IBT Staff Reporter

College students living in residency halls who wore the masks for a few hours a day and regularly used alcohol-based hand sanitizer cut their risk of coming down with flu-like illness by up to half, Dr. Allison E. Aiello of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and her colleagues found.

Global investors cut back on equities in January in the face of worries about the economy, potentially tighter monetary policy and in reaction to last year's stellar gains.

Every second critical infrastructure supplier has been a target of a cyberattack, a survey of security software firm McAfee showed on Thursday.

Search-engine company Startpage launched a service allowing users concerned about privacy to carry out Web searches and click on linked pages without being identified, tracked or recorded.

High-level targets around the world is constantly being bombarded by cyber-attacks, according to new research, highlighting the vulnerability of critical infrastructure in this globally connected era.

Motorola Inc's quarterly profit was slightly ahead of expectations and its smartphones sold better than expected in its first quarter selling phones running Google Inc's Android software.

U.S. President Barack Obama pushed job creation to the top of his agenda and vowed not to abandon his struggling healthcare overhaul after a political setback that raised doubts about his leadership.

New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods edged higher last month and the number of workers filing applications for jobless aid fell last week, indicating the economy remains on a steady recovery path.

Procter & Gamble Co and Colgate-Palmolive Co boosted sales of their brand name products in the last few months, convincing consumers to spend a little more with a bigger investment in advertising.

Sales of newly built single-family homes fell unexpectedly in December as the bounce from an initial tax credit fizzled, the latest sign that the government-led housing recovery might be losing some steam.

Tech stocks dropped in morning trading on Thursday as financials struggled to keep gains, S&P 500 edges down.

Ford Motor Co reported 2009 earnings of $2.7 billion on Thursday, its first full-year profit since 2005, and said it expects a 2010 profit amid market share gains and a slow U.S. auto sales recovery.

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday after weaker-than-expected data on durable goods and jobless claims fueled uncertainty about the economy's recovery, and outlooks from Motorola and Qualcomm hit tech shares.

Toyota Motor Corp. announced further model recalls on Thursday, saying that it would spread to China and Europe after faulty accelerator pedal problems were reported.

The buzz in the gadget world has shifted from Amazon.com to Apple Inc with the launch of its long-awaited iPad tablet, but analysts say the world's largest retailer's Kindle device is safe in its smaller market -- for now.

Toyota Motor Corp extended its safety recall of millions of its most popular cars to Europe and China on Thursday in a further blow to the reputation of the world's largest auto maker.

Procter & Gamble Co and Colgate-Palmolive Co boosted sales of their brand name products in the last few months, convincing consumers to spend a little more with a bigger investment in advertising.

Procter & Gamble Co and Colgate-Palmolive Co boosted sales of their brand name products in the last few months, after persuading consumers to spend a little more with a bigger investment in advertising.

Motorola Inc posted a small quarterly profit versus a year-earlier loss but revenue missed Wall Street estimates for its first quarter selling phones based on Google Inc's Android software.

Wall St opened flat on Thursday in the wake of the President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech, which had no new plans to tighten Wall Street oversight, as durable goods orders and jobs data offered a mixed picture on the economy.

If consumers love Apple's new iPad as much as Wall Street does, it is destined to be a hit.

Procter & Gamble Co posted a better-than-expected profit, as promotional price cuts and increased advertising helped bring more shoppers back to its brands. It added that sales should rise more than expected this year.

Toyota Motor Corp is extending to Europe the recall of millions of its most popular cars due to dangerous accelerator pedals, a further blow to the reputation of the world's largest car maker.

New models from Nokia and Motorola Inc helped them recapture market share in the lucrative smartphone sector, lifting both firms' results above expectations for the fourth quarter.

Ford Motor Co. has stopped production of a full-size commercial vehicle sold in China after discovering that its gas pedal comes from the same supplier that forced Toyota to issue a broad recall of cars.

Top mobile phone maker Nokia'sfourth-quarter sales and profits beat expectations as it regained market share in smartphones, sending its stock price 14 percent higher.

New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods rose last month and the number of workers filing applications for unemployment aid fell last week, indicating the economy remains on a steady recovery path.

Chinese real estate company IFM Investments Ltd priced its initial public offering at the bottom of a lowered range, an underwriter said on Wednesday.

Private equity firm Apollo Management founder Leon Black said on Wednesday he sees investment opportunities in commercial real estate, commodities, metals, energy and agriculture.