IBT Staff Reporter

President Barack Obama's pick to fill his first U.S. Supreme Court vacancy, Sonia Sotomayor, goes before a Senate hearing on Monday with most people betting she already has enough votes to win confirmation.

Britain's largest gas retailer, Centrica, faced a setback in its battle to take over Venture Production on Monday, when the North Sea gas producer's two largest investors backed management's rejection of the $2 billion bid.

China Eastern Airlines said it will acquire rival Shanghai Airlines, a 9 billion yuan deal ($1.3 billion) which will create a newly capitalized carrier with more than half the air business in China's financial hub.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has life-threatening pancreatic cancer, South Korean broadcaster YTN said on Monday, citing information gathered from Chinese and South Korean intelligence sources.

Oil prices slipped more than $1 to below $59 a barrel on Monday, hitting their lowest in almost two months on concerns over the state of the global economy.

Stocks fell on Monday as caution about the latest earnings season derailed an early bounce, and investors fretted about the survival of CIT Group Inc , which provides financing to many small and mid-sized businesses.

The Dow and the S&P 500 indexes pared gains on Monday, while the Nasdaq turned negative, as caution about the latest earnings season persisted, and investors fretted about the survival of CIT Group Inc , which provides financing to many small and mid-sized businesses.

Earnings season continues, Oil forum, Treasury budget

There is a good chance that the United States and other leading economies will start growing again over the next few quarters, but significant risks to the outlook remain, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said.

The 20th World Oil Forum 2009 kicks off from July 13-15 in London, UK where world oil and gas executives will meet to focus on critical matters of the industry . The conference Growth Opportunities in the New PV Market: Projects, Finance and Policy will be held in San Francisco. British oil and gas firm Emerald Energy Plc confirmed today a third party is interested in a take over.

Six in 10 companies in a survey plan to skip the purchase of Microsoft Corp's Windows 7 computer operating system, many of them to pinch pennies and others over concern about compatibility with their existing applications.

CIT Group Inc , which provides financing to many small and mid-sized businesses, said it remains in talks with regulators to find ways to improve liquidity, after losses resulted in a capital crunch.

A U.S. judge agreed on Monday to delay the start of a trial in which U.S. tax authorities hoped to force UBS AG to reveal the identities of thousands of Americans suspected of using the bank to evade taxes.

U.S. stocks were set to open higher on Monday after influential bank analyst Meredith Whitney upgraded Goldman Sachs Group shares and gave bullish comments on financial stocks, sparking hopes corporate quarterly results may be surprisingly strong.

Electric car sales could jump to 86 percent of U.S. light vehicle sales in 2030 if consumers don't have to buy batteries themselves, according to a University of California, Berkeley study to be released on Monday.

England is set to miss its target to generate 10 percent of its power from renewable sources, such as wind, the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) said on Monday.

Speedy electric cars will soon compete with gas-guzzling SUVs on Abu Dhabi streets as the oil-exporting emirate buys into alternative energy, including, on Monday, a stake in electric-car start-up Tesla Motors Inc.

Stock futures climbed to session highs on Monday as shares of major U.S. banks advanced following positive comments from influential analyst Meredith Whitney on CNBC television.

Honda Motor Co's new chief executive said on Monday that Japan's No.2 automaker would speed up the rollout of its hybrid cars as he aims to steer a nimble company that reacts more quickly to changing customer needs.

Dutch conglomerate Philips Electronics signaled brighter business prospects for the second half of 2009, helped by cost cuts, as it surprised the market with a return to profit in the second quarter.

British oil and gas explorer Emerald Energy Plc said on Monday it received a takeover approach, continuing a wave of consolidation in the sector and lifting its shares to their highest in over a decade.

The global economic downturn is far from over, and few countries have dismantled the dangerous protectionist barriers they imposed in response to it, World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy said on Monday.

Financial difficulties at commercial lender CIT Group Inc could hurt small businesses that depend on credit to fund their growth and operations, though many of CIT's units serve an important function and are unlikely to disappear if the company restructures in bankruptcy court.

Stock futures were little changed on Monday as caution over the latest earnings season weighed and CIT Group Inc grappled with shoring up its finances, offsetting a broker upgrade of Goldman Sachs .

Hopes rose that Swiss bank UBS can finally move on from a damaging U.S. tax row, after a request for a delay to a high-profile trial scheduled for later on Monday brought a settlement nearer.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will seek to reassure Gulf Arab states this week that U.S. dollar assets they hold in large quantities remain a strong investment.

Oil prices slipped below $60 a barrel on Monday, heading toward a seven-week low on concerns over the state of the global economy as stock markets slid.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has signed into law new controls on the Internet that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has called repressive, local activists said Monday.

Australia summoned China's ambassador on Monday for a second time to press for details of the detention of Rio Tinto's top iron ore salesman in China and three other staff accused of spying.