IBT Staff Reporter

Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook is in an enviable position - market leading products, a $98 billion warchest and a seemingly gravity-defying stock price.

U.S. stock index futures slipped on Wednesday, indicating the S&P 500 may snap a three-day winning streak after weaker-than-expected euro zone economic data and ahead of a report on the U.S. housing market.

Nokia will next week unveil a new, cheaper smartphone using Microsoft's Windows Phone software, targeting a wider market for its new range of smartphones, two sources close to the company said.

U.S. stock index futures slipped on Wednesday, indicating the S&P 500 may snap a three-day winning streak after weaker-than-expected euro zone data and ahead of a report on the U.S. housing market.

Shares of Dell Inc fell more than 7 percent in premarket trading on Wednesday, after the world's No.3 personal computer maker forecast weak sales for the current quarter.

Multi-millionaire crane owner James Lomma begins trial for charges of manslaughter.

A $35 computer launched last year in India as the world's cheapest tablet has run into problems and companies will be invited to bid again to make the device after complaints of poor performance and hiccups rolling out a pilot model.

General Motors and PSA Peugeot Citroen are discussing a broad manufacturing alliance designed to stem losses in Europe and lower production costs elsewhere, sources with knowledge of the matter said.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a mixed opening for Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.1 percent, the Dow Jones futures flat and the Nasdaq 100 rising 0.1 percent.

Mazda Motor Corp <7261.T> is looking to raise up to $2 billion in a bigger-than-expected public share offering, a regulatory filing showed on Wednesday, which would cause a massive 69 percent dilution of its existing shares.

Olympus Corp's main lender Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp denied it was trying to take control of the firm's board by stealth, but said it might well agree to send a former banker to be chairman of the disgraced camera and medical device maker.

Ford Motor Co. is pouring $3.8 billion into its global pension plan this year and will invest its plan assets more heavily in bonds, as the second-largest U.S. automaker moves more aggressively to minimize its pension risks in a shaky market.

Europe's debt crisis will dominate talks between Group of 20 (G20) policymakers this weekend as the rest of the world looks for pledges that the euro zone will boost its crisis safety net.

U.S. crime-fighters failed in a bid to keep alleged Internet pirate Kim Dotcom behind bars on Wednesday when a New Zealand court freed him from jail and instead put him under effective house arrest and banned him from using the Internet.

A U.S. software industry report on Wednesday chided Brazil, China and India for policies it said threatened the future of cloud computing, but also took aim at developed countries such as Germany that did well on its inaugural scorecard.

A government watchdog on Wednesday said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's regulator needs to curtail the rising cost of their legal expenses since there is no end in sight to the widening taxpayer tab keeping the two firms afloat.

An Olympus Corp executive found dead in India in an apparent suicide is likely to have had no link to the Japanese endoscope maker's accounting scandal, a company spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

Taxi and Limousine Commission will set up a panel to decide if Taxi TVs could be replaced by an iPad-like tablet

New Jersey man allegedly murders girlfriend with his car after she tried to break up with him.

From undercover interns to hastily arranged meetings with heads of state, Steve Wynn's lawsuit against former friend and partner Kazuo Okada seeks to paint a picture of a rogue board member pursuing his own private agenda.

Satelite navigation systems are at risk from criminals, terrorists or even just bored teenagers, with the potential to cause major incidents from maritime disasters to chaos in financial markets, leading experts warned on Wednesday.

Alibaba.com Ltd shares rose more than 40 percent to a seven-month high on Wednesday after they resumed trading following an announcement that its parent Alibaba Group will take it private for about $2.5 billion at its IPO price.

Bank of America's Merrill Lynch has launched a more aggressive recruiting campaign for top-tier brokers, including a bonus paid for transferring client assets after six months at the firm, two sources familiar with the new plan said Tuesday.

LightSquared Inc., the wireless company backed by hedge fund manager Philip Falcone, said on Tuesday it plans to lay off nearly half of its employees to save money.

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency told software vendors on Tuesday that it plans to revolutionize the way it does business with them as part of a race to keep up with the blazing pace of technology advances.

Johnson & Johnson Chief Executive William Weldon will step down from his post in April after a series of recalls called into question the quality of the healthcare giant's products, from artificial hips to infant Tylenol.

LightSquared, the ailing wireless company backed by hedge fund manager Philip Falcone, said on Tuesday that it plans to cut its workforce by 45 percent in order to save cash.

With the tax man breathing down his neck, Ohio farmer Tony Rohrs is scrambling to figure out how much money he made last year in an account at MF Global.

The Tulsa, Okla.-based company is expected to report fourth-quarter net profits of $268.61 million, or 41 cents a share, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. The company earned $259 million, or 44 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.