COMPANIES

Revenues for U.S. states may be getting better, but generally they are still not good enough.

A Canadian provincial court on Wednesday upheld the country's ban on polygamy, saying the harm that plural marriage causes to women and children outweighed any infringement of religious freedoms.

Two luxury cars, made by British manufacturer Rolls-Royce Motors and used by the late Princess Diana during her visits to the United States, will go on public display at the Volo Auto Museum in Illinois, from Dec. 3 onwards.

Taiwan's HTC negatively pre-announced fourth-quarter revenue Wednesday, citing the economic downturn and market competition.

Apart from the Saturday before Christmas, Black Friday ranks as the ideal shopping day of the season. However, a recent analysis by Consumer Reports and Decide.com, a Web site that tracks electronics products and their pricing, reveals that the day after Thanksgiving isn't necessarily the best possible time to get the best deals on many products.

Tata Sons Ltd, the $77.4 billion group, has announced that board member Cyrus P Mistry will succeed Ratan Tata as Chairman. In August 2010, the group formed a selection committee that included Cyrus to look for Ratan Tata's successor.

Pizza Hut launched its new epic-sized pizza combo on Wednesday, the Big Dinner Box, which doesn't add up much for the wallet for $20, but certainly stacks on the calories, estimated at 5,000.

U.S. chemical giant DuPont on Wednesday announced a multi-year partnership with Israel-based biotechnology company Evogene Ltd. to develop a strain of soybeans that carry improved resistance to rust, a fungal disease devastating to the crop.

Anthony Hardwick's tongue-in-cheek goal was 300 million signatures -- a signature from the entire United States population -- for a petition to Target president and CEO Gregg Steinhafel.

Wednesday's share plunge follows a nearly 15 percent fall in Groupon's stock price on Tuesday.

Shoppers across America have begun camping out in front of Best Buy stores in anticipation of Black Friday deals, some as early as a week ago. As sites like Occupy Best Buy pick up on the craze, news sites have begun to call the deal-hungry shoppers occupiers, and news of increasing Thanksgiving sales has Best Buy locations swamped.

Hoping to fill up your Thanksgiving weekend with a marathon of The Cosby Show or 3rd Rock From the Sun? If you're a Hulu Plus subscriber, you're in luck.

Can too much success be a bad thing? In the case of the critical acclaim received by the 2010 film Rabbit Hole, perhaps so.

The U.S. average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate remained steady at 3.98 percent in the week ending Nov. 17, according to Freddie Mac.

Wal-Mart had already heard from its customers about the successful reintroduction of its layaway program. Last week, it heard from its rival.

Consumers have spent $9.67 billion with online retailers in the first 20 days of November, according to digital research firm comScore. The firm expects a 15 percent increase in e-commerce sales this holiday season compared with last year.

Crude oil inventories decreased by 6.2 million barrels for the week ending Nov. 18. when compared to last week, according the U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly report.

Nokia Siemens Networks plans to eliminate 17,000 jobs worldwide by the end of 2013 in an effort to streamline business operations, the company announced Wednesday.

Analysts predict natural gas harvesting from shale deposits will constitute at least half of the country's natural gas production by 2030.

Fifth Third Bancorp and the Securities and Exchange Commission settled on Wednesday allegations the bank failed to adequately notify all investors of a material event. The bank neither admitted nor denied the allegations but agreed not to violate disclosure rules.

Julius Genachowski's decision to call the hearing could spell trouble for the $39 billion transaction.

A Qantas Airlines Twitter competition could be the greatest PR failure in Australian history.

Shares are down more 14 percent at mid morning trading, as the company joins the ranks of this year's initial public offerings that are currently underwater.

Renewable energy technology is becoming increasingly cost competitive and growth rates are in line to meet levels required of a sustainable energy future, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report on Wednesday.

Retailers face the official beginning of holiday shopping season on Black Friday, which falls on Nov.25, a day after Thanksgiving.

James Murdoch has resigned from the boards of the companies that publish its British newspapers including the now-defunct News of the World tabloid at the center of the phone hacking sandal, regulatory filings show.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that it intends to effectively block AT&T's (NYSE:T) proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile by referring the matter to an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) for review.

Cigna Corp. (NYSE:CI), which recently received antitrust clearances for its $4 billion acquisition of HealthSpring, Inc. (NYSE:HS), has now three distinctive growth drivers for 2012-2013.

The hikes are expected to increase operational efficiency of the U.S. Postal Service and help keep it afloat.