IBT Staff Reporter

President Barack Obama was expected to sign into law on Friday a package of sweeping new limits on credit card interest rates and fees that won final approval from the U.S. Congress on Wednesday .

A judge declined on Wednesday to postpone Chrysler's bankruptcy to allow a district court to hear arguments about whether the U.S. government exceeded its authority in the reorganization of the automaker.

Shareholders would have greater power to nominate corporate directors, a process now tightly controlled by company management, under a proposal issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.

The largest chemical maker in the US, Dow Chemical on Wednesday said it will sell another $900 million strategic assets from its Calcium Chloride unit for $210 million to pay down its debt on its Rohm and Haas acquisition of $16.4 billion.

MAIN FOCUS: FSLR using yesterday's high as buy trigger. If it holds above 194.29 it should retest $200 area. This may need some time to settup.

President Barack Obama, speaking to a high-level advisory panel of economic experts, said on Wednesday that U.S. financial markets had improved recently but he was concerned the country would face higher unemployment for some time.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to approve legislation to curb sudden credit card interest rate hikes and hidden fees, with President Barack Obama expected to sign it within days.

Stocks fell on Wednesday, as financial shares sold off following their recent run-up and as the Federal Reserve offered a more pessimistic view on the economy's prospects.

Stocks fell on Wednesday, as financial shares sold off following their recent run-up and as the Federal Reserve offered a more pessimistic view on the economy's prospects.

Redwood Real Estate Partners, Inc said on Wednesday it launched a fund to buy up to $500 million in distressed residential real estate amid an expected surge in bank-owned properties.

Worldwide cell phone sales fell in the first quarter of this year, while smartphones continued to grow with Apple's iPhone more than doubling its market share from , according to a report published by Gartner Wednesday.

Western Digital Corp. will sell its Sarawak, Malaysia, substrate manufacturing facility to a subsidiary of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, the hard drive manufacturing unit of Hitachi, Ltd.

The U.S. Congress on Tuesday sent President Barack Obama a housing rescue bill that aims to save 400,000 homeowners from foreclosure and will spend $2.2 billion on programs to aid the homeless.

Americans could face higher unemployment for some time to come, President Barack Obama warned on Wednesday, underscoring the tough challenges the country faces even as the economy shows signs of stabilizing.

U.S. investigators searched the New York offices of FTC Capital Markets Inc for evidence in a suspected investment fraud possibly involving hundreds of millions of dollars, a source familiar with the probe said on Wednesday.

Israel is ready to open peace talks with Syria immediately and without preconditions, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday after talks with U.S. President Barack Obama.

The families who control Porsche are open to the idea of selling a stake to an outside investor, the company said Wednesday.

The U.S. Congress on Wednesday gave final approval to a bill that would impose sweeping new limits on the credit card industry, with President Barack Obama expected to sign it into law within days.

The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday that it saw modest improvements in the U.S. economy last month, but considered increasing purchases of mortgage-related and government debt to spur recovery.

Although well off their all-time highs, American stocks are now marginally up for the current year.

Stocks rose on Wednesday as shares of McDonald's Corp and Procter & Gamble Co advanced on positive broker comments, but profit-taking in financials and the Federal Reserve's cautious comments on the economy kept gains in check.

The U.S. Federal Reserve saw modest improvements in the economic outlook at its April meeting, but mulled increasing purchases of mortgage agency and government securities to give the recovery an additional push, minutes of the meeting showed on Wednesday.

Sixteen people who worked for defunct securities firm Joseph Stevens & Co Inc have been indicted over a scheme that netted $6.2 million in unlawful stock commissions, the Manhattan district attorney said on Wednesday.

A bankruptcy court judge on Wednesday said she may rule by next month on efforts by Washington Mutual Inc to get back more than $4 billion in cash deposits to which it lost access when the bank was sold to JPMorgan Chase & Co last year.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed on Wednesday to give shareholders greater power to nominate corporate board directors, a process now tightly controlled by company management.

A recovery in cellphone demand will not happen until well into 2010, researcher Gartner said on Wednesday, while Reuters data showed the industry could suffer its worst quarter ever in April-June.

Gartner corrects Q1 market fall to 8.6 percent from 9.4 percent in paragraph 2

A recovery in cell phone demand will not happen until well into 2010, researcher Gartner said on Wednesday, while Reuters data showed the industry could suffer its worst quarter ever in April-June.

Seven people accused of publicizing a New York City prostitution ring over Craigslist have been indicted, adding to pressure on the online classified site to vet its ads.