IBT Staff Reporter

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Consumers who opt for organic foods often believe they are improving their health, but there is currently no strong evidence that organics bring nutrition-related health benefits, a new research review finds.

Representative Barney Frank, a fierce critic of Wall Street and close ally of the Obama administration, will head a House-Senate committee to hammer out a final bill on financial regulation reform.

Gentiva Health Services Inc agreed to buy Odyssey HealthCare Inc in a $1 billion cash deal, which could make it one of the top players in the U.S. home and hospice care market and spark more consolidation in the space.

The U.S. Federal Reserve does not expect to sell any of the billions of dollars worth of assets it bought to boost the economy in 2009 until it has started raising interest rates in a strong recovery, it said in its 2009 annual report released on Monday.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Parents can rest assured that getting kids their vaccine shots on time will not hurt their mental skills later on, doctors said on Monday.

(Reuters) - Fewer children are dying around the world, with deaths among children under 5 falling in almost every country, U.S. researchers reported on Sunday.

There are growing signs of a recovery in the U.S. economy but the high unemployment rate remains a big concern, White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers said on Monday.

Top White House economist Lawrence Summers said on Monday the United States must assure investors it will curb the budget deficit over time, while delivering short-term fiscal stimulus to boost growth.

Regulators still have not found evidence that erroneous activity or system malfunctions triggered the recent unprecedented market crash, a Commodity Futures Trading Commission official said on Monday.

Campbell Soup Co posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit as U.S. soup sales rose for the first time in three quarters, but the gain was fueled by increased promotions the company expects to continue.

The European Commission's chief accused Germany on Monday of making naive proposals to combat the euro zone debt crisis, while financial markets took fright after Spain bailed out a small savings bank.

One of the chief architects of U.S. financial reform will chair the House-Senate panel that hammers out the final version of the Wall Street overhaul, a spokesman for the Democratic lawmaker said on Monday.

The Nasdaq gained on Monday after positive broker comments lifted large-cap technology shares, though sustained worries about Europe's banking system restrained the Dow and the S&P 500.

U.S. economic prospects are brightening, although Europe's debt troubles serve as a reminder that the United States must tame its own roaring deficit, economists said in a report on Monday.

Rio Tinto says the super-tax is likely to impact adversely on the investment climate in Australia

In 2006 or even earlier the only way to connect retail clients with the Banking Market was what was used to be called the Retail Dealers or the Retail Aggregators. So, Retail Dealers are market makers to their customers; and they traded on a home sale basis with their banks. Obviously this lead to a lot of problems. The Retail Dealer chooses not to hedge the client's positions but to take the other side of the trade 100% of the times or a significant percent of the times. So they have a conflict...

Sales of previously owned homes rose more than expected in April to a five-month high as buyers rushed to close contracts before the expiry of a homebuyer tax credit.

Yahoo Inc and Nokia unveiled a wide Internet services deal, including maps and e-mail service, as the two battle new rivals on the wireless market.

Stocks mostly fell on Monday as a Spanish government bailout of a local bank refocused attention on Europe's debt crisis, although positive broker comments on some big-cap technology companies boosted the Nasdaq.

Campbell Soup Co posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit as a promotional spending push led to increased sales in its key U.S. soup market after two straight quarters of declines.

U.S. economic prospects are brightening, although Europe's debt troubles serve as a reminder that the United States must tame its own roaring deficit, economists said in a report on Monday.

Sales of previously owned homes rose more than expected in April to a five month high, reflecting a last minute dash by buyers to close contracts before the expiry of a homebuyer tax credit, an industry group said on Monday.

MCX on Monday launched futures contracts in MINI Zinc (Contract Size 1 MT). Initially June and July contracts of zinc mini will be available for trading and in due course of time more contracts will be introduced. While the contract specification of zinc mini is exactly the same as that of the existing zinc contract on MCX, the tonnage has been reduced to 1 ton. The current zinc contract on MCX has a lot size of 5 tons with an average daily volume of 1,40,000 tons.

China's General Administration of Customs on Monday said country's gasoline exports surged 124.23% year on year to 696,888 metric tons in April this year. In a report, GAC said country's total gasoline exports were 2.1 million metric tons in the first four months, up 122.89% year on year.

Stocks pared losses in volatile trading on Monday after data showed sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose more than expected in April to a five-month high.

British Petroleum (BP) on Monday said the cost of cleaning up the mammoth Gulf of Mexico oil spill had hit around $760 million so far. In a statement issued here, the oil giant said it was too early to put a figure on the ultimate bill as lawsuits continue to flood in and as cash was pumped in to efforts to halt the leak and minimize the environmental toll.

The Associated Press story on cadmium in Miley Cyrus jewelry has created a scare about adverse health effects of jewelry in both children and adults. However, Fashion Jewelry and Accessories Trade Association (FJATA) has come out against the story stating that the agency has relied on private testing conducted by Prof Jeffrey Weidenhamer which they are not willing to share with FJATA.

Global miner Rio Tinto said it is reviewing all investments in Australia due to a proposed new tax, describing the country as its No.1 sovereign risk concern and sending a weak Australian dollar even lower.

Existing home sales are seen rising 6.0 percent to 5.62 million units after growing by 6.8 percent in March, with forecasts between 5.42 million and 5.80 million.