IBT Staff Reporter

Alcoa Inc is expected to report a small quarterly profit next week but Wall Street is unconvinced the company can post higher numbers with the price of aluminum only slowly inching up from the recession.

Wholesale inventories rose more than expected in February and sales climbed to their highest level since October 2008, according to a government report on Friday that pointed to manufacturing strength.

U.S. safety regulators are investigating a potential for brake failure in General Motors Co vehicles that could affect up to 6 million trucks and SUVs sold from the model years 1999 through 2003.

Energy shares drove U.S. stocks higher on Friday as India's largest listed company will form a joint venture with independent gas company Atlas Energy, while conflicting news on debt-laden Greece kept a lid on gains.

Massey Energy Co said on Friday it will increase coal production at its other mines to compensate for production lost at the West Virginia mine where at least 25 miners died in a blast this week.

Sales of passenger cars grew by almost two-thirds in China last month as buoyant consumer sentiment bolstered spending on big-ticket items in the world's third-largest economy.

Switzerland-based FZ Sonick SA favours energy storage over private electric vehicles to provide the boom market for salt battery production, the recently formed company's managing director said on Thursday.

McDonald's Corp Chief Executive Jim Skinner received 2009 compensation of $17.6 million, more than double his 2007 pay, largely fueled by a performance-related bonus paid out every three years, the company said on Friday.

Swiss banking giant UBS faces a turbulent shareholder meeting as activist investors prepare to reject the bank's bonus scheme, as well as plans to discharge former executives from responsibilities in the credit crisis.

Circle K and Mac's convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard said on Friday that it had offered to buy Casey's General Stores for $36 a share in cash.

The private equity owners of Toys R Us are weighing an initial public offering for the retailer, sources familiar with the situation said on Friday.

Stocks rose on Friday, led by a rise in energy shares, as the U.S. dollar retreated against the euro amid speculation that debt-laden Greece would grab a financial lifeline.

More adults over age 65 are staying in the work force, which could make it harder for younger workers to find jobs, a private report showed on Friday.

Morgan Stanley bolstered its trading operations, reshuffled its top management and tinkered with its strategy last year, but those changes are unlikely to bear fruit when the Wall Street bank reports its first-quarter earnings.

Fewer Canadians returned to work in March than expected, but the three-month hiring trend was the strongest since the financial crisis intensified in the autumn of 2008, suggesting the recovery is entrenched.

(Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday it was reviewing the safety of triclosan, a widely used antibacterial agent found in soap, toothpaste and a range of other consumer products.

Coal miner Massey Energy Co , owner of the Upper Big Branch mine where at least 25 miners died in a blast this week, said it was working to increase production at its other mines to mitigate losses at UBB.

(Reuters) - Sugar is being unfairly blamed for obesity problems in the United States at a time when per capita consumption of sweeteners has declined over the past decade, the head of an industry group complained on Wednesday.

(Reuters) - Fourteen states and the District of Columbia raised cigarette taxes in 2009, but none of the new money went to programs to cut smoking and prevent tobacco-related disease, U.S. health officials said on Thursday.

The world's largest cellphone maker Nokia said on Friday it had bought U.S. geographic technology firm MetaCarta, as a part of its strategy to offer local navigation services to its customers.

Alcoholic drinks maker Constellation Brands Inc reported a higher than expected quarterly adjusted profit on Friday, as higher wine and vodka sales made up for weak imported beer sales, but forecast full-year earnings that would fall short of Wall Street estimates.

Greece resisted market pressure Friday to seek international help to manage a worsening debt crisis, as new figures highlighted a deepening recession in the economy that will further aggravate its fiscal woes.

For almost three decades Dr. Dre has been a trendsetter in the U.S. music industry, through his recordings with gangsta rappers N.W.A. and later as a producer and record executive who helped launch the careers of Eminem, Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent.

It may seem a leap from offering virtual pet monsters for adoption to building the next Facebook but Michael Acton Smith, the man behind kids' online craze Moshi Monsters, believes he could do it.

Spring could signal a rebirth for the long suffering U.S. housing market even as the economy's weakest link is stripped of government life support.

Fannie Mae did not abandon its goals of increasing homeownership for poorer Americans in pursuit of higher profits, as some have alleged, said Daniel Mudd, the chief executive of the company who was ousted by the government in 2008.

Countries with history of BSE-infected cows wanting to export beef to Australia will have to prove that they have a sufficient traceability system, which will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

A small gadget to measure exposure to ultraviolet radiation, called the UV Dosimeted, invented by Canterbury University computer engineer, Martin Allen could one day be made available to the public as a method to prevent skin cancer.

U.S. corporate earnings should top forecasts again in the first quarter, but the extent of the stock market's rally means investors are expecting a lot from companies.