IBT Staff Reporter

IBM is confident about its earnings outlook for this year and 2010, saying its focus on high-margin software and its geographic diversity would help buffer the impact of a slower economy.

AT&T Inc said on Wednesday it had given its best and final offer for a labor agreement covering about 9 percent of its employees whose contract has expired.

Honda Motor Co (7267.T) is taking steps to raise output in Japan in preparation for a likely uptick in demand if a bill to offer consumers cash to replace old cars becomes law, its chief financial officer said on Wednesday.

Stocks tumbled on Wednesday as worse-than-expected retail sales hurt shares in the sector, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc, and dampened recent enthusiasm over the economic outlook.

Fiat (FIA.MI) is discussing closing one of its plants in Italy and reducing operations at another, German unions have told their Italian counterparts, an official of Italy's FIM-CISL union told Reuters on Wednesday.

Auto dealers lobbied Congress on Wednesday to try to slow plans by General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC to cut their ranks.

Now that European, South Korean and Japanese authorities have moved against chip giant Intel Corp for breaking antitrust laws, the question is: Are U.S. officials feeling pressure to take action, too?

With General Motors Corp planning to end production of Saturns and Pontiacs at its Delaware plant which employs more than 1,000 people, state leaders are scrambling to win new work at the facility or persuade the company to move other operations to the region.

U.S. mortgage application demand slid to the lowest level since mid-March, driven by a drop in requests to refinance loans even as borrowing costs dipped toward record lows last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.

Microsoft is developing a video camera for the Xbox 360 games console that will allow players to control games through the movement of their bodies according to a report Tuesday from The Wall Street Journal.

Most motorcyclists are happy enough to go green, except when it comes to the bikes they ride.

The head of chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. is celebrating a $1.45 billion antitrust fine by the European Union against its rival, Intel Corp.

Militants and hate groups increasingly use social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and YouTube as propaganda tools to recruit new members, according to a report by the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

EU regulators on Wednesday fined Intel Corp a record 1.06 billion euros ($1.45 billion) for antitrust violations and ordered it to halt illegal practices used to squeeze out rival AMD.

Stocks slumped on Wednesday after retail sales data came in worse than expected, hurting shares in the sector including Wal-Mart Stores Inc and blurring the economic outlook.

The European Union has imposed a fine of €1.06 billion ($1.44 billion) Wednesday on Intel Corporation for violating EU treaty antitrust rules on the abuse of a dominant market position.

Democrats at the U.S. Energy and Commerce Committee have agreed on a renewable energy standard, greenhouse gas emissions cap and allowances distribution on the climate bill, Chairman Henry Waxman said yesterday evening.

Online classified site Craigslist will replace its erotic services ads with a new adult category to bar flagrant prostitution and porn, the Connecticut attorney general's office said on Wednesday.

The CEO of AIG tried to reassure the U.S. Congress on Wednesday that the bailed-out insurer will be able to repay taxpayer aid within three to five years if the economy permits.

President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that the U.S. House of Representatives is working to approve a comprehensive overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system by the end of July.

The chief executive of American International Group Inc told Congress on Wednesday that the bailed-out insurer will repay all its taxpayer aid in three to five years if the economy permits.

Clearwire Corp said on Wednesday that Cisco Systems Inc would build devices for customers of a high-speed wireless network Clearwire is building based on emerging WiMax technology.

Big emerging countries like China, India, Brazil and South Africa must do more to open their markets to secure a new global trade deal, the U.S. trade chief said on Wednesday.

U.S. stocks retreated on Wednesday after key U.S. retail sales data came in worse than expected, dampening hopes of a quick economic recovery.

Apple Inc investors may want to circle June 8 on their calendars.

Europe has squandered the opportunity created by the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago for a new era of cooperation between East and West, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev said on Wednesday.

Frontier Communications Inc has agreed to buy 4.8 million access lines from Verizon Communications Inc for $5.25 billion in stock, in a deal that triples its size and makes it the largest U.S. communications provider serving rural areas.

IBM Chief Executive Sam Palmisano reiterated his outlook for 2010 earnings, saying the company's focus on high-margin software and its geographic diversity would help buffer the impact of a slower economy.

Sales at U.S. retailers fell for a second straight month in April, pulled down by sluggish gasoline and electronic goods purchases, government data showed on Wednesday.