IBT Staff Reporter

While male consumers often favor comfort and ease in clothing over the latest styles, the looks on the runways this week are likely to trickle down into mass retail clothing lines as these designers gain influence, they said.

Verizon Wireless will let its customers make free or low-cost calls by using Skype on its smart phones.

U.S. stocks rallied on Tuesday, sending the benchmark S&P 500 to its biggest one-day percentage run-up in three months, as Merck's strong earnings and upbeat regional manufacturing data boosted optimism about the economic outlook.

U.S. prosecutors argued on Tuesday that Galleon hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam, indicted on fraud charges in a sprawling insider trading probe, would have an unfair advantage if a civil trial by market regulators went ahead before a criminal trial.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is reported to be sealing a deal to launch the first authorized biography of his life.

U.S. regulators on Tuesday opened an investigation into whether Toyota Motor Corp acted in a timely way to recall cars for acceleration problems, and the automaker moved to slow its U.S. production to avoid a costly ballooning of inventories.

In a relatively quiet day with little new developments from China or Europe, investors have shifted into riskier assets.

Home-builder sentiment rose more than expected in February as low interest rates and a sharper than expected drop in unemployment boosted confidence for the first time since September, the National Association of Home Builders said on Tuesday.

A New York state manufacturing gauge published on Tuesday hit its highest level since October this month, while sentiment among home builders rose more than expected, signaling continued improvement in the U.S. economy.

Google announced on Tuesday they will be bringing on ex-eBay exec Stephanie Tilenius as vice president of commerce.

World leaders want banks and financial firms to pay up for government interventions -- past and future -- to stabilize the international financial system. While details are sketchy, some form of bank balance sheet tax appears to be gaining ground.

The percentage of Americans falling behind on credit card bills stabilized in January, according to data from five lenders on Tuesday, signaling that U.S. consumer credit woes may be leveling off.

The ballooning U.S. budget deficit and growing mountains of federal debt will increase pressures on the Fed to hold interest rates low and make it harder to avoid inflation, a senior Federal Reserve official said on Tuesday.

Bank of America Corp has won a court judgment barring a self-described cybersquatter from using the bofaml.com and mlbofa.com Internet domain names following the bank's acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co.

The London recording studio immortalized by the multi-million-selling Beatles album of the same name has been put up for sale by its owners.

Oil prices jumped 4 percent to above $77 a barrel on Tuesday, responding to a weaker U.S. dollar, stronger equities, and growing tensions over sanctions against Iran.

AstraZeneca Plc waded into the competitive rheumatoid arthritis market on Tuesday by buying rights to Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc's next-generation drug R788 for up to $1.245 billion.

Skype and Verizon announced a partnership Tuesday to bring a new application to nine of their Smartphone's, enabling its users to make international calls at Skype rates and call Skype users on PCs.

If you thought it was only cigarettes that were dangerous to smoke, think again: People who smoke cigars or pipes have a heightened risk of airway damage that could put them on a path toward emphysema and other diseases, a new study finds.

Express, the sixth-largest specialty retail apparel brand in the U.S. on Tuesday filed for an initial public offering of up to $200 million.

Natural gas infrastructure company Chesapeake Midstream Partners LP on Tuesday filed for an initial public offering of up to $345 million.

Verizon Wireless will let its customers make free or low-cost calls using Skype on its smart phones, making it the first U.S. operator to allow the Internet phone company on its network.

Kraft Foods Inc quarterly revenue fell short of Wall Street expectations, but said its $18.4 billion takeover of Cadbury Plc would accelerate long-term growth.

Barclays Plc beat forecasts with a near doubling of profits in 2009 to 11.6 billion pounds ($18.2 billion), cheering investors with an improved balance sheet and boosting shares across the sector.

Waste Management Inc posted higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday, helped by strong pricing and cost cuts, and the biggest U.S. trash hauler increased its dividend.

Stocks rose 1 percent on Tuesday as the latest batch of corporate earnings and data on manufacturing in New York state improved the profit and economic outlook.

Google's Chief Executive Eric Schmidt declared the age of the mobile phone had come as volume, growth and new capabilities had come together in an unprecedented way.

U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday, boosted by firms involved in commodities as the euro rallied strongly against the dollar and commodities prices gained.

A regional U.S. manufacturing gauge published Monday hit its highest level since October, but also suggested a rebound in that sector might run out of momentum.