INVESTMENT

General Electric Co. and Pearson Plc may challenge News Corp.'s $5 billion bid for Dow Jones & Co., with a plan that could let Dow Jones's controlling Bancroft family keep an interest in the company, the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal reported on their Web sites on Sunday.

They may not be blaming him for making their lives more difficult -- yet. But rivals at private equity firms sure wish that Stephen Schwarzman, the founder and CEO of buyout firm The Blackstone Group, would get his name off the front pages.

Powerful investors continue to buy into commodities despite sharp price falls in some markets.

Blackstone Group LP, which is preparing to go public, said on Friday that proposed U.S. Senate legislation on the taxation of private equity firms could materially increase its tax liability and lower the partnership's value.

The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), the world's largest energy market, is exploring a sale for about $14.3 billion, a news agency reported on Friday, as exchanges worldwide hustle for the best merger partners.

Global stocks rose on Friday, absorbing further gains in U.S. and euro zone government bond yields ahead of U.S. inflation data, while the yen sank after the Bank of Japan left interest rates on hold.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. are learning that it's a tough time to be in the U.S. mortgage business. Both banks suffered from rising home buyer defaults in the latest quarter.

Gold retreated from earlier highs on Friday as bargain hunting subsided amid nervousness caused by this week's sell-off triggered by the strength of the dollar and rising U.S. Treasury yields.

Spending on roads, power plants has grown quickly this year, prompting concerns over monetary policy.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. barely managed to show a rise in quarterly profit as a sharp drop in fixed income trading revenue offset record investment banking fees and strong equities income.

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday as a gain of more than $1 a barrel in oil prices boosted shares of energy companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp., offsetting disappointment over profit reports from Bear Stearns and Goldman Sachs.

Investment bank Bear Stearns Cos. Inc., one of the nation's largest mortgage bond underwriters, said on Thursday quarterly earnings fell by a third as trouble in the mortgage market hurt bond trading revenue and it wrote down assets at a stock trading venture.

The dollar hit a 4-1/2-year peak against the yen on Thursday, extending gains after strong U.S. retail sales data the previous day reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve would not cut interest rates this year.

Liberty Media Corp. and EchoStar Communications Corp. are preparing a joint offer for satellite-communications provider Intelsat Ltd., The Wall Street Journal's online edition said on Thursday.

Gold drifted higher on Thursday on bargain hunting after a three-month low the previous day, but analysts said the metal had potential to test fresh lows.

European shares climbed in early trading on Thursday, with leading indexes adding around 1 percent following overnight stock market rallies in the United States and Asia.

Should China's CITIC Securities command a valuation four times that of Goldman Sachs?

Shares of apartment real estate investment trust AvalonBay Communities Inc. rose 5 percent on Wednesday on rumors that Blackstone Group LP may be interested in buying the company, according to a trader and a Web site.

Amid a weak U.S. mortgage market, Lehman Brothers said Tuesday its second quarter profit rose by 27 percent to beat analyst forecasts.

America's largest labor federation urged market regulators on Wednesday to force Blackstone Group LP to disclose more information as the huge private equity firm prepares to go public in an offering worth more than $4 billion.

Ceridian Corp., whose biggest shareholder regards a $5.3 billion takeover bid for the human-resources company as too low, said on Wednesday it would be prepared to consider other plans to sell itself.Ceridian Corp., whose biggest shareholder regards a $5.3 billion takeover bid for the human-resources company as too low, said on Wednesday it would be prepared to consider other plans to sell itself.