IBT Staff Reporter

Stocks rose for a second day on Tuesday as investors snapped up shares in the technology sector ahead of results from Hewlett Packard , betting the tech bellwether may be the latest company to beat estimates.

Last summer Charity Challenge was approached by Gary Barlow about staging a Kilimanjaro climb for Comic Relief. By December we were working almost seven days a week on planning the event.

U.S. President Barack Obama took aim at climate-warming greenhouse gases on Tuesday and obliged the struggling auto industry to make more efficient cars by imposing tough national standards to cut emissions and increase gas mileage.

Financier and money manager J. Ezra Merkin will stop managing his hedge funds and place them into receivership at the demand of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, a person familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal.

U.S. President Barack Obama took aim at climate-warming greenhouse gases on Tuesday and obliged the struggling auto industry to make more efficient cars by imposing tough national standards to cut emissions and increase gas mileage.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Tuesday it is expanding its assortment of hot electronics, like Blu-ray DVD players and high-definition TVs, and freshening the look of its 3,500 U.S. electronics departments as the retailer seeks to grab market share.

AT&T Inc, the biggest U.S. telephone company, plans to offer Web-based data storage services for corporations using cloud computing technologies developed by data storage equipment maker EMC Corp.

Shareholders could get more influence over executive pay and the composition of boards of directors under U.S. legislation unveiled on Tuesday.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc on Tuesday said it would meet shareholders to discuss its future pay policies as investors rejected their pay packages during the Annual General meeting of its 2008 remuneration report held in London and Hague.

Brazilian Company, Petrobras which has acquired 60% of interest in Namibian exploration recently on Tuesday said it has $10 billion credit line from the China Development Bank to refinance its investments and services that has bought from china.

AT&T Inc plans to expand sales of netbook computers to all its stores in an effort to expand wireless services beyond cell phones.

Dr. Shad Helmstetter, my favorite contemporary author on the subject of self-talk, titled his book, What to Say When You Talk to Yourself.

SanDisk Corp Chief Executive Eli Harari said 2009 could turn out to be significantly better than anticipated at the start of the year as big cutbacks in flash memory production bring balance back to an industry stung by oversupply.

Oil prices rose on Tuesday as a flurry of U.S. refinery problems stoked supply fears leading into peak summer driving season.

Stocks moved higher on Tuesday as investors bet that April's slide in U.S. housing starts and permits signaled that the housing market may soon stabilize as the supply of new homes dwindles.

HSBC Holdings, Europe's biggest bank, expects to see consolidation in the financial industry later this year and in early 2010 that will create buying opportunities, Chief Executive Michael Geoghegan said on Tuesday.

Norilsk Nickel Chairman Alexander Voloshin said on Tuesday it would make sense for the world's largest nickel miner to merge with other Russian metals companies after the financial crisis is over.

President Barack Obama proposed on Tuesday the first U.S. regulation of auto emissions in a bid to reduce climate-warming greenhouse gasses and lower dependence on foreign oil.

Luxury goods may have lost their luster for many people due to the recession, but in Australia, some pets are still living the good life.

Oil prices rose on Tuesday on buying inspired by gains on Wall Street and a flurry of U.S. refinery problems leading into peak summer driving season.

Oil slipped from a six-month high above $60 a barrel on Tuesday along with other commodities and stock markets as data showed U.S. housing starts fell to a record low in April, tempering hopes of economic stabilization.

U.S. banking supervisors have received requests from several major banks to repay emergency government investments, a Federal Reserve spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa did what four of his predecessors could not do, and many thought was impossible -- win one of the world's most stubborn civil wars.

Sales of smartphones are set to grow 12-15 percent in 2009, said Lee Williams, chief of the Symbian Foundation, the consortium of companies around the world's most popular smartphone operating system.

Receivers would take control of three hedge funds run by prominent money manager Ezra Merkin and linked to the Madoff fraud, lawyers for New York's top legal officer and Merkin said on Tuesday.

Jewish settler leaders on Tuesday shrugged off President Barack Obama's call for Israel to halt settlement building in the occupied West Bank, saying Palestinians needed to halt terror first.

A Chinese government spokesman on Tuesday brushed aside questions about a top official purged for opposing the armed crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 1989, saying the official verdict on the demonstrations still stood.

Indian Prime Minister-elect Manmohan Singh vowed on Tuesday to revive growth and spread the benefits of economic expansion that swept his coalition back to power with a decisive mandate in a general election.

Myanmar's Southeast Asian neighbors expressed grave concern on Tuesday over the trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi but China said it would not interfere in the regime's affairs.