IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. video game sales rose 10 percent in February to $1.47 billion, led again by Nintendo's blockbuster Wii console, as gaming continued to show resilience despite an economic downturn that has sapped consumer spending.

Hardware makers Advanced Micro Devices Nvidia have released graphics software that supports both current-generation Microsoft Windows Vista and XP operating systems as well as next-generation Windows 7.

Microsoft Corp. has released its latest edition of its Internet Explorer Web browser touting its new security features on Thursday, after almost a year of public beta testing.

UBS, one of the world’s leading financial firms, said Thursday that it is offering to buy back up to 1 billion euros ($1.30 billion) of its outstanding bonds to bolster up the bank’s Tier 1 capital ratio, using the available cash.

Terrafugia Inc., an aircraft company, announced the successful seven flights of its Transition Roadable Aircraft.

Palm Inc on Thursday said its upcoming Pre phone needs more polishing but that it was on track to start selling the high profit device in the first half of the year as it looks to grab back smartphone business from rivals.

Top U.S. movie rental chain Blockbuster Inc beat Wall Street earnings estimates and said it had reached agreements with most creditors to restructure debt due in August.

By Stuart Grudgings

Ford Motor launched its $2.95 billion asset-backed securities offering backed by auto loans under the Federal Reserve's new Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facilities on Thursday, market sources said.

Palm Inc on Thursday posted a 70 percent drop in quarterly revenue, as the poor economy aggravated already weak demand for its older phones, and shipments of its new Treo Pro phone were delayed.

General Electric Co's hefty finance arm expects to be profitable this year even though the economy may drive its profit down, nearer to $2 billion to $2.5 billion than to a $5 billion figure it gave in December, a top GE executive said on Thursday.

Top U.S. movie rental chain Blockbuster Inc turned in a quarterly net loss on Thursday due to a non-cash charge of $435 million for the impairment of goodwill and other assets, the company said.

The number of U.S. workers drawing state unemployment benefits hit another record high early this month and factory activity in the Mid-Atlantic region shrank again as the economy battles a severe downturn.

Investor Wilbur Ross, who made a fortune snapping up distressed companies, said on Thursday he expects as many as 800 more U.S. banks to fail in the next few years.

By Leah Schnurr

Chrysler said proposed partner Fiat SpA would assume 35 percent of its debt to the U.S. government and the U.S. automaker would no longer pay retention bonuses to key executives.

Moving with unusual speed, the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved legislation to recoup most of the $165 million in bonuses paid to American International Group Inc employees.

An IBM takeover of Sun Microsystems Inc would raise the prospect of creating a clear leader in computer servers, but gaining market share might not be what's behind IBM's expensive overtures in hard economic times.

By Matthew Robinson

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday charged the political adviser to New York state's former comptroller for corrupting the integrity of the pension fund by taking kickbacks from companies seeking to manage its money.

By Leah Schnurr

Moving with unusual speed, the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved legislation to recoup most of the $165 million in bonuses paid to American International Group Inc employees.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday charged the political adviser to New York state's former comptroller for corrupting the integrity of the pension fund by taking kickbacks from companies seeking to manage its money.

By Lucia Mutikani

By Grant McCool

Oil jumped more than 6 percent on Thursday to top $51 a barrel after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced a new plan to fight recession and a weak dollar boosted the appeal of commodities to investors.

Stocks trimmed earlier losses on Thursday, while the Nasdaq briefly turned positive, helped by a jump in shares of Oracle after the business software maker reported results that beat forecasts.

Investor Wilbur Ross, who made a fortune snapping up distressed companies, said on Thursday that he expects as many as 800 more U.S. banks to fail in the next few years.

Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd launched a service allowing its customers to buy or rent movies and TV series to download to their mobile phones.