COMPANIES

Mountain View-based social networking site for professionals, LinkedIn has priced its IPO at the higher end $45 a share, making it the biggest US Internet IPO since Google went public and indicates the voracious investor appetite for social networking sites.

The contents of Bernie Madoff's Wine Cellar were auctioned this week while he serves a life sentence for fraud; all 59 lots found buyers

The fractional yacht ownership membership club will be featured on Groupon's daily deals

When Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) demanded from California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) an account on how Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) spent the money it was authorized for replacing aging natiural gas pipelines, she received a vague response - the CPUC said PG&E underspent its authorized budget by $183 million but it didn't know where the remaining money went.

With business networking site LinkedIn going public on May 19, investors have claimed that the company's plan to sell in the range of $43 - $45 per share is overpriced.

Conde Nast Publications, supplier of magazines such as Vogue and Vanity Fair, have reached an agreement that will house 5,000 employees at 1 World Trade Center, giving Ground Zero a much-needed corporate anchor.

Amtrak CEO Joseph Boardman told a Senate committee that losses will continue to increase and long-distance train service has caused the company to lose money, even though Amtrak set a passenger record last year.

General Motors will build its first major electric motor plant near Baltimore in Maryland, which will be the first of its kind to manufacture critical components for vehicle electrification. It is scheduled to open in 2013, the carmaker said in a statement.

Owners in Ariel West, 32-story glass tower on the Upper West Side, voted to ban all smoking anywhere in the building

Endeavour spends its first day in orbit performing a standard scan of the space shuttle's thermal protection system using the Orbiter Boom Sensor System.

William Henry Bill Gates III, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, laid out his vision for the impact that broadening access to vaccines can have on the world.

The International Monetary Fund announced it will not be reimbursing Dominique Strauss-Kahn for a luxury hotel suite where he allegedly sexually assaulted a chambermaid

Facebook has spent more than $6,600 lobbying California state officials to negate the Social Networking Privacy Act which will impose penalty on social networking sites for displaying personal details of children under 18.

Insurance conglomerate AIG had been named the least reputable company in the United States by the annual Reputation Report from market researcher Harris Interactive.

Honeywell International and BorgWarner have settled their dispute over the patent-infringement lawsuit brought by BorgWamer over a titanium wheel used in engine turbochargers.

Software giant Google is the most reputable company in the United States, according to the annual ‘Reputation Report’ from market researcher Harris Interactive.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd said that it will resume normal production from May 20, a fortnight ahead of schedule after the troubled car maker had decided to cut its production by 70 percent in the wake of parts shortage arising out of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the company said in a statement today.

Federal safety officials from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are investigating consumer complaints that the Ford Freestyle crossover vehicles are unexpectedly lunging forward.

It has been 10 years since Apple opened its two retail stores on May 19, 2001. There are big expectations on how the world's most valuable brand will celebrate this coming weekend's bash, possibly introducing a new product or revamping the store displays including storefront design that showcases their iPad 2 and MacBook Airs. Planning for the event is top secret thus far, involving restricted electronic communication among staff, password encrypted data, and black curtains.

Benchmark Capital has upgraded shares of Stec, Inc. to buy from hold.

Los Angeles will be a U.S. leader in electric vehicle adoption, according to a new study published by the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation.

LimeWire, a major peer-to-peer (P2P) company that was accused by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) of being a platform for illegal music transfers, has been let off lightly as it settled the dispute at $105 million, far short of $1.4 billion that was first sought by the plaintiffs.

Following a 5 year legal standoff between peer-to-peer (P2P) boss LimeWire and the Recording Industry Association of America (R.I.A.A.), the two sides have agreed to settle the music piracy dispute for $105 million.

Facebook became the world's fastest growing brand in the Brandz Top 100 ranking, published by Millward Brown. With its brand valued at $19.1 billion, Facebook also entered in to the top 100 most valuable global brands in 2011 at number 35. It is also the first time the Facebook has appeared at all in Milward Brown's ranking, now in its sixth year.

Magnificent Hawaii private residence will have an opening bid of $9.5 million

There is a full blown bed bug epidemic happening all across America and it just seems to get worse with each passing year. For cities such as New York and Philadelphia which are at the epicenter of the outbreak, bed bugs have become an important political issue.

The Sony PlayStation Network (PSN) outage has angered and frustrated Sony fans into rushing to retail stores and trading in their PlayStation3 (PS3) consoles for rival Microsoft Xbox 360 systems. Reports from retail stores indicated that more customers have been trading in their entire PlayStation3 set including both console and games for the Xbox 360, mostly for Call of Duty online gamers.

According to the reports, Jennifer Aniston has finally sealed her first deal on New York real estatea – a West Village penthouse formerly owned by celebrity stylist Sally Hershberger.

Jennifer Aniston has reportedly closed on a penthouse in Manhattan for $4.95 million in the name of her beloved pet dog.