COMPANIES

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) sales dropped 5 percent in April, despite sales growth for its Explorer, F-series trucks, Fusion and Edge vehicles, the company reported Tuesday.

Bank of America Corp., the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, will dismiss about 2,000 employees, many of whom earn high salaries, in its investment banking, commercial banking and non-U.S. wealth-management units, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Diamond Pet Foods, a Missouri-based pet food manufacturer, has issued a recall and suspended production on its dog and puppy dry food because of possible salmonella contamination. The latest recall comes from the same plant that produced mold-contaminated food when dozens of dogs were killed nationwide in 2005. According to a statement from the company, which is under Schell and Kampeter, Inc., the recall includes the Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul Adult Light Formula dry dog food and ...

Woodside Petroleum Limited (AX: WPL) sold a 14.7 percent stake in its Browse liquid natural gas (LNG) development project for $2 billion to a Japanese joint venture operated by Mitsui & Company Limited and Mitsubishi Corporation, the Australian company announced Tuesday.

Natalie Wood, the Hollywood princess who mysteriously disappeared off a yacht in 1981 is making headlines again. This time the headlines are due to her daughter, Courtney Wagner, who she had with actor Robert Wagner. Courtney Wagner was arrested this week for coke and heroin possession.

Samsung Electronics (NYSE: SSNLF) reclaimed the No. 1 rank in mobile phone shipments overall and in the smartphone sector, market researcher IDC reported.

BP Plc (BP.L) reported a bigger-than-expected profit drop on the back of a fall in production prompted by the need to sell oil fields to pay for the Gulf of Mexico disaster, raising concerns about the oil group's turnaround plan.

The worldwide smartphone market grew by 42.5 percent year-over-year in Q1 2012, with South Korean technology giant Samsung overtaking Cupertino-based Apple for the smartphone leadership position.

A sex hungry 47-year-old is terrorizing the city of Munich. The German nymphomaniac has already struck terror in a man who she forced to have repeated sexual encounters with. Now, the sex fiend has left her second victim sobbing in the street.

Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC), the largest provider of security software, is likely to confirm prior guidance for lower-than-expected fourth-quarter results on Wednesday.

Microsoft is all set to invest $300 million in Barnes & Noble's e-reader and tablet business, foraying into the race for digital publishing and online education.

What is the ideal time to buy Apple products like the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac? While considering this question, many people tend to believe that Apple doesn't drop prices of its products except they are superseded.

The latest report from Good Technology shows that iOS devices are becoming stronger in the business world while the Android devices are still lagging far behind. The report reveals that the first quarter of the current year was dominated by the iPhone 4S, which hit a record high, claiming the number one device spot overall and accounted for 37 percent of Good's activations, followed by the iPad 2 with 17.7 percent. The new iPad, in first one and half months of its launch, has also made quite ...

Google Inc and its board were sued on Monday by a shareholder who wants to block the company's stock split plan because it entrenches the Web search company's co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, according to court documents.

Exxon Mobil Corp has shut the 160,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) North Line crude oil pipeline in Louisiana after a leak spilled 1,900 barrels of crude oil in a rural area over the weekend, affecting a conduit that supplies the nation's third-largest refinery.

Mergers and acquisitions are on the upstream as low interest rates, rising business and consumer confidence plus depressed prices for some assets have companies seeking buys that will allow them to expand or cut costs through synergy.

MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom Schmitz, has won back $750,000 in assets after a New Zealand court hearing. The money, which was technically Schmitz's in the first place, had been confiscated by New Zealand authorities after he was arrested on charges of money laundering, racketeering and copyright infringement in relation to the MegaUpload enterprise.

Grupa ADV (Pink: GPVSY), a fast-growing Polish media and software group, expects international sales to double this year, said CFO Adam Kuszyk.

LG is launching a new cloud storage service, LG Cloud, that will place emphasis on streaming and storing media.

The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) is in talks to buy energy drink maker Monster Beverage Corp. (Nasdaq: MNST), an $11.6 billion company whose shares rocketed more than 20 percent Monday, in what would be Coca-Cola's largest acquisition, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Three generations of a Bronx-Dominican family died on Sunday when an SUV carrying seven people, including three little girls, plummeted off an overpass and plunged 60 feet into the Bronx Zoo, instantly killing everyone inside and destroying the vehicle.

Medical device maker Hologic Inc. said Monday it would acquire diagnostic test maker Gen-Probe Inc. for about $3.7 billion in cash to expand its molecular diagnostic business, international presence and cross-selling opportunities.

On Monday, ABC News released a teaser for an upcoming Good Morning America exclusive with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who invited GMA's Robin Roberts to Facebook's headquarters in Palo Alto to share a feature that could save lives.

Barnes & Noble announced today it will be forming a strategic partnership with Microsoft by creating a new subsidiary, which has not been named yet, that will aim to accelerate the transition to digital publishing and significantly boost e-book sales.

The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) is expected to sell 60 737 aircraft to Air Lease Corp. (NYSE: AL) in a deal with a nominal book value of about $5.5 billion, the Wall Street Journal said Monday.

Energy Transfer Partners LP (NYSE: ETP) is buying Sunoco Inc. (NYSE: SUN) in a $5.3 billion cash and stock deal that will allow the Dallas-based natural gas company to expand into heavier hydrocarbons and acquire Sunoco's approximately 4,900 gas stations.

Shares of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), the world's most valuable technology company, fell 3 percent after Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), the world's biggest software company, and Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) announced a new partnership to battle the iPad.

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), the world's biggest software company, and Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS), said they?ve agreed to collaborate on new tablet technology to battle Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), the world's most valuable technology company and Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN).

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a steady open on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the Nasdaq 100, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones staying flat.