NEW YORK CITY

Texas Instruments (Nasdaq: TXN), the No. 1 maker of communications chips, reported first-quarter net income dipped a worse-than-expected 60 percent but said revenue was better than predicted.

The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA), the largest U.S. airplane and defense manufacturer, is expected to report higher first quarter earnings as the sale of more high-profit aircraft types offsets rising pension costs.

MetLife Inc. (NYSE:MET), the largest life insurer in the U.S., will pay $500 million to settle a multi-state investigation after regulators reviewed whether companies were holding funds that should go to beneficiaries, according to media reports.

One of the best aspects of the annual Tribeca Film Festival in New York is its showcase of brilliant short films. This is especially true of Curfew, which is being screened as part of the Men-Hattan program this year. The harrowing drama is richly crafted and profoundly affecting -- with elements of comedy.

Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB), which makes Scott brand tissues, reported on Friday an increase in revenue and profits in its first quarter as cost-cutting and a boost in overseas sales made up for slow growth in the domestic market.

Upbeat economic reports from Britain and Germany combined with surprisingly strong first-quarter earnings reports in the U.S. to foster a risk-on sentiment that lifted stocks and commodities while weighing on safe-haven investments.

McDonald's Corp. met analysts' expectations in first-quarter revenue and profit growth, as economic troubles in Europe did not to put a dent in the world's largest restaurant chain's balance sheet, the company reported on Friday.

Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI), the world's No. 1 maker of car batteries, said Friday its fiscal second-quarter profit rose but excluding one-time benefits the company's profit fell 5 percent.

Stocks closed firmly lower Thursday following a choppy start, as rumors of a possible French sovereign debt downgrade and a batch of mixed U.S. data overshadowed improving corporate earnings.

One of the three men who had plotted to blow up the New York City subway system in September of 2009 appeared in Brooklyn Federal Court Tuesday to testify in the trial of co-conspirator Adis Medunjanin.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott announced the city's plan to open 54 new schools this fall, including a high school academy for software engineering. Come September, the Bloomberg administration will have closed 140 schools and opened 589 new ones since 2002, through a longstanding policy that has set out to replace poorly performing schools. The new schools will eventually serve more than 21,000 students.

An exhibit at the Mark Miller Gallery on the Lower East Side offers New Yorkers insight into one of Manhattan's most exciting endeavors: The Delancey Underground. The Let There Be Light Exhibit displays renderings of an underground park that a pair of NYC architects have set out to create in an abandoned trolley terminal in the Lower East Side.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) Chief Financial Officer David Viniar took questions from analysts on Tuesday morning in a wide-ranging call that touched on government regulation, risk, departures of the firm's partners and the firm's standing on Wall Street. Here are five key points.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) kicked off Monday morning by announcing underwhelming first-quarter earnings that narrowly missed analyst expectations on both profit and revenue. The New York-based banking giant reported earnings of $2.93 billion, or 95 cents per share on revenues of $19.41 billion. Earnings a year ago had been reported as $3 billion, or $1 a share, on revenues of $19.73 billion. Analysts had expected earnings to be flat from year-ago results.

The bears were on the prowl Friday, as negative economic news out of China, Spain, and the U.S. left global investors struggling to find safe places for their cash -- and the positive developments that did surface appeared to have little effect.

The top aftermarket NYSE gainers Thursday were: China Cord Blood Corp, Sandridge Energy, Unisys Corp, Overseas Shipholding Group, Dow Chemical, 3D Systems Corp, Sara Lee Corp, Venoco, Thompson Creek Metals and Renren Inc.

Villanova's Anthony Catanach and Penn State's Edward Ketz say the operator of eHow.com and other sites is overly aggressive with cost capitalization, a method of recording lower expenses for the period in which a cost was incurred.

The top aftermarket NYSE gainers Wednesday were: McKesson Corp, YPF SA, Jaguar Mining, EXCO Resources and 3D Systems Corp. The top aftermarket NYSE losers were: Barnes & Noble, Muller Water Products, Cloud Peak Energy, Manning & Napier and Lexington Realty Trust.

Shares of Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) surged more than 8 percent Wednesday after the U.S. aluminum giant kicked off the Wall Street earnings season with an unexpected profit as it cut costs and improved productivity.

China's auto industry will enjoy an $11.6 billion boost in the coming year, as Ford (NYSE: F) and Volvo try to increase output and market share in Asia.

The U.S. private sector added 209,000 jobs in March, ADP said in its monthly report -- just above the Bloomberg News consensus estimate 0f 208,000.