IBT Staff Reporter

Alcoa Inc, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, reported a fourth-quarter profit on Monday and projected a 12-percent rise in demand for the metal in 2011, driven by aerospace and auto manufacturing.

American Airlines Inc has won a court order temporarily blocking Sabre Holdings Corp from presenting its fares in a manner the carrier fears might steer customers to other airlines.

One of Jared Loughner’s favorite books, according to the 22-year-old Arizona assassin’s YouTube profile, is Gulliver’s Travels. So, my theory is that Irish satirists put him up to it.

Barcelona and Argentina star Lionel Messi became the inaugural winner of the FIFA Ballon d'Or - the FIFA Men's World Player of the Year 2010, Jose Mourinho won the Men's Coach of the Year award.

The co-founder of a New York hedge fund that once had just under $1 billion in assets was accused of insider trading by U.S. securities regulators, in an investigation that stems from the long-running Galleon hedge fund probe.

U.S. retail sales rose 4 percent in the 2010 holiday selling season and should rise 2.2 percent in the first quarter of this year, a group that measures customer traffic in retail locations said on Monday.

Some privacy advocates say a U.S. Department of Commerce-proposed system for smoother identification of people on the Internet could create as many problems as it is designed to solve.

Only 10 days into 2011 and it is already shaping up to be AT&T's toughest year since its 2004 formation as it is set to lose the exclusive U.S. rights to sell Apple Inc's iPhone.

Call them the comeback kids.This city's once beleaguered automakers dominated the first day of this year's Detroit auto show, one of the industry's premier events, as it opened for press previews on Monday.

U.S. airlines and online travel sites have 60 days to comply with a new law designed to make it easier for passengers to know when they make a reservation what carrier will actually do the flying.

WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange is due to appear in a London court on Tuesday as lawyers draw the battle lines in his fight to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning about alleged sex crimes.

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), who sustained a gunshot to the head during a Congress on Your Corner event in Tucson that killed six people, including federal judge John Roll, and injured 14 others, on Saturday, is still in critical condition but is expected to recover.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-AZ, continues to follow basic commands from physicians and there has been no progression on the swelling in her brain on Tuesday, the third day after surgery following a point-blank shooting incident on Saturday.

Duke Energy's planned $13.7 billion purchase of Progress Energy Inc is the biggest test yet of whether regulators will allow utilities to merge and fortify their finances for huge new investments.

Adult magazine publisher Playboy Enterprises Inc. is about to go private as founder Hugh Hefner has received the nod from the board to buy the company.

Morgan Stanley said it would spin off its proprietary trading unit as an independent firm by the end of 2012.

Chief Executive Steve Ballmer has ousted the head of Microsoft Corp's third-largest unit, marking the latest in a series of high-level departures as the software company tries to regain its leadership in the technology sector.

The Federal Reserve is turning over a record $78.4 billion to the U.S. Treasury Department after its swollen securities portfolios generated big profits in 2010, the central bank said on Monday.

The biggest U.S. banks have stepped away from the brink of failure, but fourth-quarter earnings will likely show the financial crisis continues to weigh on profits.

Stocks recovered most of their early losses in light volume and ended slightly lower on Monday as prospects for strong earnings helped counter fears Portugal would be forced into a bailout.

Major technology companies should manage to keep up sales and profit growth in 2011, but economic troubles in the United States and Europe could temper results.

A rumor -- discovered to be a hoax -- that Facebook would shut down in March briefly lit up the blogosphere. There are reasons why a moment's thought shows this is wrong.

The Securities and Exchange Commission brought civil insider trading charges against the co-founder of a one-time $900 million hedge fund as part of the ongoing Galleon hedge fund probe.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a record 219,614 patents in 2010, with IBM grossing the highest number of patents followed by Samsung and Microsoft.

Corrects headline and 4th paragraph to make clear Market Street not named as a defendant

Stocks recovered most of their early losses in light volume and ended slightly lower on Monday as prospects for strong earnings helped counter fears Portugal would be forced into a bailout.

Alcoa Inc reported a jump in fourth-quarter profit on Monday, beating Wall Street estimates as aluminum prices and demand rose after two years in the doldrums.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu surprised his Facebook followers on Monday by posting a copy of his government pay stub, letting everyone know he takes home just 15,000 shekels ($4,200) each month.

The biggest risk to U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-AZ, is brain swelling, as she remains in critical condition on Monday, after a Saturday shooting.