COMPANIES

A large part of Jesse Toprak's job as the chief automotive industry analyst for TrueCar.com is to advise consumers on which cars to target -- and the clunkers to avoid. In 2011, though, something changed within the United States automotive industry. There are very few, if any, clunkers.

As T-Mobile gets ready to bring the Nokia Lumia 710 smartphone to its lineup, the Microsoft system at the core of the device has seen its app store grow to 50,000 available apps. This is the number of apps published, and there have been around 6,000 apps pulled by the developers or Microsoft for a variety of reasons tech blog All About Windows Phone reported.

Morgan Stanley (MS) will axe 580 jobs in various sites in New York City due to economic reasons. The rolling layoffs began on Dec. 15 and the company has not identified a closing date, company filings with the New York Department of Labor showed Tuesday.

The World-Herald has about 1,600 employees, including about 650 in Omaha.

Cellphone Review Site Phonedog is suing ex-employee Noah Kravitz, claiming his 17,000 twitter followers are actually property of their company.

An appeals court on Tuesday granted an appeal of a controversial ruling that moved consideration of Bank of America Corp's $8.5 billion settlement over mortgage debt to federal court.

Chevron will have to pay Brazil an additional $5.4 million in fines for its oil leak in November.

Paul Christoforo, a PR rep from Ocean Marketing, is under fire after an incendiary e-mail exchange between he and a customer was posted on Penny Arcade and subsequently went viral.

Shares of BlackBerry developer Research in Motion soared as much as 7 percent Tuesday on speculation it may attract a suitor in 2012 or take steps to improve shareholder value.

Chrysler has officially ended production of the Dodge Caliber, the company said last week, ending the line's rocky run and paving the way for the Fiat SpA-designed Dodge Dart.

Stratfor, the security company which was hacked by a group claiming to be from the infamous hacking group Anonymous on Christmas Eve, warned followers on Facebook not to speak out in support of the company, or face retribution.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) said Monday it was fining the American brokerage unit of Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse $1.75 million for violating rules regarding the controversial market-making practice known as "naked" short-selling.

In what will be the Afghanistan's first international project in a decade, officials in Kabul approved an oil exploration deal with China's state-owned National Petroleum Corporation (CNCP).

Silicon Alley in New York City flourished in 2011--and the outlook is bright for 2012. Funding dollars poured into young companies, and business leaders partnered with them more than ever. There was a real sense of respect and cooperation, said chairman of the New York Angels, Brian Cohen, in a recent interview.

The markets rewarded Apple and Google Tuesday after reports that activations of new iOS and Android devices surged over the weekend that included Christmas.

Samsung Electronics Co, Sharp Corp and five other makers of liquid crystal displays agreed to pay $539 million to settle claims they conspired to fix prices and stifle competition for LCD panels in televisions, notebook computers and monitors, according to a court filing.

GE Capital, the financial services division of General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), announced today that its wholly-owned bank affiliate, GE Capital Financial Inc. is acquiring MetLife Inc.'s (MET) U.S. retail deposit business as GE moves into online banking.

Company officials claimed victory over the spill on Christmas day, citing the company's robust response brought a swift end to the spill first reported two weeks ago.

FBR Capital Markets said that according to its store checks over the Christmas weekend, promotions at the mall continue to be aggressive.

Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) said Tuesday it will close as many as 100 to 120 Kmart and Sears Full-line stores after holiday sales of consumer electronics and apparel declined in the U.S.

As early as 2000, U.S. health authorities raised concerns about the French breast implant maker at the heart of a scandal affecting hundreds of thousands of women worldwide. That was almost ten years before the company came under scrutiny from European regulators.

Virgin Group owner, Richard Branson has slammed a $270 million acquisition deal by rival company, International Airlines Group (IAG) saying that the approval of the deal will mean higher prices for flyers.

Italy's antitrust body has fined units of U.S. technology group Apple Inc a total of 900,000 euros for failing to adequately inform customers about their rights to product guarantees and assistance.

A well-known expert on mobile phone security says vulnerability in a widely used wireless technology could allow hackers to gain remote control of phones, leading to new scam.

South Korea's Samsung Electronics aims to raise its global handset sales by 15 percent next year by boosting its smartphone sales, putting it in a closer race with bigger rival Nokia.

A panel reviewing the auditing of Olympus Corp after its $1.7 billion accounting scandal said it had so far not found any problems with the work of Ernst & Young's Japanese arm and questioned the accuracy of a separate investigation critical of auditors.

Shoppers found a mixed bag of bargains and so-so deals on Monday, as a day off for many Americans lured some out for what was likely to be the third-busiest shopping day of the holiday season.

Computer maker ASUS' Eee Pad Transformer Prime is expected to hit the U.S. market in 2012 but a rumor suggests the 32GB Amethyst Gray version could be made available to certain pre-ordered customers after Christmas.

Sony Corp has agreed to sell its nearly 50 percent stake in an LCD joint venture with Samsung Electronics to the South Korean company for $940 million, as it struggles to reduce huge losses at its TV business.