IBT Staff Reporter

Stephen Schwarzman, the boss of the world's largest private equity firm, made his fortune by being a financier who delivered outsized returns for investors from buying, restructuring and then selling companies. These days, he is getting huge rewards for being the biggest shareholder in what is more like a souped-up asset manager.

Rupert Murdoch pledged unwavering support to his scandal-hit Sun on Friday, and promised to launch a Sunday edition soon, to try to win back angry staff in one of the biggest challenges to his more than 40 years as proprietor at the British tabloid.

Consumer prices rose the most in four months in January as the price of gasoline jumped, highlighting a growing concern that higher energy costs could slow the economic recovery.

Stephen Schwarzman, the boss of the world's largest private equity firm, made his fortune by being a financier who delivered outsized returns for investors from buying, restructuring and then selling companies. These days, he is getting huge rewards for being the biggest shareholder in what is more like a souped-up asset manager.

Stocks edged up slightly Friday, but investors were wary of making big bets heading into a holiday weekend when Greece's bailout plan is expected to be approved.

Gasoline prices jumped 0.9 percent in January, pushing overall consumer prices up and offering a reminder of the risks energy costs pose to the economic recovery.

A federal appeals court has thrown out the conviction of a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc computer programmer who had been convicted of stealing part of the Wall Street bank's high-frequency trading code.

Ally Financial is weighing a sale of all or part of its auto lending and banking businesses as an initial public offering looks increasingly remote and the U.S. government seeks to recoup some $17 billion in bailout money, sources familiar with the situation said.

Wall Street stocks were set to open slightly higher Friday on optimism about Greece's bailout, but gains could be small as investors appeared ready to take a breather after the S&P 500 posted its best daily gain in two weeks.

Greece appears to be closing in on a new international rescue package despite unresolved doubts among euro zone partners about how fast it will manage to bring its debt down.

Consumer prices rose the most in four months in January as the price of gasoline jumped, highlighting a growing concern that higher energy costs could slow the economic recovery.

Stock index futures rose Friday on signs of progress in Greece's bailout, but gains were small as investors appeared ready to take a breather after the S&P 500 posted its best daily gain in two weeks.

Campbell Soup Co reported better-than-expected quarterly profit on Friday, citing progress in its plan to turnaround its sagging U.S. soup business.

Stock index futures were little changed Friday as investors were set to take a breather from a rally that pushed the S&P 500 to a nine-month high in the previous session.

Ally Financial is weighing a sale of all or part of its auto lending and banking businesses, as an initial public offering looks increasingly remote and the U.S. government seeks to recoup some $17 billion in bailout money, sources familiar with the situation said.

Ally Financial is weighing a sale of all or part of its auto lending and banking businesses, as an initial public offering looks increasingly remote and the U.S. government seeks to recoup some $17 billion in bailout money, sources familiar with the situation said.

Foxconn Technology Group, the top maker of Apple Inc's iPhones and iPads whose factories are under scrutiny over labor practices, has raised wages of its Chinese workers by 16-25 percent from this month, the third rise since 2010.

Asian banks are filling the void in the aircraft financing market left by squeezed European lenders, but Middle East tensions and the sheer scale of Asia's aviation growth look set to leave the industry's funding on a knife-edge, experts said.

Rupert Murdoch will address hostile journalists at his British newspaper arm Friday, many of them fearful after the recent arrests of senior staff at the mass-selling Sun tabloid over allegations of widespread criminality.

Capital flight, soaring borrowing costs, tanking currency and stocks and a central bank forced to pump vast amounts of cash into local banks -- that is what Japan may have to contend with if it fails to tackle its snowballing debt.

A group of traders and brokers had successfully managed to manipulate key interbank lending rates that affect loans around the world, one of the banks being investigated has told Canadian regulators, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

World stocks rose near a six-month peak on Friday and the dollar hit a 3-1/2 month high against the yen as hopes for a long-awaited Greek bailout deal next week following on from strong U.S. data encouraged investors to buy riskier assets.

Apple's share of China's booming smartphone market slipped for a second straight quarter in October-December.

Until last October, farmers and fund managers rarely lost sleep over the extra money that they habitually maintained in their brokerage accounts, confident that it would be there the next morning.

Apple Inc's share of China's smartphone market slipped for a second straight quarter in the fourth quarter of 2011 amid competition from Chinese vendors and as some consumers delayed purchases to wait for the iPhone 4S launch.

Asian shares rebounded on Friday on signs that euro zone officials will soon approve a long-awaited bailout for Greece, and after jobs and factory data pointed to a healthier U.S. economy.

Twitter Inc. on Thursday formally launched a service to allow small businesses to buy and place ads on the online messaging platform.

President Barack Obama will stay focused on China on Friday with an announcement of streamlined financing for U.S. exporters that compete against foreign firms that are afforded unfair advantages, White House officials said.

It wasn't Sherry Hunt's original intent to go public on the shoddy quality control at a mortgage unit at Citigroup Inc , her employer since 2004.