IBT Staff Reporter

First Solar Inc is on the verge of being included in the flagship S&P 500 index, a sign that alternative energy companies are now a mainstream investment.

Stocks were set to open higher on Tuesday on renewed hopes for a global economic recovery after Australia raised interest rates and in anticipation of the start of an improved earnings season.

Boeing Co said it would take a charge of $1 billion in the third quarter because of higher production costs and tough market conditions for its 747-8 program.

Comedian David Letterman said on Monday his wife has been horribly hurt by revelations of his sexual affairs exposed in an extortion plot against him and he apologized to staff of his popular late-night talk show.

American Idol is bringing back its Idol Gives Back charitable special on April 21 after a yearlong hiatus.

Consumer-goods maker Chattem Inc posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by cost cuts and growth in its domestic business, and reaffirmed its full-year adjusted earnings forecast.

Boeing Co said it would take a charge of $1 billion in the third quarter because of higher production costs and tough market conditions for its 747-8 program.

MTV is going forward with the late DJ AM's Intervention-style reality series Gone Too Far, which will premiere next Monday.

U.S. rapper Jim Jones pleaded guilty on Monday to misdemeanor assault charges related to a fight in Manhattan's Louis Vuitton store last December.

Pepsi Bottling Group Inc reported a slightly higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday, as price increases and easing commodity costs helped offset falling sales volume.

If anyone has amassed enough material for a tell-all one-person show, it's Carrie Fisher.

The U.S. apartment market in the third quarter turned in one of its weakest performances ever as the national vacancy rate hit a 23-year high despite being propped up by landlords willing to take lower rent to keep tenants, according to real estate research firm Reis Inc.

Carbon emissions from a group of richer developing nations including Russia, China, Brazil and the Middle East must stop growing by 2020 to control global warming, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday.

The dollar fell broadly Tuesday while stocks rose after Australia's interest rate rise, the first in a G20 economy in more than a year, boosted confidence the global economic recovery is on track and others may follow.

The long U.S. housing downturn has led homeowners to scale back both the size of houses and the amenities found within them, but consumers are still willing to invest in energy efficiency, according to a quarterly survey by an architects' trade group.

Lindsay Lohan thinks the collection she showed at the Paris Fashion Week couldn't maker her happier, but in the eyes of fashion critics the line is embarrassing and eventually a hot mess.

Pepsi Bottling Group Inc reported a slightly higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday, as price increases and easing commodity costs helped offset falling sales volume.

Oil prices rose more than $1 to above $71 per barrel on Tuesday, helped by a fall in the U.S. dollar after a report Gulf Arab states were in talks to replace the greenback with a basket of currencies in oil trading.

Mobile subscriptions will rise to 4.6 billion by the end of this year, boosted by a continuing mobile phone boom in emerging economies, the International Telecommunication Union said on Tuesday.

Stock futures rose on Tuesday on renewed hopes for a global economic recovery after Australia raised interest rates and in anticipation of the start of an improved earnings season.

Business process outsourcing company Sykes Enterprises Inc (SYKE.O) said it plans to acquire ICT Group Inc (ICTG.O), a provider of customer management and BPO services, for about $263 million in a cash-and-stock deal, to increase scale and expand its global reach.

Japan's government put pressure on the central bank on Tuesday to avoid ending its emergency funding for companies too soon, with the finance minister saying the economy had yet to regain balance.

Pioneer Drilling Co (PDC.A) said it would increase its 2009 capital budget by $15 million, and that it amended its revolving credit agreement reducing the total commitments available under the facility.

Stocks are expected to trade higher on Tuesday as the futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were up 0.2 to 0.3 percent at 4.18 a.m. ET.

Stock futures rose on Tuesday on renewed hopes for a global economic recovery after Australia raised interest rates.

Nearly 2 million children under five die from lack of care in India every year, more than in any other country, said a new report released on Monday which blames poor public health spending and entrenched inequalities.

Hong Kong stocks closed up for a second straight session on Tuesday, spurred by gains on Wall Street overnight, while higher gold and copper prices fuelled a rally on commodity-related shares.

European shares rose in early trade on Tuesday, adding to gains in the previous session as further evidence of global economic recovery boosted demand for riskier assets like equities.

Britain's leading share index rose 0.5 percent early on Tuesday, drawing strength from a rebound on Wall Street overnight, with gains in banks and miners offsetting weakness in defensive telecoms and pharmaceuticals.