on Saturday a miner who was trapped underground at its Kusasalethu mine in South Africa after a fall of ground has died and that all operations remained suspended pending an investigation.

Hecla Mining Co. backed its full-year production outlook on Monday despite the suspension of work at its Lucky Friday silver mine in Idaho, where a contractor died in an accident last week.