IBT Staff Reporter

Oil fell by over a dollar below $48 a barrel on Wednesday, adding to Tuesday's 3.7 percent loss on falls for equities and after weekly data showed U.S. crude inventories up far more than expected.

Computer users' growing fear of worms and viruses could be behind a recent spike in attacks on PCs via bogus security software, according to a Microsoft Corp report published on Wednesday.

Acer Inc , the world's third-largest computer maker, gave an upbeat outlook for the current quarter, pinning its hopes on the launch of a number of new products.

Asian stocks tumbled on Wednesday and the U.S. dollar climbed, with investors bailing out of recent positions and camping on the sidelines to await company outlooks as what is expected to be a grim results season begins.

Japan's Sharp Corp , the world's third-largest LCD TV maker, said that it expected to post a much deeper annual loss on sliding LCD prices for the year just ended but that it will speed up panel production.

Oil fell by over a dollar toward $48 a barrel on Wednesday, adding to Tuesday's 3.7 percent loss on falls for equities and after weekly data showed U.S. crude inventories up far more than expected.

An estimated half billion loss at YouTube was predicted by an analyst with Credit Suise because it can't generate worthwhile income from advertising will be cleared next week as Google plans to hold a quarterly conference.

American International Group Inc's aircraft leasing unit is in talks over a $5 billion credit line from the New York Federal Reserve that could be used to facilitate its sale, the Financial Times reported on its website late on Tuesday.

Asian stocks slid for a second day on Wednesday while the U.S. dollar climbed, with investors fleeing to the sidelines to await companies' business outlooks as what is expected to be a grim results season begins.

Oil fell by over a dollar toward $48 a barrel on Wednesday, adding to Tuesday's 3.7 percent loss on falls for equities and after weekly data showed U.S. crude inventories up far more than expected.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi Tuesday called Barack Obama a flicker of hope in the middle of the imperialist darkness, but said he feared the president could be assassinated.

The U.S. government has launched an unprecedented array of actions to salvage the economy and stabilize the financial sector that could put up to $10.903 trillion of taxpayers' money at risk.

There's still bad news ahead for the U.S. economy and the bear market for stocks is not over yet, according to a prominent economist who foretold much of the current turmoil.

North Korea says somewhere up in the sky, a satellite it launched at the weekend is beaming to earth two revolutionary paeans: “Song of General Kim Il-sung” for the founder of the reclusive state and “Song of General Kim Jong-il,” for the son who succeeded him when he died.

A deficit of aluminum in China will be short lived as rumors that smelters are preparing to restart production circulate, Alcoa chief executive Klaus Kleinfeld said on Tuesday.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc reported a quarterly profit on Tuesday that easily topped Wall Street estimates, as sales were not as bad as feared, helping to send shares of the home furnishings retailer up 13.7 percent in after-hours trading.

Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc reported a second consecutive quarterly loss on Tuesday, as metal prices and the autos industry slumped and global demand fell in the economic downturn.

The Pentagon spent more than $100 million in the past six months to repair damage from cyber attacks and other computer network problems, military leaders said Tuesday.

Strong aftershocks shook central Italy on Tuesday and hampered rescue efforts after the country's worst earthquake in three decades killed at least 228 people and left thousands homeless.

The Japanese government plans to spend a total of 37 trillion yen ($370 billion) to help businesses meet their ends as parts of its additional economic stimulus package, according to a published report.

Three members of a U.S. congressional delegation met on Tuesday with former Cuban leader Fidel Castro in his first known talks with U.S. officials since he underwent surgery in July 2006.

Australian Dollar: The local market remained on tender hooks leading into yesterdays RBA rate decision with analysts seemingly split on the outcome.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday on a slight decrease in quarterly sales, and shares of the home furnishings retailer rose 10.9 percent in after hours trading.

Google Inc. rolled out a new way for users to search for content.

Bernard Madoff's $80,000 New York Mets baseball season tickets may be sold -- sort of -- to the highest bidder on eBay.

Blockbuster is struggling to keep up with the high demands of consumers who are turning more and more to its competitor, Netflix, who offers streaming movies online.

Today the Federal Reserve released monthly data on Consumer Credit from February 2009. In February, consumer credit decreased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.5 percent.

Stocks slid on Tuesday, hammered by fears that companies will show they struggled in the first quarter as the recession dragged on as the earnings season kicked off with Alcoa.

Former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori was sentenced to 25 years in prison Tuesday. He was convicted of ordering a military death squad to carry out two massacres that killed 25 people during his 1990-2000 rule. It is the first time for a democratically elected Latin American president was found guilty.