IBT Staff Reporter

Aon Corp, one of the world's largest insurance brokers, said on Monday it has agreed to sell two units for about $2.75 billion and will use the proceeds to buy back shares.

Diversified manufacturer Ingersoll-Rand Co Ltd on Monday said it agreed to acquire Trane Inc, an indoor heating and air conditioning systems maker, for about $10.1 billion in cash and stock to expand its climate control business.

Asian share markets, already ragged after five months of turmoil, fell deeper on Monday as rising U.S. inflation and high oil prices fanned concerns the Federal Reserve may be unable to make deeper rate cuts to prevent a possible recession.

U.S. consumers, who flocked to malls at the start of the holiday shopping season, have since backed off, kept out of stores by a Midwest ice storm and the ease of shopping online, data released on Sunday by SpendingPulse showed.

As the Nintendo Wii video game system continues gain in popularity worldwide, one firm is developing a new 3D video camera controller that may provide a new way to build upon the motion control already being used on the system.

Amazon.com said on Friday it will soon begin a limited-release test of its SimpleDB, a Web-based database service that will be an upgrade of its current S3 storage offering.

An idea to put a young ad agency worker in a Snow Globe and film it live as an eco-friendly digital holiday card has quickly turned into a buzz-worthy Internet phenomenon and set a world record.

Microsoft launched a test version of virtualization software ahead of schedule that will compete with offerings from the technology’s market leader VMWare.

A U.S. recession could ironically boost the dollar against the euro

Bribery investigations into U.S. oilfield companies is likely to spur reform in the industry

Investors looking to profit from U.S. housing stocks will have to be patient.

Copper fell on Friday amid ongoing concern that the U.S. economy will continue to weaken, reducing demand for the metal.

ABC Inc, the Walt Disney Entertainment division, said on Friday around 250 of its writers will continue to work after agreeing to a new contract that will run through January 2010.

Nintendo is offering a remedy to all those consumers who cannot find its popular game-console this holiday season - a rain check.

Oil prices fell on Friday on fears that the rising consumer prices could pose difficulties for the U.S economy, leading to reduced demand.

Boeing Co. said on Friday that AWAS, an airplane leasing company, has ordered 31 of its single-aisle 737-800 jets worth about $2.3 billion at list prices.

The head of the Federal Trade Commission said Friday she won't remove herself from an antitrust review of Google Inc.'s purchase of online advertiser, DoubleClick, rebuffing requests from privacy groups opposed to the transaction.

Gold futures fell for a second day on Friday, as the dollar rose to its highest level in seven weeks against other major currencies, causing investors to lose interest in the precious metal.

U.S. stocks on Friday declined sharply amid concerns that rising inflation may prevent the Federal Reserve from lowering the interest rates which may affect the economy.

Google Inc. is developing a user-generated online encyclopedia that could rival Wikipedia by allowing users to write authoritatively on subjects they are knowledgeable about and allow Google to place ads on this site.

The holiday shopping home stretch run starts this weekend, and U.S. retailers hope that dilly-dallying shoppers are ready to open up their wallets and get serious about spending. The 10 days before Christmas are the busiest of the season, with as much as 40 percent of total holiday sales coming then, according to analysts from the Telsey Advisory Group.

Nintendo is offering a remedy to all those consumers who cannot find its popular game-console this holiday season - a rain check.

U.S. stocks fell on Friday after a government report showed consumer prices rose the most in more than 2 years, raising concerns over inflation.

Nintendo Co Ltd said on Friday it will offer a rain check program to help frustrated holiday shoppers who can’t get their hands on the popular Wii game console.

Consumer prices posted their biggest gain in more than two years in November as energy costs surged and a host of other prices marched higher, damping prospects of further interest-rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. However production at mines, factories and utilities rose more than expected, suggesting the economy may have a bit more steam than many analysts had thought.

Idled television talk-show hosts Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien are likely to return to work in early January, even if the Hollywood writers strike is not settled by then, Daily Variety reported in its Friday edition.

U R dumped -- one in seven say they have suffered the same fate as Britney Spears' ex-husband and been told it's all over via text message or email, a survey said on Friday.

Nintendo Co Ltd's Wii held on to its spot as the No. 1 video game console in the United States in November, selling 981,000 units, industry data showed on Thursday.

Intel Corp., the world's top chipmaker, is set to increase its share of a growing global semiconductor chip market this year to 12.2 percent, research firm Gartner said on Friday.