IBT Staff Reporter

Microsoft Corp is nearing a deal to buy Internet phone company Skype Technologies for more than $7 billion, and a deal could be announced as early as Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Oil prices tumbled after the CME group raised crude futures margins by 25 percent following volatile trading in recent sessions, while Greek woes pulled the euro down to a six-week low against the yen on Tuesday.

LeBron James scored 35 points with 14 rebounds and led 98-90 overtime victory over the Boston Celtics .

Sheila Bair, a free market advocate who helped oversee the most dramatic bailout of the financial system since the Great Depression, will leave the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp on July 8, the agency announced on Monday.

YouTube is adding more than 3,000 mainstream movies for users to rent starting on Monday, along with the millions of free user-created videos the popular website is best known for.

NEW YORK - Activision Blizzard posted higher profit and revenue in the fourth quarter, driven by sales of online games, and raised its full-year earnings outlook, sending its shares higher in after-hours trade.

The jury in the closely watched insider trading trial of hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam reheard on Monday a dozen FBI phone taps centered on one transaction in the charges against the Galleon Group founder.

Bank of America Corp plans to reduce its $850 billion portfolio of troubled home loans by about half over the next three years, the bank's new mortgage unit head told the Financial Times.

Italian automaker Fiat SpA can boost its stake in Chrysler Group LLC to more than 70 percent using an array of options, including buying the U.S. Treasury's stake.

LinkedIn Corp has priced its closely watched initial public offering at a bargain compared to rivals such as Renren Inc and Facebook, underscoring growing caution over social media valuations.

Top online group buying site Group tied up with Live Nation on Monday to launch a new online ticketing deals web site that will allow customers to buy tickets to concerts, theaters and other live events at discounted prices.

The trustee seeking money for Bernard Madoff's victims announced a $1 billion settlement with liquidators for three feeder funds tied to Fairfield Greenwich Group, allowing higher payouts to the swindler's former customers.

Manhattan Theatre Club announced the three sets of plays for its 2011-2012 new season, with David Hyde Pierce, Zoe Kazan, and David Auburn.

Citigroup discovered on Monday that reverse splits can be a somewhat painful exercise.

Despite age restrictions on some social media sites, the number of parents who would allow children 10-12 years old to have a Facebook or MySpace account has doubled in a year, a new survey showed.

YouTube is adding more than 3,000 movies for its users to rent starting on Monday, along with the millions of free user-created videos the popular website is best known for.

Brent crude oil surged more than $6 a barrel on Monday, the second-largest gain on record, snapping back from last week's near record sell-off on a wave of bargain-hunting and a jump in gasoline futures prices.

The issue of 'detained and disappeared' people in China as raised by the United States as well as the 'enormous progress' on human rights a Chinese official said was taking place were mentioned among broader economic talks between the U.S. and China on Monday.

Zynga Inc is hiring two key developers of cocos2d, a popular game engine that powers top grossing iPhone apps such as Tap Pet Hotel and Tap Zoo in a move that will help the social games company boost its presence on smartphone and tablets.

Greece said it was discussing with its euro zone partners ways to plug a 27 billion euro ($39 billion) funding hole next year as a fresh credit rating cut on Monday made its return to markets even more difficult.

The trustee in charge of liquidating what's left of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc U.S. brokerage agreed to pay Barclays Plc $1.1 billion in disputed assets connected to its purchase of Lehman's North American business.

It was approximately one year ago that Justin Bieber had a guest role in CBS's CSI. After today, it's questionable whether he'd work there again.

As the U.S. economy continues to collapse, Americans are becoming increasingly frustrated, and this frustration will inevitably boil over into rioting and violence. Could we be starting to see the start of this already? The number of Americans that have gone wild seems to be escalating.

Apple Inc and magazine publisher Conde Nast reached a deal to offer the New Yorker on the iPad device in the latest sign that relationships are improving between the technology company and content owners.

Anonymous current and former officials from the U.S. and Pakistan are bringing their stories to the public through the UK's Guardian, in which they say the government's leaders struck a deal nearly 10 years ago that gave the United States the right to unilaterally go into Pakistan and get the top three al-Qaeda leaders.

The jury in the closely-watched insider trading trial of hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam reheard on Monday a dozen FBI phone taps centered on one transaction in the charges against the Galleon Group founder.

Stocks rose on Monday as commodity-related shares rebounded from last week's collapse, masking deeper doubts about what will sustain the market's long-term strength.

After a month of delays, Endeavour will launch into space for the final time in Mid-May says NASA.

Lindsay Lohan was walked the red carpet to support Tyler Shields' art opening, which encompasses several portraits of Lindsay as a Vampire.