IBT Staff Reporter

The number of Americans filing for new jobless benefits dropped to an almost four-year low last week, and factory activity in the mid-Atlantic expanded moderately, suggesting the economy carried some momentum into the new year.

Stocks rose for the third straight day on Thursday, sparked by results from Bank of America and Morgan Stanley and as the latest jobless claims dropped to a near four-year low.

Wael Ghonim doesn't like being called an activist. The 31-year-old Google employee says he's no different than other Egyptians who took part in the 2011 protests spurred by a Facebook page he created that forced then-president Hosni Mubarak to step down.

JAN 19 - IBM Corp, the world's largest technology services company, reported an 11 percent increase in fourth quarter profit, beating estimates and underscoring signs of confidence that economic worries had crimped tech spending.

Bank of America Corp may give shares worth $1 billion to employees instead of cash as part of bonuses and hold back on dividend increases and buybacks, as the second-largest U.S. bank grasps for ways to boost its capital levels.

Organized crime in Italy controls agricultural and food businesses worth 12.5 billion euros ($16 billion) a year, or 5.6 percent of all criminal operations in the country, according to a parliamentary investigation presented on Thursday.

The number of Americans filing for new jobless benefits dropped to a near four-year low last week and factory activity in the mid-Atlantic expanded moderately, suggesting the economy carried some momentum into the new year.

Johnson & Johnson said on Thursday it will pay $158 million to settle a Texas lawsuit accusing the drugmaker of improperly marketing its Risperdal anti-psychotic drug to state residents on the Medicaid health program for the poor.

The number of Americans filing for new jobless benefits dropped to a near four-year low last week and factory activity in the mid-Atlantic expanded moderately, suggesting the economy carried some momentum into the new year.

NEW YORK, Jan 19 - Apple Inc took a big jump into the digital textbooks market with the launch of its iBooks 2 software on Thursday, aiming to revitalize the U.S. education market and quicken the adoption of its market-leading iPad in that sector.

The world economy will lose momentum in 2012 but it will keep moving in the right direction, according to Reuters polls of around 600 economists who said crisis-hit Europe would drag on global growth.

The world economy will lose momentum in 2012 but it will keep moving in the right direction, according to Reuters polls of around 600 economists who said crisis-hit Europe would drag on global growth.

Eastman Kodak Co's long decline that culminated in a bankruptcy filing on Thursday can be traced back to one source: the former king of photography's failure to reinvent itself in the digital age.

Nike Inc is seeing no slowdown in demand in its biggest markets, even as Europe struggles economically and shoppers in the United States remain skittish, Chief Executive Mark Parker said.

Supporters of same-sex marriage have almost enough votes in the New Jersey legislature to override Gov. Chris Christie's expected veto, making it increasingly likely that New Jersey will become the seventh state to legalize marriage for same-sex couples.

EU regulators set on Thursday a new February 13 deadline to decide whether to clear Google's takeover of U.S. handset maker Motorola Mobility after the Internet search engine came forward with new documents to support its case, the EU Commission said.

Bonuses in Britain's financial services sector have been out of control in recent years, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday, unveiling plans to cap cash rewards again at state-backed banks.

Ratings agency Standard & Poors hit back at Italian prosecutors on Thursday after sources said its offices in Milan were visited by tax police pursuing a probe into the impact of S&P's reports on Italian share prices.

Apple Inc unveiled a new digital textbook service called iBooks 2 on Thursday, aiming to revitalize the U.S. education market and quicken the adoption of its market-leading iPad.

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, putting the S&P on track for its third straight advance after earnings from Bank of America and Morgan Stanley lifted financials and strong demand at European bond auctions eased concerns over Europe.

A pricey settlement over bond insurance pushed Morgan Stanley into the red in the fourth quarter, but the Wall Street bank still posted better-than-expected results, due to a focus on cost cuts and relatively strong performance in equities trading.

The pace of factory activity in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region ticked up in January, though it was not as strong as expected as new orders slipped, a survey showed on Thursday.

Ford Motor Co will give bonuses and merit-based raises to salaried workers in the United States and Canada this spring, the first time the No. 2 U.S. automaker has paid out both since the onset of the financial crisis.

The pace of factory activity in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region ticked up in January, though it was not as strong as expected, a survey showed on Thursday.

The number of Americans filing for new jobless benefits dropped to a near four-year low last week and factory activity in the Mid-Atlantic expanded, suggesting the economy maintained its momentum early in the year.

Video game publisher Trion Worlds has raised $85 million in a new round of funding as the privately held company aims to expand to Asia this year and launch new titles, CEO Lars Buttler told Reuters on Thursday.

The Finnish creator of the global smash-hit Angry Birds computer game will not join the stock market this year but still aims to eventually seek a listing, its marketing chief said on Thursday.

The move underscores the company's need to provide wireless bandwidth to a customer base increasingly using data-heavy smartphones.

New U.S. applications for unemployment benefits dropped to a near four-year low last week, a government report on Thursday showed, pointing to continued improvement in the labor market.