IBT Staff Reporter

General Motors Corp Chief Executive Fritz Henderson said on Friday the automaker was readying detailed plans for a bankruptcy filing that now appears more likely even as it races to complete a business plan under federal oversight.

Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg said the chances of an iPhone on his network will be greater once a 4G cellular network is in place, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Stocks rose on Friday, with sentiment boosted by fresh signs of economic stability and investors bet more strong results are in the offing after reassuring reports from General Electric and Citigroup .

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will release a new $2.8 billion loan to Ukraine to help the country weather the economic crisis., official said on Friday.

General Electric Co reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit as strength at its energy equipment business offset falling earnings at its hefty finance arm and the NBC Universal media affiliate.

Stocks rose on Friday, putting the benchmark S&P 500 on course for a sixth straight weekly gain, as an upbeat consumer survey added to hopes of economic stabilization and investors bet on strong results ahead following reports of General Electric and Citigroup.

Two influential investor advisory groups sharply rebuked Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis over his handling of the buyout of ailing Merrill Lynch & Co, recommending he be stripped of his role of chairman at the bank's upcoming annual meeting.

Stocks rose on Friday as an upbeat consumer survey fueled hopes that the U.S. economic slump may be moderating and investors bet on strong results ahead following reassuring reports from General Electric and Citigroup .

Citigroup Inc reported a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss for shareholders as cost-cutting and improved results in investment banking and trading helped to offset red ink from consumer lending and credit cards.

General Electric Co said Friday its quarterly profit fell 36 percent; however, shares rose on analyst rates despite wobbly and high demand in loan in the economic environment.

The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 climbed to session highs on Friday, with investors encouraged by a consumer survey that added to hopes that the U.S. economy may be stabilizing and fueled expectations for more upbeat first-quarter corporate results.

Citigroup Inc reported a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss for shareholders as cost-cutting and improved investment banking and trading results helped offset red ink from consumer banking and credit cards.

Two influential investor advisory groups recommended on Friday that Bank of America Corp shareholders vote to strip CEO Kenneth Lewis of his chairman role, adding to pressure on the bank's leader following the controversial buyout of Merrill Lynch & Co.

Two influential investor advisory groups recommended on Friday that Bank of America Corp shareholders vote to strip CEO Kenneth Lewis of his chairman role, adding to pressure on the bank's leader following the controversial buyout of Merrill Lynch & Co.

U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, called on Friday for an Arab peace initiative to be part of a planned U.S. drive to create a Palestinian state.

Steven Rattner, who leads the Obama administration's auto task force, was one of the executives involved with payments being probed by New York state and federal regulators in an alleged pension kickback scheme, a source familiar with the situation said on Friday.

Steven Rattner, the leader of the Obama administration's auto task force, was one of the investment firm executives involved with payments now under scrutiny in a state and federal investigation into an alleged kickback scheme at New York state's pension fund, a source familiar with the situation said on Friday.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Friday that innovation in credit markets must not be stifled, but complexity designed to confuse customers and drive up lending fees would not be tolerated.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Friday that innovation in credit markets must not be stifled, but complexity designed to confuse customers and drive up lending fees would not be tolerated.

General Motors Corp Chief Executive Fritz Henderson said on Friday the automaker could still restructure out of court, but warned it was more probable GM may need to seek bankruptcy protection to complete that process.

Corrects list of core brands planned for GM in paragraph 3 to include Buick, remove Pontiac

Stocks fell on Friday as investors paused to reassess the sustainability of the recent spate of upbeat profits and whether or not the banks have turned a corner, following mixed results from Citigroup .

EBay Inc may be hungry to jettison its ill-fitting acquisition of Skype and refocus on its core markets and payment businesses. But selling off in an initial public offering the Web communications company that now boasts more than 400 million members worldwide may not be the best outcome for existing shareholders.

After nearly two years in the financial wilderness, what was once America’s largest bank is making a profit again, reporting its “best overall quarter” since the financial crisis began, with a net income of $1.6 billion for the first three months of 2009, Chief executive Vikram Pandit said in a company report released Friday.

U.S. consumers have more confidence in the economy than what they had for the past seven months, but overall sentiment is still dismal, according to a survey released on Friday by University of Michigan and Reuters.

Oil company Shell has amassed up to 10 cargoes or about 6 million barrels of Forties benchmark crude oil from the North Sea, possibly for storage, over the past two weeks, traders said on Friday.

A court in Sweden has jailed four men behind The Pirate Bay for one year after finding them guilty of assisting in making copyright content available.

Mattel Inc posted better gross margins on Friday as it kept a tight lid on costs and inventory in the first quarter, cheering investors to overlook a wider-than-expected loss for the period.

Sony Ericsson will take some time developing a phone using Google's Android operating system, its chief executive said on Friday, but declined to say when such a handset would be available.