IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. stocks erased morning gains to close lower on Monday as the basic materials and financial sector weighed down the market.

The Federal Reserve could sell some assets later this year in an effort to whittle down its bloated balance sheet to avoid inflation, a senior Federal Reserve official said on Monday.

Sarah Palin was in the spotlight on Monday for reading crib notes written on the palm of her left hand during an interview at the Tea Party convention in Nashville.

The U.S. job market improved in January for the fifth consecutive month, pointing to possible job growth in the first quarter of this year, a research group said on Monday.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal on Monday accused the United States of undermining Palestinian unity efforts and said he saw no chance for peace in the Middle East under Israel's current leadership.

Democratic Representative John Murtha, who advocated to protect the steel and manufacturing industries in the U.S., died on Monday.

After gapping higher on the open yesterday the Aussie dollar pared back gains above 87 cents to spend the majority of the Asian day exchanging between 0.8640 and 0.8680.

After two years of delays, Intel has launched its Itanium server processor and re-drawn the road map for its only chip not to use an x86 core.

Dutch sports car maker Spyker Cars on Monday said it has secured the financing to close its purchase of the Swedish auto brand Saab from General Motors, but still has not secured the funds for a required subsequent payment.

Toyota Motor Corp will suspend domestic production of its Sai and Lexus HS250h hybrids, which are to be recalled for faulty brakes, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The Dow industrials closed below 10,000 for the first time since November on Monday as investors sold bank shares due to heightened concerns about the euro zone's sovereign debt troubles.

Toyota Motor Corp will suspend domestic production of its Sai and Lexus HS250h hybrids, which are to be recalled for faulty brakes, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Tuesday.

A U.S. financial crime agency has adopted a rule allowing local, state and foreign police agencies to seek information from American banks, despite opposition from industry groups.

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin said in an interview aired on Fox News Sunday, that she would run for President in 2012 if she believed that was the right thing to do for the U.S. and for the Palin family.

A Charlottetown boy was given 18 months probation Monday for making a threat against his school on Facebook, according to published reports.

REUTERS FORECASTS:The median forecast for retail sales is for a rise of 0.3 percent after a 0.3 percent fall in December. Forecasts range from a drop of 1 percent to an increase of 0.8 percent.

Most often bridges make us wonder how technology made possible their construction. They are a means of getting from one point to another but although we walk or drive on them (almost) daily, we don't always stop to admire them.

Not wanting to be left behind by the social networking storm, Google is set to roll out as early as this week, a Twitter-like feature for Gmail, according to reports.

AT&T is unveiling a new app that will allow parents to track their children's location from their iPhone.

Hasbro Inc posted a much stronger-than-expected quarterly profit and said the momentum in its games and its toys for boys would help 2010 profit and revenue rise, sending its shares up nearly 14 percent.

Michael Jackson's doctor has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the pop singer's death last year, according to reports.

Stocks fell on Monday on fears that possible fallout from the euro zone's sovereign debt troubles might force banks to raise capital, diluting the holdings of existing share owners.

CVS Caremark Corp said recent problems at its pharmacy benefits management unit have been corrected and it posted a slightly better-than-expected rise in quarterly profit as its drugstore bested its rivals, driving the company's shares up as much as 8.8 percent.

Fears about the sovereign debt of peripheral European nations continue as investors are show dissatisfaction with the stance of European G7 members.

The U.S. Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has agreed to sell its headquarters building in Washington to CoStar Group Inc (CSGP.O) for a loss, the Wall Street Journal said.

Canadian housing starts rose by a larger than expected 5.8 percent in January, the fourth straight monthly gain, offering further proof of housing's strength in an otherwise tepid economy.

The Obama administration and U.S. lawmakers are missing an opportunity to revamp the U.S. housing finance system, which should be central to regulatory reform, a top Federal Reserve official said in an interview on Monday.

The Nasdaq turned negative in choppy trade on Monday, and the Dow and S&P 500 indexes extended losses, as caution about potential fallout from Europe's sovereign debt problems weighed on sentiment.

Bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc. said on Monday that its Nook electronic reader would be available in most of its physical stores as of Wednesday, ahead of Valentine's Day, ending weeks of delays.