IBT Staff Reporter

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday rejected a proposed bipartisan task force to reduce record budget deficits, but the White House said it was considering creating such a panel itself.

Financial and basic materials stocks closed lower on Tuesday, sending the S&P 500 Index, Nasdaq Composite Index, and Dow Jones Industrial Average into negative territory after posting gains earlier in the day.

Bookseller Borders Group Inc said on Tuesday that Chief Executive Officer Ron Marshall had resigned to work for another retailer and would be replaced on an interim basis by the head of its marketing and merchandising teams.

Apple Inc's strong quarterly results and mounting excitement over its product launch on Wednesday pushed shares of the iPhone maker sharply higher on Tuesday.

U.S. tax authorities will soon demand that corporations reveal much more detailed financial information during audits, the top U.S. tax official said on Tuesday.

General Motors Co is close to announcing a deal to sell its Swedish unit Saab to Dutch sports car maker Spyker Cars NV, Bloomberg news service reported Tuesday, citing someone it said was familiar with negotiations.

U.S. defence giant Lockheed Martin hopes to sign an agreement with Israel on its F-35 fighter jet by the end of the year, and targets 75 to 100 jets for the deal, an executive said on Friday.

An A.P. Moller-Maersk executive said on Sunday a deal to buy Devon Energy Corp's stakes in two Gulf of Mexico oilfields was off after other owners used purchase rights, but Maersk may still buy a stake in a third field under the initial deal.

Apple Inc. is widely expected to launch its next generation gadget - an iSlate entertainment device - in San Francisco tomorrow. The event is expected to start at 10 a.m. PST Wednesday morning.

Apple shares were up on Tuesday, a day after the electronics maker reported its latest quarterly results.

Tiny Dutch sportscar maker Spyker clinched a last-minute deal on Tuesday to buy Sweden's Saab, in an audacious attempt to turn around a money-losing brand that only days ago was headed for oblivion.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and ex-New York Fed Chairman Stephen Friedman will testify at a congressional hearing on bailed-out insurer AIG's payments to banks, a committee aide said on Tuesday.

EBay Inc said on Tuesday it would stop charging upfront fees for some people who sell low-priced items and change other parts of its fee system in the United States to spur more transactions on its site.

Nokia will drop the ailing Comes with Music offering from the new version of its flagship X6 music phone, hoping a one-third cheaper price tag will boost sales of the model.

The International Monetary Fund sharply raised its global economic growth forecast, casting developing countries in a leading role while rich nations struggle with high unemployment and government debt.

Apple Inc posted better-than-forecast Mac sales and strong growth in Asia and Europe, but iPhone shipments came in just below Wall Street's somewhat heightened expectations.

Internet companies and civil liberty groups have voiced alarm over a proposed Italian law which would make online service providers responsible for their audiovisual content and copyright infringements by users.

China's most popular search engine Baidu has been cleared of piracy in a dispute with the music industry, the IFPI trade body for the music sector said on Tuesday.

U.S. consumer confidence in January hit its highest level in nearly a year and a half, but a closely watched housing index showed an unexpected decline in November home prices, giving a mixed picture of the economic recovery.

Johnson & Johnson reported better-than-expected quarterly sales and earnings, helped by sharply lower taxes and a return to growth for its array of medicines, medical devices and consumer products.

The US space agency NASA has conceded defeat in its battle to free the Spirit rover from its Martian sand trap.

On December 14, 2009, Kourtney Kardashian gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Mason Dash Disick. She is quoted as saying that she gained 40 pounds - an entirely reasonable and typical amount for a normal, full term pregnancy.

Despite the best intentions of the international community, Haitians have little faith they will see the billions of dollars in aid pledged to rebuild their earthquake-shattered country, which international monitors rate as one of the world's most corrupt.

The U.S. budget deficit will remain at levels not seen since World War Two, congressional experts said on Tuesday in a report that lays out the stark challenge facing President Barack Obama as he seeks to create jobs and cut spending at the same time.

(In paragraph 7, deletes operating from first reference to sales growth)

Johnson & Johnson reported better-than-expected quarterly sales and earnings, helped by sharply lower taxes and a return to solid growth for its array of medicines, medical devices and consumer products.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and former New York Federal Reserve Chairman Stephen Friedman will testify at a congressional hearing into bailed-out insurer AIG's payments to banks on Wednesday, a committee aide said on Tuesday.

Pharmaceuticals are mixed in mid-day trading as two major firms reported earnings in pre-market hours.

U.S. retail sales should rise 2.5 percent this year, signaling that store chains have made it through the worst of the downturn as improvements in the housing and job markets bolster shoppers' confidence, a trade group forecast on Tuesday.