IBT Staff Reporter

Ford Motor Co posted a stronger-than-expected $2.1 billion quarterly profit and said it would be solidly profitable in 2010, a year ahead of schedule, driven by strong U.S. sales and market share gains.

Influential Republican Senator Judd Gregg said on Tuesday he expects the Senate to eventually pass a financial reform bill as Democrats moved to force a series of votes to try to open debate on the measure.

Last week's volcanic ash cloud cost European Union airlines 1.5-2.5 billion euros ($2-3.3 billion), the EU executive said as it proposed a series of actions to help the cash-strapped industry.

Deutsche Bank faces a U.S. class-action lawsuit over mortgage-related securities it helped arrange, Germany's biggest lender said in its first-quarter report.

U.S. home prices fell in the month of February, but rose compared to a year ago for the first time in more than three years, in the latest sign that the housing market is slowly recovering.

Goldman Sachs executives strove to fend off accusations they helped inflate the housing bubble and then made billions off of its collapse, in a high-stakes Senate hearing that shined a harsh spotlight on the powerful investment bank's trading practices.

Strong demand for industrial goods from customers in emerging economies helped a half dozen U.S. manufacturers produce pleasant earnings surprises on Tuesday.

Standard & Poor's on Tuesday downgraded Portugal's ratings, citing concerns about its ability to deal with high debt levels and urged more measures to cut the country's budget deficit.

China's largest e-commerce firm Alibaba.com said it will offer e-payment services on its new online commerce platform from eBay's PayPal, in the first such tie-up between the former arch-rivals.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told a bipartisan budget commission on Tuesday the country's deficits are on an unsustainable path, and will require remedial action from policymakers.

Consumer confidence rose in April to the highest level since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, driven by growing optimism about the labor market, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday.

U.S. stocks slid to session lows on Tuesday after the credit ratings of both Greece and Portugal were cut, escalating worries about their sovereign debt.

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Motivation and keeping a journal of what you eat are key components for shedding excess weight, according to new research.

(Reuters) - U.S. healthcare reform spawned a wave of lowered profit forecasts this week as drugmakers quantified the costs, but the pain should be manageable until the new law starts helping results in 2014.

Police broke into a blogger's home in search of photographs of a prototype Apple iPhone and other material, launching a felony investigation, gadget site Gizmodo and prosecutors said on Monday.

Prices of single-family homes fell in February on a monthly basis but posted the first annual increase in more than three years, Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller home price indexes showed on Tuesday.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Tuesday the country's budget deficit is on an unsustainable path and requires near-term action from policymakers to avoid dangerous outcomes.

UAL Corp , parent of United Airlines, on Tuesday said its quarterly net loss shrank, topping expectations, helped by a sharp revenue increase and accounting gains related to its fuel hedges.

Nokia Oyj unveiled details of its first phone with new Symbian 3 software on Tuesday, designed to challenge the iPhone and Blackberry at the high-end of the market.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc's Fabrice Tourre, accused of creating a product that led to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil fraud lawsuit, on Tuesday denied the regulator's charges and allegations that he or the bank misled investors.

Diversified manufacturer 3M Co posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday and raised its sales and profit forecasts for the full year, citing strong demand in developing markets as well as an improving economic backdrop.

U.S. stocks were little changed on Tuesday as strong earnings offset German demands for new austerity measures from Greece that prompted more worries over shaky Greek debt.

Home prices fell in the month of February, but rose compared to a year ago for the first time in more than three years, in the latest sign that the housing market is slowly recovering.

(Reuters) - People who are depressed eat more chocolate than people who are not, U.S. researchers said on Monday, in a study that puts numbers behind the link between mood and chocolate.

Transport companies posted better-than-expected first-quarter results on improved volumes in a sign that the domestic economic recovery is starting to catch up with the rest of the world.

United Parcel Service , the world's largest package delivery service, on Tuesday reported higher first-quarter earnings, reflecting an improving global economy and higher international volume.

Greek bonds and bank shares sank to new lows on Tuesday as a budget expert from Germany's ruling party pressured private banks to accept a discount on the Greek debt they own, spreading the pain of an international bailout.

The Supreme Court said on Monday it would decide whether a California law banning the sale and rental of violent video games to minors violated constitutional free-speech rights, the first time it will rule on a video game case.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Addicted to smoking and unable to quit? Your genes may be partly to blame, according to a trio of studies published Sunday in Nature Genetics that link several gene variants to a range of smoking habits, as well as increased risk for lung cancer.