IBT Staff Reporter

Time Warner Cable Inc, the second-largest U.S. cable television operator, said on Wednesday that third-quarter profit fell due to a large year-earlier gain.

Gauging retail success or failure for the holidays is an increasingly difficult, and often unreliable, endeavor.

Six in 10 U.S. consumers say a recession is likely in the next three to six months, a new survey on holiday spending said on Wednesday. A telephone survey found 45.7 percent of 1,000 respondents say a recession is somewhat likely, 14.3 percent said very likely and Forty percent said a recession was not likely

Oil sped above $98 a barrel for the first time on Wednesday, closing in on the landmark $100 level, driven by a slumping U.S. dollar and worries over a winter fuel supply crunch.

North Korea still poses a military threat even if the reclusive state has started to roll back its nuclear arms program, South Korea's defense minister said on Wednesday.

Iran's nuclear program is irreversible, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday, voicing continued defiance in the face of possible new international sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

BNP Paribas SA reported a 21 percent jump in its third quarter profit, beating estimates.

General Motors Corp said on Tuesday it would book a $39 billion non-cash charge in the third quarter, reflecting the risk of a slower turnaround that could keep it from claiming expected future tax credits in key markets.

Two analysts expect Morgan Stanley will take a fourth quarter write-down of between $3 billion and $6 billion related to asset-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations.

President Bush on Tuesday announced his strong support for tougher product safety measures that would give mandatory recall authority to the Food and Drug Administration and increasing penalties on companies that import unsafe products to the United Sates.

Former Freddie Mac chief executive Leland Brendsel will return or waive rights to more than $15 million in compensation, according to terms of a settlement related to accounting fraud at the company between 1998 and 2002.

Third quarter profit by the BMW group were lower than average expectations, and shares were subsequently sold sharply on Tuesday, closing 3.44% lower at 43.40 Euro.

Australia raised its key interest rates by a quarter percentage point Wednesday, its second hike in 2007, to contain inflation.

Crude oil for December delivery climbed to a record $98 a barrel in after hours trading Wednesday, adding to strong gains in the previous session that saw the energy contract into record territory Tuesday.

The former top executive at Citigroup’s wealth management division Todd Thompson said tensions with now departed chief executive Charles Prince were the underlying cause for his departure from the firm in January.

IndyMac Bancorp, one of the largest independent mortgage lenders, reported a third-quarter loss of $202.7 million due to bad loans, five times bigger than company forecasts in December.

Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. is close to purchasing the Philadelphia Stock Exchange for about $650 million as it makes a bid to enter the U.S. derivatives trading business, according to reports.

Microfinance in the U.S. is providing opportunities for entrepreneurs who may not otherwise have it, but the self-sustainability for such a lending model in America is still in question, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Tuesday.

General Motors Corp said on Tuesday it would book a $39 billion non-cash charge in the third quarter related to deferred tax assets in the United States, Canada and Germany.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Plosser, who indicated a reluctance to lower rates at the Fed's last rate-setting meeting, said it would take a drastic fall in economic growth for him to support another rate cut.

Nasdaq Stock Market Inc has agreed to buy the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, which operates the third-largest U.S. equity options market, for about $650 million, two people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Social network Facebook unveiled a new advertising system on Tuesday that will let companies introduce ads into the Web profiles of its 50 million users and launch dedicated pages on the site for their brands.

Yahoo Inc's chief executive was verbally lashed by U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday over the Internet company's role in helping identify a Chinese dissident who was later imprisoned by the government.

Precious metals raced higher on Tuesday, boosted by an ailing dollar and strong oil, with gold hitting 28-year highs, silver soaring to its best price in 27 years and platinum setting a record.

Oil hit an all-time high above $97 per barrel on fears of a supply crunch ahead, while lingering credit fears pushed the dollar down to a record low against the euro.

The dollar sank to record lows against the euro and a basket of major currencies on Tuesday as bleak warnings of more pain in the credit sphere reinforced views of a Federal Reserve rate cut in December.

Stocks rose on Tuesday as oil prices topped $97 a barrel and lifted shares of Exxon Mobil Corp and other energy producers, while optimism a day ahead of Cisco Systems Inc earnings drove another rally in technology shares. Investors hunted for bargains among beaten-down bank and financial services shares after the previous session's sell-off left the sector near two-year lows.

Softbank Corp. announced on Tuesday that its group net profit tripled in the first half ended September due to a large increase of its mobile phone users.

BANGALORE, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Headwaters Inc, which makes building materials, coal combustion products and alternative energy, posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings on improved performance across all its business segments, sending shares up about 7 percent.