IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. Internet firm Yahoo Inc is not opposed to doing a deal that would potentially sell its search business, Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen said on Wednesday

Feb 25, 2009

General Motors Corp saw its fourth-quarter sales drop 26 percent and ended the year desperately short of cash and dependent on a $13.4-billion government lifeline to remain in business. So when the automaker reports fourth-quarter financial results on Wednesday, investors will be looking beyond the bad news for an update on its survival plan. The key to valuing GM's shares and debt i...

Feb 25, 2009

U.S. banking regulators on Wednesday launched a stress test program to assess the largest banks' ability cope with the possibility of a deeper recession in which the unemployment rate climbs above 10 percent next year.

Feb 25, 2009

A former municipal banker at Bear, Stearns & Co, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to fraud involving hospital financing that is part of a wide-ranging probe of government corruption in Illinois.

Feb 25, 2009

Stocks fell on Wednesday after President Barack Obama warned of stricter oversight for Wall Street, raising the specter of greater regulation that investors fear could sap profits.

Feb 25, 2009

The world's top mobile phone maker Nokia is eyeing entering the laptop business, its Chief Executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said in an interview to Finnish national broadcaster YLE on Wednesday. We are looking very actively also at this opportunity, Kallasvuo said, when asked whether Nokia plans to make laptops. Industry has rumored about Nokia's possible plan to enter the PC industry since la...

Feb 25, 2009

The Australian Dollar opens a shade weaker today at 0.6468 but remains entrenched in its recent broad range between 0.6350 and 0.6550. The Aussie hit an overnight high of 0.6554 – a level which is proving a tough one to break. Despite further poor economic data out of the United States last night, this time in the form of a 12-year low in existing home sales, the Aussie was caught up in moves lower by the Euro and Yen.

Feb 25, 2009

a feature aimed at encouraging banks to redeem the shares or replace government capital with private capital.

Feb 25, 2009

U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday as more weak housing data reinforced fears about the economy, while banks weakened in late trading after the government launched tests to gauge their ability to withstand a long and deep recession. * Sales of previously owned U.S. homes plunged much more than expected January, pulling homebuilders down 2.1 percent. * After a choppy session that saw indexes swing both ...

Feb 25, 2009

Oil prices jumped 6 percent to above $42 a barrel on Wednesday, after a U.S. government report showed a sharp drop in gasoline inventories in the world's top consumer.

Feb 25, 2009

the massive concrete barrier separating Israel from the Palestinians. Over the Internet, a group of Palestinian graffiti artists is offering to spray-paint your personal message on Israel's towering security wall in the occupied West Bank. It costs 30 euros ($40) per message and they can be as solemn or wacky as you want. Everything goes, except for obscene, offensive or extremist hate speech. Cl...

Feb 25, 2009

Large majorities of Americans support U.S. President Barack Obama's plans to revive the economy and his efforts to work across party lines, according to a pair of public opinion polls released on Monday.

Feb 25, 2009

although that part of the law is seen as something of a gray area. Still, the mood at Wednesday's annual meeting was casual. Shareholders joined in a Happy Birthday chorus for Jobs, who was absent but turned 54 on Tuesday. In 2004, Jobs was treated for a rare type of pancreatic cancer. He appeared gaunt at an Apple event in June 2008, touching off speculation that his cancer had returned. The...

Feb 25, 2009

Stocks fell on Wednesday as investors were hit by a report showing yet more deterioration in the housing market, while uncertainty about Washington's plans to shore up the banking system persisted. President Barack Obama's first address to Congress offered few new insights on government plans to stabilize the economy and shore up banks. Investors sold off shares of financial services companies a...

Feb 25, 2009

Netflix Inc Chief Financial Officer Barry McCarthy said on Wednesday it plans to offer its online streaming service on a stand-alone basis.

Feb 25, 2009

Netflix Inc Chief Financial Officer Barry McCarthy said on Wednesday it plans to offer its online streaming service on a stand-alone basis. We're likely to do that in the foreseeable future, McCarthy said at the Jefferies 5th annual Internet and Media conference in New York. Netflix customers currently pay a fixed monthly subscription fee for access to the company's popular by-mail DVD servi...

Feb 25, 2009

although that part of the law is seen as something of a gray area. Still, the mood at Wednesday's annual meeting was casual. Shareholders joined in a Happy Birthday chorus for Jobs, who was absent but turned 54 on Tuesday. In 2004, Jobs was treated for a rare type of pancreatic cancer. He appeared gaunt at an Apple event in June 2008, touching off speculation that his cancer had returned. The...

Feb 25, 2009

Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs remains deeply involved in company decisions despite relinquishing control over daily operations, company executives said on Wednesday.

Feb 25, 2009

Apple Inc's chief executive Steve Jobs remains deeply involved in company decisions despite relinquishing control over daily operations, company executives said on Wednesday.

Feb 25, 2009

Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs remains deeply involved in company decisions despite relinquishing control over daily operations, company executives said on Wednesday. Facing a prolonged recession and drought in consumer spending, Apple has been unable to shake questions regarding the future of its charismatic CEO, who has been on medical leave and out of public view for more than a month. J...

Feb 25, 2009

Google's e-mail service, Gmail, was smacked with an outage lasting two and half hours yesterday morning. However, Google responded to it quickly.

Feb 25, 2009

President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner plan on Wednesday to lay out broad principles for Wall Street regulatory reform aimed at preventing a repeat of the current financial crisis, an administration official said.

Feb 25, 2009

President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner plan on Wednesday to lay out broad principles for Wall Street regulatory reform aimed at preventing a repeat of the current financial crisis, an administration official said.

Feb 25, 2009

Stocks fell on Wednesday as President Barack Obama's first address to Congress shed little new light on how he plans to stabilize the economy and shore up banks, and gloomy home sales data fed the negative sentiment. Obama said in his speech on Tuesday night the United States would emerge stronger from the ongoing crisis, but investors found little in what he said to spur buying after the market...

Feb 25, 2009

Three potential bidders are still looking at buying a large stake in American International Group's key Asian life insurance unit, people close to the matter said on Wednesday.

Feb 25, 2009

U.S. stocks cut losses on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in Congressional testimony that regulators do not plan anything like nationalization for Citigroup.

Feb 25, 2009

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes plunged in January, reversing the previous month's surprise jump, and prices spiraled down to a six-year low as the deep recession and rising joblessness took its toll. A drop in number of unsold homes offered some hope for the housing market, the main trigger of the worst financial crisis in the post-war period. The pace of sales of existing home fell 5.3 p...

Feb 25, 2009

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday that he had an exit strategy from the U.S. central bank's recent massive monetary expansion that will keep inflation under control as the economy recovers.

Feb 25, 2009

U.S. stocks cut losses on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in Congressional testimony that regulators do not plan anything like nationalization for Citigroup . * Shares of Citigroup rose nearly 3 percent to $2.67. Before Bernanke's comments the stock was down more than 4 percent. * Weighing on the market was disappointment that a major speech by U.S. Preside...

Feb 25, 2009