IBT Staff Reporter

Electronic trading services provider Knight Capital Group Inc's quarterly profit fell short of expectations, as its trading income took a hit from lower market volatility and higher regulatory transaction fees, sending its shares down 18 percent.

Oil jumped 3 percent to over $81 a barrel on Wednesday to its highest level in a year due to a drawdown in U.S. refined oil inventories and as a rise in U.S. equities showed optimism about the economy and a potential rebound in energy demand.

Research In Motion has rolled out an updated version of its top-end BlackBerry Bold, aiming to reassert its dominance in the professional market at a time when its retail consumer business has come under growing pressure from Apple's iPhone.

Epic swindler Bernard Madoff shared a prison cell with a 21-year-old drug dealer, and other fellow inmates included a spy and a mob boss when he was sent to prison in July, according to court documents.

Hedge fund firm Galleon Group said it is winding down its funds, less than a week after its founder was arrested and charged with running one of the biggest insider-trading schemes ever involving a hedge fund.

Barnes & Noble's new Nook e-reader made its debut on Tuesday and became the latest in a series of new eReaders popping up recently to compete with Amazon's Kindle.

Boeing Co on Wednesday posted a larger-than-expected quarterly loss on costs related to its long-delayed 787 Dreamliner program, but the world's second-largest planemaker reaffirmed that the aircraft is on track to fly this year.

Soomaa National Park in central Estonia has joined the Pan Parks network of protected wilderness areas.

Google Inc is partnering with major music labels to launch a new feature to make it easier for music fans to discover, sample and buy songs on the search engine, according to two people familiar with the plan.

U.S. stocks gained on Wednesday as results from banks, including Morgan Stanley, topped expectations, and on increased optimism about the technology sector's profit outlook.

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Tuesday new estimates showed a healthcare overhaul drafted by Democrats would reduce the U.S. budget deficit over 10 years and cost less than $900 billion.

Hedge fund firm Galleon Group said it is winding down its funds, less than a week after its founder was arrested and charged with running one of the biggest insider-trading schemes ever involving a hedge fund.

Eli Lilly and Co posted third-quarter profit well above Wall Street expectations on Wednesday on strong performance of its major prescription drugs and lower taxes, but it said an inventory benefit that helped results might reverse in the fourth quarter.

Brookfield Incorporacoes, the Brazilian real estate unit of Canada's Brookfield Asset Management, said on Tuesday it raised $272 million in a share offering.

Morgan Stanley reported better-than expected third-quarter profit on Wednesday with results bolstered by strong fixed income sales and trading revenue and improved investment banking underwriting results.

Shares of AGA Medical Holdings Inc, a maker of devices for heart defects and blood vessel diseases, edged up 1 percent in their debut on Nasdaq Wednesday after the company's IPO priced below range.

Plains Capital Corp, a Dallas-based bank holding company and mortgage lender, said it expects its initial public offering of 15 million shares to be priced at $14 to $16 a share, in what could be the first IPO by a bank in more than two years.

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to meet his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao on Saturday, hoping to douse an escalating verbal duel between the Asian giants centered around their decades-old border dispute.

Famous former Bachelor and single father Jason Mesnick got engaged to Molly Malaney after he proposed to her in New Zealand, according to People Magazine.

Many of us enjoy the rhythmic sound of water. Spraying water. Rushing water. Trickling water. The sound of water gently lapping at a shore or raindrops on the roof of our home. We have water

A management revamp at Nokia following a record loss has given 51-year old chief financial officer Rick Simonson a shot at becoming the first non-Finnish chief executive of the world's largest handset maker.

Verizon Communications Chief Executive Ivan Seidenberg said on Wednesday the current debate about net neutrality is extremely troubling and risks halting progress in broadband development.

President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization had not been damaged by the complications of pursuing membership together with Kazakhstan and Belarus.

TCF Financial Corp reported a 42 percent drop in quarterly profit that missed market expectations, hurt by a higher provision for credit losses.

Stocks gained on Wednesday as results from banks including Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo topped expectations, and on increased optimism about the profit outlook for the technology sector.

Gentex Corp posted a better-than-expected 58 percent rise in third-quarter profit on Wednesday and forecast a revenue increase of up to 35 percent for the fourth quarter, citing improving production volumes by automaker customers.

The world needs genetically modified crops both to increase food yields and minimize the environmental impact of farming, Britain's top science academy said on Wednesday.

Spain's Grupo Ferrovial, under pressure to reduce its dominance in UK airports, has agreed to sell London's Gatwick for a smaller-than-expected 1.51 billion pounds ($2.46 billion) to a consortium involving Credit Suisse and General Electric.

Oil jumped to $80.05 a barrel on Wednesday, matching its one-year high hit the previous day, after a U.S. government report showed a smaller than expected rise in crude stocks in the world's top consumer.