IBT Staff Reporter

Oil was steady on Monday with Brent stabilizing near $116 as investors looked to geopolitical factors to maintain near-record long speculative positions, while flaring unrest over the weekend was limited to minor crude exporters Syria and Yemen.

Brazil on Sunday defended its unorthodox strategies to cool its economy as the International Monetary Fund cautioned Latin America not to forget its basic tool for fighting inflation: the cost of money.

The Federal Reserve should consider trimming its $600 billion bond purchase program given pretty good U.S. economic data, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said on Saturday.

Around 600 people lined up outside a store in London Friday afternoon to get their hands on a new iPad 2 tablet computer from Apple.

Miscrosoft is paying Nortel, the Canandian manufacturer, $7.5 million to by 666,624 addresses. The sale will be finalized in April 26, 2011. The transaction puts a value on each address of $11.25.

Amy Adams is will take the role of Lois Lane in the upcoming 'Superman: Man of Steel' film directed by Zack Snyder.

The Nintendo 3DS has launched with 16 game lineup of games that can be played in 3D. The system is also backwards compatible with Nintendo DS.

Britain's circus elephant is brutally beaten in shocking video footage. The 57 years old elphant named Anne, who was captured in her native Sri Lanka as a baby, was repeatedly hit and abused by her groom.

The U.S. labor market is finally improving, just when many of the other economic indicators are wavering.

Protests in Libya which began on February 15 in Libya have escalated into an international conflict as Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's efforts to stay in power have triggered efforts by NATO, Arab nations, and other partners to protect civilians.

The Japanese earthquake is seen costing AXA , Europe's second-biggest insurer, at least 100 million euros ($140.8 million) before tax, Chief Executive Henri de Castries told French television on Sunday.

Brazil's central bank defended efforts to erect barriers to foreign money, arguing a deluge of capital was pressuring inflation and threatening the stability of financial markets.

The Korean electronic company's most recently announced tablet, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be launched on June 08, 2011 while 8.9 Tab will be released early this summer.

Samsung's most recent tablet device is the thinnest tablet in the market. It is 8.6mm (10.9mm previous model) thin which is thinner than its main competitor, the iPad 2 (8.8mm).

There was one winning ticket for the grand prize in thethe Megamillions lottery on Friday, while Saturday's Powerball grand prize wont' be awarded, since there wasn't a winning ticket.

Elizabeth Warren, the Obama administration's defender of financial consumers, will venture into the corporate lion's den this week, along with Jamie Dimon, CEO of banking giant JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Ireland's government wants to impose losses on some senior bondholders in Irish lenders to reduce the burden on taxpayers from a prolonged banking crisis, a senior minister said on Sunday.

U.S. stock investors could scramble to pick up some of the market's recent best performers this week as the quarter comes to an end, putting the spotlight on energy and industrial companies.

Libyan moved west on Sunday, seizing back a pair of eastern coastal cities which include much of the nation's oil refining and exporting facilities on Sunday.

It would make sense for Portugal to seek aid from the European Union bailout fund, although such a decision will be caught up in domestic politics, European Central Bank Governing Board member Ewald Nowotny said.

Construction projects related to Brazil's World Cup, already well behind schedule, have run into another unexpected problem -- financing.

It's 8 p.m. at Sao Paulo's sublimely overcrowded international airport and Marvin Curie, seeing all the chairs around him taken, decides to join dozens of other business travelers and sit on the floor.

Nintendo's 3D gaming console is now available in stores in the US.

The European Central Bank is watching energy prices carefully and still wants to move toward a more normal monetary policy despite recent events in Japan, ECB Governing Board member Ewald Nowotny said on Sunday.

Stress tests on Ireland's four main lenders will reveal a capital hole of around 20 billion euros ($28.2 billion), The Sunday Business Post reported, without citing any sources.

Barcelona president Sandro Rosell has confirmed that the club would not go higher that their summer bid of €40 million in their long-standing pursuit of Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas.

Japanese companies' demand for funding has soared since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, with the country's top three banks seeing a surge in new loan requests, lenders said on Sunday.

Sixteen Hong Kong banks have agreed on a deal to enable investors in structured products of the now bankrupt Lehman Brothers recover a majority of their investments.

Apple's iPad 2 is selling like a hot-cakes in the United States as well as around the world. In United States, it was selling so fast that the company couldn't keep up with the orders.