IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. mortgage applications fell for a fourth straight week, reflecting the inability of many homeowners to take advantage of record low interest rates, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

Fannie Mae, the largest provider of funding for U.S. home mortgages, on Wednesday said its mortgage investment portfolio shrank in August, while delinquencies on loans it guarantees slowed significantly in the month prior.

U.S. chief executive officers' view of the economy darkened in the third quarter, with top executives saying they were less willing to hire new workers as they fear sales growth will slow.

Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic bill on Tuesday to end tax deductions enjoyed by companies that close their U.S. plants and move overseas.

J.M. Smucker Co, the maker of Jif peanut butter and Folgers coffee, said it would shut down two of its facilities in Ontario, cutting about 150 jobs, as it continues efforts to control costs and improve profit.

A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday allowed federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research to continue pending a full appeal, lifting an injunction issued by a federal judge who had said the Obama administration's policy violated the law.

A record 1.2 million people in low and middle income countries started antiretroviral therapy for HIV/AIDs in 2009, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday, but targets set for 2010 are unlikely to be met.

Johnson & Johnson's massive recall of popular medicines, including a stealthy recall of some Motrin packages, has eroded the company's reputation and put pressure on chief executive Bill Weldon who appears before a congressional committee on Thursday.

Severely obese people who undergo weight-loss surgery may have a higher-than-average risk of suicide in the years following the procedure, a new study finds.

U.S. researchers have discovered specific changes in the blood of patients with two deadly cancers that may allow doctors to diagnose them at an earlier stage.

Patients with failing kidneys who need to undergo dialysis will do equally well if they perform dialysis at home or if they go to a dialysis center, according to the largest study to date comparing the two approaches.

Certain types of assisted fertilization appear to result in more male than female babies being born, a large study in Australia and New Zealand has found.

Computerized systems intended to stop doctors from prescribing dangerous drug combinations can cause potentially harmful treatment delays, new research shows.

Parents and caretakers who drink alcohol may put infants at a higher risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), new research suggests.

Valuemart Info Technologies Limited (Valuemart), a Bangalore based Software development and legal process outsourcing (LPO) firm, said it has bagged a contract for legal document processing from a leading US law firm.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's top IT services firm, said on Wednesday it signed a 5-year infrastructure management services contract worth more than AUD $50 million with Australia-based renewable energy company AGL Energy Ltd.

The Motorist Choice Awards named Audi's A5 and A6 as the Best Sexy Styling and the Best Country Club Vehicles for 2010 in the Premium Brand category. The results stem from the information taken from more than 42,000 consumer surveys.

Chrysler Group on Monday fired 13 workers at the same auto plant visited by President Barack Obama this summer, after a local television station report showed some of them drinking on their lunch breaks.

Toyota Motor Corp said it would enter the growing Japanese minivehicle sector next year through a supply deal with unit Daihatsu Motor Co in a move set to intensify competition in the tough domestic market.

Competition (too few jobs and too many graduates)

In the current state of the economy, demand and competition for jobs has never been higher.

Consumer confidence fell to its lowest level since February in September, underscoring lingering worries about the stremgth of the economic recovery, while home prices dipped in July.

Toys R Us Inc said it plans to hire about 45,000 seasonal workers -- 10,000 more than in the past three years -- ahead of the U.S. holiday shopping season as it opens 600 temporary stores, essentially doubling its domestic workforce.

Royal Bank of Scotland is planning to cut around 500 jobs at its investment banking arm, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.

The new leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party will signal a break with some of the party's policies on Tuesday, and distance himself from former Prime Minister Gordon Brown's stewardship of the economy.

Whether your left or right hand reaches for the phone, elevator button or cup of coffee is typically decided unconsciously. Now, a new study suggests that magnetic pulses sent into your brain could alter that choice.

Single-family home prices dipped in July, hovering above multi-year lows absent the homebuyer tax credit that ended in April, according a Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price report on Tuesday.

The Obama administration on Monday pleaded with a U.S. appeals court to allow federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research to continue, arguing a ban would ruin numerous projects and cost millions of dollars.

Older women with thinning bones who exercise regularly have sustained improvements in their balance and walking speed that may protect them from fractures and even extend their lives, new research shows